A/N :
This also the final part of the Excalibur Arc. This arc alone has taken up 207 pages on my word processor, and based on my check, this would be the longest arc to date, even more so if I had gone with my original idea to dump the entire Excalibur Arc (Close to 200 pages).
I think I speak for a lot of people that the Excalibur Arc is one of those portions of the novel that makes one wonder what would happen if Shirou was involved in the battle. I also believe that we would want some serious, if not major, deviations from the storyline for this portion, be it the fighting or the overall story. So when we have people start using Unlimited Blade Works or the Fate Excalibur for this area for many of the crossovers, I get a little frustrated. I mean, once I can enjoy. Maybe I can overlook if used a second or third time, but when everyone just does the same, it gets rather tiresome. I wanted something different.
Thus, this version I did up.
One of the thoughts was how to ensure the fight could be a good one for Shirou. This is a human Fate (mostly) Shirou from the future, so I would think that he has some strategies and experience to deal with this type of opponent, especially if coupled with a Sacred Gear like [Hell's Trident]. He should be able to use that in conjunction with other weapons or spells that he could use the weaponry as quick go-arounds.
Then I considered about Unlimited Blade Works. Most people seemed to forget that the Reality Marble is a huge repository of weapons to be called up, not just to be spammed like some cheat code or to be called up so easily. UBW is supposed to be used as the final card against the strongest opponent around, not for Kokabiel who is perhaps a starting 'boss' if you would. And I had the idea that Shirou is currently undergoing a change in his mentality, just creating some new arias for his ability.
Next bit comes from Kokabiel himself. A lot of the latest stories seemed to use Fahad09's version, which portrayed a totally different version of the angel. Now for his story it made sense, but when others used it, the angel does not make sense. I tried to make mine follow the novel, which is him being a war-angel, and from there, I figured that it would be nice to show how he could be called that based on current mythology. The novel did not expand on it much, so I decided that he needed to be motivated to fight, and what better way than to start off with him getting injured by a supposedly normal person/magician in a manner he would not foresee, something that would make a battle-maniac go happy.
Finally the bit on the shards themselves. A lot of you seemed to of the same mind that DXD Excalibur was lackluster and that it needed to be put in its place. Others considered just using Fate Excalibur for the job, but that gets repetitive around here. One of you however has the same idea as me: why not use other weapons to go against the shards? That was the thought I had when I wrote the parts about the swords from the other knights reacting badly towards the shards. I figured since I am changing quite a fair bit, let's go crazy with that idea. Finally for those who requested it, I am making Shirou the custodian for the shards.
One wonders what would the confrontation be between our magus and a certain modern Pendragon of the DxD World?
Regarding the polling for Xenovia and Irina (Griselda included later), I had to admit, I had other ideas in the beginning, but since a lot were asking about the pairings via comments or private messages, I created the poll to see the people's desires. Results were pretty consistent in the beginning, but the numbers started to jump irregularly, and a couple of users had pointed that out to me as well, so I had to hide the results to ensure fair polling, and it is showing the proper ones. Don't get the wrong idea though. Right now the apprentice exorcists are staying with Shirou based on the first half of the polls, the second part (the relationships) is still fair game. So I am leaving this poll out here for maybe another week or so. For those who want the original Ise harem, go for it!
I knew that when I started with the crossover, I was going to be scrutinized. When I started with OCs, I knew people will be checking for pitfalls. When I started the Excalibur Arc, I knew people will be checking for issues.
What I did not expect was for my OC character Lyle Wallner to be such a subject of division. With just two chapters of this arc, I am getting a lot of comments and post messages about him to the point that my email account has registered words including his name as spam and I had to look through them carefully to avoid losing one. One group hates him with a passion, another loves him for being a foil of sorts to Shirou, while a third is hanging on just to see the flow. Hopefully this chapter puts him in a more positive light.
Many of you seemed a little put off that he is often commented being similar to Shirou. I like to point out that the observations is mostly from those who knew the exorcist better than Shirou. For the devils' side, their observation would be more on Shirou being different from what he portrays in public. For the two in question, Lyle is viewing it as one who meets someone who might relate to him in terms of pain and uncertainty, while Shirou views it as someone that reminds him of himself and Kotomine when he was younger.
Now that is done, onto the final notes.
Shirou's involvement in this fight is going to have bigger consequences because his enemies will be checking on him. As stated, one has decided to broadcast his fight to others just to place pressure on him. Not to mention the Hero's Brigade is now having their eyes set on him?
Also, since Shirou now has the shards, Kiba will not have the holy-demonic fusion. That is one of the biggest changes to this story, and I will have a lot of fun with it. I hope to be able to work the changes to come.
And I put my pen down for now.
... With that, I like to think I now have the right to say I am the second or third person to have major changes to this story arc.
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Current Chapter's Noble Phantasm(s)
Sudarshana Chakra - The Divine Disc of Vishnu
Type: Anti-Fortress
Rank: B++ (Inactive) / A (Half-Activated) / A++ (Full Activation)
A golden disc roughly 4 meters in diameter, with 10 million spikes arranged in a two rows in opposite directions to form serrated edges similar to a circular saw. It has Hindi symbols decorating one side of the disc while constellations and pictographs of the Hindu Gods decorated the other side. A hole in the center allows the user to grip the weapon and either throw it at the enemy or use it as a defense.
Made by the architect of Gods Vishvakarma, it was one of three divine objects created from the 'Sun Dust' left after he had made Surya shine less to help his daughter go closer to him. In its time, many stories sprung up, each depicting its use differently, but all have the same description of it being one, if not the ultimate weapon, of Hindu Mythology.
Due to its destructive nature, Shirou usually has it half-activated to ensure he has proper control over it. The only time he can afford to let it loose is when there are no allies around him, because the weapon does not differentiate friends from foes, all will be mowed down in its wake.
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Red-Hilted Sword of Balin - The Blade of the Virtuous Knight
Type: Anti-Personnel
Rank: B
A normal European Broadsword with a hilt wrapped in dark hide and dyed in a crimson red. A small red gem is embedded at the tip of the handle, and the blade has indentations lining the edge of the sword.
Hailing from the stories of Arthurian Legends, the sword was first brought forth by a damsel claiming that only a virtuous knight could remove the sword from the scabbard. Balin, having just been released from his imprisonment, asked for a chance after the other knights have failed to pull the sword out. In the end, he was able to do so and thus allowed to keep the sword with a warning that he would ensure his own destruction by killing his best friend with that sword. That came in the final battle where he attacked Sir Balan, his own brother. The sword would later be taken by Merlin who secured it in a block of stone where it remained until it was drawn by Galahand and later passed down to other knights.
The sword has an ability that channels light in different forms, either as a huge wave or as daggers that shoot out from it. Being a cursed sword that forced Balin to kill his own brother, the sword has an affinity with curses, especially those dealing with hurting one's own blood kindred. At the same time, the sword carried a similar nature not unlike Caliburn as a weapon that could only be drawn and used effectively by a chosen user.
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The Grail Sword - Sword of Percival / Trebuhet
Type: Anti-Personnel
Rank: A (Normal) / A+ (Depending on the mythology of the Grail)
A Holy Sword in the form of a longsword, with a light green sheen on it and a gold piece down the middle of the blade, with a crimson crack cutting across the blade. It has a green handle with a simple jewel embedded in its guard.
Another sword hailing from Arthurian Legends, this was a sword that was said to be broken in the 'Story of the Grail' when Partinal used it to kill Goon Desert, brother of the Fisher King. When it broke, some of the shards flew to the Fisher King and injured him, making his wounds uncurable until the death of his brother could be avenged. That was accomplished when Percival found him resting on a bier and later slew Partinal. The knight then brought the sword remains back to be repaired, leaving behind a red crack that represented his flawed psyche of being naive to matters outside of the court of the kingdom.
As a weapon that belonged to one hailed as the second knight after King Arthur, its strength comes from the belief of the wielder to uphold the ways of a knight and a desire to protect others, thus making this one of the weapons that Shirou could call out effectively despite its high cost in Prana. Due to its association with the Grail, it has the 'accidental' attribute that copies the powers of the Holy Grail, making the weapon on a level similar to the Servant called Sasaki Kojiro who is an amalgam of other stories merged into one form. This attribute will differ in each fight to reflect the different depictions of the cup, such as temporary immortality, ability to heal wounds and even divinity.