Chapter 24 - 2

Just because Shirou was bad at magecraft didn't mean that he couldn't work around his shortcomings. Rin made sure of that by teaching him the basics of magecraft after the Fuyuki Grail War. His time at the Clocktower also helped reinforce them to acceptable levels, if not push them to roundabout methods that allowed him to perform some of the more advanced craft.

Case in point: his ward on Sakura.

It was a simple ward that was tied to him. It didn't do anything aside from alert him if something happened to Sakura's health. A safety precaution. That's what it was meant to be. Though, it served a far more important role than just watching over her vitals.

The ward also kept track of Sakura's magic.

The moment her magic fluctuated and turned dark, Shirou fired on all cylinders.

"Nearl, I have to go." Shirou hissed when the Holy Grail suddenly spiked in power. It wasn't reacting to his intentions that was for sure. One of Shirou's rules for himself was never to use the Holy Grail's power unless the situation required it. If he used the legendary artifact at every turn, consequences would follow.

No, the Holy Grail was reacting to an outside presence. The spike in power was in tune with only one possible connection to it- the Minor Grail.

The Corrupted Minor Grail.

"Shirou-? What's going on?" Nearl saw Shirou freeze for a moment. The past thirty minutes had been spent driving away Reunion fighters from the escape route for the prisoners to escape.

"I'll leave the civilians to you." He wasn't going to bother hiding his magecraft now. Shirou was leaving Nearl to distract the Reunion with few reinforcements. Seeing her fight was enough to prove that the pegasus knight was more than talented.

The coming threat was beyond Shirou's ability. Even with the Holy Grail's power, he would only be able to match it at best.

Drawing on the Holy Grail's might, Shirou traced weapons from his armoury. Normally summoning them would eat a large chunk of energy, but the holy artifact was infinite in its supply.

"Trace On."

Nearly blinked as something began to glow between them.

"I am the bone of my sword."

They quickly formed into familiar shapes- a sword and a shield. Her eyes widened when she saw the sheer size of the shield. It was massive . The thing was easily as big as her body. The shield was dull grey with a cross-like motif with rounded edges. Two vertical sides of the cross were longer than their horizontal counterparts- the top tall enough to protect one's head over the shield while the bottom extended further down to cover the legs.

When it dropped in front of Nearl, the pegasi caught it deftly and found that the bottom was long enough to comfortably rest on the ground while she held it. It was comparable to the riot shields in size and felt every bit as heavy.

The sword finished forming at the same time as the shield. It was a medium broadsword that widened at the base. The pommel was blue, just like the base and the center near the top. Compared to the shield, the sword looked normal- if not for the strange sense of harmony Nearl felt once the sword completed. Just like the shield, it fell into her hands and the pegasi found her arts suddenly thrumming with power.

"Use these. I won't be able to stay for much longer." Shirou warned while pouring more strength into his legs. He can already feel the dark presence creeping over the Holy Grail. The artifact was warding off the corruption, but it wouldn't last forever. It was simply an artifact- not a sentient entity capable of directing thought and power.

"If you find yourself out of options, call their names. Excalibur Galatine and Lord Camelot will answer." He gestured to each one accordingly. Shirou summoned each noble phantasm with enough power for one use. Nearl could keep both indefinitely, but to use their abilities would burn up all the energy contained.

"W-what? Call their names?" Nearl blinked. Shirou wasn't making any sense. Much less how the sword and shield were summoned out of nowhere. What kind of arts did Shirou have? This was far beyond reading the history of objects as he showed before. She could feel her arts thrumming with the sword in her hands. Whatever the sword was, it was making her power volatile.

"Excalibur Galatine will raze the world of your enemies. Lord Camelot will protect you and everyone with you." Shirou answered as he leapt away. Nearl's eyes widened as she watched him effortlessly leap two stories up and bounce off the wall onto the opposite building's roof. It was done so fast that her mind only caught up after hearing his words.

Normally, Noble Phantasms were impossible to use by anyone else except for the person their legend was tied to. In this case, it was the two Knights of the Round: Gawain and Galahad.

But, Shirou was the exception. It was the primary reason why the Clocktower tried to give him a Sealing Designation- to prevent him from leaving for the rest of his life.

Shirou was able to use Noble Phantasms without being a part of their legend.

Noble Phantasms were tied directly into the legends of specific people. No one else could enact the mystery and miracle within them. Shirou bypassed that limitation through copying the Noble Phantasm- creating another version inside his soul and tying it directly to him instead. Every weapon he records with him- short of those with divine miracles from the power of gods- was possible to recreate.

Thus, he gave Nearl the embodiment of the sun and the shield of Camelot. If he didn't have time to beat Talulah, then he hoped Nearl would do so in his place. Excalibur Galatine and Lord Camelot would give her the power of the sun and the protection of a kingdom. Even without uttering their names, Nearl should be able to face Talulah.

No, the Noble Phantasms were made for what would come after.

Lord Camelot would be able to protect everyone if Shirou couldn't contain Sakura. If that wasn't enough, Excalibur Galatine could cleanse the world of her corruption temporarily. Its radiance would not last forever.

Roofs flew by under him as Shirou ran across them. Already, he could feel the corruption growing stronger. The source was racing fast across the land in his direction- getting closer to him with each second. He didn't know how far it was, so his objective was to deal with Talulah before leaving the city. Shirou only hoped he was fast enough.

The battle unfolded before him, an avenue of carnage. The entire boulevard was decimated with destruction every which way. The road was melted, the buildings charred black and burnt. Fire was everywhere, scorching everything to fuel itself and spread.

There amidst it all was the large hulking figure of Patriot on his knees. The ominous form of Talulah standing straight told Shirou all he needed to know. His unnamed bow companion flashed midair as he drew his arm back, an arrow already formed in place along with the weapon. It took less than a moment to trace the projectile and fire it- the arrow tearing through the air at breakneck speed.

The standing figure didn't topple over. She was only sent back a few meters. Shirou had prioritized the speed of his attack over impact to push the Draco away from his ally. Over the past few months, he had grasped the general difference between Earth and Terra's inhabitants.

Terrans were on a completely different level.

They were far stronger and sturdier than the average human. The normal Terran could lift five times the weight one from Earth can. Their bodies were adapted to far more stress, resulting in far more durability.

In short, Shirou was fighting an uphill battle. He could perform the same magical effects, but the physical impact he could do to each Terran was minimized.

That didn't stop him from slamming a few more arrows into Talulah with fractions of a second between them, throwing her off balance. The next arrow was enough to smash her into the ground once her balance was shifted.

Reinforced legs pushed off the building, cracking the concrete under him as the archer launched himself off. He arched through the air and shot a few more arrows at Talulah scrambling to her feet. The Draco was once again thrown off balance as the metal rammed into her. Shirou landed on the ground with a roll and continued his sprint to Patriot's side.

He didn't need a closer look at the Wendigo's critical condition. His reinforced eyes already saw the Originium-laced wounds. It was clear that the injury needed treatment immediately. If the shrapnel wasn't enough to bring down Patriot, the Originium would. Moving him would worsen the injury and carrying him away would risk them both getting hit with fireballs.

"Trace On." Shirou's bow disappeared- replaced by a red spear, one his body was intimately familiar with. It had stabbed him in the heart once, only to be brought back alive by Rin. The beginning of his new life.

"Kill me and you won't find the key to the city."

That was enough to pause Shirou in his tracks- one attack away from ending it all.

"I hid the key. Bringing it with me would be catastrophic if I died."

Talulah crawled to her feet, standing with confidence. She held her arms out and smiled.

"So come, kill me. I've already won."

Shirou didn't have time for this. He needed to find out quickly. The Hound of Ulster's spear broke into motes of light as he surged forward with speed. Talulah blinked as her enemy blurred towards her. She tried to dodge the punch, but miscalculated the speed and felt the impact as her breath left her body.

"Guh-" She sputtered as her body doubled over in pain. Her pockets were torn as Shirou jammed his hands in them. His eyes could only trace objects from a distance. He was able to glean that Talulah carried several things on her- but not what those objects were. Each pocket had to be checked to confirm her words.

Nothing. None of them carried anything like the key Patriot described.

"...as I said- I won." Talulah grinned.

A sudden thought occurred to him. Shirou felt like smacking his head after everything.

"You're coming with me." He traced some chains and wrapped them around Talulah before she could stop him. They were specially designed to hold captives with the runes inscribed on them. Shirou was sure she wouldn't escape unless her strength far exceeded the chains- which were nigh improbable with the energy sapping effect it had.

Shirou glanced at Patriot's direction. He couldn't leave the general to die.

He was no healer, but the next best thing was available to him.

The world turned yellow as the sheath of Utopia appeared once again.

=== RHODES ISLAND ===

0500 Hours, Rhodes Island.

Ch'en wasn't really all that experienced when it came to arts. Not many in the LGD were. They handled mundane day-to-day problems.

Not doomsday threats. Those were far out of their league.

She didn't know if it was psychic sort of arts or something else entirely, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. The unholy kind of feeling. The closest thing Ch'en could describe it was like the horror movie kind, but elevated to the nth degree.

"We'll be back."

A dark shadow spread from underneath Sakura's feet. The woman in a dark dress stepped forwards into the shadow and the two sunk into the ground as if it was a liquid. The darkness disappeared shortly after and the feeling of despair along with it.

Ch'en collapsed to her knees while shaking.

"We have to warn Kal'tsit that we failed." Rin leaned on the wall for support while recovering. No matter how many times she's faced Sakura's corrupted form, Rin could never shake off the curse's effect.

She only knew of one person who could fight despite being swallowed up in despair. A certain someone who in another life traveled the path of self destruction even when his beliefs betrayed him in the end.

Shirou was more akin to a sword than a human. No matter what he faced, his first thought was how to fight it. Retreat was only an option if it meant coming back with a plan to end the threat he deemed too evil to leave alive.

Her old servant Archer was the same. As a designated janitor for any catastrophe mankind could ever make, he was always sent in even if the odds were one in a thousand.

Running was never an option.

The two were alike, in that they would continue even when all hope was lost- until the very end.

It took them a few minutes before Rin could even begin walking, dragging herself out the room with all the effort she could muster from what little she had left.

...

"You failed?"

Kal'tsit frowned while looking at the two. Ch'en looked like she was on death's door while Rin was not much better, yet the two appeared before her.

"Sakura- she's on her way to Chernobog. We have to get there and find Shirou." Rin winced. She was shaking like a leaf. Her body almost refused to follow her orders. Heading to the hangar bay felt like dragging five times her weight.

"What's the problem then?" Kal'tsit could tell the matter was serious judging from their expressions.

"Sakura will swallow everyone within Chernobog." Rin didn't want her sister to do something she would regret forever. Sakura had killed a lot of people when All The World's Evil corrupted her back in Fuyuki. Even when she held the urge to kill back when she was conscious, hundreds had died while Sakura was asleep. The curse was too powerful to control and it played on Sakura's deepest desires.

Sakura knew it was bad, but one could never deny their inner desires. She could stop it from happening- like when she stopped the deaths when she was awake, but it would still linger at the back of her mind, tucked away before it resurfaced sooner or later.

It was impossible for any single human to hold something that embodied true evil. She could only direct it to her desires- both good and evil.

That was why Shirou and Rin were the first and only defense against it. Sakura desired to stay with them both. Anything in between her and them were nothing but corpses with All The World's Evil active.

If anything happened to them both, Sakura could plunge Terra into extinction. Rin didn't know if there were powers out there who could stop All The World's Evil. The curse embodied all the sins of the planet's people. There had to be an equally powerful power out there that was planetary in level to match it.

Kal'tsit's frown only grew.

"Get in."

It didn't matter if their lives were at risk. Kal'tsit was a little dubious to Rin's warning, but it was still worth checking it out. Even if the belief was misplaced, Rhodes Island still needed to make an attempt at stopping Chernobog from ramming Lungmen.

===

Author's Note

...

Late update again...sigh. Though I'm focusing on December just for this fic.

Yes I'm twisting some of the events in Arknights because following them 100% is not something everyone wants to see. Major events and the like should remain the same unless a really good twist comes along.

This chapter (and next couple) has been brought to you by Unoriginal Name, Dovar, and Wawa. Very very special thanks to all of you because it really helped me a lot.

Each little donation helps me out and motivates me to finish chapters earlier, so it would mean a lot to me to have your support!

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