[Altair Brando]
I rested my hand on my chin, letting my eyes fall upon the kneeling Artoria. A faint gleam crossed my gaze as I confirmed that this was indeed her corrupted version.
[I don't think this is the best time to admire the enemy.]
*Cough! Cough!!*
Admire... I have no idea what my sweet Nahida is talking about.
While I kept lying to myself, Artoria leaned on Excalibur and rose from the ground, fixing me with an icy stare.
She's staring at me... Nahida, do I at least look decent??
[...]
[Simp!]
Hey! That's a bit offensive.
Ignoring our banter, Artoria pulled her sword from the ground and parted her lips.
"Why didn't you demonstrate that potential when facing Medusa?" Her eyes dropped to her right hand, which trembled slightly from the impact of the stone pillar.
I simply flashed a smile at the beautiful King of Knights.
Obviously, my power and control were leagues behind what they were in the old days.
It was even nostalgic, reminding me of the time when I was a young man full of dreams opening his eyes in a world filled with despair.
Keeping the smile on my lips, I opened my mouth: "So Archer really was your eyes."
"Isn't that obvious? A king always stays informed about their enemies." Her golden eyes gleamed coldly as she stared at me.
I moved my hand, rubbing my chin. "I agree with you. After all, technically, I'm also a ruler."
She sketched a slight smile at the corner of her lips. "King of the monkeys... so you want me to call you senpai?" A mocking smile formed on her face.
"Not a bad idea, but I'm sorry..." I moved my body, jumping down from the pillar. "The only person who can call me senpai is my adorable pink-haired kouhai." I pointed my thumb at Mash, who was getting up leaning on her shield.
"Senpai..." she murmured with a slightly flushed face, while Raikou rolled her eyes descending from the Ruyi Jingu.
"Hehehe." Artoria laughed coldly. "She reminds me of a certain friend of my former master."
Emiya Shirou!
With her words, that name echoed in my mind. So, in this distorted timeline, she had also been the servant of Fate/Stay Night's protagonist.
"What happened to your master?" I asked with curiosity, though I already imagined the answer.
"Isn't it obvious?" Artoria raised Excalibur with one hand, flashing a tyrannical smile. "I killed him." She observed my expression, but detecting no change, she furrowed her brow. "My words don't seem to have surprised you."
"Of course not. I already expected that from you." I raised my hand toward the Ruyi Jingu, which began to shrink before spinning and flying in my direction, striking against my palm.
"Really? You speak as if you knew me." There was a gleam of curiosity in her eyes.
"Something like that." Finishing spinning the Ruyi Jingu, I struck it on the ground. "I've already seen your uncorrupted version."
"Hahaha! So you've seen that idiotic version of me. Probably the version before you must seem like a failure." Even saying this, she didn't seem to be putting herself down.
"No, not at all. Honestly, I like you better this way." A smile appeared on my lips, surprising her. At the same time, I spun my staff between my hands before thrusting. "Grow!" My staff exploded in speed, growing toward Artoria.
Eyes half-closed, Artoria swung her sword, which covered itself with purple magical energy.
The impact reverberated through the cave, creating a powerful shockwave.
With the blade covered in dark purple energy, she pushed my staff to the side.
The exact instant my staff collided against the floor, Raikou advanced in her direction, thrusting with her blade.
The King of Britain tilted her neck, dodging the blade of my servant.
Planting the famous Excalibur into the ground, she braced her hand, spinning her body and unleashing a kick toward Raikou's stomach, who defended with her arm. Even so, she was thrown backward.
At the same instant, her eyes widened slightly upon seeing the tip of my staff heading toward her flank. Trusting in her ⟨Instincts⟩, she swung her sword.
*Boom!*
The impact of the two weapons echoed through the cave. Even defending my blow, her body was hurled backward. Her feet slid across the floor as she drove Excalibur into the ground to stabilize herself, leaving a deep crack in the floor.
A slight smile rose on her lips before she advanced and appeared directly in front of me.
Her blade exploded in a jet of magical energy.
Planting my foot on the ground, I spun my body delivering a blow with the staff... again the sound of a collision echoed through the space. Even counter-attacking her blow, my body was thrown backward.
I spun my body in the air, with my eyes glowing gold and red, allowing me to see her parameters.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Parameters]
▸ Strength: A
▸ Endurance: A
▸ Agility: D
▸ Mana: ???
▸ Luck: C
▸ NP: A++
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Isn't her mana attribute a bit unbalanced? With my body in the air, I raised one hand, rubbing my chin.
[Based on the magical energy trace, her mana is being fed by an alternative source.]
I frowned, spinning my body and sliding my foot across the ground. It's probably the Greater Holy Grail.
[Yes.]
[She theoretically has infinite magical energy.]
As if to confirm Nahida's words, Artoria raised her arm with her dark blade, exploding in a jet of dark purple magical energy.
But before she could swing in my direction, Raikou appeared in front of her, swinging her katana that crackled with purple lightning. The two ⟨Mana Bursts⟩ collided with each other, creating an oscillation in space, making lightning and dark purple magical energy collide against the wall.
I placed my hand over my face, observing the rays of magical energy.
"You two are worthy of being berserkers." Artoria sketched a cold smile. "But it's not enough." The dark violet jet exploded even more, pushing Raikou backward.
I need to...
Before I could finish my thought, Nahida's voice echoed in my mind.
[Analyzing... dissecting... implementing.]
Nahida?
[Skill ⟨Mana Burst⟩ has been copied and altered to ⟨Mana Burst | Primal⟩... Implementation complete.]
With information being rooted in my mind, I blinked my eyes, a bit confused and incredulous.
Hold on... you're capable of copying abilities?
[Yes, but there are several stages.]
[I need to thoroughly analyze the magical energy that composes the ability — examine each layer of its energy flow, decode its manifestation patterns, and understand the nature of its ability. Not to mention it needs to be, at minimum, compatible with you, or else accessible through adjustments in your core's magical frequencies. It's also necessary to make some delicate alterations to the original structure... in summary, the process is a bit complicated and time-consuming.]
[I had initiated this process since the first time we saw your servant use this ability.]
Either way, I thank you, my Nahida.
Without thinking twice, I advanced in her direction, spinning the Ruyi Jingu and releasing my magical energy, which coursed through my body and infused into my weapon.
Red cracks split in the stone staff almost as if they were veins.
All my mana infused the weapon and converted into extreme thermal energy, radiating heat like a miniature sun.
Exploding in speed and destroying the ground under my foot, I instantly appeared beside my servant. I swung my staff that emanated scorching waves of heat, striking against Raikou's blade, who widened her eyes in my direction.
I flashed a confident smile at the beautiful King of Knights. As our magical energies mixed, a storm of heat engulfed Artoria, throwing her body backward in an explosion as the ⟨Mana Burst | Primal⟩ extinguished each other.
"Master, I didn't know you could use ⟨Mana Burst⟩." Raikou looked in my direction, flashing a slight smile.
"I'm a box full of surprises." I raised my hand, wiping my face.
This ⟨Mana Burst | Primal⟩ is powerful, but it consumes a good amount of magical energy.
Meanwhile, Artoria rose from the ground, with several wounds and burns on her body. "I think I underestimated you two a bit, especially you, monkey!"
She slapped her hand against her armor, dusting off.
Thanks?
I tilted my head to the side, a bit confused whether that was a compliment.
"But that won't happen again." Instantly, her magical energy exploded throughout her body, and for a second, even the image of a dragon formed behind her.
I stared at her, realizing that her magical energy hadn't diminished even a tenth. In fact, it seemed to be increasing and becoming denser.
It looked like the scriptwriter of this play had a favorite, huh?
But I couldn't help but flash a smile, while Olga and Fujimaru ran toward Mash, Caster and Raikou remained with crossed arms.
Looking at her, I raised my arm to massage my neck.
I still possess a considerable amount of magical energy. I think I see only one solution to defeat her.
To defeat her, I just need to be myself and surrender to my instincts.
[...]
[That's quite simple, but it suits you.] Her cheerful voice echoed in my mind.
Again, I have no idea if that's a compliment or not.
With my little cabbage's approval, I flashed a smile advancing toward Artoria, using my ⟨Mana Burst | Primal⟩ and making my weapon release a source of extreme thermal energy, increasing its raw damage many times over.
"Son!?" Raikou exclaimed with her voice bathed in concern.
At the same instant, Artoria exploded in speed, breaking the ground below her foot. She was using ⟨Mana Burst⟩ to amplify her physical attributes.
In the blink of an eye, the stone staff and sword collided, making almost the entire cave vibrate.
"Won't you fight alongside your companions?" She held the hilt of her blade, covered in magical energy, while staring at me.
"Not this time." I flashed a smile. "I'm too selfish and possessive to share you with anyone." Surprising her again, I advanced, swinging the incandescent staff in multiple directions, creating a whirlwind of heat with each blow she blocked with millimetric precision.
The sound of staff and sword colliding echoed louder and louder through the cave. Although the place wasn't dark, each blow generated incandescent sparks that illuminated the environment.
"So you want me all to yourself, monkey." She smiled, raising Excalibur vertically to deflect the staff.
"Of course. If I see something of extreme value, it's normal to want it for myself. And as I already said, I prefer you this way." I pulled Ruyi Jingu back and kicked her stomach. Trusting in her instincts, she blocked with her gauntlet, but the impact launched her into the air.
Spinning in the air, she landed perfectly on the ground.
The exact second her feet touched the ground, I was already advancing in her direction. I pulled out two strands of hair and threw them into the air, invoking ⟨Hair Clones⟩.
Perfect copies of me appeared in the air, each flashing a smile.
"Hahaha! A beauty."
"King of Knights, I'm your fan."
The clones advanced, striking with Ruyi Jingu.
"Grow!"
The two shouted, and Artoria dodged with agility, avoiding the blows that cracked the ground and raised a cloud of dust. Before the dust settled, she jumped into it, with Excalibur wrapped in violet energy.
The clones tried to defend themselves, but Artoria swung her sword, releasing an explosion of energy that completely destroyed them, transforming them into white smoke.
Excalibur not only eliminated the clones but also descended in my direction in a straight and powerful cut. I raised Ruyi Jingu in time, blocking the blow. Excalibur's blade collided with the staff boiling in heat, and the ground under my feet cracked like a spider's web, while a slight expression of pain formed on my face because of the impact.
"Sorry, but as king, I cannot have more than one spouse. I prefer you leave your clones out of our encounter." A cold smile full of mockery appeared on her lips.
Feeling my bones tingle with the impact, I tilted the staff to the side. "What about Guinevere?" As Excalibur slid along Ruyi Jingu, I launched a quick blow that grazed her cheek, instantly burning her skin.
She raised her blade, blocking with precision. "Just a political marriage." She pushed the staff to the side and raised Excalibur, which exploded with magical energy. With a charming smile, she wielded the sword.
"«Vortigern, Hammer of the Vile King, reverse the rising sun. Swallow the light, Excalibur Morgan!»"
She released her Noble Phantasm almost point-blank, giving me little time to dodge. All I managed to do was jump backward and raise my arm to protect myself from the explosion. Even so, my body was thrown into the air.
My body rolled across the ground and slammed into a wall, which finally halted my momentum. With the impact, boulders fell on me while my ⟨Mana Burst | Primal⟩ dissipated.
Although my armor had greatly reduced the damage, part of it passed through, displacing my organs and forcing my regeneration to work at full throttle.
I waved my arm, removing the debris from on me.
"Ugghhhh... That hurt." I got up, blood dripping from my lips. Seeing the red liquid dripping on the floor, I stared at it fixedly.
In the worst moments of my life, this red liquid had been present in my body.
When ruining my life, when losing my reason for living.
But this time, I was happy, I was enjoying something other than acting or my sister.
So please, I don't have time to participate in this blood drama now. Let me enjoy this moment... sorry, sister, at this moment I'm not thinking about you. At this moment I just want to lose myself in my own pleasure.
Although I wasn't in great shape and my mana was low, Artoria also wasn't at her best. Her breathing was heavy, and much of her skin was burned.
Unable to stop smiling, I emerged from the rubble with my eyes falling on my staff in my hands, feeling a strange connection pulsing through me, as if the weapon was finally responding to my will.
Strangely, I could feel that I could, at this moment, use its full potential for the first time. As if answering my question, a quite recognizable voice echoed in my mind.
[Noble Phantasm: Ruyi Jingu Bang – The Golden Staff that Sustains the Heavens unlocked]
That answers my question, my cabbage. I moved my gaze, staring at Artoria.
"Shall we finish this once and for all?" I asked, walking in her direction.
"That would be perfect." She wiped the sweat from her forehead.
"For the final dance of the night, let's go all out." I slid my foot back, holding only the base of the staff with my fingertips while releasing all my mana at once.
Artoria smiled, raising Excalibur above her head. She also wasn't holding back, and her overwhelming mana filled the cave.
"You are strong. I approve of your strength." She smiled coldly. "What is your name?"
"Altair Brando." I smiled at her.
"A good name. I promise I won't forget it... no matter the outcome of our dance." Her blade exploded with magical energy much more intense than before. The pressure forced my companions to retreat, and the cave, spacious and resistant as it was, seemed ready to collapse.
Faced with this, my Ruyi Jingu began to crack, revealing a golden glow beneath the fissures.
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Don't forget to throw power stones and leave a review or drop a comment to motivate me.