A spear soared through the air, burying itself just an inch before Archer, who had positioned himself ahead of Rin at some point.
"Master, stay back." He warned as two short swords—one black, one white—Kanshou and Bakuya, traced themselves into his grip.
The spear wrenched itself free and flew back.
Lancer caught it mid-flight and twirled its shaft to dissipate its leftover momentum.
He then looked at the Master and Servant ahead of him, bending down into a stance.
"Archer..."
Archer followed seamlessly, Kanshou and Bakuya crisscrossing over his chest.
"Lancer..."
Rin took the cue and wordlessly stepped back, leaving this fight to Archer.
Both tensed their legs simultaneously.
BOOOOM! X2
Embers ignited over their bodies as the distance between them became null.
Clang. Clang. Cling.
Crimson clashed with black and white.
Lancer thrust his spear at varying angles toward Archer's vitals.
Kanshou and Bakuya flowed like intersecting ribbons of black and white.
Wherever Lancer's spear went, Archer's twin blades were already there, blocking with their flat edges.
Amidst a ceaseless rain of thrusts, runes flashed across Lancer's spear arm, causing their speed and strength to surge for an instant.
Archer's reaction came in a fraction of a heartbeat. He crossed the blades into an X, catching the spearhead in the V where Kanshou and Bakuya met.
Impact drove through both swords and hammered their crossed handles into his chest.
Archer was pushed back—yet he had dissipated most of the force behind Lancer's thrust.
"Not bad, Archer. Though I could've done better."
"I don't have time to play around today, Lancer."
"Do I hear someone whining?"
He felt a vein throb in his temple.
Archer did not reply. Instead, every muscle in his legs coiled tight, building force.
BOOOM!
He was gone—twin lines of white and black racing toward Lancer.
A crimson line tore toward Archer in response.
Lancer's spear reached Archer's heart first, yet Kanshou and Bakuya deflected it, pushing it over Archer's shoulder.
Archer did not waver for a second as the swords dissipated from his grip. Lancer, likewise, had released his spear.
Lancer's punch landed on Archer's cheek, just as Archer's fist collided with Lancer's jaw.
BOOM! X2
Both were pushed back, clutching their faces.
"Have you not eaten anything today, Archer? Why was your punch so weak?" Lancer taunted.
"It at least had more force than your sissy hit." Archer fired back.
Lancer made a pulling motion toward Archer in response. His spear, lying behind Archer, floated up and screeched back toward him.
Archer seamlessly sidestepped without looking back as Lancer's spear missed his head by mere millimeters.
"Was that supposed to do something?"
Lancer ground his molars at Archer's tone. He threw his spear above him and rotated his entire body to build momentum. Over a quarter of the runes carved into the airborne spear lit up in succession.
Meanwhile... a composite bow traced itself into Archer's grip, already aimed and drawn toward Lancer.
Gravity brought Lancer's spear down.
A pitch-black arrow traced itself along Archer's bow—small edges coiling around its thin core, spiraling outward.
Hrunting.
Lancer used his built-up momentum to kick his spear toward Archer.
Archer released Hrunting simultaneously.
A crimson blur and a blood-red blur tore across their surroundings, reaching each other instantly.
BOOOOOM!
Differing shades of red drowned out the world.
...
..
.
Crunch.
I walked through the Matou manor... or rather, what was left of it. Rubble, debris, and melted stone scattered across my path.
Inconsequential.
An imperceptible tremor from the ground reached me, prompting my path to adjust in that direction.
The sound of sharp breathing soon resounded nearby.
A short distance later, I reached... her.
Rider lay on the floor. Minor scratches ran across her body. Her leg, however, had a deep gash running down it.
The reason?
Her leg was buried under a massive heap of rubble, with two broken, crushed arms wrapped around it.
Those arms were wrong. Too short. Muscle fibers were underdeveloped, bone density inconsistent with any trained combatant—
Shinji Matou.
Of course.
"...How boring." I walked to stand beside her.
"Not you... This world." A pause.
"This world is so full of boring people."
"People who lack talent try to oppress those who do possess it... Even though they know they're insignificant, they refuse to acknowledge their true superiors... They are profoundly desperate to drag those with talent down to their level."
I glanced at Shinji's arms trapping Rider for a moment. It did not take a second for me to reach the conclusion that Rider wouldn't have suffered such a serious injury if this trash hadn't clung to her leg so desperately.
"Because of these leeches, this world has become predictable. This world has stopped evolving."
...How boring.
My legs carried me forward until I stood directly before Medusa.
I pulled my fist back. Black and red flashed from my glove—Gott Mit Uns, engraved across its back, illuminated our surroundings, mingling with the blue glyphs running across my body.
"...ave."
"Hm?" I held the stance and tilted my head.
"...Save." Rider's words reached me.
"Save?" I repeated.
"Save... Sakura." She could still move to block my strike, yet she left herself wide open.
Why?
"Save her... from the things inside her."
...A monster was asking me to save someone?
As if salvation were something I dispensed. As if she believed I would bother.
BOOOOM!
Black, crimson, and blue drowned our surroundings.
When visibility returned, the rubble where Medusa's leg had been trapped had ceased to exist.
I crouched down to her level and held her chin, forcing it toward me.
Slit crimson eyes peered into blindfolded ones.
I asked her the same question I had asked the Witch of Betrayal and the Demigod son of Zeus.
"Tell me, Medusa...
What is Hope?"
The Gorgon did not reply.
...
..
.
***
[200 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter]
[5 chapters ahead on P@tr3on = [email protected]/Not_Aaryan]
...
[Hrunting: Hound of the Red Plains]: It is a modified version of the original Hrunting using Reinforcement. Emiya encountered it at some point in his lifetime, allowing him to add it to his database of Noble Phantasms stored within Unlimited Blade Works. Once fired, it turns into a magical bullet enveloped in a red light that takes the most direct path to its target. It will basically continue to pursue its target, even if it gets parried, repulsed, or avoided, for as long as the shooter keeps aiming at the target.
[Kanshou and Bakuya: Gān Jiàng and Mò Yé]: Emiya encounters these swords at some point during his lifetime and added them to the numerous weapons recorded and stored in Unlimited Blade Works. They are his favored weapons to project, having become his symbols after wielding them all his life.
...
[Author's Thoughts]
It took some time... but its better to take time and release good chapters instead of rushing and releasing average chapters.
Have a nice day, everyone.
...
Have any of you noticed? All the Heroic Sprits he asked about hope remained silent.
Can you all guess why?