3,357Man born from flames.
Metis shook her head as she trudged onward, vision blurry, limbs like lead. Each step was accompanied by the pitter patter of blood from wounds that would open and then stitch closed from a meshwork of microscopic swords.
Flames born of a curse.
Metis panted for breath, using what little she had left of her rationality to pave a path forward to salvation. Suddenly, she paused, staring blankly up at the heavens and swirling clouds above.
By late afternoon, the orange glow of sunset reflected over her slitted irises. Her nose twitched, a phantom scent of rust, iron, and ash pervading her senses.
Steel forged on ruins, seeking purpose, seeking meaning.
"…Athena," Metis rasped, chocked panic finally ebbing into her tone. "D-Dammit."
-She was a blade cast in tempered iron formed into steel.
NO, she was the Serpent that devours Steel-
"Urgh," Metis stumbled to a knee, a new sword stabbing through her shin, shattering her concentration.
Clenching her jaw, Metis dug her nails into the dirt of the forest near a Shinto shrine she found herself nearby. Upon swallowing that red God of Steel, she'd taken to hide in Japan's wilderness, but that choice was now working against her.
The Steel she'd swallowed, it was too much.
Her body could not digest it. For as soon as she devoured one Steel, there would be more she had to consume.
An Unlimited Blade Works.
"Ack!" Metis coughed out blood, parts of her lips cut open as spittle and teeth mixed and grazed them.
Just a little more.
Metis could not understand the reason why, but intuition was telling her that Athena had not made the rational choice to leave Japan. Instead, Athena remained someone on this island nation, Metis could feel it.
Whether Athena had remained to gloat, it mattered little because Athena's presence was Metis's hope.
If she could be whole, perhaps then she could fully devour this Steel?
A part of her, a deeper part of her, was terrified that even if she consumed Athena, the Steel within her could not be digested.
The sweetest fruit had become the fiercest poison.
Up ahead, the metropolitan area of Tokyo was in view, spurring Metis onward.
It hadn't been long since she'd last encountered Athena, and the Tokyo area was her best chance.
Staggering back on her feet, Metis continued her march.
Her pace was erratic, sometimes slow, other times fast. It was a far cry from her usual ability to move at God Speed. Too much of her attention was focused on not losing her sanity.
"Forsooth, Goddess that Swallows Steel."
Metis glared, staring up at the individual who was blocking her path.
It was a young girl with drill locks, someone that could easily pass off as a primary school student.
The Witch Queen Guinevere assessed Metis with a critical eye, already knowing from Athena that Metis was unable to process the Steel in which she had eaten.
"Thy mouth hath swallowed a poison most foul. Thy should have remained true to thy role as an Earth Goddess and not crossed the border between Warrior and Steel." Guinevere said before lifting a hand and gathering magic energy over her palm. "Nonetheless, my esteemed self hath accepted an accord to bar thy path."
Metis eyes widened as a burst of magic energy fired from Guinevere's palm and struck her in the chest.
Metis had tried to evade, but mobility was nonfactor in her current state.
Blasted away, Metis tumbled far back into the wilderness of shrubs and trees before crashing her back against the base of Mount Kumotori.
Standing with her palm still outstretched to Metis, Guinevere frowned as she watched Metis stand back up.
Metis was in a sorry state. Her body was in tatters, and her divine essence was bursting by the seams, but none of that mattered.
Guinevere glanced down at her palm, and then recalled Athena's dire warning of the danger Metis posed.
As injured as Metis was, none of it was caused by Guinevere.
Rather, the attack Guinevere had just launched had been erased entirely by the sheer weight of Steel Metis was trying to digest. All that had been left was the impact which had blown Metis off of her feet.
What God of Steel had Metis eaten?
Guinevere could not wrap her mind around it.
The strength of such Steel was unprecedented.
Guinevere's expression sharpened as Metis suddenly raised an arm into the air. A surge of Steel followed, causing Guinevere's eyes to widen in alarm as numerous swords manifested in the air.
"Cover me," Guinevere said before backstepping and throwing a person she'd been hiding with magic forward.
"W-What?!" Rin screamed as she stumbled on her feet. Craning her neck up, her complexion paled as she saw what was in front of her. "HOW?!"
Rin yelled as Metis launched the blades forward.
"Do what I taught thee," Guinevere whispered. Experience and age abounded her as the oldest Divine Ancestor. "Love is the answer."
"Fuck you!" Rin tried to run, but Guinevere flashed her with a blood-shot glare.
"Geh," Rin froze, and by this point, there was already no time left.
The swords Metis had summoned were already right in front of her.
Time seemed to crawl to a stop before Rin's eyes as her life flashed through her mind. The same energy and motivation that had impulsively caused her to be here had long waned as rationality returned to her. However, in this moment, rationality might as well have been shit. It would do Rin no good.
Instead, Rin thought back to that budding crush she had inside her. The way she felt as she spotted Shirou on her way to school, the way she felt when she mustered the courage to talk to him, and then to the way he smiled so fondly at her.
Yes, that feeling was affection.
That feeling was covetous lust.
Most of all, a certain emotion resonated within Rin and the Goddess taking refuge within her.
They hated getting slighted and their belongings stolen.
Guinevere's insight had not been wrong.
Before Rin would die from being skewered by several dozen swords, bubbles foamed around her and concealed her in a reflective mist in which the swords harmlessly passed through.
Thereafter, a reflective mist formed and fired a pink arrow back towards Metis who again showed no signs of dodging.
Metis took the blow head on, her Steel cutting through the attack with unblinking eyes.
Meanwhile, Rin appeared from within the bubbles unscathed as if she'd teleported. The look on her face was priceless, but Guinevere did not have the mind to pay too much more attention to her newest apprentice.
Clapping her hands, Guinevere refrained from using her Holy Grail and instead created a barrier around Metis, preventing her escape and reducing collateral damage.
From there, her part in the agreement was complete.
Guinevere would not do more or less, focusing her energy into simply maintaining the barrier.
It was never Athena's intention to directly engage. That job fell onto the Campione.
In a blur of speed and sheer and capability, Doni rushed towards Metis at God Speed. Just because Doni's Authorities were restricted by Enkidu, didn't mean that his body of a Campione was useless.
Sparks grated as Doni's sword clashed against Metis's arm.
The attack that had been meant to sever a limb, was instead locked in place.
Doni's uncharacteristic seriousness belied the extent of his concentration. His pupils constricted as he noted the intertwining layer of swords formed over Metis's skin.
Doni knew not of any God's Authority who matched the ability Metis was displaying.
"…YOu..re…in…t.h.e…. .wa.y..!" Metis brushed a hand against Doni's side, and a cut formed over his hip.
Doni quickly followed through with a dodge while noting that Metis's hand had been empty.
There was no sign of a blade that could have been able to cut him, and yet it did.
Blood seeped into Doni's Hawaiian polo, his battle instinct quickly categorizing what he was seeing before him as he muttered it out through his mouth.
"A walking sword." Doni said with unconcealed interest.
Regardless of what Authority it was, Doni imagined what it would be like if he managed to possess it as a swordsman.
This wasn't about human potential or not, it was about pursuing a higher realm of the sword. There was something to be learned here, and that fact was more of motivating factor than anything else.
Doni did not need his Authorities. He'd initially won them from his own merit before he'd even become a Campione.
Which would win? A walking sword, or his skill?
Doni could feel his heart beat strongly in his chest, before his thoughts were disrupted by a person jabbing him on the side.
"You idiot, we were supposed to attack together!" Godou scowled heavily as he reeled in a prepared Authority. "You were supposed to align her in the direction of the mountain, not engage in close quarters!"
The Boar's Authority required Godou to target a large structure. It would not activate otherwise.
"~Hmm, my bad," Doni murmured unapologetically. "I just like doing things my way. So please stay back."
"Are you crazy?!" Godou grimaced, already knowing the answer.
"Stay out of this," Doni narrowed his eyes into slits and pushed Godou back. "Playtime is over Seventh, this is something I have to do."
Clenching his fists, Godou's frustration reached its peak. If there was a person in the world that Godou had no trouble calling an idiot, that man was Doni.
There was more at stake here than whatever motivation Doni had to fight this Heretic God alone.
Yet, Godou knew better than anyone that once Doni set his mind on something, he'd never reconsider.
If Godou tried to intervene now, he was just as likely to be targeted by Doni as an enemy.
Without waiting for Godou's reply, Doni readied his sword and began walking towards Metis.
Slow at first, it didn't take long before Doni began to sprint and leave Godou behind.
Before Doni had been a Campione, he'd been a man obsessed with the sword. Magic had never been his calling, but he'd possessed an uncanny skill and talent with swinging a blade.
At an early age, he was already hailed as a young sword master.
His body as a Campione, only further elevated Doni's sword skill.
In the blink of an eye, Doni vanished and appeared next to Metis who raised a hand and formed a ring of swords around her. With a single thought, the ring of swords began to oscillate and spin, moving so fast that the bladed edges became saws.
Doni only had a moment to react, but his reflexes were top notch.
He could see it.
The root of the sword.
While Metis was limited in her movements due to extensive laceration wounds all over her body, the same could not be said for Doni.
He back stepped, pupils darting left and right as they assessed each rotating blade spinning towards him.
To block each spinning sword head on was impossible.
What Doni wielded was not a divine blade, but a simple magic sword imbued with none of his Authorities to bolster it. Using it head on would only chip at the blade and eventually shatter it, leaving him weaponless.
Squinting, Doni let out a small breath before he displayed his sheer skill.
Stabbing out with his sword, his eyes followed the rotation of a sword's spin before he leveraged his own sword with a stab to nick the other sword's hilt and then deflect it away.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
A resounding chorus or swords and steel echoed in the span of an instant, a fierce wind produced as Doni deflected the last blade.
Metis was left open for attack, her pupils narrowing in fury.
Striking with a vertical swing, Doni did not waste the opportunity to attack.
Uncaring of Doni's weapon, Metis moved her hands and caught the blade in her palms.
Predictably, the sound of scraping metal echoed as Metis's bare skin and the miniature swords formed over her cuts blocked the blow.
Doni already expected the outcome, his expression neutral as he released his grip on his sword and quickly palm-handed his sword's hilt.
The sudden upward force dislodged Metis's grip, and Doni followed through by stabbing her in the eye.
Blood spurted out with a wailing scream, but Doni's expression remained cold despite the successful hit.
Cradling the injury, Metis snapped her chin up and stared Doni down. The stab wound was already sealed shut by a row of interlocking blades that continued to blot and mend her wounds.
The sickening sound of warping metal echoed Metis's every movement as a laugh escaped her lips.
"Hehahah, you're dead," Metis glowered. "YOU'RE DEAD!"
For the first time, Metis stopped trying to digest the Steel within her and instead tried to make use of it.
The experience and design were already engraved in the Steel within her. All she needed to do was use it.
"Trace. On." The words escaped her lips as numerous blood vessels burst over Metis's arms.
She moaned, letting out a cry of utter anguish.
In exchange, a two-meter-long sword appeared before her palms, prompting Doni's cautious yet curious stare.
With the state of Metis's body, Doni could not fathom how Metis could move. However, from the moment Metis's hand took hold of the two-meter-longsword, her entire demeanor changed.
It was true that she could not move, not with the swords jutting out through the skin of her shins and thighs, but the focus in Metis's eyes had changed.
It was almost flawless.
Doni felt sweat inexplicably form on his palms, a sense of excitement swelling from within him.
He shook his head, refocusing as he re-engaged.
But this time was different.
Clang, clang, clang!
Doni's brows furrowed in bewilderment as Metis matched him strike per strike. In fact, he even felt pressured at an overwhelming feeling of technique and grace Metis was exhibiting.
Taking a two-handed grip, Doni side stepped and swung diagonally, but Metis's sword was already there to meet his.
For such a long sword, its durability would be flimsy, and yet with grace, Metis twisted her sword and redirected Doni's strength to the side. From there, she countered attacked.
And Doni countered the counter, but was countered back in a fierce exchange.
Back and forth, two and frow, the earth was cut asunder; sword marks etched into stone as trees toppled.
From a distance, the swords the two wielded were practically invisible to the naked eye.
"Not bad," Doni was genuinely pleased as he felt pressured by the level of technique.
At times, Doni even found himself wondering if his skills were falling short.
In the end, that question was answered.
"Hiken," Hidden Sword.
Doni's brows furrowed as Metis took a stance, sword raised, legs spread out, and body bleeding from numerous wounds.
From the language and posture, the Steel she was using appeared to be of eastern descent to Doni.
It happened in an instant as Doni raised his guard to block then counter.
Metis attacked, but what appeared before Doni's gaze was not one sword, but…three.
W-What was…?
"Hehehehahahaha!" Doni laughed as blood spurted from a cut down his waist, and another on his side.
He'd managed to block one strike, but not the other two.
What was worse was the fact that what Metis used…wasn't an Authority.
It was all sword technique and skill.
Which God of Steel had mastered the sword to such a degree?
Doni did not know, only that he was shown a higher plateau to strive towards.
Vision blackening, Doni fell to his knees and passed out, grinning like an idiot as he heard the chirping of sparrows echoing in his ears.
Metis glared, moving to behead Doni.
"Doni!" Godou yelled, finally intervening by putting himself between Metis and his fellow Campione.
Staring at Metis's fast approaching blade, Godou invoked the Authority of the Raptor.
"Fear of the winged, both evil and righteous, all shall fear I who hold these wings!" Godou grabbed Doni and hurled him toward Guinevere.
A second later, Godou deactivated his Authority and clutched at his heart from the strain. Prolonged use would paralyze him, but for such a short duration, it should be fine.
Godou reappeared before Metis, mixed feelings clouding his expression.
The sword in Metis's hand was clearly trouble. With technique alone, it had overwhelmed Doni, leaving Godou with little choice but to imagine how he would fair.
Flayed fish was the closest analogy.
Godou dared not draw close.
Instead, he thought back to his encounter with Mariya Yuri the prior night. It was with her help that he had the confidence to stand here today against Metis. Her Spirit Vision had enabled her to give him the most relevant information.
One could ask why Godou couldn't have gotten the information to dispel Enkidu's Authority on Doni, but the point was moot. After all, it would have been an option if Doni had been the type to listen and cooperated willingly with a plan.
Doni had failed to be under consideration from the moment he'd acted on his own. Better to let a loose canon remain sealed, than to let it wreak havoc.
More importantly, Godou knew Metis's weakness.
If what Athena had said was true that Metis could not absorb the Steel of all the Gods Authorities she'd consumed, then what would happen if Godou sped up that process?
If he took Metis's ability to Usurp Steel, then she'd be on a timer to certain defeat, right?
Godou took in a deep breath and steadied his mind.
The logic was sound.
The execution, however, was the most jarring.
Godou could feel his temperature rising as his heart began to pump blood faster and faster inside him.
He would not draw close, nor could he use the power of the Boar.
From experience, the God of Steel in a red mantle had easily repelled the Boar, and trying it a second time on Metis who had usurped the Authority of that God of Steel would be fruitless.
Godou could not draw in close in fear of overusing the Raptor, and Godou did not dare contest his strength with Metis's sharpness.
Having played baseball while growing up, Godou's dynamic vision was particularly acute.
One touch, no; a graze from Metis's bare hand was enough to cut Doni. Locking fingers or directly punching Metis might as well be an act of self-mutilation.
None of the other Authorities Godou could use right now seemed any effective to him either.
In truth, there was only one that mattered.
Whether Godou found it coincidental that Mariya Yuri had been there to come to his aid so conveniently didn't matter because her explanation was right.
This was the only thing that he could effectively do.
Godou balled his hands into a fist, golden light welling up from all around him as he invoked the Authority of the Warrior.
Metis sensed the danger almost instinctively, her breath catching as she stared at Godou. She wanted to react and prevent any further action against her, but a sword pierced up through her chest and forced her into a coughing fit.
The Steel within her was only growing more rampant as time passed.
Godou did not waste the opportunity.
A wave of gold replaced the scenery of the forest, rapidly expanding out and creating a field of golden swords.
"Heed the power of my words," Godou began to float, a particularly large Golden sword held in his grip. "Let justice reveal itself under the strength and eloquence of this incantation."
Metis snapped her neck up, growling at Godou as a wave of pressure suddenly surrounded her. Her pupils dilated, teeth grinding together.
"For strength is ever victorious, for strength in wisdom is the answer to all things!"
Rapidly, golden swords began to form and float into the air. Waves and waves took to the sky in tandem with Godou's words.
In response, sword after sword formed around Metis, causing sweat to form over Godou's brow.
His Golden swords could cut through Metis's Authority, but not whatever Authority Metis was using to conjure those swords.
Nevertheless, all Godou needed was a single strike to sever Metis's primary Authority.
He had no other option but to continue.
As Metis launched the projected swords forward, Godou's golden swords fell down to meet the swords in the middle.
A deafening clash echoed as hundreds of swords repelled the other in a seemingly unending wave.
"Thou art a serpent that swallows Steel. A thief that is both one, yet many!"
The more Godou spoke, the more radiant and numerous the golden swords became. The boundary of the gold's spread rapidly accelerated.
Metis pursed her lips as she could taste blood seeping up into her mouth from the sheer strain. At this rate, it would be difficult to hang on. Escape was the better option, but Guinevere was maintaining her barrier.
More importantly, even if Metis escaped, she would still die.
Only in Victory could she hope for survival.
"Ugh, Rrah!" Metis screamed, letting loose a primal yell as she allowed her body to break down even faster in order to create more and more swords that she sent hurtling at Godou.
The ground quaked, dust and rubble creating a swirling storm of debris.
Yet through it all, the words continued.
"Metis, Goddess of Wisdom, Titan born of Oceanus and Tethys, thou art the reverse side of a coin!"
Metis flinched, raising an arm to fend of a gust of wind accompanied by numerous golden swords. Swords covered her arm, but the connection she had with them began to ebb and wane as the golden swords reached closer and closer to her body.
"Born the original, the world knew only of thy daughter, Athena, blending myth into one- the owl that devours the snake!"
"NO! A fabrication!" Metis ground her teeth, the whites of her eyes turning red from sheer strain.
By now, Metis could no longer produce more swords without outright killing herself. But the same could not be said for Godou who continued to speak.
"Swallowed by Zeus, the one to win between mother and daughter was the fabled Athena, the other banished into darkness and obscurity."
Metis's knees buckled, her expression paling drastically as she looked on to her surroundings and noticed nothing but a sea of golden swords.
"O sword, shine with brilliance for the sake of Victory and Justice!"
Godou swung his main Golden Sword down, prompting the numerous others to descend on Metis like turbulent rain.
A hast defense made of massive towering swords formed a ring around Metis, but the few that made it through had already achieved their purpose.
Metis staggered, her breaths coming out rasped as she gripped onto a Golden Sword that had managed to pierce through her chest.
Right here and now, Metis could feel it as her primary Authority was stripped away.
Words were the Warrior's power. A power that severed Divine Authority.
Left without the power to resist, Metis could only choke back a depreciating laugh, one of reproach and hatred.
"Y-You….do…y.o.u….k. …wh.a.t.. .yo.u.v.e…d.o.n.e?"
Godou froze as the hairs on the back of his neck rose, goosebumps travelling down his skin.
It wasn't only Metis's Authority that was broken.
Rather, the spell words that cleaved Authority through swords of golden light had also severed away the last of Metis's sanity.
Metis's eyes grew still, free of any emotion or drive like an unfeeling blade.
In the distance, Guinevere tightened her expression while observing such a change.
And no, it wasn't something as mundane as a facial expression. It was something more. It was the aura and presence.
"T-This feeling?"
What Metis was subtly emitting from her injured body was the purest form of Steel.
It was true that Metis would die by the end of this battle as she no longer had the ability to swallow Steel. Yet what did that mean while her body still retained its shape and ability?
Blankly, Metis stared at Godou, circuit like patterns suddenly flaring over her skin even as her body continued to break down.
Little did Godou know, phase one was complete.
What was left without Metis's sanity to resist, was the actualization of what was within her.
Metis opened her mouth.
"I am the Bone of my Sword."
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