Go back to chapter 1 to understand what is happening.
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Staring at the woman in front of me, I can't help but feel excited. I am, of course, terrified as well; she is far beyond my power after all.
Not only that, but I have no actual weapon to wound her. My spells rely on the connection of faith and the collective thoughts of the Foundation's users. I am a faker; I have no actual faith in this philosophy, nor have the proper knowledge to use it correctly. I use a false projection of what I believe to be Vairocana, or rather Amaterasu, allowing me to conceptualise her mysteries onto the World through my prayers and materialise them with my Magical Energy.
And I doubt that what I have will be enough to kill this Dead Apostle. My spells are weak and lack the conceptual power to kill an Apostle, at best I could hurt her enough to stop her healing, but i doubt I can use spells powerful enough to do that in sequence.
"Well, happy to impress. It would be enough for you to let me live?" I ask, more to buy time to make a plan than anything else.
She shrugs before a look of "Can't help it" appears on her face. "No can do, kid, I am being paid to kill ya."
I actually get shocked at that. "Huh?! Why would anyone pay someone to kill me?! I am a nobody!"
"Memory loss, huh? Should've expected as much after that ritual." She muses. "A shame it failed, you would have been perfect for it."
A ritual? I suspected I was a victim of some sort of spell, but I was not sure of why or how. So she, or at least someone affiliated with her, was responsible for my current situation?
"I see. I have been wondering about what happened to me for a while now. Thanks for that... what's your name?"
"I'm gonna be a bit cliché now. Name's Hakuja. You're gonna die anyway, so no reason not to tell." Uff, 'you're gonna die anyway', she was right, this is cliché.
She then suddenly jumps at me, her hands looking like claws.
I quickly reinforce my legs, jumping out of her range. But she didn't stop, as if her hands were lances she thrusts at me. I barely dodge, but not without damage, having my right arm slightly hurt.
I quickly grab some talismans and activate them with my magical energy. These talismans are some of my most unusual ones. In Japanese myth, the sun is seen as a symbol of purification and life. By focusing on this specific mystery, I can create a talisman that 'purges' the impurities around me. And considering Dead Apostles' conceptual weakness to the Sun and their clear corruption, these talismans will heavily affect her!
A white light wave is summoned from this act, and while it did not damage Hakuja, it conceptually weakened her.
"The fu-? You are more versatile than I thought, brat!" She claps her hands once, and I suddenly smell that she is going to do something big.
She quickly points her hands at me, and lightning leaves her fingertips as if she were some sort of Sith Lord!
I begin gathering my magical energy at a fast rate, using my circuits' abnormal composition to generate a high-level magical burst. I then cross my fingers, a set command I use to visualise this specific spell.
"Mantra: Bestial Sky." A bright light surrounds my body, blocking the lighting aimed at me. But its strength was impressive; it threw the barrier and I back.
"Ahhh!" I hit my back against a column. My eyes closed because of the suddenness, but I quickly opened them, just to see a pair of claws going on my way.
I cross my arms before twisting my hands forward and doing a small chant. "Taiyō(Sun)!" This place is my workshop; of course, I have ways to use that fact to my advantage. Using the mirrors I placed around the place, I create a projection of the sun that they reflected during the day, and thanks to the talismans placed at their side, I can conceptualize the sun's mystery into fuel, creating a beam of scorching light that struck her chest.
She quickly blocks with arms, clearly using some sort of spell to minimise the damage. But it didn't help her all that much; the purifying talismans are still affecting her, and that attack focused on her conceptual weakness. She may be far stronger than I, but she is clearly not taking me seriously.
Her arms are scorched because of my spell, but that didn't slow her down at all. In an instant, all of her wounds disappeared.
The Dead Apostle then raises one of her hands and begins gathering magical energy, lightning sparking around her palm before slamming her hand onto the ground, causing the ground to break as multiple bolts of electricity are summoned, all going in my direction.
I tap into the telluric energy I had gathered and use the mirrors placed around the area to cast my talismans with increased output.
"Frigid Heaven!" I create a barrier of ice, dissipating the lightning bolts.
I smile, relieved at the barrier's efficiency. But my happiness was short-lived as she tackled the barrier, breaking it as she tried to grab me. I quickly summon more talismans, creating more ice to delay her. But every single one of them was useless; she easily destroyed the ice as if it were nothing at all.
At this point, I was able to understand why my early purification had already lost its effect on her, allowing her to use her full power.
Once all the ice I created was destroyed, she paused, staring at me with a face I couldn't place. Perhaps it's the face of a hunter who got their fun after running after their prey?
I don't know, I am only human after all. And she? She was human once, but now, she is anything but. A Dead Apostle, a vampire, her mindset is closer to that of an alien than of a human; no matter how much I try, I would never understand her; we're conceptually incapable of understanding one another. And honestly? I don't want to understand her.
I want to kill her.
For the first time since the fight began, she showed a different expression. Not amusement, not mockery. At first, there was confusion. Then, she felt terror.
'W-what is this feeling? Fear? No, impossible, he is just a human, a child at that! There is no way I am scared of him. Right?'
A deep blue hole surrounded by the darkest shade of black anyone could ever imagine.
I stare at her in apathy. And start walking in her direction, not running, walking. As if there was no threat at all here.
She snarls at me, clearly infuriated at my lack of fear. Or perhaps she is just lashing out? Animals tend to do that when intimidated.
Once again, she throws a wave of lightning at me.
'Thaumaturgic Foundation: Kaballah.
Variant: Numerology.
The conceptual use of Jewish faith to apply natural laws to the world. Lightning comes from the sky and reaches the earth.
Sky can be conceptualised as Heaven, a common interpretation since the daws of time.
By configuring the numeric formula, the foe can make the Macroverse(World) see her as Heaven, and the user as the earth. Recreating the natural phenomena through Magecraft.
Iniciating analysis.
Beginning connection with the Thaumaturgic Foundation.
Spell initiation, connecting with the numeric concepts of 12, 7, and 9.
Insufficient information. Jumping to the spell's conclusion.
Spell conclusion, connecting with the numeric concepts of 4 and 6.'
It's as if I could see the beginning of the spell's waving and how it will conclude. If a spell is an equation, I could see how the equation was created and its result, all while skipping the middle steps.
And using a higher amount of magical energy, I could just... replicate it. Which is exactly what I do, I replicate her spell and throw a wave of lightning at her. Her eyes widen in surprise. Using my pseudo-mana Burst, I can overpower her, throwing her to the wall.
I then begin feeling my eyes getting heavy. I don't need to be a genius to understand what just happened. I awakened my Mystic Eyes, and overused them already.
The woman recomposes herself, smiling at my current situation.
"Hah, I actually got scared for a second there! But in the end, it was just a fluke!" She laughs at the current situation.
Then, in an instant, she is in front of me, grabbing my neck before kneeing me in the gut. Making me gasp, losing my air. After that, she begins punching my face, time and time again, clearly trying to make it hurt while not damaging it that much. She then throws me in the air and kicks me away.
I fall onto the floor like trash, my body aching in pain. I already used any card I had, even one I didn't even know I had! Gathering whatever force I have left, I try to get up, just to fall back on my butt. I have trained these last few days, but that doesn't change the fact that I stayed in a hospital for months. I was never supposed to fight up close.
"Well, that was fun. At least the beginning, hated that last show ya did." She then raises both her hands, a lightning ball between them. "I like my targets to stay dead, so I will erase you until there's no body left! My client will most likely prefer that way."
A small storm is then sent at me.
'Huh, so that's how this ends?
I wasn't able to do anything at all.
My first fight, and I am already going to die?
I wasn't even able to react to it at all! This entire fight, I have been only reacting.
My eyes were the only time I actually did anything, and the moment after I found out about them, I was incapable of using them again.
This fucking sucks.
The worst part? If I didn't wait to summon my servant, that would probably never happen.
Together we could fight this Dead Apostle... no, we could kill her!
But because of my foolishness, that didn't happen.
And here I am going to die.
Again.
I don't remember my first death. I am not even sure if I actually died or something else happened, but I think I died.
I also barely remember my old life. I have knowledge but no memories, which is honestly the worst.
Because that means I have technically only lived for a few months.
Months, not even a year in this world, and I will die already.
I... I don't want to die.
I accomplished nothing!
I barely learned Magecraft!
I didn't go to the Clock Tower nor laughed at the average magus' stupidity!
Damn, I didn't even meet a Heroic Spirit!
I will not die!
I don't care, what I need to do...
I will live!'
A burst of light appears in front of me, and something blocks the storm, reflecting it at the sender.
The Apostle is hit straight, her clothes are almost completely destroyed, and her body is heavily burned.
But that is not what I focused on. But the person in front of me.
She is beautiful. Long pink hair tied on a big blue ribbon, creating two tails. Having fair pale skin, as if her body could not have any impurity on it. Wearing a short blue kimono with a high collar, with black and gold complementing her beauty. She also used blue leggings, which only increased the clothes effect. All that while exposing her thighs and shoulders. And of course, a fluff tail on her back.
She then turns to face me. And I just stare at the two golden orbs that she could call eyes.
"I ask you. Are you my Master?" She asks, but I could see in her eyes that she already knew the answer.
I take a deep breath and close my eyes. Once I open them, I answer.
"I am."
She then helped me get back on my feet. And the two of us stare at our enemy.
She is terrified; she clearly knows she stands no chance with a servant here.
So, she runs. My servant readied herself to go after all, but I stopped her.
"She wants you to follow her. I am in no condition to fight outside my workshop, and we don't know each other's skills; best to gather ourselves and heal. Then we hunt." I have no doubt she could fight the apostle by herself, but I don't want to risk it. In my current condition, I am a weakness and one easy to exploit.
I don't try to convince her further. Not because she listened, but perhaps she did. But because my vision suddenly goes black.
"Master!" It's the last thing I heard before falling.
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Pov. ???
Rider immediately after being summoned made herself at home. By basically taking my office for herself and destroying anything she disliked.
So many broken Mystic Codes...
She is now seated on my recliner chair, treating it as if it were her throne.
"Explain the situation, 'Master'." Rider as-no, orders.
"This Holy Grail War, or rather the Waxing Moon Ritual, is a customised variant of the usual ritual created by the Founder families of Fuyuki, in which-" "I don't care about the Ritual functions you fool! I want to know about the opposing servants and masters!"
"O-of course! Other than yourself, Saber, and Archer were already summoned." I tell her, and wait a few seconds. Taking that as permission to continue.
"Sadly, we are still not sure who are their Master is, but we have already figured out the place they most likely are using as a base. I plan to send familiars and some subordinates to scout the place soon."
"Adequate. Not ideal, but enough. I expect that you have more to inform me?" She narrows her eyes at me.
"Of course, your excellence!" I hastily say. We have found far more about the stray servants around the city. Rogue Caster was the first to be summoned; as you can see, he is already at our side." I then point at the white haired man at my side. She nods in appreciation, probably the first time she shows something that is not disgust.
"Rogue Lancer came soon after, sadly, we don't know much about them. They seem to be different from the usual stray servant, never staying in a single place. This made it harder to figure out any information." She taps her fingers on the armchair. "Irritating, but not your fault. I will confront them myself later." She arrogantly says.
"Rogue Saber stays at a playground in the city. We have no information about her combat skills, but we have her appearance. She is a dark skinned woman, clearly from somewhere in Asia. She wears dark clothes with red details. Her most distinct trait is her white hair and long red scarf." And her face is basically the same as yours. Not that I am going to tell her that, maybe she will get angry at that.
"At least you have her appearance. I will decide what to do with her later; she is irrelevant for now."
"And finally, about the masters. They're mostly irrelevant in all honesty. We have a rat that is incapable of anything but hiding and a whore that is incapable of doing anything but give birth to others' heirs. The only relevant one is a Dead Apostle who is an acquaintance of mine. But they're no obstacle at all." I suddenly feel a sharp pain in my face, as a cut appears on it.
"You idiotic scum! You think I care about your opinion? I asked for information, not your most likely incorrect thoughts!" She angrily says, after having cut my cheek. And now readies herself to hit me once again.
"That is enough!" RogueCaster holds her arm before she can do anything.
She looked at him with a mix of shock and hate. "You dare raise your voice to your emperor, magus?"
"Yes, my loyalty comes to my Master first. I shall not allow you to keep humiliating him like that!" I can't help but feel warm at that.
"Thanks, Caster, I was too focused on trying to please her as not to create conflict between us, but that is clearly not the way things should be done." I raise my hand, three red symbols on it. She raises her eyebrows at that.
"With my command seal, Rider, obey me!" A bright red light shines in the room.
She blinks a few times before laughing. "HAHAHA, that's it! You are not boring, master, it seems. Well then, I am a merciful emperor, so I shall ignore this small act of rebellion. We have more important things to do after all. Finish your report, and we shall plan our moves." She says, now acknowledging me.
"I shall take over for now." Rogue Caster says. And then begin explaining his ideas.
Perhaps this won't be as hard as I thought.
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