NOTE: I have started a new Author's Quiz on D... ls -c0rd. Every week on sunday, I will ask a random question regarding Chaos and Order. Whoever answers the Question first, within 5 minutes, will be awarded Free Subscription of Trial Tier (2 Advance Chapters and 3 Backlog Chapters) for a Week.
So, one Quiz every sunday and one potential winner. Questions will be crisp and something anyone can answer, with adequate difficulty, keeping it fun.
I tried it last sunday, but nobody could answer it. You can check it out on Fanfic General Channel, if you are a member.
Good Luck and Enjoy!
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It was a vast plain of emptiness, an unseen sun scorching the ground beneath Shirou Emiya's feet.
Where was he?
When had he come here?
Why was the burning and blinding sun not making him feel hot?
As if this were a dream, and Shirou possessed the barest of lucidity, he looked around with a glazed vision, noticing the empty plain.
Soon, that plain didn't remain empty anymore.
Screams arrived first — like the faintest hiss of distant gusts of wind.
Then came roaring the sound of weapons striking each other, the metallic ring making him wince.
Then, Shirou saw a sight that made him stumble, falling on his back in terror.
Swords — Hundreds of them — Thousands of them — Tens of thousands of them — were raining from the golden sky.
With his heart thumping against his chest, Shirou saw the swords falling onto the battlefield…
Battlefield?!
Even as the sight shocked him, Shirou couldn't help but feel odd as he named the sword-laden ground a battlefield.
As soon as the rain had begun, it ended sooner as well.
Gulping and feeling the dryness in his throat, Shirou stood up.
His feet shuffled as he looked in all directions, to the horizon, and noticed that those swords were everywhere, along with the screams, making him lick his chafed lips.
And then, for the very first time, Shirou saw a person.
Shirou was standing atop a hill, and this person, with a faint, blurry appearance, was walking toward him.
No, not walking.
This person was stumbling, falling, crawling, and running — like a madman.
And just as Shirou was about to see this man's face, the screams took the shape of comprehensible words.
"I… am the bone of my sword…"
Krrrrrrk!
Baffled, Shirou looked at his right hand.
A sword was protruding from his hand, tearing through his flesh.
Before he could even register the mystical, dreamy phenomenon, more and more swords came tearing out of his flesh, reaching his face.
A scream of pure agony burst out of Shirou's throat as he fell to his knees in utter horror.
And the lucid dream — the memory — the prophetic vision — ended.
"No. One vision isn't enough to bring him on an equal footing with others. Let it continue."
The words rejected the very laws of the deepest mysteries.
The non-existent time within the vision began reversing.
Shirou stood up as the swords reaching for his face retreated to his bones. The comprehensible scream returned as well, along with the blurry vision of the tall man.
Then, the swords strewn in this world got pulled out of the ground and disappeared into the golden sky.
And, once again, Shirou Emiya found himself standing in the same position — befuddled to the extreme.
Then, it happened.
The screams reached his ears.
The swords rained around him once more.
And, with wide, shaking eyes, Shirou realized — what he had seen and experienced moments ago — was happening all over again.
"… Hmm…" Zelretch nodded from afar, space bending around Him. "A few thousand times should be enough. I guess."
…
It was a cavern, hundreds of meters underground, at the outskirts of Fuyuki City.
In the cavern's middle, there was a giant pit, where millions of filthy worms were crawling, clicking, and buzzing.
And, at the bottom of the crater, with worms going in and out of him, was Betty Shaw, the Director.
His eyes were glazed, as if he had gone numb to pain.
There was an emptiness on his face that lingered, jolting now and then along with his body.
Tiny worms were coming out of his nose before crawling up on his face and entering his head from the corner of his eyes.
If this wasn't torture enough, the things happening inside him were even worse.
Worms had replaced his organs, nerves, and even parts of his brain.
Soon, despite being a Contestant with a Glitch, it wouldn't be long before he turned into a puppet.
A puppet of himself — ironically.
The evil Betty Shaw, wearing a black suit, recorded the entire scene with his Video Camera, standing at the edge of the pit.
A nasty grin was on his face as if, at that very moment, he was about to make the funniest joke.
"Dear Audience," he said. "Do you like this stuff? There's some thrill in making a preacher of Non-violence suffer in this manner, right? Right? Oh… Thank you for agreeing with me! You guys are the best!! Don't worry. I will not judge any of you for the hideous, filthy monsters that you are. Why would I do that? I am also one of you… Kekeke…"
Suddenly, the evil Betty Shaw's laugh died, his eyes widening.
Everything in front of the lens had turned black, as if someone had switched off the lights.
Hurriedly, he looked away from the Video Camera, toward the pit, and found everything was still as it was — visible.
Then, why did the Video Camera stop recording?!!
This wasn't a Video Camera, per se. It was a Concept. It was his Glitch.
He could manifest it on even the tiniest worms, as long as those worms represented him in his entirety.
That's why the evil Betty Shaw hadn't waited a moment before implementing what he had learned from Zouken Matou's Inheritance. This let him spy on all persons of interest in Fuyuki City without compromising his position.
Thus, the sudden blackness of the Video Camera suggested only one thing.
For some baffling reason, Betty Shaw's Glitch — Cameraman — was glitching.
Suddenly, at the bottom of the pit, the real Betty Shaw's body shuddered, a red glow bursting out from the back of his hand, taking the shape of a — Command Seal.
"Hmm…" Zelretch hummed, standing behind the evil Betty Shaw. "Preacher of non-violence? Then… She should suit him the best…"
A golden magical circle manifested over the broken Betty Shaw.
Blinding multicolored, holy light erupted from the golden spell circle, taking the shape of an armored lady.
In her hand, she carried a magnificent, white banner.
With one flutter of that banner, all worms and filth disintegrated, becoming pure particles of golden light.
"I ask of thee—" the Holy Maiden, Jeanne d'Arc, Standard Bearer of Holy Grail War, asked. "— Are thou my master?"
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