2,199Chapter 45: Legendary Weapon Replica
EMIYA cursed in his breath. How did the Pope manage to get here so early? Did Akari's distraction plan fail? And if that's the case, where is she now? What happened to her? Did she…?!
No, there's no way. He was still hearing explosions and screams from afar. It must mean that Carnwennan was still working, and she was still out there, trying her best to do her things… to distract the Church… for nothing. Goddamn it.
"You really are something else, Sword," From the other side, Balamus sneered. "Who could think that you would go so far as to call a bombardment on the castle as a distraction, just to sneak in and break those two out? But no matter; our troops are going to quell it down soon… while I'm here, dealing with you."
So it meant that Akari hadn't been exposed yet. That was a relief. Hopefully she would be able to escape there unharmed when she realized something was going wrong.
His eyes swept across the group of enemies, assessing the situation. There were around two hundred people in the enemy rank. However, only about sixty or so of them were soldiers, and there were about ten Shadows surrounding the Pope, covering him. The rest of them were priests and priestesses.
All of them bore the same look of glee on their faces. Were they actually that happy catching him and the King?
"How did you know I'm here?" he asked, trying to buy some time. Balamus answered smugly; his spectacles gleamed dangerously in the flickering light of the torches his followers were holding.
"That is, I have to admit, a brilliant plan. Even I didn't think of this when that attack arrived. But then… that staff just had to activate itself and fly away from the storage chamber in the Church, where it was being kept… safe. And guess where it ran toward? Here. So I knew immediately something big has been going on. If there is anyone to blame, blame the Seven Star Staff for coming here at the wrong time."
EMIYA heard the King gritting his teeth from behind him. It was understandable, though; the weapon that seemingly came to him to give him power to fight turned out to be the very same thing that led the enemies here to capture them. Of course he would be upset.
"But enough talking," the Pope's voice suddenly went deathly cold. "You have irked me too often, for too long. So now it's time for you to die."
He raised the Replica, now in the form of a large silver sword inlaid with complicated designs and a square-shaped jewel at the center, and brought it down in a slashing motion.
And a shockwave came flying straight at the four people of EMIYA's group. It crossed the whole clearing in a single second, and there was no way to dodge it. Not even thinking, EMIYA switched the Legendary Sword to Ascalon and took the hit.
And he regretted that decision almost immediately.
"Ugh!"
The attack was so powerful he nearly got sent flying. Even though there's no way it could match the Shield of the Round Table in Naofumi's hand in terms of defensive power, the defending capability of Ascalon was still unparalleled compared to other types of defensive weapons. And after all the upgrades he had done on it, he was sure that it should be able to match any legendary shield in history when it came to defending.
And yet, the Legendary Weapon Replica managed to do that much damage to him. The ground below him was even split up in a very dangerous way.
What the hell is that weapon? Even though Akari had told him that it was the most successful attempt in history in recreating the Legendary Weapon, he didn't expect it to bethispowerful. It must be equal to a middle-ranked Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm atleast!
From the other side, he heard the army cheering loudly.
"Your Holiness! Your power is truly unequal!"
"Destroy that fake Hero! We believe in you, Your Holiness!"
Balamus yelled gleefully. "My friends, my disciples! This is a holy war! We must fight for justice! Assist me, give me power to snuff the flame of life out of that fake Hero!"
"Yes, Your Holiness!"
The fanatics behind him all responded in unison, with the same glee on their faces. EMIYA gritted his teeth. So that's how they're going to play?
"Be careful, Sword Hero!" he heard the King's voice from behind. "That is the Legendary Weapon Replica. A relic from the past. It holds inside it the power of all past Cardinal Heroes. The wielder of that weapon can match the power of an army alone. You cannot face it by yourself!"
Thank you very much, captain obvious.
EMIYA had to swallow down the quip that was threatening to escape his throat. Akari had already told him about how powerful the Replica was back in Zeltoble, and even without being told, he could already tell it by himself that this thing was one of the most powerful weapons he had seen ever since he arrived in this world.
"Then shouldn't you do something to help?!"
The King walked up next to him. His eyes were firm and focused on the army before him. "That weapon might be powerful, but it still has a big weakness. Balamus is a priest, not a warrior; he isn't someone who can use it to its full potential. Also, to swing it even once requires the accumulation of hundreds of people's magic over the course of a month. Even with the magical energy that has been gathered for decades, he's not going to use that Replica for long without support from his subordinates."
EMIYA's eyes narrowed. "You mean…"
Aultcray nodded. "Yes. Let's go, Sword Hero."
Then he tapped the Seven Star Staff on the ground. "All Dritte Aura X."
Immediately, EMIYA felt his body glowing in a golden light. And he was startled when he felt all of his stats surging up exponentially, unlike anything he had ever felt before. He had been used to the effect of support magic thanks to Farrie and Wyndia, but there was no way the two girls could match this level of power. It could even match that of some of the more powerful Caster-class Servants back in his world. And it seemed that both the King and Melty got the boosts from the spell, too, because he could see them glowing in the same light.
And for a moment, there was a hint of worry flashing across the Pope's face.
He held the sword in his hand out, toward the King and the Sword Hero. When he did, it started changing shape, into the form of something that resembled a bow. It didn't look like anything Itsuki had used before, but EMIYA could still tell that there was nothing less "legendary" about it. If anything, he could say that it outmatched anything the Bow Hero had ever used.
For a fleeting second, the sight of the weapon reminded EMIYA of God Force, the halberd of Lu Bu, the most powerful warrior of the Three Kingdoms Era. The weapon was a masterpiece of weapon creation, and if the creator of this one was anything at the level of Chen Gong in terms of intelligence and craftsmanship, there's no doubt this one might also reach the realm of Noble Phantasms itself.
The Pope pulled the bowstring and aimed it at the two Heroes, and EMIYA suddenly felt a chill in his spine, like a premonition.
"DAWN LION!" he yelled and swung the Legendary Sword as Balamus released the bowstring. The lion-head-shaped fireball appeared and flew toward the fake priest as an eagle made of pure wind energy shot out of the bow toward him. The two projectiles met each other in midair, and – to EMIYA's horror – the arrow of wind pierced through the fireball as if it was made of butter. It was the same as the skill he saw Itsuki used against the Ghost Ship during the Third Wave of Melromarc, Eagle Piercing Shot, the skill with the ability to pierce defense.
"Look out!" he jumped in front of the King and his daughters; the Legendary Sword took the form of Murgleis, the Holy Sword of the Blessed Wind, the sword with the ability to control the wind. He slashed at the incoming projectile, and the wind arrow in eagle shape dissipated harmlessly into thin air.
Balamus frowned. He lowered his weapon in surprise and confusion. "How did you-?"
He shook his head. "No matter. That's just a fluke. This is the most powerful weapon; there's no way…"
"Come now," drawled EMIYA. "Even the best machine has problems from time to time. Performance issues… not uncommon. One out of five, maybe… and that thing is supposed to be thousands of years old…"
Balamus glowered. "You will regret mocking me, Sword."
And the Replica changed its form again, this time into the shape of an extravagant spear. The spear-shaped Replica started glowing, and split into three spears made of pure light. And EMIYA's eyes widened when he realized what the Pope was trying to do; that skill was the same one Motoyasu had pulled against the Griffin King, but much, much stronger. Even though Motoyasu himself couldn't do much against the Griffin King, he did NOT need to know what that skill could do in the hand of the evil Pope.
"Flash Step!" he roared, and in a blink of an eye, he crossed the distance between him and Balamus in a single leap. With the powerful boost from Aultcray's spell, he was way stronger and faster than how he was before, stronger and faster thanever. He appeared at the center of the enemy rank, and all of the enemies seemed to be too surprised and unprepared to even react. The Legendary Sword lashed out, aiming at the Pope's neck.
But to his horror, the Sword couldn't even reach the fake priest. The blade bounced off something invisible on its way, as if it hit a force field. EMIYA himself was pushed back a few steps from the rebound. And in that single second, the soldiers and Shadows of the Church recovered from their shock and started rushing toward the Sword Hero from every direction.
"Flashing Blade!" EMIYA yelled, and a burst of light exploded from the blade of the Legendary Sword, temporarily blinding the soldiers coming at him. Taking that opportunity, he backtracked away from the Pope and his army and withdrew Murgleis to his side. That skill might be strong, but it needs some time to prepare. If he can't finish the Pope off quickly, then he's going to take down his army first!
Pushing magical energy into the sword, he delivered a grandeur horizontal swing at the direction of the army. A razor sharp wave of wind which could rival the slash Balamus had just thrown at the Heroes in terms of power lashed out from the blade and flew toward the Church disciples. With this much power, even if it couldn't hurt the Pope behind his barrier, the soldiers and disciples around him wouldn't be able to survive…
"Our God is the source of all power. Hear the truth and head it. Protect our Holy God! High-class Ceremonial Magic, Castle Wall!"
Castle Wall?!
As the fifty disciples behind Balamus finished their chant, a wall made of light that looked like a fortress made of mirrors appeared in front of the army and took the whole brunt of EMIYA's attack. EMIYA had seen this magic before; when they fought Gaelion, Farrie used a spell similar to this one to defend the team from a blast of the dragon's Dragon Vein magic. But if what he understood about the magic system of this world was correct, Farrie's version of the spell was a Ritual Magic spell, performed using the magical energy of the girl alone. Therefore, there was no surprise that a Ceremonial Magic version of the spell, cast by fifty people instead of one, managed to completely negate EMIYA's attack, even with all the boosts in his body.
He gritted his teeth. If it's anything like its name suggested, he's going to need an Anti-Fortress-level attack in order to pierce it. But what should he use…?
"Step aside, Sword Hero."
The voice of the King rose from behind him. He glanced back, and his eyes widened as he saw what the other man was doing. He hastily jumped aside as the Staff Hero finished the name of the skill he was preparing.
"Fenrir Force."
The sphere of energy which had been charged up at the tip of the Seven Star Staff exploded into a blinding beam of light and lanced toward the enemies like the shot coming from a cannon. Unlike the slash EMIYA had thrown earlier, the beam of light tore apart the Castle Wall as if it were made of paper; the skill must also have a barrier-piercing effect. It met the three beams of Brionac in midair as the Pope finished charging them, and a deafening explosion of energy blasted the soldiers and Church disciples who were unfortunate enough to be around there away. Even the Pope, who was shielded behind his force field, was pushed back a little bit by the sheer force of the explosion. For a few seconds, no one could see anything because of the smoke coming from the deadly collision.
"Ugh…! Try as you might, you can never surpass the power of this holy weapon, Aultcray!" the Pope boasted behind the smokescreen. And he was right; Fenrir Force was a powerful skill, but in terms of power, it was still unable to completely overwhelm the attack Balamus had launched.
But…
"That might be true. But it allows me to do this."
The smoke cleared, and everyone's eyes widened when they saw swords.
Not a hundred. Not a thousand. Thousands, thousands of swords were hovering menacingly in the air, all around them, above and below, as the Sword Hero glared at them, menacingly.
"Quick! Rebuild the Castle W-!"
"Princess Melty, I'm sorry in advance that you have to see this. Over A Thousand Blades."
As the command left the Sword Hero's mouth, the deadly blades came down on the army, all at once. The soldiers and Church disciples couldn't do anything but widening their eyes in fear when the torrent of steel containing the entire arsenal of the Legendary Sword mercilessly came down their heads and slaughtered them like a herd of pigs. The entire clearing was suddenly filled with screams of terror, explosions and the sound of steel tearing flesh apart and clashing against each other.
EMIYA's job as a Counter Guardian required him to kill. A lot. No matter how much he hated that, he still had to do it. That was the reason he loathed the job and once went for the desperate method of trying to kill his past self by his own hands to erase himself from existence.
However, these bastards would be the ones he's not going to hesitate to kill.
"Oh my god…"
Melty exclaimed from behind him. Her voice was nauseous and full of horror; it was obvious that the little girl was utterly terrified of what was unfolding in front of her. This was the first time she saw so many people dying in such a brutal and gruesome way. No matter how mature she might be, there's no way the mind of a ten-year-old could handle something like this. This was going to leave a scar in her soul forever. The only thing that could lighten her mood a bit was the fact that there was a smokescreen hiding all the gruesome details of the kills from her eyes; if there hadn't been something like that, the poor girl would have fainted from the shock.
The King placed his hand on his daughter's shoulder in an attempt to console her. And that simple gesture seemingly broke the gate keeping her emotions intact; before, she was too terrified to even cry, but now, calmed down by her father, tears started to roll down her cheeks uncontrollably, and for a moment, there was no other sound they could hear except for her sobs.
EMIYA held his breath. Is that going to do it?
Then his eyes narrowed when he felt it. No…
The smoke cleared, and EMIYA gritted his teeth.
The Pope's army was completely annihilated. However, standing at the center of the circle, Balamus himself was there, unharmed. The Pope was seemingly shaken to the core from the assault, however; his eyes were filled with terror and shock, but at the same time, EMIYA could see a clear burning rage on his face. Even though they were in the middle of a battle to the death, it was kinda amusing to see the haughty and arrogant Balamus get reduced to this.
And in front of him, protecting him from the deadly attack with a dome barrier around him… was a giant decorated silver shield.
"How dare you…" the fake priest mouthed, and EMIYA could feel the utter fury and hatred in his voice. "This isn't supposed to happen… How dare you… force me to use… this… blasphemous… this devil weapon… How could you be that strong… you cheater…"
EMIYA's eyes narrowed. Cheater?
"But this is the end…" Balamus' voice suddenly rose an octave. "You're not going to defy me anymore… ALL OF YOU ARE GOING TO FORFEIT YOUR LIVES HERE!"
EMIYA's eyes widened. Even though he didn't know what it might be, he still knew for sure that something bad was going to happen. "Flash St-!"
But it was too late; the command couldn't fully leave EMIYA's throat before Balamus slammed the shield in his hands on the ground below him.
As soon as the weapon touched the surface, rays of light started spreading out and covered the whole battlefield. No, scratch that; it didn't just cover the battlefield, but rather, the whole town.It started forming intricated shapes and lines on the ground, and EMIYA realized immediately what it was; after all, he had seen things like this before, a lot of times even. A magic circle.
"Ah!"
Melty suddenly yelped and collapsed onto the ground. Startled from the sound, EMIYA turned around. "What's wrong, Prince—"
But the words stuck in his mouth as he also felt it. His 27 Magic Circuits screamed in protest as pain suddenly wreaked his body, and he collapsed to his knees as he felt his mana being drained at an absurdly fast speed. It felt just like the time when he drained his body to Trace Excalibur Galatine to incinerate the Interdimensional Soul Eater back in the Wave. And not only his mana; even the boosts coming from his Reinforcement and the King's magic earlier were also getting sapped off his body. He realized immediately what the cause of this was.
"Trace, on!" he yelled, and Rule Breaker appeared in his hand. He knew what the consequence might be, but he didn't care; he needs to break this magic circle right now, or there's nothing saying what will happen!
But to his horror, as soon as the dagger appeared in his hand, it started fading away, even before the Legendary Sword could send in her punishment. It seemed the magic circle could destroy even structures made of magic.
Shit…!
"I didn't think I would have to resort to it this early…" From the other side, Balamus had stood up. His eyes were both open now with a crazy light in them, and on his face, there was a deranged smile EMIYA had never seen him donning before. "I've been saving this in case that blasted woman returns, but now… you're not going to use those cheat abilities of yours anymore… EVERYONE IN THIS CITY, GIVE ME YOUR ENERGY! GIVE ME YOUR POWER TO RID THE WORLD OF HERETICS AND FALSE HEROES!"
Then he slashed the Replica, which was now in its sword form again, at the Heroes. This time, instead of a shockwave, a wave of flame shaped like a dragon burst out and launched itself at the four people. EMIYA didn't have to throw himself into the attack to know that this was much, much more powerful than whatever the Pope had been throwing at them since the beginning of the fight. He tried to move away, but his legs felt like lead. Without magical energy, he couldn't use any skill; there was no way he could escape with the King and the two princesses before the flame dragon obliterated them…!
"Erste Float Mirror! Zweite Float Mirror! Dritte Float Mirror!"
Three mirrors made of energy appeared in front of EMIYA and blocked the flame dragon before it could hit the Sword Hero. And not just blocking; the mirrors seemingly absorbed the skill and sent it back toward the Pope. Balamus' eyes widened, and he hastily raised his force field again before his own attack arrived and struck him dead in the face. A deafening explosion ensued, and the Pope was engulfed in a giant fireball, courtesy of his own backfired skill.
"You okay, Sword Hero?" The King, who had just cast the skill to save EMIYA's life, walked up next to him. He looked weary and in pain, but he was still pointing the Seven Star Staff forward, and his eyes were firm with determination.
"How can you still use your skills?" EMIYA looked at the King. "Didn't you get drained by that magic circle?"
Aultcray glanced back at him in confusion. "What do you mean? My magical energy is drained, yes, but I still have enough soul energy to use my skills. Heroes chosen by the Weapons use Soul Power for their skills, not magical energy. You didn't have it?"
EMIYA was totally confused about what the King had just said. Since he arrived in this world, he had been using his skills by spending his magical energy, or MP. He had never heard about anything like soul power before.
He was on the verge of saying "No", but an idea suddenly popped up in his head, making him halt the words as they threatened to escape his mouth.
What if this is just like before? What if this is similar to how he had unlocked the strengthening methods of the other Heroes?
"I don't have it," he said carefully, "but I believe you're not lying."
As soon as those words left his mouth, his HUD started changing. Another bar appeared below his now empty MP bar, with the title SP and the total amount of 200. At the same time, a notice popped up in front of his eyes.
SOUL POWER
Soul Power, abbreviated as SP, is the power reserved for Heroes chosen by the Weapons of the World. Heroes can use this power to use the Skills unlocked by mastering the weapon forms copied by the Weapons.
So from now on he could use his skills without having to care much about the amount of magical energy he had. With this addition, his battle style is going to become way more flexible and convenient, and he could use the spare mana for other purposes, too!
His train of thought was cut off as another attack came at them from the direction of Balamus. He immediately grabbed Melty, who was on the ground next to him, by her arm and pulled her out of the way of the attack before the sharp wave of energy could split her in half.
The Pope had recovered from the backfired attack. He didn't look that injured, but his clothes were full of burn marks, and he looked really pissed. His eyes were bloodshot with rage, and his face was scrunching up in a weird expression of anger and a savage snarl. No one had ever seen him losing his composure like this.
"You…! How could you…! How daRE YOU!? YOU CHEATERS SHOULD ALL DIE HERE!"
The Legendary Weapon Replica once again changed into its Bow form, and Balamus pointed it upward, into the sky. EMIYA's eyes widened; whatever the mad Pope was planning to do with that amount of magical energy he was gathering into the arrow which was forming in the Bow, he's going to destroy at least half of the city with it!
Not only EMIYA, but Aultcray also seemed to realize what the Pope was doing. He yelled.
"Stop, Balamus! Do you even know what you're doing?! You're going to kill the whole city with that!"
The eyes of the Pope gleamed crazily. "AS LONG AS YOU ARE SLAIN, THE FOLLOWERS OF THIS CITY WOULD BE GLAD TO OFFER THEIR LIVES! NOW, YOU DIE!" he screamed like a maniac when the skill finished charging up, into a shining arrow made of pure energy.
The King gritted his teeth. Pointing the Staff toward the mad Pope, he yelled, "Brisingamen!" Immediately, chains made of energy erupted from underground. They coiled up around Balamus and tied his arms and legs up, and the energy arrow faded away from the bow.
"Damn you!" he screamed. "Release me, you heretic!"
"Good job, Your Majesty!" praised EMIYA. He withdrew the Legendary Sword to his side and started charging a skill of his own. "Keep him there, I'm going to finish him off!"
"No."
EMIYA's eyes narrowed. "What gives?"
The King said in a grim voice. "I'm not going to be able to hold him for long. You, Sword Hero, take my daughters and run away. Now!"
Melty's eyes widened. Even though she's just a child, she somehow understood immediately what her father was going to do. "No, Father! You can't do that! I can't… If you die…" she exclaimed in a tearful voice.
EMIYA also understood what the King was going to do. He also didn't want the man to do that, either. However, he could understand why he decided to do that; even though he now had access to SP to compensate for the MP he had lost to the Pope, compared to the massive amount of total MP he had gathered thanks to leveling up and using Alteration of the Soul, it's nothing. It's by no mean enough for a prolonged fight. And no matter how much energy he had, there's no way he could match that of a whole city with hundreds of thousand people in it. It's just like fighting an atomic bomb with a sword. Well, maybe literally.
In situations like this, at least it would be better if one person sacrificed himself for the others to escape.
"What are you waiting for?!" yelled the King. "Go! Now!"
EMIYA knew that he had no other choice. He lifted Melty up by her waist while tossing the bundle that was Malty onto his shoulder, ignoring the girl's struggle under his arm.
"Take care of yourself then, Your Majesty! Flash Step!"
"No, Father…! No…! Nooooo!"
The last thing they could hear before everything blurred away from their visions was the deafening explosion that they left behind as EMIYA dashed away from the battle with his movement skill, carrying the two princesses with him.
"Emiya Shirou-sama. What happened back there?"
Akari landed in front of EMIYA and Melty with a light "thud" as her feet touched the ground. The Shadow looked breathless, and EMIYA noticed that she didn't have Carnwennan with her anymore, as he could see and hear her clearly now.
"The Pope noticed us and ambushed us when I broke the King and the Princess out," he answered. He passed Melty, who was still being carried under his arm, to Akari. "He used some kind of magic circle to drain all of our magical energy. Here, can you help me carry the Princess?"
Akari took the Princess from EMIYA and lifted her up in a bridal carry. "I see. So that's why the dagger you gave me disintegrated and my magical energy suddenly got sapped. But… where is the King?"
The atmosphere suddenly became heavy. EMIYA looked down solemnly, and Melty's sobs became even louder than before. The Shadow immediately realized her mistake. She took a deep breath and said.
"His last action is that of a true Hero. We should not let it go to waste."
EMIYA grimaced. He had wanted to avoid speaking about that. Even though that was something he couldn't deny, speaking it out loud would make it final, absolute, irreversible.
He said solemnly. "Let's go. We need to get out of here now."
At that time, Malty started waking up on EMIYA's shoulder. Realizing where she was and what situation she was in, she started struggling furiously within her binding.
"Oh, go back to sleep, please, Your Highness," Annoyed, EMIYA poked her at a point at the back of her neck, and the bitch fell back into her blissful unconsciousness.
"Over there! That's the Sword!"
EMIYA's eyes widened. "Let's go!" he urged, and the two warriors started running again. "We need to return to the hidden passage!"
Erhard's eyes snapped open as the explosion shook his house.
He jumped out of his bed and looked out of his window. He could hear screams and yells in the air along with the explosions from the direction of the royal palace as soldiers rampaged on the streets.
Was something happening over there?
Then suddenly he collapsed on the ground in pain as his magical energy got sucked out of his body in a very dangerous speed. He pushed himself up as he remembered what Ecclesia told him the other day. This must be the result of that magic circle someone had built around the town, and the fact that it was activated in the middle of the night like this must mean that something big was going on.
Some soldiers passed by his front door. And from what they were yelling to each other, he could hear two clear words: "Sword Hero".
His eyes widened. He immediately pushed himself up from the ground and ran downstairs to his workshop. His feet stopped in front of a cupboard, and he pulled out a pair of swords and a set of armor he had been hiding on the top shelf.
If Sword Bro is here, fighting against the Church… then he has to go and assist him.
Then he heard someone knocking at his front door.
The two warriors kept running in silence, with the princesses in their arms. Both of them knew that they needed to get out of there as fast as possible. But the further they ran, the more soldiers seemingly came out of nowhere, blocking the way and attacking them with arrows, swords, spears, everything that wasn't magic.
They had been running for hours, but wherever they went, soldiers just seemed to pop up in front of them, blocking their way. They were now further and further away from the secret passage, and EMIYA didn't know whether they could return there anymore now.
"Don't bother hiding or running away, Sword! We know you're here, and we're going to take you down in the name of His Excellency!"
The voice of that soldier wasn't the only one he could hear. There were voices of at least fifty more people in the middle of the clanging noises of metal armor chasing after them.
EMIYA cursed in his breath. Where the hell did those soldiers come from?! They seemed to know where they're going, and had been waiting for them to come and seemingly dug themselves out of the ground when they arrived!
Wait a second…!
"Princess Melty! Did they give you anything when they captured you and threw you into that prison? Like, marking you with something, some kind of seal, or anything?"
Melty jerked up on Akari's arms as she heard EMIYA yelling at her. "I-I don't know… just these clothes… and… Ah!"
She jumped down from Akari's arms and pulled up the dress rag she was wearing. And EMIYA grimaced when he saw the glowing, pulsing mark on her belly, right above her navel. He didn't even need to know what it was in order to guess what it did.
"This must be a tracking crest. They have been using this to follow our footsteps since we left that prison tower."
Melty broke into tears. "S-so it's because of me that… that we're… we're all gonna…"
"There they are!"
EMIYA's curse escaped his mouth as soldiers appeared at both ends of the street, blocking all of their escape routes. There were about a hundred on each side, all equipped with strong armor and weapons of all kinds, ready to strike. They're cornered, with no way to escape without a fight.
In a normal fight, this many soldiers weren't something EMIYA would be afraid of. He had fought off armies larger than this before. But that was when he had access to his magecraft; with his magical energy getting completely drained by the magic circle below them, he was just a normal warrior, albeit much, much stronger than the usual ones. The SP his status as a Hero gave him, while able to be a compensation for his lack of mana, wasn't enough to handle a prolonged fight.
He could use Murgleis to fly out of there; the sword controls the wind itself, not the mana, so he didn't need to spend any magical energy to do that. But if he did that, he would be able to bring with him one person only. And the others… would be left here to die in the hands of those fanatical soldiers.
Then the only thing for him to do was…
He threw Malty to the ground unceremoniously and unsheathed the Legendary Sword, which promptly took the form of Kanshou and Bakuya in his hands.
"I'm going to fight our way out of here. Akari, Princess Melty, I need you to run after me as fast as possible when I give the signal. Understand?"
Melty's eyes widened. "You're going to fight our way out alone?! But that's-!"
"Suicidal?" EMIYA finished the sentence for her. "Yeah, everyone tells me that all the time. But no need to worry, Princess, I'm used to fighting armies on my own. Besides, I already promised your Father that I will get you out of here; I'm not going to die before I finish that task."
There was something in his voice that made the young princess' hair stand up. Even though she didn't have that much life experience compared to her adult companions, for some reason, those words of the Sword Hero didn't reassure her a little bit. They sounded just like… the words someone would say when they were planning to do something really stupid and reckless.
"No."
EMIYA glanced at Akari, who had just raised her voice. "What?! I told y—"
"If there's anyone who would have to sacrifice their life to get all of you to safety, it would be me," the Shadow walked up and unsheathed her weapons, which were a pair of short daggers, from her belt. "My duty is to help you and keep you safe. It means opening the way for you to escape is also what I need to do."
"No!" This time, it was Melty's time to cry out. "They marked me, so it means they want to keep me in! They want me, not you! Please just leave me here and run away…!"
EMIYA's eyes twitched. "We don't have time for this! If we don't get out of here quickly, all of us are going to die under their hand! They're not going to spare any of us!"
It was just as he said; the soldiers had formed ranks while they were busy arguing, and they're going to get shot down as soon as they moved a muscle by the archers with their bows fully drawn, from both sides.
"Well, it seems there's no other choice for us but to fight our way out now, anyway," said Akari in a rather deadpanned voice. She turned around, shielding Melty from behind. "They've never had any intention to let us go in the first place."
"You take the back, I'll take the front," said EMIYA; his hands gripped the hilts of Kanshou and Bakuya tightly. "Is that okay for you?"
"Naturally," answered the Shadow girl. "It's an honor to fight with you, Emiya Shirou-sama."
"Archers ready!" the one who seemed to be the leader of the soldiers yelled. EMIYA and Akari lowered their stances, ready to charge…
Then suddenly…
"What the hell is that?!"
It wasn't only Melty. Even EMIYA, Akari and all the soldiers surrounding them could hear a loud rumbling noise coming toward their direction. It sounded just like… the wingbeat of a very, very large bird.
The soldiers lowered their weapons and looked around in confusion and hesitation. It's obvious that they didn't know what was going on.
Then…
Half of the building behind the group of soldiers facing Akari collapsed when a dragon appeared out of nowhere and landed on its roof. The poor soldiers could only scream out in fright before the dragon landed on their heads together with all the debris of the building raining down around them.
EMIYA's eyes widened as he turned around and saw what was going on. He immediately pulled Melty to the ground as the dragon let out a deafening roar and launched a white stream of fire at the soldiers in front of him, which incinerated two-third of the squad in an instant. On the ground, he could see the dragon continuing to mow down the squadron of soldiers below it, sending bodies flying everywhere as screams echoed in the air.
The dragon was one of the most beautiful creatures he had ever seen, to be honest. It had the large body, four legs and a large pair of wings made of hide just like a Western dragon, but unlike Gaelion who was pitch black and scaly, this dragon had bright white skin, and the creature seemed to glow radiantly in the darkness of the night even without any other sources of light. At the back of its head, an elegant mane of white hair cascaded down its neck, which reminded EMIYA of Yuki's hair. This dragon… radiated holiness.
And that was what scared EMIYA the most. Was this creature summoned by the Church to hunt them down? Does that mean the King had fallen?
"Sword Bro! Are you alright down there?"
EMIYA's eyes widened when he heard the voice. He looked up, and was completely surprised and relieved to see the one who had just yelled out those words.
Sitting on the back of the dragon were the three people who he never expected to see: Erhard the blacksmith, the witch Ecclesia and Doctor Alfred. It was Erhard who had just called out to him.
"Old man! Everyone! How did you…?!"
"There's no time to talk, Sir Sword Hero!" yelled Ecclesia. "Quickly, get on his back and we're going to fly out of here!"
There's no time to hesitate anymore. EMIYA quickly picked Melty up from the ground and threw her at Erhard, who quickly caught the little princess with his strong arms. Then she turned to Akari. "You too, get on!"
The Shadow girl glanced at the dragon with a hint of fear in her eyes. "But…"
"GET THE FUCK ON GODDAMNIT! OR DO YOU WANT ME TO DO IT LIKE HOW WE DID IT WHEN WE ARRIVED HERE?!"
Akari's face went pale as a sheet in an instant, and she hastily jumped onto the dragon's back and squeezed Erhard's waist tightly with both of her hands. EMIYA also picked the unconscious Malty bundle on the ground up and got Murgleis ready, preparing to take off.
"Shoot them down, you fools!" The captain of the soldiers yelled as he somewhat recovered from the sudden attack of the dragon. "Don't let them get away!"
Doctor Alfred took out a bottle from his backpack. "Time to show you bastards how a chemist fights!" he yelled, and threw the bottle at the group of soldiers. The glass bottle broke as it smashed on the hard concrete surface, drowning the soldiers in a thick cloud of smoke coming from whatever kinds of chemical that were inside it.
The white dragon stretched its wings wide, and with a sweeping movement that almost blew everyone off their feet, it rocketed upward into the sky with the five people clinging to its back. Right behind it were EMIYA with the bundle that was Malty on his shoulder; they soared higher and higher into the sky, far away from Castle Town, away from the soldiers who were yelling and screaming in anger below them to no avail, away from the mad Pope… back to where the Queen was waiting for them.
Mirellia turned on her bed.
No matter how much she tried, she couldn't bring herself to sleep. Whenever she closed her eyes, the horrible images of her husband and her youngest daughter being chained up and tortured would immediately pop up in front of her.
It had just been one day, but… somehow, all of the worst outcomes kept popping out in her head. Were Melty and Aultcray safe? Did the Sword Hero and Akari manage to rescue them? Or…
She knew for a fact that the Sword Hero was incredibly powerful, and Akari was one of her most trusted Shadows, but… what if something happened that went out of their control? What if they – her insides churned painfully at this thought – couldn't handle it?
If that's the case, and something happened to them… she would regret this decision to send them for the rest of her life.
Her train of thought was cut off abruptly when a soldier barged into her room.
"Your Majesty! Please forgive me for barging in like this, but something is flying toward us from the direction of Castle Town!"
Mirellia's eyes widened. Completely ignoring the fact that the soldier had just committed lese-majesty, she jumped out of the bed and shouted at the man who was kneeling at her feet. "What kind of thing?! What does it look like?!"
"We don't know yet, Your Majesty! But from the shape and the size, we would assume that it is a dragon or something similar! Please give me your order to-Your Majesty?!"
It felt just like someone was grabbing her insides and twisting them in two opposite directions at once. Totally forgetting that she was just wearing a negligee, she ran out of the room, ignoring the soldier who was running after her in panic.
A dragon… coming from the direction of Castle Town… it could only mean…!
She arrived at the front wall of the town, where the archers were manning the ballistae, ready to fire at the incoming creature in the sky…
"Wait! Don't shoot! Don't shoot, all of you! Lower your weapons!"
The soldiers lowered their weapons in surprise at the sudden command of their leader. "But, Your Majesty…!?"
Ignoring the confused soldiers, the Queen dashed out of the front gate and looked at the sky as the aforementioned dragon got closer and closer. And finally, the dragon landed in front of her with a heavy "thud" that shook the ground, sending dust flying everywhere.
And the royal woman burst into tears as she slumped down and engulfed the little girl who had just jumped off the dragon's back with the most emotional hug she had ever given to anyone in her life.