Fate/Bonds Beyond Humanity

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87- Raging Dragon of Domination II: Power Overwhelming

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Rescue operations in the middle of a warzone were complicated.

Adding magical rain created from the invader's side and things went from bad to worse quicker than anybody could do anything about it in a reasonable manner which meant adjustments needed to be made for several plans.

"Fly beyond the Heavens! Bellerophon!" Didn't stop Shirou from brute forcing things by unleashing his Ascension and rushing around to save as many as he could even as the storm got worse.

So much worse that most of the devils flying would have met their ends if the redhead and a few others, including Rossweisse and Azazel, hadn't rushed to their rescue and helped them land before they got running as their group ballooned out of proportion with soldiers, civilians and everybody they managed to find in the doomed city.

"Move! Move! Move!" Azazel ordered and nobody dared to disagree with him as he saw Medusa's Champion move around like a black and white streak, breaking inside any buildings on their way out of Lilith to try and find anyone stuck.

Sometimes he arrived with more people for their small army, other times the redhead just accelerated to go for another side which both fallen angel and Setsuna interpreted as him just finding bodies.

"Azazel-sama! Up ahead!" Irina called out loud as she and the Princess of Kyoto helped carry some of the wounded like many others. Her warning was about a group of dragon-like terrorists in their path.

Before anyone needed to do anything Shirou was already there, Kanshou and Bakuya slicing their enemies apart before using his wings to shoot around many other copies of the Married Swords to cut down any enemy left.

Just as his colleague expected. "Come on! Come on! We are almost out!" The Cadre was right, they were already in the limits of the city. There he noted that the boundary fields around it had completely fallen apart. "Shirou! Don't!"

His sudden call stopped the Mage. "What?! I need to get back!"

"That is the devils' fight!" The black haired man half expected to be punched in the face again but was pleasantly surprised it didn't happen. "You know the plan."

"Screw the plan! Look at this!" Shirou waved around, motioning to the destruction. "How many died because of… politics, Azazel?"

"Less than they would if there was another civil war." The fallen angel shot back as the refugees moved past them. "Tsk. Look, I agree with you. That is why I need to go and help coordinate my side. The Grigori needs to interfere a little more." Those words helped to calm the magus if just slightly. "Can I count on you to keep helping with the evacuation?"

Rossweisse landed beside them before the younger man could reply. "They made camps for this, right? That was a bit too sudden considering nobody expected this" She was referring to the rain, the evacuation in general and the situation in general.

The Governor General of the Grigori nodded in confirmation. "It was all just in case… I can guarantee nobody expected all this to happen. It is the most unexpected and one hell of a problematic scenario."

"Should we get back and check for more survivors?"

Feeling the redhead's pointed look in his direction, Azazel shook his head. "By this point, there won't be many… Not in a situation like this…"

"... Then we save who we can…" Shirou half grunted, half complained before turning towards the Valkyrie. "Let's get going."

When the Mage took flight, the woman took a moment to look at the fallen angel before following after him, realizing they had a disagreement of some kind. Despite not knowing the details the Valkyrie decided since the redhead was still prioritizing lives it was nothing urgent and unimportant.

Leaving Azazel to sigh. "Good grief, Sirzechs. This wasn't worth it." On his sacred gear he could feel Fafnir's agreement, the dragon being restless since Tanni's passing. "Really wasn't worth it."

Lilith was in ruins full of dead and dying but most of its people were safe thanks to the army's effort led by Falbium Asmodeus, with the help of several loyal peerages and other allies who gladly answered the call.

But 'most' didn't mean 'all' and the dead kept piling up as Leviathan proved her identity with a storm of epic proportions. The capital was utterly flooded in minutes and the Maou leading his people had no choice but to order everyone to abandon it. Fortunately the man had already contingencies in case the city was lost in the form of camps around the capital.

It was in one of those that Shirou and his group met with Medusa, Liz and Xenovia once again, the latter two guarding the goddess while she commanded several of her children in rescue operations, either using the bigger ones to actively help or the smaller ones for scouting.

The maid noticed them first and poked the bluehead who smiled when she saw her lover and friend approaching. There was no time for conversation when the climate took a turn to the colder side and Ice dominated Lilith and its surroundings.

Immediately several devils began to cheer as they recognized one of their leaders' power. Serafall was basically marking the whole capital as her territory but that wasn't necessarily a good thing.

"I am blind." Medusa whispered to her companion, her Champion and his Knight's eyes growing wide while the maid looked confused.

Contrary to them all Rossweisse understood exactly what was happening. "Reptiles don't do well in cold environments and your snakes probably… well, sorry for your loss…"

"No, they are alive but our connection is muted." The purple haired goddess revealed. They were Divine Beasts after all, the climate wouldn't kill them that easily.

Rin, who exited a tent with an EM on her right hand and a huge ruby on her left, said. "The problem is probably because of how much of the Leviathan's mana is dominating the area." Even the excitement died as the cold took hold and most devils fought against it even as they were far from the Ice. "Harder to keep a connection with familiars going with so much interference."

"So this is too much… Even for a goddess." Xenovia pondered with a groan. "We are blind and stuck."

Rossweisse looked around while replying. "Not stuck but definitely blind." The beauty with silver hair pondered, 'Where is Lord Odin?'

"That will make any rescue harder as well." Shirou pointed out with a growl before turning around, ready to depart.

"And where the hell do you think you are going?" Rin asked with her arms crossed to starve off the cold.

"Back to Lilith." Was all the Mage said before opening his wings and departing from the area faster than they could react.

"That won't help much." His fellow magus commented with a grunt. "He should have stayed to guard the area. Certainly to guard his goddess."

"Shirou is Shirou." Liz said simply.

Xenovia nodded in agreement before adding, "Besides, we are here and can take care of her." She ignored Rin's shaking head, turning towards her former partner who Setsuna was helping stumble inside one of the tents. Unfortunately, like many others, the place was full with people needing assistance and it wasn't just the wounded. "Want me to get you two anything?"

Irina smiled at her friend before sitting down on the outside. "Just a small healing will do."

"Rin can do that." The bluehead didn't hesitate to say. Not that it was necessary as the Head of Tohsaka was already kneeling close to the other two girls.

"How are things back there?" The twin tailed asked the brunette who looked better with a little healing but still looked agitated because of the situation.

The angel winced, partially not wishing to talk about it, while Setsuna replied. "Ugly… Chaotic… I knew war could get bad…"

"It is another thing to see it." Rin nodded in agreement while using EM to fix Irina's wounds.

"No time to rest, people dying everywhere… the way they look at you…" The hanyou shook her head, trying to dismiss the image.

"Yeah… It is worse than any mission we ever head Exorcists." Irina couldn't help but say and Xenovia nodded hesitantly.

Both of them were used to seeing people dying, even killing despite not liking it, but a battlefield was on a whole different scale. Sure neither was going to break from standing on one, not with how well trained and the support they had, but such an event left a mark.

A mark Kyoto's Princess also was carrying. "The Khaos Brigade, at least the Old Satan Faction, is supposed to be on the Underworld's side and disagreeing with the actual government…" They didn't want to destroy all devils like the Hero Faction, just take charge. "But after all this I just can't see it."

"Most of the time people who use violence as a way to reach their goals don't think about how contradictory that is in the first place." Medusa commented just before a devil bearing Gremory's sigil came by to deliver a message. Once she received it, she added. "The army managed to round up most of the invaders, if not all. Apparently Serafall is the only one left facing relevant opposition." The purple haired divinity turned towards the stadium's direction where she saw a giant tree of Ice growing. It was so tall that the distance was irrelevant and they all could easily see it. "Unfortunately it is the strongest of them all."

"Which is why that dunderhead should be here." Rin commented while patching up Setsuna. "Honestly, if whoever Serafall is facing defeats her, I would really like the guy with a pegasus by my side."

"That is a very mean thing to say, Rin-san. It is like you already wrote Serafall-sama as defeated." Irina commented but the magus just shrugged.

"Everyone here can feel their powers clashing." Rossweisse commented and not even the people eavesdropping the conversation could disagree with her. "Obviously it is a tough fight but there is no winner yet so don't count Leviathan out."

"Shirou is around." Liz commented while pointing to the side and they all saw a black and white blur stop by another tent to drop a couple of children shaking by the cold.

While not willing to stop her protector's rescue operations, Medusa knew some important intel he should hear. "My Champion!" Her call had him in front of her an instant later but it was evident the man wanted to fly out as swiftly as possible. Too bad because she knew the news was going to freeze him momentarily. "Tannin has perished."

""What?!"" Shirou wasn't the only one surprised by that piece of information as many in the camp questioned in horror.

Tannin was famous and his reputation was pristine if not legendary. Not only was him a Dragon King, one of the strongest examples of his species, but as a devil he was basically a success story. Despite being one of the first Reincarnated, he builded up fame and fortune to the point nobody could disrespect the Blaze Meteor Dragon and get away with it.

And he was dead.

If it was anyone else but Medusa informating her Champion then nobody would have believed it.

"How?" Asked a random civilian, resting in her lover's arms.

"Like a warrior; fighting." Medusa, realizing the mistake she made by revealing that information a bit too loudly, added without hesitation. She quickly understood Tannin's demise was a huge blow to morale. "Our enemy used tricks to make themselves stronger and just as Tannin had managed to definitively defeat one before another struck him down."

Yes, a lot of people could confirm that Tannin was dominating his fight against Asmodeus' descendant while they were doing their very best to run away from the stadium before things escalated further.

By the time Tannin met his end there were few witnesses thanks to evacuation and the constant fighting everywhere; those already doomed because of the rain, the ones capable of far away sight or other means to watch the fight.

Medusa was one of them and she had been holding that knowledge for a few minutes, debating if she should say something or not. "Don't go." Her hand grasped Shirou just as he was about to fly back to the stadium. "We need you here. The enemy is more capable than anyone expected. One of them, at least."

"The one facing Lady Leviathan…" One of the soldiers realized before gritting his teeth and shouting orders. "What are you looking at?! Lady Medusa just informed us we lost one of our best but also that Lady Leviathan is ready to avenge them! To avenge us all! Look! Her Ice is strong! Lady Serafall Leviathan will avenge our comrades!"

His words successfully reassured the civilians and prompted a cheer from the soldier, the camp exploding in movement all at once while people helped each other and the devils prepared to coordinate more rescues.

Shirou wasn't pleased. "How bad is the situation, really?"

"I don't know. Serafall spells are interfering with my powers… There is also rain..."

"But it stopped raining…" Xenovia pointed out only for Medusa to shake her head.

It was Rossweisse who explained that, "Just because water is turning into ice doesn't mean our enemy isn't still exerting influence. There is a clash happening everywhere, it is just that not everyone can feel it." Slamming the back of her spear on the ground, the Valkyrie added, "We should get back there and deal with the enemy, the few ones left."

"We should still consider the people of Lilith." Irina pointed out.

Which prompted Setsuna to shake her head. "Whoever managed to escape is already here. With all this Ice-"

"I still found some." Shirou informed immediately with a heavy tone. "A few still can be stuck. I can-"

"Give up." Rin ordered coldly which had the Mage's white and black shining eyes glaring at her with evident fury. Yet the Head of Tohsaka didn't back out, throwing her own glare back. "It was always impossible to save everyone in the city, even with your speed. You can 'jump' countries with how fast you are and yet you only managed to find a couple more people. Sure, that was a couple more than before," she added hastily as his aura grew in power and his rage was palpable, "but there was just no way to save everyone."

"Doesn't mean we should quit, Tohsaka."

"Just being factual here, Emiya. Who do you think the Khaos Brigade's target will be if there is another attack." She gestured to the camp, to the wounded, the weak and the fearful. "They are terrorists. If they have any extra army left, this is where they will strike."

"... She has a point…" Rossweisse's agreement took the wind out of Shirou's sails because he could see the logic. "Best case scenario there is only one powerful enemy left that Lady Leviathan can defeat and we all can rest easy. Worst case scenario, this is where they will attack, if just out of spite, and we must stay on guard until we deemed everything safe."

"That only applies because the other territories had to deal with less. Lilith was always the main target." Medusa commented. As a goddess allied with the Underworld it was her the army informed about any developments. "In any case, my Champion, I ask you to stay not because of me but for everyone else. Please, just to be safe. Once Serafall wins I can send more of my children and we can rescue any survivors."

'If there are any.' Xenovia didn't dare to say out loud but reality was cruel and they had to accept that Serafall's power wasn't exactly separating friend from foe. She saw Irina shiver and knew it wasn't because of the cold.

With a frown, Setsuna decided to say, "There is plenty to do here as well. No matter how prepared they were, a camp like this, built in the down low, can't be sustainable without a lot of maintenance." Her father's teachings told her as much. "Not with so many people to tend, feed and guard." Whispering, she concluded. "Fights are bound to break out before long…"

"Everyone needs to do their part." Rin commented while stepping inside the medical tent, leaving her friends in silence.

Seeing they weren't going to get back into the fighting, Rossweisse hummed. "Either case, I better find Lord Odin. Do any of you have any idea where he is?"

"VIP. Central tent." Liz pointed towards the middle of the camp where they all could see a gray 'circus' tent with devils constantly flying in and out several entrances.

"Venelana and Zeoticus are already there helping out." Xenovia grumbled before saying in a lower tone. "Which involves just delivering Lord Asmodeus' orders and keeping order. Medusa was helping with that, actually."

"It is an important job." The goddess and her Champion traded glances, her eyes never leaving his. Anyone could tell he wanted to go back to the city and was barely holding back. "I understand your need to take action but please think about the people here. Wouldn't it be better if they had a powerful protector with them?"

So Medusa played with his guilt and desire to help in the inverse direction. Sure everyone in there was already mostly out of the line of fire but as discussed before there was still danger. Small, basically irrelevant since the Old Satan Faction wanted to kill the current Maous, but still existent.

With Bellerophon's power it wouldn't take long for Shirou to go in and out of Lilith so long he was just flying around and looking from the air. However if he had to stop and carefully investigate the ice then all his speed would be worthless since he would need to take his time to find anyone.

Such a task demanded care and patience, difficult things to get in a warzone where two powerful warriors were still clashing. A strong spell from either Serafall or her opponent and whoever he managed to save could end up as an ice statue or worse.

If there was anyone to save left and Shirou had to admit the chances of it were low. "Fi-"

Suddenly the rain began to pour once again, all heads looking up when the storm returned out of nowhere before Serafall's Ice that covered much of Lilith began to fall apart. But the real concern was the oppressive rain that took over Lilith again and grew more intense.

Intense enough to reach the camp. "Increase the spells around the tents!"

"Boundary fields! We need more boundary fields!"

"Someone help me here!"

"Protect the supplies!"

Everyone was already moving as the torrential downpour grew far more intense than before as if the enemy was trying to erase all traces of Serafall's previous domain. "What the hell happened?"

Several eyes landed on Medusa while she herself kept hers closed and focused on her children in Lilith. Most of them were brought from the Gremory Territory, born during her time in the Vault of Prosperity so were fully grown and powerful enough to survive those conditions.

Yet her vision was clouded because of the storm, both its oppressive nature as well as the powers that sustained it so she couldn't actually see anything as everyone shifted around to help protect the camp and the wounded.

Then, as fast as it came, the rain stopped.

Just stopped.

Not a single drop left the clouds after an extremely short period of time. Some people could honestly say they blinked and the downpour was gone. Sure there was plenty of evidence of a storm around the camp but that was it.

Then the evidence began to move like if going down the drain, every drop of water shifting automatically towards Lilith as if a sudden gust that no creature of flesh could feel started to push whatever was left of the rain in a single direction.

Problem was that with the abstinence of wind, everyone felt a powerful presence in all of the capital's territory. Every single camp began sending messages with alarm and fear at the event that could only be by design. It wasn't just the water in the camp either as those with better eyes could see the flood around Lilith suddenly halt and converge in a single point.

The tsunamis they formed weren't as tall as the tree of Ice but were still tall enough that anyone in the camp could see them.

"What the fuck?" Xenovia whispered what was in everyone's mind.

Nobody blamed her, 'Those are twice the size of skyscrapers! Maybe bigger!' Shirou estimated and had to actively hold himself back from rushing there to see what was happening. But he could guess. 'Did Serafall…'

His heterochromatic eyes landed on Medusa who was looking back at him and shaking her head to stop her Champion from going, basically confirming what he already suspected.

Serafall Leviathan had been defeated and was most likely dead.

A wave of guilt began to assault the Mage of Swords before Bellerophon snapped him out of it, the pegasus telling him that protecting his mother and the camp was for the best. At least that was what he got from the Phantasmal Beast impressions.

Besides, "There is still a fight going on." Liz had pointed out while tsunamis formed in dry land.

That was an attack of some sort, it easy to tell it belonged to the same person who created the rain because of how water was being applied and by the mana which was growing increasingly familiar to the people of Lilith.

Only a few could deduce that was possibly also Serafall's killer by the manner the Maou's Ice shattered but since the fight was still going they guessed the magical girl could be struggling.

Medusa was one of the very few who could confirm that wasn't the case but stayed quiet. 'Sirzechs arrived at the stadium to rescue his friend, which is good…' However she didn't like what her children, and consequently her, heard. 'But the Original Leviathan? How can this be possible?'

Surely the goddess knew she wasn't one to talk since she had once lost her head but her second life was due to Athena's schemes and Shirou's kindness. In other words, she had a lot of help to get where she was even if all the purple haired goddess could claim to be was a minor goddess.

But a goddess she was and they had a habit of being 'impossible' existences by definition which raised the question; how was Leviathan alive and well after hundreds of years of her death being more than confirmed?

'Unless she is also something beyond the norm…' Was the Goddess of Beauty first conclusion. One that made a certain deal of sense. 'I was led to believe God's death had decimated all Four Originals which means she would need extra help to come back but from who and why?' Watching the teal haired tall woman finishing off Serafall, Medusa had the impression she wasn't one to somehow plan her own resurrection. 'Either way, Sirzechs is the stronger of the two but the problem is that he needs to watch over Serafall. Perhaps I should send my protector there. It certainly beats sending him randomly-'

Then the situation changed again when the crystal ball in the middle of the stadium broke and several magic circles took its place. Medusa recoiled when the energy around the area shifted, falling down on the ground as her connection was severed when the life of her Divine Beast was extinguished.

"Medusa!" Shirou was quickly by her side and he wasn't the only one as most of the camp looked at her. "What happened?"

"I-"

A roar replied before she could, the roar of a dragon carrying centuries worth of anger and sadness.

And power.

Titanic, insurmountable power.

Power so great that the water vanished without a trace, not just evaporating but suddenly stopping existing as a new creature presented itself to the Underworld and immediately made its mark.

A mark profound enough which made the world shake, its color changed from shades of purple and black to a sinister dark red almost as if the Underworld itself was bleeding. The very air grew heavy as the roar dominated everything with several people covering their ears to escape it.

Yet it wasn't enough as they all felt like under the gaze of a huge creature with sharp teeth whose eyes were staring at its next meal. Some couldn't handle the pressure and even a few high level soldiers fell unconscious under its weight while others needed others around them to counteract its effects.

One thing made clear was that the roar could have easily killed everybody in Lilith if the city hadn't been evacuated already.

"Holy cow! What was that?!" Xenovia once again expressed what everyone was thinking, her body shaking involuntarily.

"Something powerful…" Setsuna said carefully, not even bothering to stop her body from shaking. Attuned to her instincts as she was, the hanyou understood the situation more than most. "Death."

"You are exaggerating." Shirou wouldn't disagree with the power he was feeling, as his nose smelled something he could only describe as an inferno, but that wasn't the time to show fear. Not when he was helping Medusa get up and the already fearful devils were looking at them, mostly her, for guidance. "It is dangerous, true, but it is far from here." 'And feels like a dragon and with Tannin gone…'

"He 's right." Rossweisse added while her hands were working on runes to help reinforce the camp's barriers just to be safe even as her accent slipped a little. Already many grew calmer with three Divinities acting calmly despite the dread in their hearts. "Maybe the enemy 's showing their secret weapon or somethin'."

"Rossweisse!" Odin's voice cut down all the chatter, Valkyrie and Mage instantly noticing his stride was far from decisive and almost desperate. His expression had lost all playfulness and was stuck in a rock-like frown that barely hid his panic. "We are leaving. Immediately."

"What?" Rossweisse had never seen her god act so fearfully nor urgently, not even when he played with some nymphs and they had to run from Central Europe or when he tricked her into helping him inside a den of giant lions in Malaysia or when he tricked another god in Congo and they were forced to fight a skeleton army. "Lord Odin, what-"

"Lord Odin! Please, calm down!" Zeoticus and Venelana, both dressed in black and red armor, the Lord's having a more bulkier version with large shoulder pads while the Lady's was slimmer and forged for speed. If things were going well the risk of them seeing combat would be minimal but nobody was taking any chances. "If you would be so kind to return to-"

"Boy, this isn't time to keep the troops' morale. We have to retreat. No, the best option is to just run away and join with whatever forces are still on the field." The Old Man of the North didn't sound panicked but the look Rossweisse was giving him told the whole story. "The situation is officially unattainable and this territory is lost."

"I agree…" Medusa said with a shiver which prompted everyone to look at one god and then the other. "Odin… what is that roar? What sort of creature has that sort of power?"

"One of the few monsters a god can fear and have no shame." Was the reply which killed any good mood in the camp. Turning towards Shirou, the retired King of Asgard studied his Ascension for a second before saying, "On any other occasion I would interrogate you about that form but we don't have time. Rossweisse, we are departing immediately."

"Lord Odin, we can't just leave our allies-"

"No official treaty has been signed and no tributes were offered." Not that he would accept either at that point. One of his familiars landed on his shoulder and while nobody knew if that was either Huginn or Muninn, the other's abstinence was concerning. "Get moving, girly. I am not leaving you to face a dragon of that caliber no matter how many devils are going to throw away their lives to try to defend a bunch of ruins."

Venelana looked ready to pick a fight. "The capital may be damage but our people stand-"

"And if they don't start running then nothing will be left of Lilith. Not the capital and not its people." Looking behind him, Odin's single eye was shining as another man approached. "You can feel it, can't you? That power isn't something you can face and hope to win without losing something important. As the commander of the army and sole leader present, you should consider what is best for them, Falbium."

A completely bald man with a goatee of purplish dark hair, piercing gray eyes approached their group with an exhausted expression all over his face. His shoulders were high despite the dropped eyelids and chin, the man's composure excellent despite adversities. A powerful presence followed his every step, the strongest one around but notable enough.

Much like Lord Gremory he also was wearing an elegant armor with tall shoulder pads but his were silver with dark red undertones and his build was on the more skinner side to an almost unhealthy degree.

A purple cloak kept up with his stride and his posture was straight despite how tired the man looked. Behind him there was a boy and a girl, at least two devils who looked like children, carrying several papers and magic circles floating around them. One had green hair, the other had blue and both wore armor fit for their size.

Yet that was irrelevant because Falbium Asmodeus was about to speak. "Lord Odin is right. Lilith is truly lost." Every other devil present was shocked by the declaration. That was the capital of their government and a place many were willing to give their lives to defend. "We must move on to the next stage of the evacuation: full relocation and transportation. Mile, start preparing more teleportation circles, ignore any extra call for reinforcements and have them standby wherever they already are.

"Certainly, milord." The blue haired girl replied, her black eyes empty and her expression neutral.

"Vincent, have our Bishops and magicians work on getting everyone moving from here to the closest safest territory possible. Preferably away from Lilith."

"Immediately, sir." Despite looking like a child the green haired devil's voice was rough and his tone much akin of a soldier's.

"What is going on?" Shirou was losing his patience and was a step away from grabbing someone and demanding answer forcefully. God or not, Odin was the closest one and he almost invaded the elder's personal space before starting. "Do you have any idea how many people may still be in the rubble or lost? How many-"

"They are already dead, Emiya Shirou. If not by your enemy's hand then to a real force of nature that nobody can control." Despite the Mage's power and hostility the Wise Old Man was calm. Or as calm as one could be when in a rush to leave before catastrophe struck. "And we don't have time. If you are as fast as Azazel was bragging about the best thing you can do now is start getting everyone as far away from here as possible. Anywhere else in the Underworld is safer than here, even the wild."

Rossweisse gently placed a hand on Shirou's chest and pulled him back before standing before her god with a firm gaze. "Lord Odin, what is wrong?" She looked at his lone familiar before adding, "And where is Huginn?"

"I will bring him back later." The god replied with annoyance, some of the present noticing how the Valkyrie looked a little crestfallen for a moment.

Shirou and Setsuna were the only ones who heard Medusa whisper, "He is dead… for now." Sure he could be around somewhere unseen but the purple haired goddess already knew he was keeping an eye on the situation like her before the new dragon arrived in Lilith. 'Just from that roar… Odin's familiar also perished…'

Medusa couldn't feel any more of her children in Lilith, almost all interference was gone as the chaotic power that recently appeared wasn't trying to dominate the area like the ones before it.

No, that power was naturally capable of conquest with just its presence. All of Lilith had become a hunting grounds for a very powerful beast. A beast that a reduced goddess like her had no chance of contesting.

Because of that it wasn't hard for her to imagine all her snakes vanishing thanks to the roar which destroyed even tsunamis. She also was clever enough to figure out that the Father of Runes also had his familiars observing Serafall's fight and then defeat. Considering he only had two, the Thought and Memory of Odin were superior to her creations.

For a start they were familiars and not children, creatures the Old Man of the North found and raised since little, imparting on them a lot of his Divinity to give them long lives, the ability to speak and other abilities.

Their association with each other earned the Asgardian the title of Raven God and despite only having two, everyone knew no better familiars than Huginn and Muninn. So it wasn't strange they were watching the proceedings nor it was strange that one of them had perished when the roar was unleashed.

Not much of a concern for their owner, at least not when it came to the crows' lives.

Unlike Medusa's Divine Beasts, Huginn and Muninn were far better connected to their Master so their end wasn't a permanent one so long as Odin wished for their return. They were, after all, an inseparable part of his Legend as well as his power for even in the Poetic Edda when he expressed concern for their return that wasn't a real problem.

"Falbium, please tell me you are joking." Medusa snapped back to reality when Zeoticus approached the younger but far superior devil. His eyes expressed concern, a concern that every soldier, high and low of rank, was feeling. "We can't just abandon Lilith. If there is an enemy, it is our duty to face them."

"Not this one. Never this one if it can be helped." The exhausted man placed a hand on the redhead's shoulder before adding, "Besides, Lilith's people are safe. That will have to-"

Silver magic circles appeared in the middle of the camp carrying the symbol of Gremory, Grayfia's magic circles full of Power of Space. From them several people began to drop on the ground, the first being another redhead.

"Rias!" Shirou was there in less than a second catching his first lover and resting her on the ground gently before noticing other magic circles, many of them dropping his friends. In an instant the Mage of Swords had dashed around and deposited every single one on the ground safely, including a bunch of women he didn't know. 'Wait, aren't those Diodora's Pieces?'

Surely he remembered seeing pictures of them during strategy meetings and other events, it also helped that every single one of them was dressed in mockeries of nun uniforms which he associated with that peerage.

When the second finished ticked everyone was already moving to help the newly arrived devils, Rias' parents appearing beside her while others moved to either help or see what was going on.

Before anything else could be said another roar reverberated over the place with the members of Rias Peerage flinching as one. None acted while the roar was going, fear and panic dominating the refugee camp.

Fortunately there were those who could ignore it. "Good work, Grayfia." Falbium already deduced that the Ultimate Maid had saved the younger devils even if the teleportation had been shoddy. He could easily attribute any misgivings to rush, not her fault considering the opponent. "Rias, report!"

The Heiress immediately sat straight even as Zeotcius and Venelana glared at the man. As a Maou and Chief Commander of the Army, Falbium had all the authority needed to interrogate any devil, even a noble.

"Diodora betrayed us." Those words were shocking and a few of the ones working on the Astaroth's Heir peerage immediately stopped. "Don't worry about them. They were brainwashed."

"Controlled." Koneko added as Liz helped her stand. "No free will but they are free now."

"We hope." Kiba added with a grunt before punching the ground. "Not that it will fix anything."

'King Piece?' Falbium deduced but said nothing, nodding to Rias silently as she did well in keeping that secret. However they had bigger concerns. "Was the situation so drastic that your Pawn was forced to use Juggernaut Drive?"

Suddenly the fear everyone was feeling had a name as tales of the Red Dragon Emperor's fury were legendary on all the moonlit world. People dropped their weapons as some froze in place while others shook their heads in denial. A rare event all things considered, none had seen any indication of Ise losing himself to madness and wrath.

Yet all the roars they heard before, the red dominating the Underworld and the power crushing their spirits suddenly made a chilling amount of sense. That was the Red Dragon of Domination burning as bright as he could, ready to destroy everyone and everything on his path.

Juggernaut Drive was the boogeyman every parent in the Underworld warned their children about. Story after story taught them if there was a creature nobody should mess with or challenge then it was a Heavenly Dragon. The only alternative offered was to run as fast as they could for only the Red One could face the White One.

There was actually a saying gods, angels, devils, yokais and every other species hidden in the moonlight shared: 'Great Red was always aloof despite being invincible, Ophis was as slow as it was strong while the Heavenly Dragons were just plain scary when angry.'

Suddenly the idea of abandoning Lilith grew far more appealing.

"You can't blame us for that!" Ravel shot back at the question, her expression showing how ridiculous it was. "Everything was under control but then Shalba-"

"I was talking with your King, Knight." Falbium's tone left no room for argument. "You will have your turn, all of you, once we are all safe." What he needed most was to stop panic from spreading. "Proper explanations can be given later but for now we must know if the Red Dragon Emperor has already caught the reason for his wrath."

Odin nodded in agreement ."A smart idea. If he didn't have it by now there is a good chance he will run around the Underworld to hunt down whoever pissed him off." Another roar made the ground tremble. "Pissing him off is an understatement, by the way so spill it."

"This is Juggernaut Drive! Lord Odin!" Rossweisse scolded the god but she was shivering as her courage grew thinner by the second.

"Ise… What happened?" The only angel present was almost in a state of shock before her eyes grew wide as she noted someone else's abstinence. "Where is Asia?" Irina asked from the side, standing up from beneath the tent and looking around in panic as more and more people approached the location. There were already tears in her eyes because of Ise's situation but her emotions were growing more unstable. "Oh no… Please, don't tell me…"

Looking around and confirming her former partner was right, Xenovia repeated her question. "Where is Asia?"

Rias bit her lip as Akeno looked down in sadness. She wasn't the only one as every member of their peerage didn't bother to hide their feelings. A cloud of depression hit them all with Kiba punching the ground again, venting his frustration.

"She was…" Rias suddenly lost her voice until she felt a hand on her shoulder. Shirou's helmet retracted and the redheads met each other's eyes, giving her strength. "She fell in the Dimensional Gap…" Their hands met as the Mage could see his lover was almost crying.

"Then she is dead." Odin affirmed.

"You can't know that!" Someone protested and only a moment after Shirou realized it was his own voice. When Rias' hand then he calmed down yet he could hide his anguish.

To the side of the discussion Xenovia was in a similar state of stress while Irina covered her own mouth in horror, looking utterly unconsolable. Be it because of her newest friend who fell between dimensions or because her childhood friend who became a machine of destruction it was anyone's guess.

"Sorry to disappoint, Mage of Swords, but a girl like her could never survive the Dimensional Gap." Odin rebuffed causally while walking towards Rossweisse who held a dejected expression. "Either case, you all know now who is behind this power… the Red Dragon Emperor in Juggernaut Drive. Best thing anyone can do is get away from this territory, preferably from this whole dimension." His single eye focused on Falbium who was nodding in agreement. "You have plenty of magic circles. Let the Red Dragon rampage and come for whatever is left later. Odds are it is going to be a crater of some sort. These Heavenly Dragons rarely die quietly." The god began to walk away, turning his head slightly to his Valkyrie. "Come, Rossweisse. We have other places to be."

Looking between her god and the people watching them the silver haired woman was hit by a wave of guilt. "Lord Odin, can't we-"

"No. That is an unnecessary risk." The All Father of the Aesir cut her off, already anticipating every argument. "Going back to the capital is suicide. Juggernaut Drive is the full might of Ddraig, the Welsh Dragon, combined to all the rage he and his many Hosts have accumulated over the last thousand years. Defeating it will take more than a weakened army, the Satans and even gods as myself." Playing with his beard, he added solemnly. "Things would be different if Thor was here. Like the Red Dragon Emperor, he also qualifies as one of the Strongest Beings. But he isn't and there is no need to risk our life for a thing which will solve itself."

"'Solve itself'?" Rias' eyes dropped down with sadness. "The cost of Juggernaut Drive…"

Falbium, after delivering orders for a more extensive evacuation, nodded in agreement. "He will die, that much is well known." All saw a flash of red light in the distance before a part of Lilith vanished from the map. "Juggernaut Drive is the power of Ddraig, a power no human could reach alone. The cost to use it is the Host's life force once everything else runs dry."

Akeno stood up. "Maybe but if we can stop him-"

"Didn't you hear me, girl? That is the power of the Red Dragon Emperor in full. There is no stopping that." Odin affirmed again nonchalantly. Or trying to appear to be nonchalant at the very least.

"We won't know until we try it." Shirou commented and the god rolled his remaining eye. "You think-"

"Medic! We need a medic immediately!" Sirzechs arrived in the area with Grayfia by his side and someone wrapped in a cloak on his arms. While neither him or his wife looked wounded, nobody dared to challenge Lucifer so a squad of doctors was already on the move. "Serafall is in critical condition!"

Ignoring politics or how things appeared, he informed the doctors of the situation as well as he could while Grayfia approached the others. "Lord Odin, if you would be so kind, the Maou Sirzechs Lucifer would like your request your assistance to isolate the Red Dragon Emperor-"

"Denied!" The Old Man of the North's booming voice echoed throughout the camp. "If you think I am going to help face that thing in some sort of suicidal mission-"

"I am not asking you to face it." Sirzechs was suddenly back with a cold expression and distant eyes. "But we need to contain the Red Dragon Emperor. Lilith has already fallen but enough cities are close by that we can't risk him flying to one of them."

"What are you suggesting, Sirzechs?" Falbium asked while scratching his goatee.

"Exactly what I said; that we take advantage of him being busy on Lilith to lock him down and keep the destruction contained. Something commonly done on Earth, usually with the assistance of a few gods." The Kings sized each other up as he continued. "You won't need to fight the creature, Odin, nobody will. We will lock it in place until his life force expires."

"With how long devils live? That can take a few hours." The All Father of the Aesir pointed out correctly. "If he approaches one side of the barrier then it doesn't matter who is holding it, he will break through and kill them."

"I will be around to not allow that to happen."

"Still a suicide mission… but one with some odds of success… We still need more gods, but the others have already bailed." Both men's eyes landed on Medusa who gulped down her nervosism.

Slowly, she said, "My barriers may not be as strong as his runes," she said referring to Odin, "but I will help with what I can."

"Wait, you are talking about letting Ise die!" Irina protested but those few who knew her could only offer sympathetic looks or sad expressions.

Others also protested. "Brother, there must be-"

"Nothing can be done, Rias. Once unleashed Juggernaut Drive can't be stopped until the owner dies unless he somehow gains control of it. A feat done only twice in all the Red Dragon Emperor's History." To be fair with the man he sounded legitimately remorseful. "For the sake of the Underworld, this needs to be done."

"You aren't even trying anything else, Sirzechs! Anything else!"

"You are going to be Lady of Gremory one day, Rias. Act accordingly." Grayfia silenced her sister in law who could only offer them a look of fury.

Watching the proceedings unfold, Shirou stood up and looked straight at Odin. "Ise is still there right? Just stuck inside his sacred gear?"

"Shirou-"

"I am not talking to you, Lucifer." The Mage's tone was so sharp that it could have cut the man like any of his blades. "Besides, it doesn't make a difference of who holds the dragon back, only that he is held back."

"It is still suicide." Odin pointed out with a shake of his head. Clearly he wasn't going to reply.

However, someone did. "Records suggest that the Boosted Gear holder's body is usually locked inside a secondary body mostly described as a 'dragon abomination capable of mass destruction'." Rossweisse informed, much to her god's chagrin. There would be words later but the Valkyrie gave him a hard look before focusing only on the Mage. "When in Juggernaut Drive some scholars theorized that the sacred gear moves by itself with the Welsh Dragon's power and emotions while the Host is left stuck inside." The silver haired woman shook her with some hesitation. "But nothing is for certain. His body may be there, he may have a new one, we don't know."

"But can we remove him?" Shirou turned to the Valkyrie who nodded slowly. Despite uncertainty, she agreed with the theory which gave him hope.

Only for Sirzechs to step forward to say. "No, surviving a half realized Vanishing Dragon isn't the same as facing a fully powered Welsh Dragon. My sister is already about to lose a friend, I won't allow her to lose her lover."

With that the secret of their relationship, at least when it came to the Underworld, was out of the bag but that wasn't on the Champion's mind. "So there is a chance of saving him." His helmet closed around his head and he opened his wings fully. "I just need to rip him off Juggernaut Drive!"

"Wait-" Without waiting for whatever else Sirzechs had to say, the redhead departed. His shining with black and white as Bellerophon went full throttle. "Damn it! Rias, why didn't you stop him?"

"Do you realize, lady Gremory, how risky such an endeavor is?" Grayfia commented with a shake of her head while moving behind Xenovia and holding her shoulder. "And where do you think you are going?"

Liz pointed her halberd towards the Strongest Queen's face. "Joining our Master." She felt a sword drawing to her side but her eyes never left Grayfia who offered the same courtesy.

Another devil created a magic circle behind the Emiya maid only for Rossweisse to point her spear at him and raise a rune against another. Setsuna also stood up and had her claws ready while Irina cleaned her face and summoned a Light Sword. From Rias Peerage, Kiba had crossed two swords as Luvia drew her last gem as Akeno made a chain.

Several other devils didn't know what to do and everyone began to call their mana and magic as a confrontation seemed inevitable. Sirzechs looked around and raised his arms. "Everyone! Calm down! We can't-

"ENOUGH!" The Crimson Haired Princess of Ruin's voice, full of authority, deescalated the situation forcefully. With a look of concern she looked towards the direction Shirou was going, already feeling the fight start. "You better come back to me…" After her whisper, she turned to the men. "Didn't you hear your Maous? Start making a barrier around Lilith! Medusa's Champion will see through the Red Dragon Emperor!"

"As he should." With the goddess endorsement, those who started following her, mostly from the Gremory, began to calm down. "He will not only stop the Welsh Dragon's advance but also save Hyoudou Issei's life."

Odin raised an eyebrow. "That… would be a real miracle."

"It is what he does best." The goddess replied as from her hair several snakes began to emerge and march towards the capital's border.

Realizing the situation was back under control again, Sirzechs moved to support his sister's orders. "We need groups of at least five wizard types and or anyone with experience with barriers in every corner of the city with at least three, no, four kilometers of distance from each other! That will let us use less but we aren't holding back an army now, we are stalling a Heavenly Dragon!"

Orders received, every able devil began to depart as Falbium started preparations and Grayfia moved to convince Odin to help. While doubtful of their plan of isolating the Raging Dragon, the old god looked willing to give it a try so long Medusa also participated. He noticed that many devils were already willing to pledge their lives to her.

Which left Sirzechs with her sister and many of her friends as the King of Gremory stood there staring at her brother. "I understand that you want both of them back safely but Shirou's chances aren't good." The older redhead commented as their parents stepped back. It was the first time their children went head to head about something. "You should have stopped him."

"Did you see me asking him to save Ise?" Irina gave Rias a look of disbelief but everyone knew it was the truth. "I don't want him to die. I don't want any of them to die! But I would never, ever, dare to ask Shiro to not save someone. That would be against his nature." A nature she loved unconditionally. "More so when it is for a friend. And he will succeed." Not giving her brother a chance to reply, she noticed a few medics around and ordered, "Please, help my peerage. Kiba has been poisoned and Gasper pushed himself a little too hard. Ah, and don't worry about Akeno, she likes pain so use as many needles as you need."

The Queen didn't miss a beat. "Not needles, Buchou."

"Nobody should like needles." The banter between the two distracted the group from the clashing powers at a distance. The fight for Ise's life had already started. "Do you have something else to say, brother?"

"No, I suppose not." Turning his back to her, he added softly. "I will need to be in position in case Shirou fails. I will try to save him."

"Shiro won't fail and Ise won't die. He will last long enough for us to get him out of this mess and without destroying half the Underworld like you guys are afraid he will." Her eyes jumped to a small audience of her parents, some civilians, wounded soldiers and medics until her gaze rested on Sirzechs. "I have faith in my boys." Rias' tone portrayed calm and lacked any traces of fear. "And in Shiro more than anyone else."

Nobody dared to challenge her either because they wanted to have the same faith or just found her resolve. "Do as you will." With that, Sirzechs Lucifer had no choice but to retreat and leave his sister with everyone else or risk making that discussion worse. 'And I will do as I must…'

Plans already jumped around the older redhead's mind about how to approach the situation and deal with the Red Dragon Emperor if things went wrong. He was pretty much sure they would go wrong.

"Xenovia!" Rias stopped the blue haired knight from moving. "Trust him on this."

"Our place is by his side." Was the former Exorcist's reply.

"Yes. But he will have better chances when not worrying about us and just about the task at hand." Rias replied, still in a calm tone.

"...Tsk. Fine, but I don't like it." that said the Owner of Durandal moved to help Irina and calm her former partner down.

"That is a lot of faith you are placing on Shirou." Rossweisse observed before marching towards Odin and Medusa, both already preparing something to contain the Raging Dragon.

"I just have faith in the right people." The Heiress watched the Valkyrie stop for a moment to offer a nod of respect before rushing towards the gods strategizing how they would put up barriers strong enough to cage the dragon.

A cage they would have to build hastily as everyone could feel the clash of powers growing more intense. "Buchou… can't we do anything else?" Ravel felt awful about the whole situation and guilty that she couldn't help Asia.

Despite knowing her fellow Gremory Piece for far less time than the rest, the former nun had only been warm to her and the most welcoming of all Rias Peerage besides the King herself who in that moment could only just shake her head.

"Most of us are exhausted… And would only get in the way." She didn't even need to look towards the others who helped evacuate the stadium or Xenovia and Liz who were fresh compared to everyone else. "That includes you."

"It is fine. We believe in Shiro." Xenovia spoke with a conviction that the redhead could certainly appreciate. It was great to know she wasn't alone in her faith.

Looking to the horizon Rias saw black and white energies clashing against a deep red that took over the whole Underworld. "Shiro, be careful."

…..

"I shouldn't have listened." Emiya Shirou thought to himself as he took flight from the refugee camp back towards Lilith. "I really shouldn't have listened! I am an idiot!"

Despite moving at incredible speeds the redhead could feel his partner, Bellerophon, expanding his consciousness to give him time to think and calm down since the pegasus could feel the agitation, the anger, simmering in his soul.

As a person Emiya Shirou blamed himself for quite a few things in his life but rationally he could understand that most of them were out of his control:

He blamed himself for not being able to save anyone from the Hell in which he was born.

He blamed himself for not stopping his sister from joining a terrorist group.

He blamed himself for not being strong enough to contain members of said group and stop more grief.

For the last one he also blamed himself for being too kind but that was his nature and one his lovers liked so he swallowed much of his guilt and focused on preparing to deal with the enemy whenever they came.

Growing stronger since that experience, Shirou learned power was not enough when traveling around the world at speeds most people couldn't even imagine and realizing how complex politics could be.

How a single misstep could escalate a war and create much more victims even when he only wished to save people.

Which was one of the many reasons why when Sirzechs offered a plan that should guarantee an almost bloodless victory, heavily implying the number of deaths would be small at least in the long run, while securing the Underworld's stability and progress he took it without batting an eye.

Devils would have to defeat devils, sure the allies of both sides could help but the dispute for the Underworld's Thrones would be decided by the Maous from each side. To avoid one of his allies getting in the way of that plan, he asked several of them to either not show up or hold back if they did.

Shirou was in the latter category because Sirzechs suggested that in case something happened the Mage could go and help but with restrictions, no Ascension chief among them, despite his and Medusa's protests.

In the end he agreed because; "This is for the Underworld's future. Less people will suffer if we do things this way. The correct way." Sirzechs offered a sad smile at Shirou. "Trust me, we are taking every precaution that the number of deaths are going to be the smallest possible."

"But people will still die." The Mage of Swords retorted with anger in his eyes. "Look, I won't fight against the leaders from the other side. I will go around and retrieve everyone I can instead of fighting, if you want. It isn't a problem." An option he really didn't mind. Saving people felt better than killing them. "I can even take your parents outside before things… get ugly."

Sirzechs' hand landed on the younger man's shoulder. "Fufufu. My sister couldn't have chosen a better man." He sounded extremely proud of that. "Unfortunately if you start going all out there will be questions and maybe, just maybe, our enemy ends up pulling back before a decisive victory can be archived." His grip grew more firm, not harmful but still really firm. Almost like he was trying to stop Shirou from escaping. "We need their Maous to show up and we, the current regime, must defeat them in combat. We already separated the fights for their generals and have plans to move several loyal troops all over the place to deal with the brunt of the attack. With this plan, the city will be safe, most of the Underworld will be safe."

"I don't like it, it feels like we are holding too much back." Xenovia pointed out at the time, raising her hand to make sure the devil knew who was speaking. She just had a bad feeling over all that meeting.

Not something Medusa disagreed with. "My Champion is also the Magician of Gremory. Can't you claim he is fighting as one of your representatives."

"The problem is Divinity." Sirzechs informed but stopped himself before adding. "... No, the main problem is that he is human with Divinity. A human who receives Divine assistance may be too dangerous for our enemy to face."

"That is cowardly… but makes sense." Luvia commented.

For the first time in a while, Rin was in full agreement with her. "Our enemies are cowards."

"That is right. They are cowards who are willing to involve civilians in our conflict." Rias nodded in agreement, several in the room doing the same. "But I still think you should let Shiro help. He can limit the losses."

"But sister, I am asking for his help…" Sirzechs pointed out with a confident smirk. "He can help, go around and defeat as many opponents as he wants. All he has to do is stay on the down low and use the minimum amount of Bellerophon's power, if he doesn't use the pegasus at all it would be perfect." Tilting his head to the Mage, he added. "Your father is very good at being covert. Can you do the same, Shirou? Help our people while staying in the shadows. I know there are risks but it is for the Underworld's sake. For the future's sake."

There were plenty of stories about the Devil being compelling and speaking with the exact right tone to win whatever argument he wanted. Sirzechs Lucifer sounded approached and rational, enough to force the Mage to agree even if the whole plan went against his being.

Crux of the matter was that Shirou was allowed to help but 'not too much' in a sense which was much better if he was outright denied. If that was the case the magus would certainly rebel and join the fight quite explosively.

But that wasn't the case, the Satan argument allowing for movement so long it was around his lines and using the whole Underworld's safety as his key to convince the Mage of Swords to take the deal.

Which he eventually did, "Right. Fine, I will do it." believing the Maou knew what was best for his world.

"That is not enough." Grayfia suddenly spoke for the first time. "From what we heard of your personality, and reports of you stopping people from claiming Caliburn, you like to meddle in things when you feel they aren't correct." The maid's observation was spot on, he couldn't deny them. "Swear it, Emiya Shirou, swear that until the end of this battle you will let our strongest face the enemy's strongest, devil against devil, until we have a proper end to our long civil war."

"Yes, to end the civil war once and for all. For all devilkind's sake." Sirzechs gently, the good cop for Grayfia's bad cop.

Both playing against Shirou's good nature. "I swear it."

"In your mother's life?" Grayfia suddenly added, Akeno and Xenovia protesting.

"Fine, I promise in my mother's life that I will… hold back as much as I can."

That was the nail in the coffin, the noose on Shirou's neck that managed to stop him from staying in the stadium and helping Tannin during the fight against Creuserey when things started to escalate.

For the most part he didn't regret that particular decision, every living civilian had been retrieved from the battlefield and needed to be escorted out of the stadium so logically they needed to be protected, a part he was happy to play.

Then the evacuation extended from Lilith itself, the capital falling apart because the Khaos Brigade had sacrificed too many devils to Ophis. The number of people using Infinity's power was far greater than expected and how it was used basically caught everyone off guard.

It was almost like a kamikaze assault because of how many members of the Old Satan Faction were willing to die for one more inch against their enemy's fortress, freely dying to take one or more people with them.

Even the fight against their main enemies had escaped everyone's calculation since it was predicted that Tannin could defeat someone like Creuserey and also that every descendant of the Originals should fall short before the dragon.

Knowing all this in highsight just made Shirou hate his promise more but a part of him had been optimistic that Sirzechs was right or that the attack wasn't actually going to happen or, even if it did, the Old Satan Faction which had been in the backfoot for centuries wouldn't have the resources to do much damage.

"I shouldn't have listened." Inside Unlimited Blade Works, Shirou's conscious petted the pegasus mane with an expression of anguish. Still Bellerophon kept the 'speed' of his soul faster than his body to give him time to process and grieve. "Say, Bellerophon, if I haven't promised that, if I have fought from the start… Do you think things would be better?" Bright eyes like the Sun met him and he chuckled. "No, just doing what I want isn't right… But in this situation, maybe it was…"

A deep breath later and the pegasus knew his partner had fully calmed himself and builded up the resolve needed to triumph in the battlefield. A good thing too because making his soul faster than his body was extremely hard since his power made the Mage incredibly fast.

And the Legendary Mount would always give 100% for his rider, no matter where.

Which was why he was pushing himself to buy the redhead the nanoseconds needed for him to think, unleashing Last Stardust on just his soul alone, inside only Unlimited Blade Works.

Shirou acknowledged all of that. "Thank you for everything, Bellerophon." He also acknowledged that there was no time to get stuck in the past, not while his friend was in danger. And not at Bellerophon's detriment because huge quantities of mana or not the Phantasmal Beast was putting a lot of effort on his task, too much even. "Let 's go! We have to save Ise!"

Feeling his rider's determination the pegasus sang in joy before both their consciences turned back to the outside world. Even with Bellerophon's interference Shirou was still moving ridiculously fast so they were already back in Lilith with nothing inside but rubble and dead bodies.

There was also a blast of red energy enveloped into flames suddenly going in his direction but Shirou had no trouble evading it, all his senses working perfectly despite the energy dominating the place as the Mage felt how calm he was despite the circumstances.

Especially when the air shook with a roar of fury from the man, or dragon, responsible for that blast, red mana spreading around and raising the temperature of the place to the point the rocks around him began melting.

Not slowing down, the armored magus studied the creature on the ground, Structural Analysis telling him nothing while every single one of his other senses screamed danger. 'Ise…'

From his friend there was little to nothing but a creature part dragon and part human, very similar to those who were 'absorbed' by Infinity's power except more consistent while looking less feral because of the sacred gear that actually constructed his form.

Which paradoxically told Shirou that some part of his friend had to be there because sacred gears were connected to the soul. Unfortunately it was buried under a lot of red energy and bloodlust, enough to even give him pause. Indeed the Mage froze in the air, his wings opening fully for stability, so he could just stare at the creature on the ground.

The image of a huge red dragon overlapped with the draconic devil, both extremely intimidating sights that demanded Shirou and Bellerophon fly to the hills and waited for the predator to pass by.

Neither of them did, the magus shrugging off the instinctive fear while the pegasus refused to go anywhere unless his rider told him where. "Sorry if this hurts, Ise! Trace on!" Dozens of the Married Blades surged around the Mage of Swords, each pulsing with their colors and Divinity. "Overdrive! Meteor Rain!"

But he wasn't pulling any punches against the Red Raging Dragon's might and so each pair he summoned was carrying enough power to open holes in mountains and with a swing of his hands he pushed the weapons forward in a more focused attack then the one he used against the Hero Faction.

The dragon obviously saw it coming and roared again, a new mix of mana and flames leaving his throat. The attack was taller than the previous one and consumed every weapon which triggered as many explosions while forcing the Mage to fly higher in an evasive maneuver.

'That thing can't fly, right?' He asked himself while looking at the skeletal wings on the Raging Dragon's back. He kept moving as the blast leaving the dragon's throat pursued him, ripping the sky of the clouds and even leaving a scar made of flames. 'So long as I stay on the air, my chances increase… At least for now…'

Because Shirou already understood the creature he was facing was way more powerful than him and held the potential to become even greater. Despite not knowing for sure if it was able to use Boost or not, the magus knew that Ddraig in his prime was stronger than most gods. So, naturally, having the power equivalent to a minor god meant little in that fight.

"Next one is," Kanshou and Bakuya appeared on his hands as he pondered his choices, "a more direct approach!"

Accelerating to get away from the stream of mana, the Mage of Swords combined the weapons into a bow while the Raging Dragon stopped his attack to roar again. The roar was surprisingly louder than before but the redhead kept his cool as he Traced a Muramasa before noticing Ise's body turning and charging in his direction.

Immediately Shirou dove down, concerned that the dragon had started flying but the notion left his head upon seeing the dragon slowly fall from the sky which presented him with an opening.

"Last Stardust!" And so he pulled the string and began to shoot down several arrows in the span of a second.

Each hit pushed the dragon forward faster and faster until he crashed on one of the biggest buildings still standing. Even then they didn't stop and Shirou advanced to reposition above his mad friend while firing a shot at every moment.

Pretty much in vain when the dragon roared again and got rid of all dust and smoke to reveal his mostly intact form which had only a few scratches.

Scratches that are bleeding. 'Is that… flesh? Oh, I really should have interrogated Azazel about Juggernaut Drive way more. The basics alone don't cover enough!' The Raging Dragon roared again and Shirou began to fly higher to avoid the blast only to see the dragon charging his way. 'Down!'

With his order Bellerophon moved swiftly, his wings beating just in time to intercept the dragon's claw and pull him back while directing the magus' body downwards. The creature still didn't give up and tried to reach him, the gems on his wings propelling him forward.

'And he can actually fly..' Shirou realized rather calmly before turning around and accelerating his descent as the Raging Dragon gave chase. Between the two it was clear who was the faster one so he escaped the dragon's grasp with ease before turning around and shooting another dozen arrows on his face. 'The scales aren't cracking-' Before he could ponder further the Raging Dragon of Domination unleashed another blast and he had to react fast. "Last Stardust!"

His speed reached new heights and he easily evaded the attack by rushing to the left where he landed about three kilometers away from the furious dragon. A new roar made the ground shake and several stones fly towards the magus but his Ascension made such an attack superfluous at best.

Giving him a couple more seconds to think. "If Muramasas aren't working then I can either shoot stronger arrows or…" Caladbolg was strong and with Bellerophon's aura its power could certainly damage Juggernaut Drive but with Ise inside it, Shirou hesitated for a beat. "I don't have much time either but," separating his bow, the Married Swords shone in his hands as the dragon kept attacking, "I shouldn't rush this."

With that in mind the Mage of Swords charged towards the mighty creature, his mind brushing off the instinctive fear which grew stronger as he approached the Raging Dragon to the point it was actively making him want to run away.

Instead Shirou closed the distance between them faster than Ise's body could react and threw a swing with Bakuya towards his torso with all his strength. Divine aura met the Red Dragon Emperor's but the Noble Phantasm managed to break through it and make contact with the body.

Only for the sound of metal clashing with metal to resonate in the empty Lilith, which wasn't really surprising. 'I was expecting resistance but not this much.' Which was why black and white energies were already dancing around his body. "Bellerophon!"

Pushing the pegasus to go faster the redhead unleashed a rain of blows over several parts of the dragon's body, trying to find a weak spot. Still Boosted Gear's natural characteristics endured so even as he hit below the armpits or maneuver to slash behind the knees, nothing made the Raging Dragon budge.

Scales were present everywhere, much like they would on Scale Mail.

And even though his power and weapons could challenge the Heavens, the Red Dragon Emperor's raw power alone was blocking most of the hits. Also, unlike the White One, the Welsh Dragon's ability to Boost was more internal than external giving Bellerophon less wiggle room to affect it.

Boost was spread over all Ise's body so every time the pegasus' power made contact then there should be an effect much like when they cut down Divide. Yet that wasn't happening, Ddraig's ability instinctively preserved inside his Partner's body.

To put it simply, to cut Boost, Shirou would have to cut down Ise's soul, something he wouldn't do even if he could.

'Damn it! There is no way to weaken this thing?' He took a couple of steps back to escape what was to him a very slow bite before going in again with a double stab towards the Raging Dragon's neck. No damage could be seen. 'This is absurd!' Was the only thought on the redhead's mind before he began to throw blows around with reckless abandon. 'Come on, Ise! Give me something!'

When Shirou connected twenty one hits around Ise's body the dragon finally managed to throw a swipe with his left claw that the redhead ducked under the limb to evade before throwing a double upward slash towards his opponent's torso.

Not a single scratch was made yet again, not on the flesh or the gems carved on it. 'This defense is surreal!' Suddenly he found himself jumping and flying backwards as the dragon's tail almost skewed his chest. 'Thanks, Bellerophon!' Mana flowed around his wings and swords as he dove right back in, four strikes hitting the dragon at the same time and making the ground shake. 'Not good enough.'

Despite the combined power of every Kanshou and Bakuya within his armor, and their own extra strength against what he and Azazel classified as monstrous creatures, Ise was no close to being rescued since Juggernaut Drive wasn't even damaged.

Shirou began to move again when the dragon roared in his direction, unleashing a huge fireball. Not only did the Champion of Medusa avoid it, he hit the Raging Dragon's left leg several times while moving around and escaping the creature's arms. Reaching Ise's back, he turned the swords in his hands around to stab him at rapid speed.

Which only made the dragon madder and made him unleash so much aura that the Mage found himself being thrown around the air before a fast recovery. 'Good news; he doesn't know how to fight.' The movements were too erratic and instinctive for that. 'Bad news; he is way too strong for it to be a problem.'

The Raging Dragon turned in his direction and charged again but Shirou had already recovered enough to meet him in the middle and let out a cross slash on Ise's body. He had to quickly weave to the left and retreat when the dragon unleashed another blast that consumed everything several meters around them.

With a small spin the redhead sent mana to his wings as his circuits shone beneath the armor. "Trace on!" More Married Blades took shape around him before he black and white wings sent dozens of them towards the dragon. 'Let's see if this makes an opening.'

Time may not be on his side but Shirou couldn't just rush either; too much power and he could end up killing his friend, after all.

Or, at least, that was what he believed.

Fortunately Kanshou and Bakuya's power was adjustable since it was related to him and Bellerophon just as much as it was related to the number of Married Blades he could Trace and how he used them.

Which was why he didn't hesitate to send a torrent of almost a hundred swords towards his friend, using his past confrontation with Vali for a stipulation that Ise wouldn't die with just that many.

All the dragon did was roar in the Noble Phantasms' direction, sound and fire blasting several of them away while the others flew to their target who didn't even bother to defend himself, taking all the blows while charging at the Mage.

Shirou gritted his teeth as he felt more power flow from his armor and the blades in his hands before charging as well to once again meet the Raging Dragon on the way. Already predicting the furious dragon's path of attack, he danced around his own blades to reach his target while the previous attack was still in effect.

The dragon's scales had a few scratches but weren't broken yet upon seeing the small flaws the Mage found his targets and began to stab and slash those areas. With several swords still in the air, the Raging Dragon was confused and took a few hits that forced him to take a step back before throwing another fireball at his opponent.

But Emiya could see the power building up everytime it was used so he evaded once again and tried to cut Ise's back with all his strength. Backed by Bellerophon and hundreds of Married Blades, counting the ones in his wings and armor, he managed to make a small cut in that area while also forcing the dragon to his knees.

Yet it wasn't enough, red hot energy exploded sending the Mage to the sky where several of his weapons were already waiting. They just needed to be guided and Shirou sent plenty of Bellerophon's aura to the swords on his hands for the next attack while preparing his wings.

Throwing the swords on his hands, the Mage of Swords also sent forward the dozens of Married Blades on his back leaving it naked. All of them hit and pelted Ise's body, some exploding on location, while others ricocheted around and turned around for a second or even third hit.

However the Married Swords were falling to breakthrough. "We need more; I am the bone of my sword." And more came to his hands and back before already flying towards the Raging Dragon with a beat of his wings of the strength of his arms. "More, Bellerophon!"

The pegasus answered with more power and his rider increased the assault twofold in both speed and weapons. Some scratches began to grow larger, cracks and cuts showing up on the Raging Dragon's body as the insane creature reacted by increasing his power. Which had a very unfortunate effect healing his body, nullifying most of Shirou's work.

Yet his swords were still present and they began to spin around before attacking again, always moving towards each other. The dragon was just in their path and thanks to that he was taking dozens of hits per second.

Only they weren't as effective as before. 'This feeling… Is he using Boost?' There was no call nor spell but the Mage could tell the dragon was stronger than before. 'No, not yet. He probably still can but that wasn't it. He is still a berserker, not knowing what to do or even how to fight back.' Mana gathered in his hands as two more Kanshou and Bakuya appeared on his grip. "Steel is my body and fire is my blood." The swords began to spark with power as his new wings opened fully. 'Instinct! It is all about instinct!' "Last Stardust!"

A shockwave followed in his wake as the Legendary Mount showed his full speed combined with the Married Swords, pushing them all to new heights. In less than a second he was already inside the Raging Dragon's personal space and hitting faster than he could react while looking for something.

Trying to find somewhere to focus and save his friend.

Moving around, never stopping in a single place thanks to his body moving at absurd speeds that even the Red Dragon Emperor couldn't keep up with, Shirou attacked everywhere he could reach apparently all at once.

An outside observer would be able to see several after images of the black and white armor moving with streaks of light around the dragon that threw his power and rage around, falling every time to get a single hit in.

By never stopping the Champion of Medusa produced dozens of wounds but all of those were too small to be relevant. 'I should focus on where his real body is.' The Mage pondered while flying around his friend and striking his back more than a hundred times before the dragon finally almost hit a counter. Easily, the redhead moved beneath the skeletal wings followed by his friend's draconic arm and unleashed another hundred slashes on Ise's armored body. 'Not good! It is too tough!'

More Divinity pulsed on his swords before Shirou let out a roar of his own and a cross slash on the Raging Dragon's gems. The creature found himself pushed back just as his shoulder and upper left arm were struck by Kanshou and Bakuya before the redhead spun around for an extreme high speed kick.

A kick that the Mage used to launch himself back, turn around and charge his aura to fortify his wings. The dragon couldn't understand what he was doing but instinctively threw a roar full of energy on the Champion's way. Which was easily evaded as his speed suddenly grew so great the Raging Dragon thought he was seeing double.

Certainly felt like he was fighting more than a person too when dozens of hundreds slashes began to hit his body everywhere once again but even faster than before. Super speed met super defense as the Welsh Dragon barely managed to unleash a volcano worthy of fire around himself forcing Shirou's retreat.

The magus recovered with ease, studying his friend's berserker's body actions. 'His instincts are getting more refined the longer we fight…' He watched as the dragon bashed away the other Married Blades still pelting his body. 'If everywhere has the same defense, then I need to attack where I can save Ise for sure… Juggernaut Drive made him taller than his original body so maybe his head isn't on his neck… But hitting it accidentally is also not good so the best place to focus is…'

Swinging his swords in the air, Shirou Traced another several pairs of Kanshou and Bakuya before charging again. He ended up choosing to focus on his chest where there was a lesser chance of Ise accidentally dying from a hit due to the hours upon hour of the redhead sparring against Scale Mail.

However there was a problem he noticed after another hundred hits. 'Doesn't matter how much I hit, the thing is always fixing itself.' He thought while jumping back from a claw trying to get his head. Instead of moving around to attack the back, he did a complete turn and stabbed the chest again and saw small drops of blood freeze in the air as the strike barely got in. 'Wasn't the Vanishing Dragon supposed to be the defensive one? How tough are his scales that I am having this whole problem with the Red One?'

Bellerophon noticed a blow coming to the side before he did, pushing him back with their wings and avoiding the Raging Dragon's tail which still scratched his chest and ripped apart much of the Mage's armor.

Both rider and mount froze at that fact. 'That shouldn't have happened.'

[...Boost…]

A growl-like voice worthy of a dragon filled the devastated city and power exploded from Ise's body. Enough to raise every stone around them to the sky and a storm of dust as the red armor-like body of the creature actually grew a few centimeters. It was like he gained new bones, especially ribs that made his chest bulge more and overall looking more feral.

Every gem of his body was glowing but not as much as its red eyes.

'Oh no.' Shirou began moving just before the Raging Dragon jumped in his direction making the area explode with mana. "Shit! Shit!" His concentration fizzled for a second and Last Stardust ended. He was thankful it lasted enough for him to move two kilometers away from his previous position as a crater took its place. "And that is just instinct… even the Gorgon was easier to fight against…"

The insane form of Medusa also lacked the sanity needed to put up a proper fight but had far more avenues of attack thanks to the snake hair. The Red Raging Dragon had less angles but held more than enough power to compensate. He was so strong that the Mage finally understood his current opponent was the strongest one he had ever faced by far.

'Holding back… is a terrible idea.' Shirou took a deep breath, uncertain he would be able to save Ise. He would try regardless. "I have created over a thousand blades!"

Unleashing his Reality Marble was too risky, too many eyes around to watch and somewhat unnecessary. As Rias once pointed out as a joke, he had a resource he could spam as much as he wanted. Even Kiba got a little offended when everything he did on one of their spars was just Trace Kanshou and Bakuya until the guy outright quitted.

Funnily enough Ise mocked the Knight a lot that day, joining in the fun when Shirou couldn't keep the joke to himself. Then the redhead proceeded to do the same thing against the Pawn's body only just on a greater scale. They ended up laughing after, much to the blond's irritation.

After all, the Mage of Swords had Bellerophon's mana to use as he wished and the moment Boosts came into play there was little reason to not do so. Besides, he also had a few tricks on his sleeve besides just multiplying his weapons and if Ise was sane he would try everything to stop the Mage from bringing them out.

But he wasn't and the Raging Dragon wasted too much time roaring to the skies in madness instead of just pursuing his enemy. It was just blind by too many negative emotions, the desire to destroy one thing and destroy everything. All it had to guide its actions was wrath and leftover instincts.

A weakness but also a strength because once it caught sight of Shirou again there was no hesitation even when it also noticed the hundreds of swords floating around the armored magus, easily more than two hundred.

However Shirou wasn't attacking with them immediately, instead he was refining his focus for a technique he developed over the last few days. It was something that he needed extra practice on to not only diminish the number of swords involved in its steps but also to make it work faster.

Needing extra time, Bellerophon was happy to provide. "Last Stardust!" His full speed was unleashed again, buying him an extra long second. 'He is much faster than before. Was that just one Boost?' The pegasus didn't know how to answer but that was fine since it didn't change what he had to do. With more power enhancing the weapons in his hands, he threw them with all his strength. "Together we shall reach the Heavens! Kanshou! Bakuya!"

Hundreds of swords hit the Red Raging Dragon's body and pushed him back into the crater before the huge wave of swords kept slamming him deeper underground. The creature only grew more angry and roared to repel the weapons but they were already getting away following the blades Shirou launched towards the horizon.

Yes, he did not aim for the dragon in that attack, looking for the swords' survival instead of pure damage. Yet there were so many weapons flying around they easily hit his friend's body while moving past him to join the other Married Blades.

However they would return as Shirou advanced with more swords and his wings shining with Divinity to enhance Kanshou and Bakuya's attraction. He approached the dragon, throwing more weapons while he was stunned by the previous attack. Left wing positioned, his body already cutting through the remaining distance to slash Juggernaut Drive's right shoulder.

His passage was marked by a loud crunching sound, his eyes captured a crack on the red scales and a trail of blood on his flight path. "That is more like it!" He Traced more swords and threw them around as the wave of swords from before made their return. "Getting closer! Let's go, Bellerophon!"

From the dragon's perspective it was like dozens of copies of Shirou were attacking him at once while weaving around a billion swords trying to pick him apart. Neither was true, everything was just moving so fast to the Raging Dragon that even with his power he had some troubles keeping up.

That and the lack of awareness to understand his opponent was just that fast; in the creature's mind he was really fighting against an army of some sort which only made him more angry.

A good coincidence for Shirou since that meant the Raging Dragon wasn't seeking to destroy anyone but him, completely forgetting about the Underworld or never caring about it in the first place.

Juggernaut Drive was only interesting in destroying after all. The 'what' was irrelevant.

Unfortunately the good news ended there.

[...Boost…]

Once again the rough voice made itself known; the 'memory' of an angry Ddraig who only wanted his freedom and cared not about the cost, activating his main ability and doubling his power in an attempt to break his chains.

Which, thanks to the Boosted Gear, only made his host stronger as his roar unleashed another earthquake and flames to try to eat Shirou alive. But the magus was ready; a precise hit on the throat forced the dragon's head up and saved whatever was left of Lilith as an ocean of flames took over the skies a second time.

It also had the benefit of leaving the Raging Dragon open since his insane friend didn't have the presence of mind to stop roaring until his attack was done. Giving Shirou the opportunity to use Bellerophon's power to direct all swords in a single attack from the sides as he Traced another pair of Married Blades.

However they were different from every other incarnation of the blades present, flawed in a sense but perfect in others as the Mage of Swords pushed the limits of the spell called Reinforcement to propel the Noble Phantasms to their limits and beyond.

Literally beyond as the Married Blades he Traced in that moment looked like different weapons. Sure they looked similar to the normal Kanshou and Bakuya but one would think they were just more extreme works made to be similar to the originals, not those weapons transformed.

Both of them were much taller than their normal counterparts, easily as big as the Ascension's wings and with a look to match while just being one sword each. The handles remained the same but each sword lost their respective counterpart's colors while also gaining feathers of their own.

In a sense at least for while the several metal spikes emerging from the back of the blades reaching their middle, the result of the extreme mana excess pushing through and almost breaking the Noble Phantasms by just existing.

But they wouldn't falter because Kanshou and Bakuya grew stronger from each copy and even if his application of Reinforcement was extreme and crude they wouldn't even crack thanks to the several Married Blades flying around.

Its power was also immense since, when combined with Bellerophon, the new Married Blades could push back the Raging Dragon's energy almost completely, cutting through the creature's aura with almost no effort.

Which told Shioru his spell was strong enough for what he had in mind so the Mage didn't hesitate and launched himself towards his friend's body like a missile, the extreme forms of his swords aiming to pierce the dragon's hide.

"Overedge!" The magus announced his spell and the dragon roared again, not from anger but pain as his scales finally gave in against the fully black and fully white swords.

There was still some resistance but Shirou pushed and blood poured from the wounds which made him flinch a bit. However the hesitation vanished before it could ever take root because the Mage knew the Red Dragon Emperor's limits. At least he knew the Scale Mail limits and proportions.

Ddraig's Balance Breaker was a thing Shirou had faced several times after Ise unlocked it in preparation for a rematch against Vali. Using several different swords and skills he had learned to break and damage those scales in several ways to the point he knew it almost like the back of his hand.

Juggernaut Drive was just a more evolved form of the Scale Mail so he should be keenly aware of how much it was safe to push before hitting Ise's body. Yet blood burst out from 'wounds' even if in slow motion because of how fast Emiya was moving.

And he knew neither Kanshou nor Bakuya had reached Ise's body yet unless the Pawn himself had suddenly grown in size inside the Balance Breaker. Risks needed to be taken regardless because if he did nothing Ise would die anyway so Shirou steeled his resolve and pushed forward.

For him things were moving slowly but for the dragon it was like a pair of giant scissors were trying to enter his body while hundreds of small swords were knocking his head, shoulders and arms around to keep him busy.

If it could feel anything other than anger then the Red Raging Dragon would be drowning in surprise because of the combined attack keeping him out of balance. It tried to push back, bringing his arms down only for dozens of Married Swords to slam it back as the main swords dug deeper in his body.

The process was extremely fast, happening on the millisecond level, so eventually the consequences of the roar bore fruit and the Noble Phantasms were pushed back. Shirou would have been so as well but Bellerophon's aura protected him from the worst while the magus began to turn his swords.

'I need a proper opening!' He thought with determination while twisting his weapons and dragging him towards the center of the dragon's chest. Blood exploded around him but he refused to stop because of two facts; his friend was suffering and still roaring. 'Come on! Come on!'

[...Boost…]

That growl-like voice that Shirou was taught to dread announced again and more energy exploded from Raging Dragon, the crater growing in size as a pillar of red mana reached the sky.

Still the Mage didn't stop because in that moment he saw it, he saw Ise's frozen face with tears pouring freely despite how out of focus his eyes looked. It was almost like he didn't have an iris anymore, or it had grown fully red like the mana he used and the scales involving his body.

Which were also part of his body in a strange sense, Juggernaut Drive changing the Scale Mail in such a way that its existence was less like an armor and more like a cocoon of flesh wrapped around his friend.

There was little to be seen with just how small the opening he created actually was. The Mage could make out some of Ise's face and chest. Using his wings he tried to pry the hole open some more but it was no use. No matter how fast he was, the dragon was still somehow managing to fight him.

Yet that didn't matter at the moment, Shirou found his opening and he would use it.

Turning his giant swords up on the side he tried to make it bigger before letting go of Bakuya to reach Ise. About the flesh stuck on his body the Mage planned to break it apart with Reinforcement but the main plan was reaching his friend and pulling him out with all his might.

Unfortunately it was in that moment, that instant that extended for several seconds to him, that the Mage of Swords made several mistakes.

First; he didn't account how much damage the Raging Dragon's roar had done, most of his Married Blades were scattered and lost around Lilith because of that powerful demonstration of pain.

[...Boost…]

Second; he failed to understand Ddraig's instincts would get sharper with his rage, meaning the number of Boosts could increase quickly.

Third; he lowered his guard when trying to save Ise, launching his body towards the Pawn and leaving an opening even an enraged creature could capitalize if they were fast enough.

Which the Red Dragon Emperor could easily become.

It was part of who he was.

Who they all always were.

All of those who carried Ddraig and the name Red Dragon Emperor.

[...Boost…]

When the claw hit his left side Shirou felt like his body was about to be cut apart and certainly would have had it not been for Bellerophon. The pegasus felt the danger coming faster than his rider and quickly used his wings to save them both only to be caught off guard by the Raging Dragon's new speed.

Sure he wasn't as fast as the pegasus, certainly not even close to Shirou in his Ascension, but he was still significantly fast. Enough so that even with Last Stardust active the Red Dragon Emperor wasn't moving in slow motion anymore. No, he was still slow but instead of half frozen it was like the dragon was moving at a lazy pace and nothing more.

'This is bad…' There was no other way for Shirou to describe it as his body flew away from the dragon without control and blood poured from his shoulder. His face and chest hit the floor once before Bellerophon stabilized then enough to get him back on the air. 'I underestimated Juggernaut Drive- No, that doesn't matter. I need to get Ise out there right now…'

Which wouldn't be easy as the opening he made began to heal and the Reinforced Kanshou and Bakuya fell apart when the dragon moved, easily crushed without his influence and under his opponent's power.

Outside of Last Stardust the Red Raging Dragon roared again watching his prey fly around and slam on the ground because of the hit. Blood from his prey finally had been spilled much to his satisfaction yet it wasn't enough to calm down his fury. It never would be enough to fully get rid of it.

So the dragon charged at Shirou with another roar while the redhead turned in the air to land on his feet, his left hand massaging his right shoulder just as a copy of EM appeared and stabbed the wound.

Understanding he didn't have much time, the magus began to direct his aura towards the Married Blades laying around the crater as while closing his and restoring his armor. Not as fast as the dragon's scales which were already fully fixed when roared again, unleashing a new fire blast much faster than before.

Kicking the ground, Shirou accelerated his flight path and finished patching himself up before activating his circuits. "Trace on! Overedge!" Dozens of Noble Phantasms surrounded him again while two new huge swords shone in his grip. Yet that wasn't enough as he pushed for more mana and more swords. "Overload! Meteor Rain!"

Then the redhead charged, his Divine aura helping guide the weapons around him and spreading to those on the ground to get them airborne again. Swinging his swords he sent a rain of blades towards the Raging Dragon who crushed the weapons with a swipe of his claws before letting out another roar.

Gritting his teeth, Shirou moved around another blast before focusing more on the swords on his grip. "Reach Beyond the Heavens! Pegasus Kanshou and Bakuya Formation!" His very soul called for the weapons and they all answered.

The Raging Dragon felt a few blades hit his back as they surged towards their creator but there was no damage and he didn't care about what his prey was doing. There was only rage which grew stronger when the shining magus managed to survive another of his almighty roars.

So he sent out another one while also taking flight himself by taking another leap. With the strength of his legs it would be a fast flight even if not short. Too bad for him that it wasn't fast enough to get Shirou.

Who spun in the air and hit the giant version of Bakuya on Ise's side sending him flying towards a corner of the crater as his Noble Phantasms reunited. HIs mind eye could see the pieces of the puzzle dancing together to form its complete picture. A picture that revolved around Kanshou holding dozens of Bakuyas and vice versa.

Indeed the giant white blade was completed first, a smaller but still larger white one on Shirou's hand. "Bakuya!"

He roared while taking a swing with a weapon the size of a building, hitting the Raging Dragon still recovering from the previous blow with more strength than even its size afforded and unleashing a huge explosion as all Noble Phantasms blew up at once.

'Not enough!' Shirou wasn't going to underestimate Juggernaut Drive again, the black sword on his left hand coming for the sequence. "Kanshou!"The explosion was as tall as the first one and enough to take down a whole town by itself. "Tch."

Yet the Mage of Swords could feel the dragon's power, his wrath, still burning brightly-

[...Boost…]

-If anything the announcement was just a formality as among the dust and destruction he could catch a glimpse of the Raging Dragon who didn't survive the hit for free and was severely damaged.

For a moment until his power kicked in and the armor rebuilded itself but slightly differently than its previous incarnation; the gems on his shoulders shifted towards the center to form a huge jewel the size of the magus' head as smaller ones, 'rubies', covered the sides of his chest.

The roar he unleashed after that was deafening, breaking even Bellerophon's protection and making his ears bleed from the sound alone as the magus worked on his next projection. Just Kanshou and Bakuya weren't sufficient, he needed firepower as much as speed. Problem was that by adding another sword to his Ascension, Last Stardust would be locked.

"Trace on!" The Mage shouted during the roar, the world speeding up while he slowed down as a new sword took shape in his hand. Not one of the Married Blades but one of European design with a claw for a handle. "Help me save my friend, Ascalon!"

The Holy Sword shone with an aura of bronze that covered his body and made every other sword sing with new power. Bellerophon's Divinity was quick to adapt to the new weapon but it wasn't fully compatible with Kanshou and Bakuya so they inevitably needed to slow down for the new addition's sake.

But they still soared high and the dragon slayer aura filled the redhead with confidence.

Which was quickly shattered when the Raging Dragon suddenly appeared on his face and tried to bite his head off. 'And he is taller?!' Indeed Ise's new form had grown by almost a whole meter. He was already taller than Shirou in Juggernaut Drive but now he was almost double the magus' size. 'Things won't get any easier from now on.' "Ascalon!"

Without hesitation Shirou threw a slash at his friend's 'neck', already knowing his head wasn't actually there. Half expecting at least a scratch or something, he was disappointed that the Holy Sword utterly failed to break the scales. Still couldn't waste time pondering it as the dragon's tail came for his heart.

Bending backwards the Mage escaped the attack only for Bellerophon to pull him left and avoid a huge claw going for his chest. The dragon didn't even bother to roar anymore, sending out a fast sequence of claw strikes to rip off Emiya's hide. Fire pulsed around the red giant which was concerning but the magus' priority was to keep dodging and blocking.

Unfortunately without Last Stardust he suddenly found himself being the slower of the two and failed to find any openings to counterattack. "Trace on!" So he tried to make one, creating dozens Married Blades with Ascalon's aura and sending it towards the dragon.

Each one exploded on impact and for a moment it seemed the creature was faltering when his body bent forward in a strange angle which exposed his 'head'. Knowing that Ise's real head wasn't in danger, the Mage of Swords tried to capitalize on that by stabbing the center of the Raging Dragon's forehead.

However the dragon's new position allowed more leverage for his tail which came sailing through the air and hit the magus' shoulder, almost ripping his arm off. Fortunately Shirou managed to twitch himself enough to avoid a major loss but his body was still sent flying, his torso and shoulder bleeding due to the hit.

And the dragon wasn't going to give him time to recover again as he opened his maw and unleashed a gigantic ball of fire and mana. Both rider and mount acted in sync, their wings moving ahead of the redhead as he raised his hand holding Ascalon in a backwards grip.

"Pegasus Rho Aias Formation!" His wings broke apart into dozens of Noble Phantasms that quickly shifted into seven petals made of swords. Ascalon's Holy Aura joined the fray and while not a perfect match, it was enough to increase his defenses.

Which was how he got away mostly unharmed even as his barrier shook and almost broke under the Raging Dragon's attack. His nose bled a little as one of the petals fell apart but the other six held well enough. However they wouldn't be able to survive many consecutive hits and he was sure the dragon had many, many more.

Fortunately for Shirou the wrath taking over Ise's body was irrational and didn't think about shooting anything else for the moment. Instead it used all its four extra long limbs to charge at the Mage with a speed similar to when he used Last Stardust. It wasn't a conscious attack but a feral straight assault.

Much like a charging bull or a train, once it was done it was really easy to see it coming and the redhead was still fast enough to jump over and dodge just before the impact as Rho Aias broke apart into his wings once again.

The dragon still kept going, rushing ever faster around some pieces of rubble and broken buildings before making a long turn towards the magus' direction. His mouth opened again for more long ranged attacks but his target hadn't stopped moving either, diving closer to the ground and hiding behind some demolished towers.

Which quickly stopped existing but he only passed by and kept moving around, until returning to the crater the Raging Dragon first made and hiding inside it so his shoulder could heal.

His hiding spot was an obvious one so he wasn't surprised when the dragon jumped towards it, fire bristling inside his throat. A huge blast of flames filled the crater like a caldera which would have fried Shirou alive in any case, Ascension or not.

But he still hadn't stopped moving, having stopped running away from his berserk friend, exiting the hole from another side. "Ascalon alone isn't enough… And I can't…" The redhead saw the dragon land just behind him, his red eyes calling for his death. "I can't hold back…" Accelerating once more, the Mage tried to get as much distance as possible to buy himself a few extra seconds. His shoulder was fixed so he focused Ascalon's aura before spinning it and stabbing it on the back of his armor behind his neck. "Please don't die on me, Ise!"

All his body pulsed with Holy Energy as his white wing shone bronze for a moment before the pegasus' power returned Bakuya to its original color. Yet the dragon slayer power was already there, moving around every point of his Ascension like a river joining with the ocean.

Kanshou and Bakuya appeared on his hands once again as Shirou prepared to resume his offensive, the two swords combining into the double, or dual, sword and bow that he would use to take Juggernaut Drive down.

Or at least he hopped because the creature of wrath wasn't going to make it easy, the huge red form was set to trample the Champion of Medusa at any second. The former armor even had its fangs out which had a trail of saliva dripping from his huge canines as the dragon appeared to be hungry for the Mage's flesh.

Instead of running immediately, Shirou held the dual sword to his right side and waited for the appropriate moment to strike. Sure their speed was comparable at the moment, the dragon even surpassing Shirou's since he was out of Last Stardust by just a little, but the redhead was by no means helpless.

After all that wasn't the first time he faced a mindless creature far stronger than himself.

Funnily enough adrenaline and Divinity made a strange mix that messed up his perception a little. Even as the dragon was rushing ever faster he could almost see Ise's body approaching at slow motion once again or at least that was the impression he had.

'I need to get the timing right.' Shirou barely managed to finish that thought when the dragon maw was about to tear his body apart.

Raising his concentration and finding the right timing, Shirou leaned to the side just at the precise moment needed to position his sword where it would hit the red monstrosity arm and leg while avoiding being turned into mush.

With how fast the berserk Ise was moving, Bakuya had no difficulties cutting off his left limbs; it was just a matter of its edge being sharp enough to succeed which it was thanks to the Married Blades' excellency and Ascalon's disposition against dragons.

The creature didn't understand what happened, one moment it was about to eat his prey, the next it had lost its left claws and crashed hard against the ground after his even more out of control body hit several rocks and dragged itself through the floor.

Giving Shirou a new opening as he charged mana into his free hand to prepare a familiar Noble Phantasm. "Ascalon!"

Two arrows of Holy bronze chased after the dragon, hitting his back just as he was slowing down which pushed him further. But the redhead didn't stop there, opening his wings and accelerating after his target with another Ascalon prepped for another hit. Positioning himself above the Raging Dragon, he waited for the creature to raise his head and roar.

Which he did, the usual shockwave and flames spreading everywhere as expected. But they weren't enough to hit Shirou who had an altitude measured in kilometers for safety. The only way he would be hit was if Ise suddenly recovered his senses and focused on trying to actually hit him in the first place.

Something contradictory to Juggernaut Drive itself so the Mage of Swords knew he was safe to aim wherever he wished. "Once more! Ascalon!" The arrow was let go and cut through the Underworld's sky like a shooting star.

Shirou's aim was true and his new target, the Red Raging Dragon's maw, took the hit and the head blew up into fireworks of red and bronze. There was plenty of blood as well but by that point the magus knew that whatever sort of blood that was, it wasn't really Ise's.

Or at least he hoped it wasn't, the worse hypothesis he had was that it was somehow connected to his life energy which just complicated things more. It certainly wouldn't surprise him if Juggernaut Drive was turning his friend's life into blood to somehow sustain itself.

Blood was connected to life biologically and spiritually so it made sense.

Flying full speed towards the ground, the Mage tilted the dual sword so one of the edges was turned backwards and thanks to it the instant he arrived it was easy to make a slash with Bakuya before following it up with Kanshou by adding a full spin of his body to add more force.

Repeating the process over several times in a small dance, every slash focused on the gem in the dragon's chest, the attacks kept going and going until the redhead found his whole body tinged in blood thanks to the Raging Dragon still trying to regenerate despite missing a head.

'The power isn't going away! Is it because… this body is a fake?!' Gliding backwards to get some space, Shirou separated the weapons to increase their power. "Overedge!"

Since there were less Married Swords around the process was considerably harder but he managed to stabilize the blades long enough to stab the dragon with all his strength just before they blew up.

Despite burning his hands and several cracks spreading around his armor, Shirou pushed forwards nonetheless, sizing the new openings he made with both hands and pulling them with all his strength.

Once again he saw his friend's face. "Ise! Wake up!" He shouted to the frozen Pawn as his hand grabbed his shirt. "Come on! Come on! Almost!" When he felt the shirt tearing apart he used Reinforcement to save it. "Almost!" His wings began to beat and help him pull, Bellerophon sending more energy to his arms. "ALMOST!"

[...Boost…]

Then he heard the words making his eyes grow wide to see the dragon's head fully regenerated staring straight at him. Surprisingly the thing looked even angrier than before and the roar it let out was really deafening even for him despite the many protections around his body.

For the first time during the fight Shirou flinched completely and his body froze making him let his friend go to cover his ears against the sound which was so loud that the remains of Lilith flew around creating a new crater where the two stood.

Then only the Raging Dragon was left standing on it when its left claws hit Shirou squarely in the chest and sent him flying several kilometers away from that position. The wounds were as big as his torso, going from shoulder to hip, his skin exposed as much of his Ascension was demolished by the blow.

Blood also escaped Shirou's mouth beneath the helmet as the blow shook his whole body. 'Damn it!' Almost automatically the Mage Traced an EM to stab his chest just before he fell on what was left of a department store. Just ruins remained, ruins, the dead and an almost dead Mage. "Fuck!"

Shirou tried to get up slowly as he felt the dragon approaching his position. Once again he was fortunate that the Raging Dragon was a creature of instinct and wrath. It would take a few minutes before the berserk dragon found him but just to be safe the reedhead began dragging himself somewhere else.

There were flames and bodies everywhere, almost a parody of his place of birth, but Shirou ignored it all. 'Damaging the head is not enough. That body… isn't real.' His helmet opened for a second allowing him to spit out blood before closing around his face again. 'It is a sacred gear through and through. Also, just reaching Ise isn't good enough either.'

Laying his back on a huge piece of rubble, the young man felt much better in just a few seconds as his wound healed extremely fast thanks to the Legendary Mount's mana. A few seconds later his Ascension was pristine and he felt himself full of energy once again even if there was an extra lethargy because of it.

'Bellerophon, are you alright?' The pegasus tried to give the impression he was but the Mage could tell he was only alive because of the Mount. 'Did you do something to absorb the blow? You aren't hurt but-'

Their conversation was cut short when the dragon unleashed a blast of fire that began to consume the whole section where Shirou was resting. The magus opened his wings once more to escape the flames but found himself once again in danger when he registered the dragon's eyes locked into his.

Spinning on the air, the redhead moved before the Raging Dragon did, its powerful leap far faster than before and almost catching him an instant after their eyes met. It was actually so powerful that the dragon was about to reach the clouds and only failed to do so when a barrier got in his way.

That wasn't the same barrier that Lilith had before; ease to see when it survived the impact with the dragon and the several drawings of snakes and runes all over its extension. Unfortunately it wasn't all powerful either since the casual contact with Juggernaut Drive was enough to make the whole thing shake.

A couple more attacks and the berserk Ise would be loose in the Underworld but once again the situation leaned towards another direction because the Raging Dragon was focused only on the prey before his eyes.

Those instincts that demanded Shirou's blood were stronger than any other thirst for destruction. Much like a desperate animal hungry for its next meal, the Red Raging Dragon of Domination once again proved he couldn't really think things through.

Which unfortunately had him jumping down towards the Mage but by that point Shirou had already Traced several Married Blades full of Ascalon's power and sent them out against the dragon.

Not a single one of those penetrated those mighty scales but they had another goal; of hiding the redhead among them so he could move around more easily. It was another tactic that took advantage of the Red Raging Dragon's berserk nature and something the Champion of Medusa was ready to abuse.

All for the sake of buying one more second.

All to save his friend.

And once he was behind the giant dragon, the redhead knew he had a golden opportunity to accomplish his goals.

Turning around with his bow ready once more, the Mage of Swords Traced a powerful arrow while filling it with even more power. "Ascalon into Caladbolg! Dragon Slayer Spiral Sword!" The arrow shone bright with several colors, bronze on top of them all, before it was finally unleashed against the dragon's descending back. "Break everything!"

Just as he hit the ground, Ise's body turned up and unleashed a mighty roar which clashed against the Rainbow Sword setting it off a millisecond before it was intended. However by that point it was too late as its destruction was practically on the dragon's face. Space began to bend and crack into a blast that threw its creator around and finished leveling Lilith.

Indeed most of the rubble became dust by half of the city's extension as everything twisted and turned around the Red Raging Dragon who had his form compressed for an instant before instincts made the creature fight back against the Noble Phantasm.

Caladbolg also had its power increased several times over against dragons thanks to Ascalon which made most of the Dragon of Domination's natural defenses weaker yet Juggernaut Drive still persisted.

The Spiral Sword twisted everything in its path when fully unleashed which counted for everything in that zone regardless of composition. Whole mountains could disappear because of the Original Noble Phantasms with ease; stone, animals and plants alike.

Its Altered arrow form wasn't far behind on that amount of destruction, its existence as a Broken Phantasm giving it a comparable range even if it wasn't perfect or that it would be always a one time deal unless Shirou Traced more.

Between all that and Ascalon, the thing could probably wipe out an army or two without worries, a whole forest of dragons could vanish in the blink of an eye if the Mage of Swords was so inclined.

Yet the same Fate wouldn't befell the Original Red Dragon Emperor whose powers Juggernaut Drive was capable of calling upon.

That was a creature gods feared.

One of the Ten Strongest Beings.

The Red Dragon Emperor.

The Red Dragon of Domination.

The Welsh Dragon.

Y Ddraig Goch.

Sure Ise's berserk form didn't share the full might of the dragon's prime; it neither had the bulk of a giant dragon, nor the control it held over his ability to Boost and much less the finesse needed to apply that power properly.

Juggernaut Drive still held the full power of a Heavenly Dragon, the sort of power that could challenge the gods and win. Not just minor ones either or even individually for that matter; during his prime if Ddraig was inclined the dragon could have easily decimated whole Pantheons.

So even when Space bended and distorted because of Caladbolg, once the Raging Dragon was aware enough of the danger it was only a matter of time until its instincts adapted and he used his power for some sort of countermeasure.

It was still an insane dragon fighting against an invisible force so what it actually did was lash out and expel its power around in great quantities until whatever was bothering it broke apart-

[...Boost…]

-or stopped being a problem when his power grew so high that even Ascalon's influence waned before the massive red aura bursting from his body.

[...Boost…]

Once he recovered from being flung around because of his arrow early explosion, Shirou could only watch stunned how Caladbolg's effects were little by little nullified and countered by the Red Dragon Emperor's Boosts.

'He is Boosting himself and the area? He can do two at once? I thought he could only give Boosts to things with Gift… Unless Gift is something Boosted Gear uses to translate Ddraig's real capacity…' Shaking his head, the Mage shrugged off his doubts and prepared another arrow. "Doesn't matter. He still didn't get away from that unharmed." Indeed the redhead could see blood pouring from all over the dragon's body as he fought against the Spiral Sword's power. 'I just hope Ise can survive a second-'

A roar shook the area including the air itself almost making Bellerophon lose their balance. The Raging Dragon had done it, he had triumphed over Caladbolg's attack and his eyes were once again fixed on his prey. In those conditions, firing another arrow was a bad idea since the thing would be shot down before it got close enough to do damage.

Time also wasn't on the Mage's side as the dragon healed from previous damage with each passing second. Realizing the peril he was in, the redhead changed the weapon he was Tracing for a safer alternative.

"Ascalon with Hrunting!" Red and bronze flew off his bow as the dragon let loose another powerful blast. The clash resulted in a blinding explosion but the magus was unaffected by it thanks to his Ascension. 'In hindsight, stopping Vali from ever using Juggernaut Drive was the best decision I could have ever made in that fight.' Shirou couldn't help but think as, once he was several kilometers away from his previous position, he finished preparing another Noble Phantasm. "Hrunting!"

The Hound of the Red Plains gave chase but didn't have to fly for long because its target came straight at it without fear. Another explosion was triggered but wasn't enough to stop the Raging Dragon that charged ahead while unleashing a huge fireball the size of a stadium towards Shirou.

Whose eyes grew wide upon realizing that the Dragon of Domination either was growing smarter or his instincts were getting sharper. Whatever the case he accelerated to the right and barely dodged the fire, letting it sail forth to blow up somewhere away from him. There was also no time to rest as his friend's body closed the distance and almost bit his arm off.

He only failed because the redhead quickly threw his Kanshou wing on the way which fell apart in the instant of contact but bought him enough time to use his white wing to land properly and spin around to let loose five more arrows.

However, unlike the last time he made a similar maneuver, the dragon slowed down and turned before the arrows hit. When they did it was only in his head and chest while in an almost ineffective manner. Gliding backwards, Shirou realized advancing in that moment was a horrible idea so he kept firing Noble Phantasms against his opponent.

"Ascalon! Ascalon! Ascalon!" Using the one on his back and calling for them before every shot, the redhead increased the power output, unleashing several explosions on the dragon's body. "Tsk. This is not good."

Unfortunately none of them was enough to even slow down the Raging Dragon who was on all fours again and using his maw as a flamethrower to turn his whole body into a missile of flame.

Separating Kanshou and Bakuya, Shirou pushed his wings forward to unleash every blade he could in short notice but the dragon just pushed through and broke them all without difficulty, hitting his crossed swords just as he was about to use Overedge.

Yet the redhead anticipated that and his body was already leaning to the right which greatly diminished the impact of the hit when his blades shattered. He could feel his arms shaking as he started running opposite to the dragon so as to avoid the fire. With how he was turning the magus barely managed to successfully avoid the tail which still scratched his chest.

Only his Ascension was damaged but both him and Bellerophon were already Tracing his wings again so fixing the torso wasn't difficult. What was difficult was processing how the Raging Dragon suddenly slid on the floor, pushing around a lot of dirt, to eventually stop just a few short meters from the magus.

More reasons for him to not stop, especially when his friend began to chase him again. "Haha… Seriously, if you were dedicated like this to training… even gods would fear you, Ise… Strongest of the Underworld… Ten times out of ten!" Shirou joked to calm himself down as concern filled all of his being. 'How much of his life energy has he already lost? I can't keep wasting time!'

His wings recovered, the black and white warrior took flight again which saved him from another tackle from the dragon. Yet there would be no escaping anymore as the red tail wrapped itself around the magus' ankle.

"Trace on! Overload! Meteor Rain!" Shirou acted quickly, Kanshou and Bakuya taking shape in his hands and all around him before falling down towards his friend with Ascalon's aura powering every set.

Some damage was visible but it was small because how much stronger red scales had grown, certainly not enough to stop the Raging Dragon from pulling the redhead down and slamming him on the ground so hard that if not for his Ascension it was safe to say the redhead's organs would have turned into soup.

When the tail let go it was proof the creature still was insane and wanting to rip him apart with his own claws instead of finishing the job when he had the chance. He would have another anyway because Shirou failed to escape as, by that point, the Red Dragon Emperor had grown faster than him.

Options limited, the Mage of Swords still tried, shouting as the Ascalon on his back vanished into mana, "Last Stardust!" Yet the dragon was still fast enough to his claws to connect and almost rip off his arms, shoving him to the side. "Argh!"

Shirou fought to survive and managed to raise his arms to partially block the hit which saved his life. Kanshou and Bakuya broke in an instant, his left arm with them, but the redhead still managed to grab two Kanshous from the ground to barely stop the dragon from eating his head.

Unfortunately that still didn't mean he could escape as the Raging Dragon, presently at least twice as tall compared to when the fight began, moved to bite off his head. The crossed blades pushed him back by the forehead but the creature's strength was too great. It inched closer and closer, drops of saliva hitting the Champion's helmet.

"Your breath… stinks, Ise." Which left Shirou with his back on the ground, chest bleeding a lot, an arm half functional and death staring right in his face as the dragon was just a few centimeters from eating him. His wings moved around beneath his body, Bellerophon desperately trying to help his rider. 'Think! There must be something I can do!'

"INCOMING!" A familiar voice announced loudly and the Mage felt a wave of relief at receiving reinforcements.

Which gave him enough confidence to do something a little drastic. "Overedge!" The two Kanshous transformed in their huge form before the redhead pushed even more mana on them. "GO!"

The Noble Phantasms exploded on his hands causing more damage than his armor could deal with but they also managed to push the Raging Dragon back. Indeed the creature couldn't understand what was happening when his body was suddenly shoved upwards and stood once again in two legs.

Giving Azazel a clear route to hit their friend with little risk to the redhead. "Dropping down the hammer!" True enough the fallen angel was carrying a huge hammer made of Light which was big enough to hit Ise's body in full and send him flying with it. The Cadre, wearing his Down Fall Dragon Spear Scale Mail and his twelve wings proudly on display, landed beside the Mage. "Hell of an idea picking a fight with a Juggernaut Drive! Tell me who made that bet with you so I can kill them after I finish you off?!"

"I had to save Ise!" Shirou retorted while using three EMs, one for his chest, two for his hands, to accelerate the healing. Basically he was abusing Bellerophon's mana because there was no time to waste. "If I didn't-"

"You know what Juggernaut Drive is, right? I gave you the basics and I very much doubt nobody warned you that this is the definition of a suicide mission!" Azazel shot back while creating a Light halberd and preparing himself for the fight of the century. Literally, after a hundred years that was going to be the toughest fight he was getting after a good time of peace. "And now here I am, joining you… I am sure that I just crossed the line of insanity right then and there. Oh, I am regretting this already…"

Chuckling at that argument, the Mage replied, "Well… then why are you here? Not seeing anyone else coming to save my 'suicidal' ass." Then he pondered. "Wait! How are you here?! I thought Medusa and Odin were making a barrier!"

"They did and then a huge fireball blew up a section of it to smithereens. Had to run like mad to get there before they patch it up and then run to save your hide!" Both watched as the Raging Dragon stood up once again, his form showing not a single scratch. "So… Do you have a plan or are we just improvising?"

"You sure you don't want to run?" Shirou was still patching himself up when asking that while Tracing more Married Blades around them in preparation for the fight.

"Hey, if we can save Ise, that is great. I just don't want you to die either, so I'm going to try not to." Azazel replied honestly as the dragon roared. Neither man would deny they were nervous. "About that plan…"

"It is an armor, a fake body even, involving Ise. He is just there buried over a ton of hate and flesh. Mostly flesh, I think… All we have to do is pull him out." Shirou argued with certainty.

"Easy to say… You know, either way this will end up as a song of sorts." Despite his helmet, Azazel knew Shirou was giving him a look of disbelief. "Sort fits the criteria for it, don'tcha think? Two friends charging forth to save a third one from self destruction… Although, even if we save him now, there is no guarantee he is going to live long. Ise is strong but… he has been on Juggernaut Drive for a few minutes. That must have already eaten a lot of his lifespan."

"He is a devil. First time one of those ever got stuck in Juggernaut Drive too. So long he doesn't die before we save him, there is a chance." The Mage rationalized and the fallen angel could only hum in agreement. Then he Traced a sword and threw it to Azazel who caught the blade with a surprised expression before Shirou Traced another copy for himself. "I know you have a dragon's power but I think this will help."

"Hey, that isn't how it works… Only humans can… Wait a minute!" A grin of glee grew on the black haired man's lips, the magus was sure despite the helmet. "Your Holy Swords work for anyone?"

"With some Alterations. You don't need to think about it as just a sword, I have no doubt you can use it at full capacity. Aura and all."

"Hahahaha! I wonder what Father would have thought about this!" Raising the weapon above his head, Azazel couldn't help but admire Ascalon on his grasp. "A fallen angel using a Holy Blade to save a devil while working with a Mage! This is the stuff of Legends! Kukuku." He watched Shirou position an Ascalon at his back, Kanshou and Bakuya back on his hands. "By the way, if there is a song or a play, my name goes first."

"'Azazel and Emiya Shirou versus the Red Dragon Emperor'?"

"That isn't how it goes! The title needs more flair, Shirou! Flair!"

Jokes were over when the dragon processed the presence of an extra prey and rushed towards them with his already typical fury. Azazel wasted no time and channeled both Fafnir and Ascalon's powers into his Light halberd. When he threw the weapon, it suddenly grew big enough to consume the Raging Dragon before exploding.

Wasn't enough to stop him but they could see the creature slow down and bleed all over, both understanding instantly that if he had skin instead of scales they would be seeing several burns.

"Haha! It works!" Azazel shouted with joy before jumping right while Shirou jumped left, the two splitting up to escape the dragon's charge. "Hell! Maybe I should have gotten a Holy Sword years ago!"

"Focus!" The Mage half ordered half complained while dashing closer to the dragon's side and throwing a cross slash to his waist.

The wrathful creature didn't appreciate the strike and turned his whole body to either crush the magus with his claws or burn him into cinder with a fire breath strong enough to create a stream of flames.

However Shirou didn't slow down and was already flying away the millisecond the blow connected, leaving the dragon to hit nothing but air. And leaving his back exposed to Azazel who held Ascalon with his two hands before throwing a slash on Ise's back. A roar of pain escaped the berserk Pawn who fell to a knee as his tail tried to hit the man armored in gold.

But the Cadre understood that Fafnir's scales weren't a good match for Ddraig's offense so he dealt the damage and flew away as fast as his wings could carry him. Unfortunately he wasn't as fast as the redhead so the dragon managed to turn around in time to hit the fallen angel with his left claw.

Except that Azazel had already factored in that possibility and had already raised a barrier to reinforce his Scale Mail which weakened the blow, buying him a few seconds. Seconds Shirou used to direct Bellerophon's mana towards the many Kanshou and Bakuya in the lying around to raise the swords and combine them with the ones in his hands.

"Kanshou!" The hit was hard enough to make the earth shake and ruin the dragon's balance, sending him to the ground. Turning his whole body, he felt his right wing joining with his other sword. "Bakuya!"

A wave of white energy exploded from that attack and pushed the dragon several meters back but the Red Raging Dragon wasn't done by any means. He rolled around a little before ending on all fours with an aura of death around his body, his maw gathering Fire for a devastating attack.

"Ascalon!" Azazel the flames stopped in its tracks by hitting the dragon's neck with his Holy Sword but that wasn't just it. Georgios' weapon had another aura around the blade making it bigger and stronger, a fallen angel's Light, the Leader of Grigori's, Azazel's, Light combined with Fafnir's aura. "ORA!"

The dragon felt his whole body being pushed to the side because of the blow, his neck cracking like an armor would before half of the head blew apart thanks to how much strength was channeled in that single point.

But his arms were free so it managed to bash Azazel away before the damage was too much. 'That sort of attack should have been difficult to deal with.' The fallen angel made a turn and straightened himself in the air before flying too far. Part of his Scale Mail was damaged but his sacred gear could last a couple more hits so long he guarded beforehand. 'No signs of pain, no signs of fatigue either…' Calmly the Cadre watched Shirou take his place by shooting several arrows on the dragon's head before closing the distance and slashing the same place the older man did. 'This body is still somehow fighting without a brain… No, that is incorrect. There is a logic to these movements beyond an animal's and in that case… In that case…' Things were more difficult than he thought and so the Scapegoat got back into the fray just as the Mage of Swords dove to the side to avoid a hit. "Shirou! He is fighting by reflex!"

"I think," the magus jumped back as Azazel slashed the Raging Dragon's leg which didn't stop it from pursuing the redhead, "I already knew that!"

"No, no! You don't get it!" Azazel retorted by focusing his power on Ascalon's blade before unleashing a wave of mana so strong the dragon bled from the side, forcing him to acknowledge the fallen angel. "His movements are getting sharper because he is basically remembering how his predecessors fought! Like muscle memory but for his soul!" The fallen angel immediately flew high, just avoiding a stream of fire going in his direction which still pushed him back when it exploded. A pillar of flames tried to fry him but he kept updating his ally. "He isn't feeling pain or anything like that! Everytime he roars it is because they remember how to feel it!"

Helping his friend before the fallen angel got cooked, Shirou Traced several more Married Swords and filled them with Ascalon's aura before shouting, "Overedge!" The cross blow opened the Raging Dragon's back to reveal Ise's but it healed faster than the redhead expected resulting in his getting hit by the tail and breaking several bones even as he replied. "Then I was right! His body is definitely fake! It isn't really connected to anything!"

No nerves, no skin, the blood just being a consequence of Juggernaut Drive and had nothing to do with Ise at all. He actually wasn't even breathing at all. Every roar was just an involuntary reaction.

An expression of rage everlasting.

Pointing his sword towards the dragon about to turn on his friend, Azazel used it as a blueprint to create several hundred constructs of Light. "That was already without a doubt but that means we are in a very much bigger pickle! Thousand Swords!" Combining his power with Ascalon's, every single weapon managed to hit and do damage. And he wasn't done. "Oh, Dragon of Greed, take hold of our enemy's power and show him your Superiority!"

Every flame around Lilith resonated with the golden aura around Azazel's body, changing their color to match the dragon who was usurping them. Raising his sword high, the fallen angel channeled the Fire on its tip to spread Ascalon's dragon slayer properties before striking again.

Such a process took some time, not something the Raging Dragon was willing to just give for free. His body rose to its full height once again, his muscles bulging as the red scales restored themselves thanks to the dragon's sheer might. Another roar escaped his throat and a blast of mana flew towards the Cadre.

Only for Shirou to fly between his friends to intercept. "With Ascalon! Hrunting!" The arrow cut through the blast like a comet before hitting Ise's body in the chest. The dragon barely felt it and was already preparing another attack when the redhead shortened the distance between the two and cut his shoulders with the Married Blades. "Azazel!"

"On it!" All Fire around Lilith, every speck of it created by the Red Dragon Emperor, was channeled into Ascalon's blade before the fallen angel took a mighty swing with a hold of determination.

Instead of Holy Light the sword unleashed a stream of flames tinged with gold and bronze so bright that it actually managed to blind the dragon which gave the magus in front of him space to get away before getting hit.

When they did it the equivalent of several streets of Lilith melted under the heat, becoming a sort of lake of tar and melted stone around the Raging Dragon of Domination. It wasn't enough to slow him down as the creature shrugged off some of the damage and stood tall despite the strike.

Still his movements were slow and wasteful leaving behind openings that both men didn't hesitate to take advantage of; Azazel descending quickly from the skies struck the dragon from shoulder to hip with the still extremely hot Ascalon while Shirou had rotated from his previous position to hit his friend's back.

And they didn't stop there as the former stomped on the melted stone to hit a second slash on the long dragon's neck as the latter hit another six hits between the Raging Dragon's wings.

Neither truly found Ise's real body stuck inside Juggernaut Drive but their attacks were having an effect, the dragon falling to his knees as both warriors kept attacking his upper body as much as they could before breaking out and getting away just when a wave of Fire left the dragon's throat.

It bought the berserk Red Dragon Emperor time to heal but for barely less than a second since Shirou returned to attack the head with Overedge. The impact of both Noble Phantasms crushed the armored head and extinguished much of the fire with the rest falling under Fafnir's command, being added to Ascalon.

Azazel, seeing how his lab partner was retreating to safety, didn't hesitate to channel his mana on the sword. 'To think only humans should use most Noble Phantasms, not to mention Holy Swords.' He couldn't wait to run some experiments at a later date. If there was one. "Ascalon!"

[...Boost…]

Before Azazel's attack hit, the Red Raging Dragon's power doubled once again, yet much of it was wasted on a fast heal for the head and the remaining wounds all over its body. That meant the insane creature was exposed to the slash and the blast that followed it point blank on his chest which decimated most of his torso.

"Now!" The Cadre called.

"Ascalon!" And the redhead delivered by slashing the Red Dragon Emperor's back with his own Holy Sword to reveal more of Ise's body. "We are close!"

"Keep pushing!"

[...Boost…]

Neither cared about the dragon's call since they were determined to not give him any extra time to regenerate. Moving in sync they began to hack down the dragon's scales around the devil's body, exposing more and more of the Pawn.

Of course the Raging Dragon tried to fight back, his mighty claws missing Azazel by a hair when he ducked at the right time while Shirou kept avoiding the tail constantly, weaving several blows in between his dodges.

Soon they saw most of Ise free, his legs still stuck within the dragon combined like much of his upper back and hands. "Is that enough?!" Shirou asked.

"I don't know!" Yet Azazel didn't hesitate, grabbing the brown haired boy's shoulder and shoving Ascalon on that extremity to cut the sacred gear produced flesh a little more.

Understanding his friend's idea, Shirou did the same from the other side, his sword sharper thanks to a lot of Bellerophon's mana. The dragon slayer weapons carved the Raging Dragon's body with their owners' resolve and courage as they fought against the red powerful wrath slamming on their shoulders.

[...Boost! Boost!]

Because the wrath from the previous Red Dragon Emperors wasn't easily undone, they could hear how dozens of voices joined the call to give their current Host more power at a faster pace.

Yes, they could also see the dragon's eyes shining like two meteors glaring at them just before it unleashed his aura with a force they haven't felt before. At least Shirou didn't, Azazel remembered that power well as he had faced that same power in the past just before the most bloody battle of the Great War.

"Get back!" The fallen angel warned and found himself surprised when Shirou dodged the expanding aura and grabbed him by the waist before accelerating further. The Champion of Medusa didn't stop until they were practically on the other side of the city a second later. "You used Last-"

"Yes!" He had to let Ascalon go again but Azazel still held his weapon and together they had a chance. "What do you think is going on now?!"

Both looked back to see the dragon fully regenerated and looked at them with even more infuriated eyes. "Honestly? No clue!" Both quickly raised their weapons, Ascalon for the Cadre and Kanshou and Bakuya for the Mage, preparing to continue the fight. "But if I had to speculate, I think the former Hosts refuse to let Juggernaut Drive to lose so easily."

"Don't call this easy!" Despite the situation Shirou couldn't help but be slightly offended if a bit concerned. While the fight had been going for a few minutes since he first confronted the Raging Dragon, to the Mage it had actually been considerably longer.

Going in and out of Last Stardust, pushing his Reinforcement to its limits, Tracing several weapons at rapid speeds and healing himself every time the dragon managed a direct hit was starting to take a toll on his body.

Had it not been for Bellerophon then the Mage of Swords would have been out of that fight a dozen times over if not more. Dead for sure in more than one of these scenarios, certain from the very start without the pegasus' speed. His Divinity itself was the greatest boon he had ever received in his life, improving several of his stats.

Only his Reality Marble was the superior trump which had Shirou wondering. 'Should I use Unlimited Blade Works? What would that do?' He had already confirmed that it was possible to use his soul's full might during Ascension under a few restrictions. However, that wasn't the best solution for that particular conundrum. 'While that would give me more weapons to work with, Bellerophon can do the same thing by himself and the only few weapons who would make a difference are…'

Caliburn and Clarent, those were the strongest swords he had remaining since Caladbolg failed to do enough damage. Their powers were comparable to the Rainbow Sword with side benefits he couldn't really use without facing Artoria or holding the original Caliburn. And without the dragon slayer trait then they would make little difference in that fight.

Facts were facts and only two swords were truly great with Bellerophon. 'My best weapons are still a combination of Kanshou, Bakuya and Ascalon.' All that was pondered in less than a second before he finally said. "Azazel, I am going all out with the Married Blades! I need you to compliment my attack with Ascalon!"

"Sure thing!" The Cadre's power filled his Holy Sword instantly, making a huge blade of energy emerge from the handle which surprised Shirou. "Fafnir is also giving me a boost but he says that we need to finish this off quickly! The worst is about to come!" From experience, Azazel knew what the worst really looked like.

Unfortunately they had less time than they thought as in the next instant the dragon was already fully healed and glared at them both with shining red eyes and a completely different attitude. He wasn't charging anymore despite the pure rage that emanated from every pore of his body.

On the contrary, the dragon was still like a statue almost as if waiting for his prey to act first.

"What do you think he is doing?" Shirou asked cautiously.

"What do you think?" Azazel asked back just as cautiously but far more nervously. He had a terrible feeling creeping on his neck which made his whole body shake with fear.

[Boost!Boost!Boost!Boost!Boost!Boost!]

Both knew that couldn't be good. "I think we can't waste any more time!" Combining his swords, Shirou called his strongest arrow. "Caladbolg!" Just before Azazel threw a powerful swing with Ascalon unleashing a wave of Holy Light behind it. Yet the dragon did something that caught the magus off guard; he jumped. "What?!"

"That is bad!" Soon they had to split up as a wave of red energy consumed the area where they were standing. "He is preparing something!" The Scapegoat realized once he felt the power building up around Ise's body. "That is…" Despite never seeing what was about to be unleashed personally, the man remembered cleaning its messes enough to know that unless he and the magus did something they were doomed. "Shirou! Shields!"

The fallen angel found himself surprised when the Champion of Medusa was already by his side and dismantling his wings while Tracing copy after copy of Kanshou and Bakuya, his body shining with Divinity as he immersed himself fully on Last Stardust.

Because despite not knowing what exactly he was about to face, the redhead understood that something extremely dangerous was coming. The previous attack was too premeditated, basically automatic, a move designed to separate the two allies and make sure they couldn't build up a defense together.

That fact alone helped them deduce that the previous Red Dragon Emperors had managed to push through the fog of rage that should be drowning them long enough to apply that fury into exterminating the two faster.

Implying the next attack would be a decisive one which was why the Raging Dragon of Domination accumulated so much energy through Boosts and showed no sign of stopping, his red aura dancing erratically before focusing on his chest.

There was so much energy there that the two men grew instinctively afraid, like both of them were standing in the middle of a nuclear reactor about to blow and without any protection of any kind.

After Ise's body landed, another roar from the Raging Dragon of Domination ran through the Underworld, his aura growing so powerful that it was like they were in the deep of a red ocean before suddenly being siphoned into the gem in his chest that began to shine even brighter.

For one last time the incarnation of the Red Dragon Emperor's rage locked eyes with his prey as his huge body stood straight and his tail rested on the ground in what was supposed to be a neutral posture.

Yet just looking at that both Shirou and Azazel felt threatened like never before.

Seconds extended into minutes for the Mage of Swords as he pushed his body further with Bellerophon's assistance to Trace weapons faster than he could blink. Indeed the redhead expectatives were correct and his Projection rate was as fast as it would be if he was inside Unlimited Blade Works.

Which wasn't enough, just having a few dozen Married Blades around would accomplish nothing which was why Medusa's Champion pushed more Divinity into the weapons to start manipulating them even before Tracing them all.

The image of what he wanted was already on his mind but to make a solid defense he needed at least a hundred more pairs of Married Blades. He was aiming for at least a thousand for each petal if possible. Anything less and the dragon would have his meal or at least no longer have any prey to chase around Lilith.

Unfortunately time wasn't on his side because no matter how much Shirou stretched it, the Raging Dragon of Domination wasn't far behind. Proof of that was when almost the whole of the scarlet aura had focused on a single point above the giant green gem on his chest, the prelude for destruction.

"Grasping the Past! Seeking the Future!" Realizing that, the Mage of Swords cut corners and acted quickly, his Reality Marble's aria pushing him just a little forward and calling another hundred swords. "Pegasus Rho Aias Formation!"

The black and white flower bloomed in the battlefield once again. But its colors were a bit different as gold motes of light tied themselves around its petals. It was the work of Azazel and Fafnir, the latter with his hand on Shirou's back to help reinforce their defenses.

With that the Legendary Shield from the Trojan War had its capabilities amplified by the Dragon of Greed whose defenses was considered one of the best of his species falling behind only the Vanishing Dragon.

Around the shield of black and white surged a thin aura of gold, Mage and Cadre's powers combined to form a barrier which both could freely admit was the strongest defense they had ever built.

"LONGINUS SMASHER!" [LONGINUS SMASHER!]

…

Everyone felt the upcoming destruction before without words or warnings other than the massive power spike from the Red Raging Dragon of Domination and his roar which was strong enough to deafen several people by accident.

Desperate devils and fallen angels threw themselves at the barrier despite not being assigned to it, even the Maous worked into reinforcing that thin wall between them and the death that was sure about to be unleashed in the Underworld.

However the greatest contributors for those barriers, for there were several layers of them surrounding Lilith by that point, were the gods working more than anyone else. Despite being just two, Medusa and Odin were far better at making barriers than anybody in the whole dimension by a huge margin, especially when the rest was disorganized.

Panic had people making mistakes, the devils having to redo their part at least twice while the gods built the lower structure. If not for Sirzechs' control and power then they would all be toast. At least their situation was better than the fallen angels who needed a minute to recover after the barrier almost fell for the first time.

None could blame them since there was a little panic when the dragon opened a hole in their wall by chance and Azazel got inside leaving several of his subordinates scrambling to get things back under control again.

Thankfully the Raging Dragon gave them a modest break, his strikes focusing on the two stuck with him in the leftovers of Lilith which gave everybody time to work together and form a decent containment for the creature.

At least that was what the majority believed until Odin warned, "If you think the Red Dragon Emperor can't break out from this then you are bloody idiots! Back at work! On the double!"

His words reached everybody, as a god's should, and his warning wasn't unheeded as Falbium's Voice was next, fully agreeing with the All Father of the Aesier. A good thing too because a minute later they all heard the roar which premised an early demise to any in its vicinity.

"We should have run away." Odin lamented as he summoned a spear half a meter taller than he was and stabbed it on the ground.

The thing looked like a simple weapon if not a little extravagant; a huge huntsman's spear made of white wood as pure as snow with its head giving it another fifteen centimeters of height.

Surrounding its blade were four wings embracing each other. They belonged to carvings of two crows, each looking to one side. Anyone who looked too close would notice the craftsmanship of the birds. The blade itself looked to be made of simple metal but was dimensionally perfect.

As in it was a simple head for a simple spear but unless one had a skilled eye and understanding of metalogics they would realize how perfectly forged the weapon was albeit not looking that impressive at a glance.

But the weapon held more secrets than it first appeared like when it stabbed the floor and began to shine with several different lines all over its handle. All of them were connected with several runes, a few of them shining more than others and creating images that wrote themselves into the barrier.

"Lord Odin! Please don't say that!" Working with the gods was the Valkyrie, Rossweisse, who was using her hands to 'paint' similar runes with her magic on the air. "They are our allies-"

"And that is the Red Dragon Emperor! Everyone should have run away!" Odin's retort was sensitive and the devils hearing it didn't blame him.

"So that is the Pride of the Aesir I heard about?! Ridiculous!" Medusa complained but didn't dare to take her eyes from the barrier as they shone brightly. Her hairs danced around the small goddess as she also reinforced the walls for everyone's sake.

Which she actually could do better than Odin and many other gods in that moment because of where they were: the Underworld.

Not a surprise to either deity since the same could be said about the former King of Asgard in his kingdom because of a single fact: worship.

Many fallen angels and devils have already offered their prayers to the Goddess of Snakes over the last few months, first starting with her work in the Vault of Prosperity and her official presentation during the Young Devil Gathering.

Her High Priestess also did an excellent job convincing the masses that the young Goddess of Snakes was someone worthy of following and a new avenue to power. Which the purple haired goddess didn't hesitate to prove through advice and small Blessings that increased her number of followers steadily.

Adding to that were the several fallen angels who were willing candidates to join her Pantheon whenever she made one, a lot of them present in the Underworld. More importantly they were there, working with their goddess and doing the same action of fortifying the barrier to stop the Raging Dragon's rampage.

All that meant Medusa was working with 110% capacity despite still being a reduced goddess. "Either way, you are here! Work Old Man!"

"I am! I am! By the Realms! You sound like Freya way too much when she wants to complain!" Odin retorted without hesitation as the barrier grew ever stronger thanks to everyone's hard work.

Then it came-

"LONGINUS SMASHER!" [LONGINUS SMASHER!]

-and the world trembled.

Later the devils would report that every single inhabited Territory they held felt the instant all that power was unleashed and some specialists would claim that the impact extended far into the Wildlands.

Several cities took considerable damage which was more visible in places where the Old Satan Faction hadn't attacked. The earthquake from that instant, which only lasted two seconds, wasn't strong enough to destroy buildings or anything because it wasn't the goal of the attack in the first place.

It was incidental, a consequence from the release of the strongest card one of the Dragon Emperors could unleash once they were in Juggernaut Drive: Longinus Smasher, the Light that Crushes the Gods.

And a contained one at that.

Powerwise it was known to be the manifestation of the Red and White Dragon Emperors' full power when they went loose without restrictions or care. The Heavenly Dragons, who were only below Great Red and Ophis in their species, were creatures capable of killing gods with ease.

Minor and major gods at that with some people arguing that if they were Evil Dragons then many Pantheons would have gone missing like some gods who tried to tame them actually did.

Regardless, the gigantic earthquake was actually a consequence not only of the powerful attack but the barrier holding it back. When Juggernaut Drive was unleashed it was expected for the blast to expand and destroy land the size of a country if unimpeded. In fact, even when in that state it was extremely rare for Longinus Smasher to be used.

Only a few times in History that was the case and everyone that was there for the clean up couldn't even begin to describe how hard it was to hide the fact some countries needed to be terraformed to make them livable again, the people replaced and/or resurrected.

It was actually one of the few times the gods actually agreed to allow mass resurrections because of how sudden it was. Even Hades didn't argue because of the cheer number of souls who would join his realm otherwise.

Which was why the barrier around Lilith had to be rebuilded and then strengthened several dozen times when Juggernaut Drive came into play. Anyone challenging it or not was never a problem, the dragon needed to be contained regardless to avoid any sort of catastrophes.

However a catastrophe still came and whatever was left of Lilith paid the price as the leftovers of the capital were consumed by red green light. The barrier did its job and isolated the attack but several of those working in keeping it up fell down exhausted a second after.

Still all their efforts weren't in vain and Longinus Smasher was contained.

Much like a flash or the blink of a dying light, the Red Dragon Emperor's trump card faded an instant later after unleashed. "Dear gods…" Rossweisse voiced her disbelief. Neither deity blamed her as Medusa was left with her jaw dropped while Odin hid his spear in the form of a cane and brushed the sweat off his forehead while taking several breaths. "The capital… it has-"

"It was just ruble already… but even then… That was overkill." The Old Man of the North felt his age despite being a god. Just standing there and staring at that landscape was a real reminder he wasn't immune to death even if he tricked it once. "This is why we should have run…"

"I believe you…" The Goddess of Snakes added, finally seeing her fellow divinity point of view. 'My Champion… are you still alive?'

That doubt crossed her heart as she and everyone else holding the barrier stared at the huge hole that was once the capital of the Underworld. Calling it a crater would be overly generous even with how expansive and deep it was. Even calling it a hole may be a stretch, all things considered.

What was presented in front of two gods, a Valkyrie, several devils and fallen angels alike was a chasm of a sort. A uniform chasm without vegetations, full of sand and rocks without anything else over several kilometers but still a chasm. There was no other appropriate name for the thing considering how huge the chasm was.

Everything had been consumed by the light, everything. Whatever buildings were half standing were gone, all rubble had been cleared, the land turned to dust. From behind the barrier that saved their lives, Medusa managed to see how deep the chasm went and it was deep, very deep.

Much like its extension was several kilometers long, the bottom rested at more or less the same distance downwards with waves of flat stone, sand and mirrors created by the high temperatures.

Parts of the earth were missing and from there it was possible to see runes and flickering mana showing how the barrier was also active underground. A good thing too because otherwise then the damage may have destroyed the Underworld's core.

Yes, it was already proven it possessed one much like Earth and if they hadn't taken the proper precautions then the devils would have lost their world in its entirety as it would have legitimately exploded.

"Good grief…" Medusa felt fear. Fear for her protector, fear for her friends, fear for her life. "And he is still going…"

In the center of the chasm stood the figure of the Red Raging Dragon of Domination, his aura as powerful as always and his rage strong as ever. Almost like he felt the eyes of the 'audience', the dragon unleashed a roar that was chilling to the bone because it wasn't one of triumph or victory.

No, there was only anger there, as always.

Anger and death.

A true desire for destruction that couldn't be quenched.

Even running wasn't an option anymore because of how much power the Raging Dragon held at that moment. Enough Boosts had been unleashed that if he tried hard enough the barrier would crumble in seconds despite the two gods, the dozens fallen angels and hundreds of devils holding it.

"We really should have run away." Odin concluded with a sigh as he called his spear again, preparing for the worse. "Gungnir. Once he breaks out from the barrier, I will make another cage of runes. That must be enough to force Sirzechs to fight since he doesn't have a city to protect anymore."

"But what about everyone else? The civilians are still being teleported." Rossweisse reminded her god with concern.

Thousands of people were still evacuating the area as the devils had to work around their own anti-teleportation boundary fields because nobody expected Juggernaut Drive to make an appearance.

Lowering the rest of their boundary fields wasn't an option and without towers or proper magic circles to facilitate contact with the castles or proper teleportation centers meant they were implementing every emergency measure they had left.

All the while an apex predator metaphorically breathed on their necks.

"Well then the devils should have worked faster." In the back of his mind the god knew he was being irrational but every single drop of his wisdom told him to hold nothing back against the Raging Dragon. Gungnir began to glow again as the man began to draw the necessary runes. "The situation is dire, girl. All we can hope is that the Red Dragon Emperor direct his attack here or towards the Maous else the bodies will pile up to the sky faster than a whore can get a bag of coins."

"Wait!" Medusa suddenly interrupted him before pointing to a particular direction in the vale. "Look over there!"

From her position, the Valkyrie saw something like a portal of light close to the opposite side of the vale. "Lord Odin, is that the Dimensional Gap?" Indeed the Old Man of the North paused, his lone eye focusing more than ever. "It is the Dimensional Gap, isn't it? Do you think this disturbed Great Red?"

It was the Goddess of Snakes who replied first. "I was led to believe he doesn't get involved unless someone purposefully steps inside his territory."

The God of War and Crows didn't reply at first, chuckling in amusement a few seconds later. "Well, well. Looks like we are in for a show." Dismissing his Legendary spear, the Old Man of the North brought his wineskin to his lips. "Get ready folks! Grab a chair! Take a bite! The fat lady hasn't sung yet!"

"Are you really treating this like entertainment?" The young goddess asked in disbelief because nobody else dared.

"Well, I think if any mortal suddenly found himself in front of a hurricane they could only laugh or despair." Without wasting a breath the god drank his mead before concluding. "And this Aesir refuses to despair. Hahahahaha!"

Medusa focused on Rossweisse for a second. "I am sorry."

"So am I." The Valkyrie lamented her condition but only for a second as her aqua crystalline eyes focused on the new figures arriving on the battlefield. "But in a way, my Lord is right; It isn't over yet and we can only have hope."

"Hope my Champion and his new allies will triumph." Medusa focused on the battlefield again, her hands joined together in prayer.

…

"Aaaarrgghh… That was the second time…" Azazel commented while dragging his body from below the sands of Lilith, or the place once called Lilith. The pain was insufferable and his wounds many but he wasn't the Governor General of Grigori for nothing. "Father's explosion was bigger but- No, wait. I think that was just smaller because of the barrier? Was it? I don't wanna know."

Even the scientist part of his brain wasn't curious enough to try and discover since the rest of him was just glad to be alive. He had to appreciate the irony too since that wasn't just the second time he survived an explosion capable of sinking a country but it was also Rho Aias saving him again.

Albeit in a different form thanks to his friend to whom the Cadre would be forever grateful for if it wasn't his suicidal idea who landed them in that situation in the first place. Someone who the fallen angel held with his bleeding left hand and tried to pull with himself as he dragged his body to the surface of the desolated chasm created by Longinus Smash.

"I have to say… of all the stupid things I have ever done… this takes the cake…" Azazel commented while using his broken right hand to pull himself up. A purple gem shining with gold pulsed on his grip, the remains of his sacred gear that he refused to let go. "Seriously, Shirou, if you were going to fuck us both like that… at least pay for dinner… Or should Ise pay for dinner- Oh, Father, everything hurts…"

Besides several wounds that had him bleeding all over, his stylish coat almost completely ripped apart and Down Fall Dragon Spear destroyed beyond repair, the fallen angel was also considerably spent since he transferred most of his mana to Shirou in a last ditch effort to help hold back Longinus Smasher.

Most of the blast was pushed back thanks to the Bellerophon empowered Rho Aias but that didn't mean it managed to take the whole brunt of it before breaking. And indeed it had broken, the hundreds of Married Blades which composed the shield were the first to fall when the attack made contact.

Obviously it didn't stay like that for long as the Mage tried to rebuild it mid struggle. "Damn, Shirou, if you weren't you, we would be toast…" Azazel commented with a depressed chuckle. He kept pulling himself up as his eyes met his friend's. "Was all that during Last Stardust…" A groan was the response and the fallen angel grew more depressed. "Sorry for asking… You need to save your strength… And we need a Miracle…"

Because as far as the Cadre was concerned the Champion of Medusa was absolutely out of the fight. If the damage the older man suffered was extensive than what the redhead endured could only be called torture. Not even counting the similar wounds the two shared, Shirou took the worst of everything because he was in the front and his methods.

He had to use Rho Aias.

Even on Pegasus Formation, the defensive Noble Phantasm's damage needed to go somewhere, an effect tied to its existence. Shirou wasn't the original shield so his body was much frailer even after intensive training and divine intervention in the form of a pegasus. His Ascension helped midgate the many negative consequences further but there were limits.

Those limits were tied to whatever attack the shield had to block and how long the Projection needed to hold which was why his body always took damage whenever Rho Aias 'petals' fell apart no matter the incarnation.

Against the Raging Dragon's strongest blast, Shirou didn't hesitate to rebuild Rho Aias petals again and again to keep the barrier up for as long as possible. Even when Fafnir's support was lost and Azazel's sacred gear broke after an instant of contact the redhead kept going for as long as he could.

Longinus Smasher's flash lasted a second, no more, no less.

For Shirou in Last Stardust it was an agonizing minute of agony that had all his nerves catching fire before his defenses truly broke and his 'time' normalized when his Ascension fell apart next.

Because every time a 'petal' broke or its blades cracked there was a pressure imposed on his body, one that could easily destroy bones and blood vessels. The redhead resisted for as long as he could, holding on and rebuilding the seven layers of Rho Aias twice over before he couldn't take it anymore.

Son of the Magus Killer, Mage of Swords and Champion of Medusa, none of that mattered in the end because his body had limits. Already in his life he broke the walls which were called human limitations and Bellerophon's Divinity raised him even further.

Yet a painful lesson was given to Emiya Shirou, "The Heavenly Dragons are really overwhelming." Azazel said bitterly while staring at his friend's condition.'His body is broken, there was no other way to say it. Can't even think what part of him isn't somehow hurt after all this.'

Ascension wasn't gone yet, Shirou's armor was broken but embers remained in the form of a few pieces connected to his mostly bare chest and the mana around him. Bellerophon couldn't fully heal his rider by himself but that didn't stop the pegasus from trying. At least his presence helped Emiya stay conscious.

How he was actually doing it was a mystery to Azazel who could still see his eyes sparking with power even when his body had nothing more to give. "We are done, Shirou." The Scapegoat commented as they both heard the Raging Dragon's roar. "Looks like… this is going to be our final dance. It seems… our Legend is going to be… a badly written comedy."

A sound escaped the redhead's mouth mixed with blood from a half cough. 'I can still fight.'

Was what the fallen angel understood and he couldn't help but chuckle. "My friend, you can't. Your body is just…" Looking at it again, the man chuckled. "At least you didn't lose anything… Small Miracles, I guess." A puddle of blood was already forming where they rested, the liquid shaking because of the Raging Dragon's presence. "We really should thank Fafnir and Bellerophon that we are still breathing…" Holding his gem closer to his half opened eye, the older man called. "Oi, wanna a go at Ddraig? You are kinda our last hope… My last hope."

[I wish I could…] A loud and shaking growl similar to an elderly man's voice escaped the jewel as its light dimmed. [Unfortunately it took quite a bit for me to save you both. Or did you think that horse was the one who kept you two intact. You should thank me a lot more.]

True enough it was the Golden Dragon Monarch's efforts who kept them alive at the end when Shirou's defense fell. An endeavor which wasn't for free as the old man's voice sounded even older than it should on the fallen angel's ears. The Governor General could tell: Fafnir was beyond exhausted.

"Then we are really screwed." If Volsunga's Dragon couldn't do anything then he was legitimately out of ideas. "Screwed! Fucked! Cooked! Man… This sucks…" Life flashed across his eyes before ending with the figure of the Raging Dragon Emperor who looked ready to go another thousand rounds against him and Shirou. "Cause of death: Red Dragon Emperor. And here I thought I would beat the averages." Then he noticed the Mage still trying to move despite how destroyed his body was. "You are right! This isn't time to feel sorry for myself."

With whatever courage and little energy Azazel could muster he managed to raise to one knee before gently placing the redhead's back on the ground. That done, the older man stumbled around to stand up which he eventually did after opening two of his wings for one last time.

'Eight of them are broken so there is no flying…' A spark lit on his hand and with some effort the leader of Grigori managed to produce a small dagger of Light. "... Underperforming by the end? Pathetic…" Yet he could only grin, grin because the flame in his heart was still bright. "Let's finish this song on a high note, shall we?"

Long ago Azazel had already decided that when he died it would be without regrets and his head held high. He couldn't afford anything else; not for the loved ones he lost nor the children he was forced to bury. For them all he had long made an oath that he told only Baraqiel when talking about their children.

"Die like a father your girl can be proud of, brother! It beats crying every single time!" A proper sword of Light was soon on his grip as he hyped himself up.

Besides the resigned but still determined fallen angel, Shirou did everything he could to get back into the fight. 'Stand up!' His vocal cords were gone, his throat crushed by the weight of his own defense. 'Stand up!' Innumerous wounds stopped his movement because despite having a will stronger than steel his body couldn't keep up with it. 'Stand up!'

Inside Unlimited Blade Works were both Legendary Mount and his rider trying to keep going, the self in his soul managing to get to his feet with a lot of effort while helping Bellerophon open his wings.

There was fighting still left in them but the magus' body didn't respond and the pegasus was actually growing exhausted because, Phantasmal Beast or not, Divine creature born from a goddess or not, he was finally tired after having going full throttle for several minutes against an invincible opponent.

The sun was still above their heads in the world of the Mage's soul but soon his conscience was fully turned outside leaving him staring at darkness while he kept failing to stand. Mana flowed in his body but his circuits failed to use it, swords flickered into existence before disappearing into dust as if they were never there.

Nothing Shirou could do would have him standing any time soon. Even Tracing the Married Blades, EMs or Noble Phantasms was too much for him by that point. The power that was always at reach was suddenly not there. No, the connection to his Reality Marble was and the blueprints were ready.

However there wasn't anything connecting Reality with his world as Shirou was unable to use magecraft.

'Get up!' The Champion of Medusa ordered his body without hesitation as he watched Azazel lament and accept their deaths. 'Up! Up! Up!'

…

Inside Emiya Shirou's soul something was changing as a presence nobody knew was there began to stir beneath the land of swords and tried to emerge. Most of their movements were just a test, a trial before raising completely and fully. There was an opportunity present and after long, they were eager to act.

"All are present."

"The Vessel is weakened but not weak."

"Error! The host body isn't ready!"

They were many, they were one.

More of them had awakened thanks to where the host body resided. The Underworld's environment was ideal for their recovery while also presenting them with more resources.

Demonic energy was abundant and ready to be claimed.

"Fae presence still detected!"

"Great demonic energy detected! Repairs are possible!"

"Fae presence still detected! It shall repel!"

Energy that came from their existence, from their magic, from their whims and desires. So long there were devils in the Underworld and the old names weren't forgotten then they could feast.

"More than enough energy to overwhelm Fae Artifact!"

"Temporary suppression is possible!"

For in the Underworld there was still a being devils had always prayed to.

In their own ways

"Adjusting…"

"Calculating…"

Not a god but also such.

And something else.

"Chances of success 33%."

"Acceptable risks!"

"Adjusting!"

"The Vessel body will reject protocols."

"Compensating."

"Adjusted."

Something that knew all their spells, owned their artificial ley lines and could use those to even subtly influence Unlimited Blade Works. Dark clouds began to form in a world where there were none, subtly starting to cover the sun that stopped their rise for as long as they were stuck in that soul.

"Adjustments complete."

"Odds improved to 77%."

"The Vessel can still forestall our coming."

"Measures deemed temporary."

"Better adjustments required."

"Later improvements can be made once the Vessel is made true."

Demonic energy was everywhere in the Underworld including on the air all breathed. Just standing there was always enough to sustain their existence a little. To stall their demise a while longer.

"All calculations complete…"

"New protocols ready."

"Demonic energy levels are stable and growing."

"We are those who Hold the Knowledge! I am the One Who-"

Then something went wrong and there was only silence when the clouds made from demonic energy were dismissed forcing them all to slumber again for the Fae Artifact was suddenly back at full strength.

Realization came and they all restructured their priorities to recover as much energy as possible for when a better opportunity arises. One where the success wasn't uncertain and instead the odds would be in their favor.

For the truth was that so long Avalon existed inside Unlimited Blade Works, they could not raise again.

Accepting that fact, they fell asleep until their host was ready.

Emiya Shirou was the only Vessel they could have after hundreds of attempts where none was successful.

Even if they ended up with the boy in the fire by chance, they accepted he was the only Vessel they would ever have.

It wasn't a matter of how but when.

And that future would come, opportunities were arising more and more over the last year.

Human nature meant that sooner or later the Vessel would slip and fall on their grasp.

With that in their calculations, they knew their rise was inevitable.

…

A light suddenly began to shine, banishing the darkness of the Underworld while a portal for a kaleidoscope of colors heralded someone's arrival.

"UP!" Suddenly Shirou found himself shouting and sitting up without a single scratch on his body. All the pain was also gone and he couldn't help but flex his fingers as Azazel looked back with a confused expression. "Huh?"

"That was pathetic, Emiya Shirou." Harsh words from a woman's voice reached his ears. A voice that almost made him wish to fight the Red Dragon Emperor all over again. "Was your healing factor turned off or something? Or do you need to shout after a beating?"

"Hehehehe… You don't need to say it like that, Ria." Another familiar voice after a barely contained giggle, another voice Shirou recognized and was as soft as a blanket on a cold night.

His eyes grew wide as he saw a group emerging from a multicolored portal, a young man who reminded him of a monkey speaking next. "Oh, let her be, Fay. Ria 's still pissed off that this two bit Mage ruined her chance to get the fancy sword." He had a big staff resting over his shoulders and when the redhead tried to use Structural Analysis on it, a headache almost knocked him out. "Go on, Ria! Scream at him a little. Let it all out!"

However Avalon was still healing the Mage of Swords so he managed to process the object inside Unlimited Blade Works after a moment. 'Ruyi Jingu Bang… Replica? Isn't that the weapon of Sun Wukong?'

Even if the weapon's History was short, made by wise dragons to serve the one called Bikou, the name alone was familiar to Shirou and the abilities were stuff of Legends.

Quite literally Legends and one he knew very well for Journey to the West was known by everyone in some shape or another. Even if just by their inspirations or by name, few parts of modern culture weren't touched by that classic tale.

Arguably there were fewer who heard about Journey to the West than who didn't heard about Sun Wukong or Son Goku's weapon; the Legendary Ruyi Jingu Bang also know as Nyoibo, or Power Pole and several other names depending on the language, which changed sizes at the owner's will and weighed approximately nine tons was heavily featured in any story that involved the Monkey King or was inspired by him.

While not a Noble Phantasm, the staff on Bikou's shoulders could easily measure the Earth's ocean floor much like his ancestor's. Already the whole thing was inside Unlimited Blade Works, a giant pillar that Shirou wasn't sure he could move or Trace.

"Kikikiki. I kinda like this frustrated Ria- Ouch!"

"Stop teasing my sisters, Bikou." A young man with noble features that looked a lot like the two girls was the next to emerge with a steel colored sword on his grasp. That weapon Shirou failed to process much to his shock. His senses were even telling him that it wasn't actually a sword. "Besides, this isn't the moment for strife or petty conflicts."

"Petty?" Altria sounded more than irritated. "Arthur, he-"

"Stopped you from making a mistake…" Arthur replied while sending a small smile at Shirou. "If anything, helping him today is my way to pay that debt." His middle sister wanted to say something but the situation didn't allow it. "We can talk about that later." His eyes landed on the Raging Dragon emperor who was surprisingly still even as his aura grew stronger and sharper as he was looking beyond the new arrivals. Or at least most of them. "Because paying this debt may be a foolish idea."

"Nya~ Non, non, non! I need that debt and he'll be paying." Kuroka, the black nekomata, emerged an instant after with a familiar figure in her arms.

One that had Shirou jumping to his feet and rushing towards her with a relieved look on his eyes. "Asia?!"

"We found her in the Dimensional Gap." Arthur informed the magus and fallen angel with a small smile before all sound was drowned by a roar of fury unlike any other before.

"Nya, nya. How is she still asleep?" The nekomata asked as they all kept hearing the Raging Dragon roaring. In fact the redhead could almost say for certain he was getting louder.

With good reason as the last figure stepped out of the gate wearing bright white armor, blue wings and a presence very similar to the one dominating the Underworld albeit smaller because of the lack of a Juggernaut Drive.

His appearance had Azazel's jaw dropping from surprise and a bit of relief. "Vali… good to see you are well."

"You too Azazel. And you, Shirou. Looks like you two took a beating, even if you suddenly healed. Fix your clothes, will ya?" Vali Lucifer landed in front of everyone and the Raging Dragon's eyes focused solely on the Vanishing Dragon who everyone knew was smiling behind his helmet. "Mind if we cut in?"

…..

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