The Grand Crossover RP - Pathway to Origin [IC/PG-13/Moved to NCM for Finale]

[Love of Ghibli]

Team Dorian: Hallway of Origin

 

"Dorian, Dorian, you're doing fine!"

 

Dorian looked back at his companion down the passage of Death. FRIEND! He shouted happy that the teams were working together.

 

"Letting her alive just to make her suffer more...? Well...I'm not really opposed to that...but actually...what magic reservers are you talking about?

 

Oh it's something Gyoukuen keeps talking about. Long story short, Gyoukuen is apart of of Butlerok now soooo any question you had for her you can ask him when this is all over.

 

Nevertheless, I'm up for either a quick or prolonged death. By taking this path, Arturia would have understood what might happen to her. Honoring her choice by playing up the risk is important, right? I might not be of much help, but may I fight alongside you two here?"

 

Of course...what are friends for if not for killing each other's enemies. Dorian said with a smile on his face.  

 

While Dorian was chatting Bulterok, like a true professional, did not take his eyes (the unholy assortment of them) off of his target. He watched as Arthuria took the some of the swords dead on and wrap her self in Invisible Air to conceal her movements. Butlerok raised an eyebrow as this one managed to regenerate. Could this be the true Arthuria? He pondered.

She resumed the attack and Butlerok didn't break stance. It seemed as if she intended to go through Butlerok's assistants than around them. 

Dorian jumped into battle and gripped his fist close together. I see it's time to catch these ha.... Dorian couldn't even finish his statement as a fist to the face sent him flying into another person's fire attack. 

Ouch Ragnarok thought. 

 

He'll be fine. Butlerok replied

 

"Ragnarok... Are you ready to die?!"

 

She got the Kishin's attention. Butlerok watched on as she basked in pure light and wind. Clearly she was going all out. She jetted straight at the kishin and as she came at him she would see the Mad Blood collect in front of him. But it didn't form Ragnarok's sword this is was an odd staff.  She pressed on and there was something almost respectable with the amount of effort she was giving to stand for what she believed in. Her purifying light tried to cover Butlerok and she went for the fatal thrust to his chest. 

 

"CALIBURN!"

 

She hit something and it felt squishy and when the light subsided she would see the face of Butlerok looking down upon her unscathed. In fact she would see how sword was lodged in what seemed to be a massive orb that encompassed the Kishin. It did not seem to be affected by her Caliburn. In fact the residual energy that was coming over the orb that shielded Butlerok started to turn into what looked like white floating butterflies and started to peacefully float around the two combatants. 

Being this close to the Kishin Arthuria would be able to hear the soft tone of her opponent. Not a bad strike. Granted, like most of your techniques, the more you do it, the easier it is to figure out. Butlerok stood tall and took in a deep breath making sure not to show how exhausting all of those preparations were. Having a Borg keep her blade from physically make contact with him was one thing but that purifying aura of hers was something that could be dealt with in one of two ways. Butlerok chose the more complicated route of using the Rukh. Everyone and everything has Rukh constantly floating around them. Add that to civilizations of citizens he was conned into converting into their base Rukh he has a plethora of Rukh to manipulate. Of course the problem was how to guide these Rukh and what to make them do? While taking a lot of thought processes he managed to order all of the Rukh to literally protect him from being purified. And when Arthuria's blade clashed against his Borg the bright light would've covered the thousands of Rukh swarming to constantly protect Butlerok. As the waves and waves of her energy kept going so would the waves and waves of Rukh constantly disperse that form of magic. Leaving that effort...nullified. 

 

Butlerok looked at Arthuria and seeing that he might get "help" again he decided to keep his words brief.  He tilted his head and with his Alpha Stigma he just looked down on Arthuria with an oddly gentle smile.

Ala Raqesa...Intense gravity bored down upon Arthuria to keep her in place.

Seishin Maho...Arthuria's world would go black and she would just see the countless Rukh floating around representing her own life force. This was a mental magic and to normal people it would cause them fall into the utmost depravity dying their Rukh Black... or since they are this close to a Kishin make them plunge head first into madness. But this opponent was strong willed and a Counter Guardian. Doubt it would work that well, but it would hopefully be enough to at the very least unhinge her.

Well you tried to purify me...allow me to return the favor. The Mad Blood that Arthuria dispersed had swirled over her head and formed a thick cloud and in a cover of explosions (Dorian Related) proceeded to rain down on her like a storm.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Being sent flying was definitely a humbling experience but it was something that Dorian had almost come to expect in his journey. Luckily for him he was tossed into some raging pillar of fire. Dorian actually floated in the fire like it was nothing trying to regain his composure. 

When the attack wafted over he regained his senses and looked over the now hectic battlefield. It appeared as if there was an Arthuria for every major tier person on the opposing sides. If you pair the War God and the Shinigami. Then it seemed that all of the top tiers were fighting an Arthuria with support from everyone else. Dorian quietly snickered as it looked Rhadamanthys had the most people on his faction and he probably wanted the least. But no time to daydream. It was time to engage in battle. Dorian watched as one of the Arthurias unleashed a torrent of white fire arrows upon everyone. It looked like there were some heading over in Butlerok's direction. 

Within that second he saw one of his tiny Rukh flutter by which triggered like a sensory reflex and he automatically waved his hand over Butlerok KANZEN GUARD!!! He yelled as the arrows above Butlerok seemed to explode. If one was to look carefully at Dorian his eyes were of a different spectrum as he seemed to tap into his seventh sense. He looked over to where Tenco was to be burned with the Dragonfire. Miss Tenco! You okay? He yelled.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Rhadamanthys tilted his head as he wanted to enjoy his own kill but so many people were jumping in. It was entertaining to watch all of these weaker beings take on his prey. Like watching a bunch of sou chefs prep your ingredients before you go in and do the true cooking. Interesting enough something about her weapon that made him instinctively not want to engage in battle. Something about it's seemed to conflict with his own cosmos. 

As she blasted him with her pressurized dragon breath Rhadamanthys simply stuck his hand out and blocked it. However he knew that was not meant to actually kill him. But he snickered. It seemed like one of the sou chefs had managed to do something quiet worthwhile. They made her tagout that annoying spear weapon she had. Which means he was free to engage. Rhadamanthys looked on as this Arthuria aimed her bow at everyone and started to pepper arrows while keeping herself encased in white flames.

He looked up at his and he was pretty annoyed at how he wasn't getting enough attention. Though on second thought, Rhadamanthys smiled...

 

When does food need to pay attention to the one who's eating it? Rhadamanthys simply pointed his finger at the Archer Arthuria. Let us feed. A single concentrated beam fired from his finger would would clearly level a small island but this was just to see how stronger her defenses were.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"Ahaaaaaa, your heart is more closed off than mine. Where has you thrown it to?"

 

Koishi, who just slammed on a Reimu clone with enough force to immediately break it apart, was instead seemingly more occupied with how much had Arturia distanced herself from everything. At least, it seemed so. It would be impossible to see what kind of thought was she having now.

 

She used her Conditioned Teleport to move away from her current position, and while she was still unnoticeable, she continued to follow the Arturia she assigned herself to, using her ability along the way to bombard the Counter Guardian's mind with gibberish, traumatic events, more gibberish, and the voice of everyone else on the Hallway, repeatedly with more intensity as if they were spoken from inside of Arturia's mind.

 

A king with the resolve of tempered steel, the emptied Koishi seemed to find joy in her attempts to find and utilize any chinks on her mind.

 

---

 

"Huh. They're all gone, already."

 

Reimu, who was busy chilling on the corner of the Hallway as she recovered from the mental strain of using her powers too much, noticed that her clones had all disappeared. The Hakurei Danmaku Barrier she used as an umbrella seemed like it's going to disappear soon amidst the rain of flaming arrows from the sky.

 

"Ah well, time for me to return then."

 

She took off from the ground, and darted back into the battle. She found herself being closest to the Arturia that was aiming to strike at Gemini, and decided that one would be her target. She took her amulets from her supply again, and threw them around Arturia. A pentagram was formed underneath the king as Reimu started her chant.

 

 

 

"Shadow of a king, be purified to your very atoms. May heaven's blessings be with your soul as it departs.

 

Disappear into light! Divine Spirit: Omnidirectional Dragon-slaying Circle!"

 

Yelling the name of her Spell Card, the pentagram under Arturia expanded and shot up barrier walls of light that surrounded the king. The king would soon find herself getting boxed by Reimu's attack, and while she would be able to free herself quite easily had it was just a trap, Reimu then unleashed the attack properly - a purification ritual that removes the impurities of life and death from the target. An attack meant to dissolve the unnatural completely, now used to cleanse Arturia for the sin of existing.

 

"Reasoning with you is getting tiring. I'll just exorcise you and call it a day in that case."

 

---

 

[spoiler=Stuff]

-Koishi floods 4rturia's mind with spam, spam, and more spam while being somewhere near her, subconsciously erasing her presence from people's mind.

 

-Reimu attempts to purify 4rturia to her very atoms - disintegrating her, to put it in other words.

 

 

[The Warden]

"...THAT KEY IS MINE!"

 

A bold claim; however, how far Arturia could go with her intent was debatable as Hapshiel stood in the way of the strike, the spearhead barely even reaching him as the angel's kinetic field thickened to the point that it was like trying to push through tar. No doubt the great king would try her best, but given her divided nature, it would be impossible to move the spearhead even an inch forwards now that she was so thoroughly trapped within the heavy field. "The only thing you will find, miss Arturia, is absolution through annihilation" Hapshiel stated as held onto Rhongomyniad's head.

 

His aura flaring, six Hapshiels split off from the main body. Cooing gently, they basically dogpiled the frozen Counter Guardian, each of them pinning her limbs with two over her torso. The only thing even able to poke out of the Hapshiel pile was the copy's head, which got to bear witness to their kinetic fields fracturing the hail of arrows. "Well, that is odd" a Hapshiel remarked at the red sphere that had appeared circling around Arturia.

 

 

--A few minutes ago--

 

Lydia's wings fluttered as she took her first step into Prologuous, a quiet, unsuspecting place. There was nothing here, beyond a gateway at the tree, which beyond would be everyone and Arturia would be. Placing a hand to Impure Future's grip, the Sorceress Supreme's fingers faltered on it as the grip on her staff tightened. Riding the wind, she was cast across the island into the Hallway of Origin, which was quite the scene. Everyone, Counter Corp and Divine, were fighting what appeared to be four different Arturias with everything they had. "That wretched woman would attempt to murder those who trusted her to destroy the Key?" Avalon growled within their mind with absolute disgust.

 

"She is too far gone now. While I wasn't in full agreement with your wants, it would seem we have no choice. If we want to live... we're going to have to kill her, otherwise she'll continue to bring harm to us."

 

"I'm glad you see it my way, and I know how to do it. Can you feel it girl? The elements are raging in this battles. Fire consumes the skies, and she recklessly wields the light with no regard."

 

"The wind as well. I can fell the ebb and flow of an unnatural wind in this place. It is being manipulated by Arturia, and it seems to grant some way to be invisible."

 

"A useful tool, one that we can no doubt use for our goal."

 

"Agreed. Avalon, steal some of the wind and shield us with it. I know what you're thinking, and I agree. Keep us hidden, and i'll do the rest."

 

"Gladly."

 

The dragon's will forcing itself onto the Invisible Air, small, unnoticeable portions were taken from each Arturia, forming a screen between Lydia and the battle raging in the Hallway. Now free to concentrate, the Sorceress' Mind reached out to the arrows still falling, their flames burning out and converting into four red and pure elemental orbs, each one revolving around an Arturia and burning with fire. "Fire, from the flames of war you covet" Lydia whispered.

 

And then, a strange chill was felt by each Arturia, for just a second. "Ice, born from the coldness of your heart" Lydia continued as a pure white orb appeared opposite the red orb, a chill emanating from the sphere.

 

Drawing moisture long forgotten from the king's clothing, a blue orb appeared at half distance between the red and white orbs, its surface rippling. "Water, born from the crocodile tears of grief you pretended to show."

 

Concentrating on the effort and passion from each Arturia, a purple sphere crackled into life opposite the blue orb. "Lightning, born from the energy wasted in chasing your selfish desires" Lydia declared, sparks flying off the sphere as the orbs started to rotate faster.

 

"Good work girl. Give the elements power, so they can have their vengeance!"

[Tesability Black]

~Gemini's POV~

The Key...

Admittedly, it was moving, teleporting from one person to another at such a pace that by the time Arturia's weapon pinned down its location, it was already elsewhere on another person. Such a pace, combined with the overall strength of all present, would eventually drive Arturia into making an irrepairable mistake.

At least, this was Gemini's hope, as he faded out of the way upon any and all attacks aimed at him, intentional or not. However, his fading for the moment did not stop the rapid movement of the Key as Arturia rushed him, going through where he once was. Only when she was done passing through him did he re-emerge, a sword now piercing armor and body.

"Now, let's see where Avalon lies, yes," he whispered quickly after the sword of dark-blue crystal began to glow with the corrosive blackish-red aura to eat her away from the inside out.

In all honesty, while his own aura was flared out like this, he was unbothered by the arrows, their presense melting away before they could reach him. Out of the corner of his eyes, however, he saw one of the Souls manifest into visibility, causing a sideways frown to appear on his face.
 
"That puppeteer refuses to stay out of this, does she," he quipped upon seeing a familiar glasses-wearing girl.

~Neos's POV~

Knight's shield held up, Neos returned the sword into aura energy and recalled it back into himself before grabbing Jace bringing the smaller man closer to him. He held both of them under the shield, protecting both of them from the arrows that littered the field, a wince on his face as he felt the flames through the crystalline shield before it repaired itself post-haste.

He watched as another Arturia slayed within five seconds five figures, figures that she seemed to know from the past. "...what's happened to her," he wondered to himself in a whisper. "Where did Arturia go?"
 
In his mind, this wasn't Arturia they were battling, but some foul being that stole her face and name.
 
~Jace's POV~

Though not directly hit by any of the arrows, he felt their impacts indirectly, causing him to wince from pain. "Yo, you okay?"

"I'll be alright," he gritted after realizing where the pain was coming from.

The Souls of the Faultless that littered the entire hallway, filling every empty nook and cranny in addition to every visible location. Some of them had fully manifested after an arrow connected to thier appearance, or had been along the paths that some Arturias had ran to get to their intended targets, manifesting as if they had  been sliced or punctured.

And these manifested souls were all looking towards Arturia.

"How dare you, Arturia, for wishing the end of the Omniverse by destroying the one thing guarenteed to stop its self-destruction," one Soul stated, one that looked like a pale girl dressed in a black turtleneck, jeans and winter boots, hair straight and brown and eyes the same color behind wire-framed glasses. Unlike the other Souls, this was of an appearance that had indeed manifested upon these Paths before. "Now, strike!"

A collective cry echoed out throughout the hallway, a fiercesome shriek from each of the solidified Souls that no gust of wind can deaden, no barrier could shield against. Arturia, in attacking them despite it being indirectly, had given them an anchor to each of them, allowing the recoil to bypass any sort of barrier or protection she might have.

Every bit of damage Arturia dealt, even accidentally, she just took back in kind, the spillover damage enough to affect even the ones that had not struck out at any Souls.
 

"Holy shit," both human and Ditto said in unison.

[Gαr]

Team Ed - Hallway of Origin

 

Elsa is quite the cat. She crossed the battlefield undetected, avoiding any and all obstacles and attacks. Despite knowing Ed for less than a day, she knew how to maximize his offensive capabilities. She immobilized Arturia Three and he leapt at the opportunity with great vigor. She barely knew Gon at all, so his Nen attack was an added bonus. It was all for naught, however.

 

Arturia Three broke free, but Elsa expected her to. Ed had managed to slip his black flame dragon through her counterattacks. Arturia Three retaliated by throwing Gon with Invisible Air. Elsa created an ice ramp in real time to redirect Gon away from Chandra. The ramp ended next to her and Gon slid in a sitting position next to Elsa. "That was fun!"

 

"I've had a lot of practice."

 

Arturia Three let out a wave of white hot dragon breath towards everyone. Gon grabbed Elsa and he jumped out of the way. Elsa erected a wall of ice when they were a safe distance away. Arturia Three's flames burned so hot, Elsa had to occasionally replenish and reinforce the ice.

 

"Scatter!" Revy called to Ed and Rhadamanthys. Ed retreated a distance and skirted around the the battle towards Elsa and Gon. He baseball slid behind the ice wall.

 

Safely behind the wall, Ed lamented, "I knew a guy named John and he had white flames just like that. Back then I couldn't stand up to John's fire magic. But I'm stronger now, much stronger. My black flames are essentially the opposite of white flames. They freeze and burn instead of char. I can fight fire with fire, but I'm not so sure about Arturia herself. I can certainly give it my best shot."

 

Arturia Three's arrows rained across the battlefield. Elsa extended her ice wall into a half dome shape, giving Team Ed cover from the sky. "I know this whole conflict is called the Origin War, but right now, being pinned down, this feels like real war."

 

Gon poked his head over the dome. Arturia Three had put a good amount of distance between herself and everyone she was fighting. She maintained that gap with the heat of her white flames and a volley of arrows, but that didn't stop Revy from leading an assault. Gon hopped down and looked over the ice wall, chewing his tongue. He knocked on the ice. "How cold can either of you make your ice?"

 

Together, Ed and Elsa combined their ice magic and transformed Elsa's ice wall into a makeshift siege engine. One person moved the engine while the other reinforced the ice against the heat. They stopped every so often to let off some ranged attacks at Arturia Three and that was when they would switch off. They moved closer and closer until they closed the gap.

 

It was Gon's time to shine. Gon used Elsa's ice shield as a pivot point and jumped over Arturia Three's fiery defense. Decked out in crystalline ice armor for fire protection, courtesy of Elsa, and his fist shrouded in black Nen, Gon shouted, "First comes rock! Rock!"

 

Ed was against the idea of Gon doing something stupid he was equally as guilty of doing. Gon insisted on being the distraction. Covering himself in black ice just in case, Ed rushed the dragon's den. He summoned a black flame dragon ahead of himself to open up the white flame wall. She was only armed with a bow and he knew it would take her time to transform her weapon back into one meant for close quarters combat. The only other weapon in her arsenal, as far as Ed knew, was her dragon breath. He could tank a blast point blank range, he had to, he wasn't going down that easy.

 

With Arturia Three distracted by Gon above her, that left Ed with a small window to attack, but it was enough. Ed jumped with his sword outstretched through the opening he created. His sword glowed with all the Reiatsu and magic he poured into it. As he landed he executed a two handed overhead swing, slashing Arturia Three down the middle.

[Reinforce]

Darcy

 

Sighing a bit at Satori's hasty move to try and take the key, Darcy diverted a bit of her own magic towards helping keep the youkai connected to her, and to hiding the key it was holding by turning it and the tentacle holding it invisible. When Arturia then breathed out white flames around her, red flames proceeded to flare into life around Darcy's body, protecting both her and Satori from the effects of the white flames. As she watched the interplay of her fire and the other one, Darcy got a smirk on her face, even as flaming arrows started falling around them, one that only grew bigger as her fire continued to counter the arrows raining on her from above as well.

 

Drawing further on the power within her, her flames burst into life further, melding with and seemingly absorbing the white flames as she started to boost the fire surrounding her. It wouldn't be enough to completely break the barrier, but it would grant her even more power to work with, while decreasing the strength of the barrier in the process. Then, leaving that going, she started to walk forwards, passing through the fire to reach a spot she could see the Counter Guardian again. With that, she brought both hands forwards, throwing out jets of white fire enhanced by the Dragon's Flame, and burning at a similar temperature to Arturia's fire.

 

---

 

Chandra

 

With arrows made of white flames bursting down from the air above, every Phoenix she had out was destroyed once again, the white flames clashing badly with their fire bodies. Any arrows coming near her though, were drained away to settle into her gauntlet, the planeswalker using her skills at manipulating fire to steal control of the fire they're comprised of. Pulling that power to her own use, she cast another spell, copied three times over, to send a strong jet of Banefire shooting towards the three Arturias not currently guarded by the barrier of white flames. In it's wake, the four Phoenixes she'd been using to constantly harry the Counter Guardians rose once more around her body, protected from the arrows by Chandra's constant drain of the fire involved.

 

---

 

Ayame

 

"You again?! You refuse to learn, do you..."

 

Ayame screamed just after hearing that, as her left wing was torn clean off her body and she was pushed away and burned by a ball of fire, slamming into the side wall as she couldn't stabilize her flight this time around. Falling to the floor as she blacked out, she missed seeing what happened next, as one of the Souls of the Faultless drifted across next to her limp body. This particular soul took the form of a small girl with silver-blonde hair, possibly familiar to the early members of the Counter Corps as Naomi. Settling just above her friend's body, she opened her mouth and started to sing, using her music to slowly heal her friend. As the white flame arrows started to plummet down over the group, a second soul drifted across to guard them, a larger man with raven coloured hair who might again be familiar to the early members of the Counter Corps as Jin. Standing and protecting his friends, his aura blazed into existence in front of them, draining away the power of any of the arrows that came near them.

 

[spoiler=tldr]Darcy discovers she can render herself immune to fire through the Dragon's Flame, and proceeds to use that power to walk through Arturia's shield and attack her again. Chandra continues to attack from a distance while using the arrows as an extra power source, and holds her Phoenixes back from attacking for once. Ayame falls unconscious and gets healed and protected by two of the Souls of the Faultless, souls that just so happen to be Naomi Taylor and Jin Akatsuki.

 

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"Of course...what are friends for if not for killing each other's enemies."

 

 

"...So that is what a friend would do for each other. I'll keep that in mind."

 

"Then you are a hypocrite!"

 

"E-eh?!"

 

The nameless girl's reunion with Dorian and his friends didn't last long however. Arturia soon freed herself from her sword prison, and rewarded the girl's effort by engulfing her in dragon fire. That was, to say the least, very painful. However, for the nameless girl, who had perservered through countless physical pain, a lot that were worse than this, it was nothing more than a stimulation that she had started to enjoy for a while. Its scale and power was not even as bad as the time she was blasted face-first with the fake Clarent. The girl let out a bit of a giggle as she relished the feeling of pain that she suffered. Even with her clothing burning, her skin evaporating, and her very flesh melting, the girl managed to keep her focus - such a strong stimulation would only keep her up and running. The short horror show that happened with her physical body soon ended when she fully analyzed the dragon flame Arturia used to burn her and absorbed it to herself to restore herself back to pristine condition.

 

Ah, it was quite disappointing that she didn't manage to stay covered now that the flames had subsided. With no corpses of herself to pillage, she wouldn't be able to find any replacement anytime soon nor she would be able to recreate her set. Losing the hat was the biggest blow from this though. That hat was really nice.

 

As she contemplated about her current state a bit more, her bare body was then subjected to the rain of flaming arrows that had suddenly appeared. Ah, yet again she bled. Acupuncture, wasn't it? That seemed to be what people called something like this. Feeling like she was being massaged as her body was turned into pincushion, the nameless girl used the result of her analysis on Arturia's mana signature again to correctly identify the signatures of the arrows lodged on her. And again, once the identification of its nature had been concluded, absorbing it into herself as temperament would be quite simple.

 

The analysis of Arturia Pendragon has been completed.

Or so the sword said, mimicking what was once said by the true identity of the Counter Guardian's weapon. It was quite a pity, the king's current state. The Sword of Hisou, her Sword of Hisou, at this point would have been capable of taking over Arturia's mana reserves if given the window of opportunity and time, however there seemingly not much left to be taken over from her, disappointingly.

 

She coughed a bit before looking up to the ceiling as she was lost in her thought for the moment - Arturia's words to her earlier were still stuck inside of her head.

 

"Lady Arturia. I don't think I am being a hypocrite for fighting in the interest of what I believed is right. However, I understand now. What I believed to be right, and what you believed to be right is irreconcileable. I cannot do what I wanted to do if you are in my way, and you cannot do what you wanted to do otherwise. In that case...well, I'll fight for my truth, and you will fight for yours, Lady Arturia. You will attempt the best you could to kill me, and I will do the same to you.

 

Ah...right...this is the least I could do for you, milady. To ensure that you will pass away with dignity, even after you had thrown yours away long ago."

 

"Miss Tenco! You okay?" And just like that, Dorian's voice anchored her back to reality. Shaking her head as she realized that she was being silly now, she greeted him with a big smile to ensure him that she's alright.

 

"I'm fine, and it's good to see you doing fine too, Dorian! The dragon fire just made me act weird for a bit, I think I'm fine now. I'm just sorting out my thought for a bit, but I'm done with that, I think.

 

Let's kill her together, shall we?"

 

As she answered Dorian who had just shielded himself from the arrows by using a perfect guard, the nameless girl noticed that a cloud of Mad Blood exploded and rained above the Arturia that attacked Butlerok. Ah, so much Rukh, dyed black with Butlerok's influence. It would be dangerous if she went with a melee attack now. The nameless girl stared at the sword she was holding for a bit, before deciding on what to do. A cloud of scarlet temperaments emerged from her weapon as she started to mold it into a form most suitable to this situation. With the influence of the short-haired that was stored inside it, the sword turned into a large crimson spear that almost immediately started to gather temperaments released by everyone on the pathway into its tip. A collective power spot made by everyone's turbulent emotions, it would normally constitute for one gigantic and destructive beam akin to a shot from Excalibur, but the entirety of it was focused into a single point. Without even looking at Arturia, the nameless girl prepared herself to throw the spear like a javelin at her target.

 

"Everyone's feelings for you, my feelings for you...take it all straight into your heart. This feeling I have for you, if this is love, then accept every single drop of it.

 

My only leader, the only one I would ever follow, please close your eyes and accept the bliss of death. This is my gift to you, Scarlet Romantia!"

 

WIth the force of a rocket being launched, the nameless girl fired the spear towards Arturia. A spear with her name written on it, which would seek her out no matter where she would go. If she would somehow destroy it, then it would simply collapse into a maelstrom of temperaments that would engulf and overwhelm her with everyone's feelings, physically. Firing the spear made the girl felt like she ripped her arm, and while somewhat limping due to the strain, she approached Dorian.

 

"Regarding prolonging her suffering like you said earlier, what do you have in mind?"

---

 

"A-ah, it seemed that I have acted a bit too recklessly."

 

Satori let out the mental equivalent of a sigh as she destroyed the replica of the key that she was holding. Gemini had apparently pushed the Key into a roulette of sort and she only found out about it after her anger subsided somewhat. She was still quite furious at just how recklessly daring the dark shapeshifter was to risk everything in that way, but she also admitted that her own action wouldn't help the situation. It would only be natural for Arturia to be more cautious regarding the real key after the tricks she had experienced before. She would notice it quite fast that the key had been switched up had Satori was successful with her Switcheroo attempt earlier.

 

"I am sorry for earlier, Darcy. I would not let that happen again."

 

Sounding remorseful and more determined to prove herself useful in assisting Darcy, Satori focused her entire attention to the witch's attempt in fighting Arturia's fire with her own fire.

 

---

 

[spoiler=Summary]

Sword-chan got melted and punctured. She then unleased the homing spear equivalent to a Spirit Bomb at Artur1a while she's dealing with the Mad Blood explosion. With the power of love as its thrusters, she hoped that senpai Arturia would notice her feeling this time.

 

Satori realized she funked up, and apologized while continued to watch what Darcy's doing.

 

Kazuya is conserving Macca and chose to wait before he summoned more demons, mainly because the battlefield was being too chaotic for him right now.

 

 

 

---

[Super Chaos Sonic]

Nero - Keyblade War Master / The X-Blade's Wielder ~ Hallway to Origin

 

"Let's try that again."

 

"Hope you don't mind the extra help." Nero said, approaching Kenpachi and Kratos. "Sorry for the wait. First let me heal you both up real quick." With not another word, a set of bells started appearing over Kenpachi and Kratos as their wounds began to heal. "Curaga."

 

And it was like that that Kratos ran off once more into the fray.

 

-BGM-

 

Are we finally to face this roadblock in our way, Master?

 

Nero heard the voice of Divine Remnant before chuckling. Indeed we are. He swung Divine Remnant and the X-Blade in tandem before rushing forward. He wouldn't get too in range of a close combat strike. That would only be giving her a foothold in the fight. No, for this he'd have to play it smart and stay back, away from her.

 

"AEROGA!!" he shouted, casting the spell that granted his allies a wind shield around them. It would protect them from everything that would come.

 

"Now..." Nero said, before moving a bit before casting another set of spells. "FIRAGA!!! THUNDAGA!!!"

 

From above Arthuria, the thunder struck at her, while from the X-Blade was the casted fire that was on its way towards the fighter.

[Kingdom Xathers]

Conjuring an electric guitar and a set of loudspeakers, Alexander proceeded to jam out a single, strong cord, the resonating shriek echoing upwards and scattering away the arrows that had threatened to turn Team Lombax into pincushions. “Pianos are more my thing, of course, but one can’t help but to rock out once in awhile,” Alex quipped with a smirk.

“Can you stop playing Guitar Hero for a moment, Alex?!” Alister scoffed indignantly. “We need to do more than just block Arthuria’s attacks!”

“Don’t you think I know that?” Alexander replied defensively. “It’s bad enough that she rendered R.D.A.’s--”

“”Crim”,” Neo-Spacian Red Dragon Archfiend tersely corrected.

“--Crim’s effect null, so we’re not any closer to figuring out which Arthuria is the real one, much less ending this fight,” Alexander concluded.

“No offense, Alex, but I doubt we’d’ve been any closer to either even with R.D.A.’s--”

“”CRIM”.”

“--Crim’s effect. We need to keep up the offensive,” Alister explained, his mind racing with various plans of attack yet unable to settle on a set course of action. “Ugh, dammit, I can’t concentrate…!”

“Alister, you still have options, remember?” Red pointed out helpfully. “Your Raiment lets you gain power equal to that of any Dragon present, and you’ve still yet to decide who to pick, soooo…,” he drew out his last word for emphasis, batting his eyes at Alister in the hopes that the General would get the hint.

Alister blinked a few times at Red, seemingly confused by the Dragon Elder’s rhetoric. He glanced over at Crim, as if considering--

“For Tyndarion’s sake, Alister, I meant me!!” Red exasperatedly snapped, sounding almost hurt.

Alister playfully blew a raspberry at Red. “I know, I’m just fuckin’ with ya! But we should also try and boost your power a bit more, as well, just saying.”

“Then you might wanna give this a spin,” Alexander suggested as he pulled out a Spell Card: “United We Stand”. “This boosts the equipped monster’s power for every ally that monster has, and since there’s a whole bunch of us here….” Alexander trailed off for emphasis, batting his own eyes at Red and Alister in the hopes that they’d get the hint.

Red and Alister blinked a few times at Alexander before glancing at each other, as if confused by just what the hell he was saying--

“Dammit, you guys, don’t play like that!”

Now it was Red’s turn to blow a raspberry. “Just pulling your tail, Alex. We’ll take it.”

“Good, ‘cuz I was gonna give it regardless,” a slightly miffed Alexander asserted as the Spell Card was activated, causing Red to give off a faint glow. The glow grew stronger as Red felt immense power surging throughout his being. Red could feel that energy, the power of everyone's allied wills and wishes pulling into him. And for a moment, he could feel some familiar hands at his back. Yes... the Dragon Realms, Avalar, the Forgotten World, and the Altisters were behind him as well.

Alister, too, experienced this sensation as the Dark Magical Raiment of the Dragon Master drew upon Red’s growing power and added it to his. The hopes and dreams of all their allies present, of those they had lost or left behind, and of those held close to his heart… which in this case would be Kaden and the Altisters residing in the pocket watch hanging from his neck, so, literally close to his heart… he could feel them all, as well. They granted both himself and Red power, becoming as their sword and shield with which to fight for and protect the worlds and futures of everyone.

“Now I see what Crim meant,” Red surmised--

“FOR THE LAST TIME IT’S “CRIM”--oh... wait, that is what you said,” Crim blurted out before he could catch himself, his face turning completely crimson with embarrassment. “... y’know, I’m just gonna… go… and burn one of these Arthuria… … yeah.” Trying to save as much face as possible, Crim flew off to antagonize Arthuria 1.

 

"We'll go with him," Ratchet chimed in as he and Giant Clank followed after the Neo-Spacian Signer Dragon.

Shaking his head with a sigh, Alister continued off of Red’s thought, “Alexander’s belief in unity, and that it can bring power to those who embrace it….”



FRIEEEEEEENDSHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP~!!!!

“DAFUQ?!?!” Alister shrieked out as the Giant Disembodied Tea Head of Friendship, Almighty Multiversal Goddess of FRIENDSHIP, made a surprise appearance and scaring the everloving crap out of everyone in the hall.

“Oh, let’s just ignore her and go,” Red shook his head and he took to the air, Alister riding on his back as they prepared to make their move.

“And there they go,” Alexander said as he watched the pair soar upwards.

“FRIENDSHIP IS WOOOOOOONDERFUUUULLLL~!!”

“TEA, GET THE funk OUTTA HERE!!!” Umbris screeched at the disembodied head.

“Only if you promise to get super ultra freaky with Terris when you get home!” GDTHoF taunted. “HUMUNAH-HUMUNAH-HUMUNAH--!”

“How ‘bout this instead?!” Umbris hissed as he activated “Phoenix Wing Wind Burst”, returning GDTHoF back to whence she came with a powerful gust coming from his cape.

“DON’T FORGET ABOUT FRIEEEEEEEEEEENDSHIIIIIIIIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip…,” GDTHoF cried out as she disappeared.

“... should we even question--?” Atsuko began to ask.

“No. Never,” Umbris hissed tersely, a slight blush of rouge blooming across his face.

Meanwhile, Citrinitas was saved from colliding with Chandra’s attack as he was caught in the hand of Madama Styx. “Oof! Oh, thank you kindly, lovely,” the Yellow Knight said to the Demoness’s Umbra Witch appreciatively.

“Don’t mention it,” Jeanne replied nonchalantly as she watched Bayonetta slap the pinned Arthuria 4’s head with the Alraune Whips attached to each of her limbs. “I suppose you’re a bit flustered from having your dynamic entry interrupted in such a way, aren’t you?”

“Meh, just a minor setback,” Citrinitas shrugged as he studied the nails of his left hand, the right hand busy fussing over his gorgeous, wavy golden locks.

“Ugh, you are something else,” Jeanne rolled her eyes as she had Styx drop Citrinitas to the ground.

“Don’t I know it, girlfriend?” Citrinitas winked after getting back to his feet. “I mean, there’s never anything wrong with exuding confidence.”

“Uh-huuuuuuh… I’m sorry, but I’m just trying to understand where you fit into the equation that is Gabriel,” Jeanne wondered aloud.

“Oh, you mean as far as what attributes of my brothers and I that Gabriel received?” Citrinitas returned. “Well, I suppose there are some things that are lessened or otherwise cancelled out, but if you must know….”

At Arthuria 1, Nigredo aimed carefully before firing a corrosive missile from Nekrotisk Svart’s barrel into Arthuria 1’s face, the black gunge impairing her vision as it attempted to dissolve her flesh. “My… M-My apologies, Your Highness,” Nigredo stammered as he prepared to slam his giant kanabo against her, “... but I’m afraid this… w-will hurt you m-more than it’ll hurt me…!”

“Nigredo is a really sensitive sort,” Citrinitas explained to Jeanne. “A real softie, tries to be careful and gentle to everything and everyone around him, for fear of doing great, accidental harm to them. Yet even though he fears his strength and his power--the ability to break down and corrode matter--he knows that there are times where he must step up and use that strength and power for the greater good, even if it means causing harm in the process. At the end of the day, though, you can always count on him to be a pillar of support, and even though he may be highly self-conscious and second-guesses himself constantly, he always ends up doing the right thing… and I swear his smile is truly one of the most wonderful things I’ve ever beheld… it truly is such a priceless treasure.”

Various beams of light sped through the air, all concentrated on Arthuria 2; each one struck at the King with a slight detonation, causing minimal damage to Arthuria 2 herself yet ruining her armor in the spots where she was struck, due to each beam having broken down the slightest of impurities within the armor and underlying clothing. “King Arthuria.” Albedo, the origin of these white beams, approached, taking his stand next to Kratos and Kenpachi with Puritatum Albus in hand. His glaive transitioned into its laser cannon form as he pointed it directly at Arthuria 2, the Positron Cannon prepared to fire. “I will purge the taint from your heart,” the White Knight tersely spoke with a sharp focus in his eyes, firing the Positron Cannon straight at Arthuria 2.

“Albedo is… well, he can be such a tight-ass,” Citrinitas continued his explanation, “always such a bossy prude; when he wants something done, he expects it to be done swiftly, efficiently, and above all else, correctly. Oh, the many times he’s made Nigredo such a nervous wreck, the poor thing. But I will admit that he is always the one you can count on to get things done; when he puts his mind to something--and that’s usually done in less than a second--he will go at it with the absolute determination to see it through to the end, never once thinking to quit at any point from start to finish. His leadership, too, is second-to-none, and has been a major factor in our success in the battles of our past.”

“I see,” Jeanne nodded thoughtfully, ignoring the scene behind her in which Bayonetta had resorted to using Hapshiel as a bludgeon, laughing maniacally as she slammed the Archangel against Arthuria 4’s face, all while Hapshiel and his copies gave stifled, sensual moans of pleasure with each strike. “So, then, what is it that you bring to the table, if I may be so bold to ask?” Jeanne boldly asked. “And feel free to toot your own horn, if you so desire--I’ll still get the gist of what you’re trying to convey through your incoming narcissism.”

“Very well, love, but I’ll try toning it down a bit for your sake--don’t wanna dazzle you too much,” Citrinitas replied with a wink, eliciting a growling groan and a scrunchy leer from Jeanne. The Yellow Knight struck a dynamic pose once more, his Brillant Aube saber fans spread out like the wings of a majestic bird. “Aesthetics is my claim to fame, darling! Everything action I perform on the battlefield is done with grace, glamour, sophistication, all to dazzle and enrapture both friend and foe alike, much like yourself and your fellow Witch, my dear… o-oh my,” he coughed, ironically just as Bayonetta proceeded to smother Arthuria 4’s face with Hapshiel’s buttocks--

“If you’ll excuse me, Citrus,” Jeanne interrupted politely before turning to shout at Bayonetta and Hapshiel, “DAMMIT, CEREZA, THE HELL’S WRONG WITH YOU TWO?!! CAN’T YOU AND THAT DAMNED ANGEL BE A BIT MORE MATURE ABOUT THIS?! WE’RE SUPPOSED TO BE FIGHTING FOR OUR LIVES HERE, NOT REENACTING MTV REALITY SHOWS!!” Clearing her throat, Jeanne returned her attention to Citrinitas. “Please, continue.”

“Err… right,” Citrinitas blinked, clearing his throat before continuing. “Yes, well, I can be quite the stickler for the details; much like Albedo, I’m quite the perfectionist, too, often for a different set of wrong reasons. I tend to make a fuss over the most minor imperfections, be it an off-center picture frame, a wrinkle or a bit of dirt on one’s clothing, a stray eyelash, UGH! I admit I may have also contributed to Nigredo being a nervous wreck,” he admitted with an uneasy smile. “I do my best to make sure my brothers and I are always looking and feeling our best, but it’s… it’s only because I care about them, really. I’ve always calmed Nigredo down whenever he accidentally killed a plant or a small, innocent creature, and I’m normally the one that makes sure Albedo doesn’t burn himself out, being the workaholic that he is at times. And most of all, no amount of dirt, scars, or chipped nails would ever keep me from fighting alongside my brothers.”

“So, basically, you’re the one that keeps their spirits up, ensures they’re at their all-around best, and is fiercely loyal to them,” Jeanne surmised. “Those’s are good attributes to have, and I can certainly sense that from Gabriel as well.”

“Indeed,” Citrinitas nodded, a warm smile of pride blooming as he glanced over in the direction of the Arthuria 3 fight, where Gabriel had joined with everyone else in hiding behind Elsa’s ice wall, protected from Arthuria’s wall of white flames. “In addition to possessing the primary powers of Nigredo, Albedo and myself, Gabriel possesses many of our qualities--a few of our bad traits and habits, sure, but many more of our good traits, too. Kind, caring, courageous, a real team player. A wonderful strategist at times, too, which I suppose helps when playing children’s card games. And DAMN, if he ain’t one handsome sonuvagun! A shame that he had gotten that burn to the left side of his face during his human teenage years--that’s partly why he wears wrestling masks all the time; he’s a bit self-conscious about it,” Citrinitas confided in Jeanne, “but really, that hardly ever gets him down. Taking care of himself and his self-image is one thing, but he’s always been more invested in the well-being of his friends and loved ones. Even Rusty… … … but, that’s a separate tale for another time~!” Citrinitas giggled, a slight blush forming across the bridge of his nose.

“I see,” Jeanne nodded understandingly. “Well then, glad to know more about the man behind the mask, and the men behind the man. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s see what you’ll bring to this fight,” Jeanne requested as she motioned a hand towards Bayonetta and the Hapshiel Bukakke Pile™.

“Gladly, my dear,” Citrinitas replied with a wink and a wave of his Brillant Aube fans. “Why don’t I start by invigorating our masochistic Archangel?” he suggested as a brilliant light emanated from the blades of his fan, bathing Hapshiel in the warm embrace of the sunlight-like rays, boosting the Archangel's energy.

Gabriel, meanwhile, got to work in assisting the group fighting Arthuria 3. “My power flurries through the air into the ground~♫” he vocalized a tune that should be very familiar to Elsa as he drew energy from Arthuria 3’s white flames into his Rubedo Sword, performing a brief, dance-like spin step before plunging his blade into the ground, through which the gathered, converted energy travelled into Elsa’s ice wall. A few seconds later, the ice wall shone brightly before suddenly and violently expanding into a bed of icicles which jousted right through the white wall of flames, parting the blaze in seconds. “My apologies, Your Higness,” Gabriel bowed to Elsa, “but I figured your defense could use a boost. If you’ll excuse me,” he apologized again with another bow before making his way around the ice barricade, giving Elsa no time to question how Gabriel knew that melody.

“Fiendish Chain!” As soon as Gabriel had gotten within range, he unleashed one of the Trap Cards he had on Standby; plunging his sword into the ground once again, he conjured forth a mass of dark green, diabolic chains from out of the ground which proceeded to tangle around Arthuria 3, ensnaring her as she was distracted by Gon’s attack, and right before Ed’s own strike.

“Alister, you pick one of the Arthurias to attack, and I’ll go for the remaining three,” Red advised to Alister.

“Y’mean at once? How’re you gonna do that?” a puzzled Alister inquired.

“Seems this “Tyrant Burst Dragon” I’m combined with gives me more than a full set of wings,” Red explained. “It also lets me make three attacks at the same time.”

“Sounds like a plan, then,” Alister nodded as he glanced at each of the four Arthurias below, the Dark Paladin’s halberd in his grip crackling with dark energy. “I’ll pick… THAT ONE!” Wasting no time, Alister jabbed the Dark Magic Halberd in the direction of Arthuria 2, firing off a series of energy waves that scattered in multiple directions, yet all converging on his target’s location from all sides.

“My turn…!” Red declared as he prepared his Quad Kill attack, the ring of elements forming not just before his muzzle but also before each of his Tyrant Burst wings. Taking aim at Arthuria 1, Red bellowed out a column of flames, surrounded by the three additional elemental streams. This motion was replicated from each of his Tyrant Burst wings, each hurtling towards their own Arthuria (3 and 4).

 

Meanwhile, Ratchet also took advantage of Nigredo's blinding of Arthuria 1 by firing a Devastator rocket at the blinded king while Giant Clank unleashed a rocket salvo, just as Crim struck with a giant claw of blazing fire, "Absolute Neo Force".

[Merci]

~ Arturia Pendragon ~

Hallway of Origin

 

---

 

Arturia One

 

The first Arturia unleashed her ace in close combat, Caliburn, and stabbed directly into Butler-Ragnarok. However, the light colliding with his body seemed to be slicing into a squishy substance. And once the light subsided, his face was staring down at her with the most disgusting of expressions, her almighty blade lodged into an orb shielding him - could it be a Borg? - from which white butterflies separated away and flew off, the massive waves of energy contained within having negated her purifying light. Understanding all too well the ridiculous versatility of her Kishin opponent. Confused, as well as horrified, she found that she was unable to dislodge the blade. Having completely depleted her mana in that last attack, she was no longer capable of Mana Burst, which had been responsible for enhancing her strength far beyond her own human body.

 

Now, at this very moment, her body's capabilities were frail and minimal. Hence, she had no choice but to let go, jumping back to distance herself away... Not that that would help at this rate. Not a bad strike. Granted, like most of your techniques, the more you do it, the easier it is to figure out. Her opponent addressed her with a soft tone, standing smug and triumphant. However he had managed to accomplish this feat, she was now undoubtedly cornered.

 

Butlerok targeted his Alpha Stigma onto her and, with a cruelly gentle smile, spoke Ala Raqesa. Before she could even launch a counterattack or escape, intense gravity bored down upon Arthuria to keep her in place. With no other choice, she summoned all of her allotted Invisible Air to her own location and had it surround her, creating a dense barrier of wind in preparation for any attack. Another spell followed, Seishin Maho, which thrust Arturia into a world of darkness.

 

There, she bore witness to wisps floating around. Wisps representing her very own life line. Rukh. Crimson, unstable, and fake, but existing nonetheless. Fully conscious. Alive, and aware of her circumstances, and dreading the inevitable. An incomprehensible sight that stabbed into her mind and threatened to drive her into the utmost insanity - but she held on, clinging to her own consciousness with a firm determination. Don't make me laugh... I dived into All The Evils Of The World and emerged victorious! Do you seriously hope that this little trick will stop me? Although, she could not deny it was taking up much of her concentration and energy to resist.

 

Well you tried to purify me...allow me to return the favor. The Mad Blood that Arthuria dispersed had since swirled over her head and formed a thick cloud. In the distance, she heard Dorian call out "KANZEN GUARD!", at which point a cover of explosions proceeded to rain down on her like a storm.

 

"DAMN IT! You DIVINE SCUM!" She screamed out, solidifying the Invisible Air around her as much as she could. Without her weapon and fully depleted of mana, this was the only remaining technique she was capable of. Torrents of intense wind swirled around her, layers absorbing each explosion and breaking off into scattering breezes. Even though Butler-Ragnarok's spells were  taking a vast toll on her, she concentrated her mind's eye and pierced through the darkness of her Rukh, seeing into reality.

 

However, this was for naught; all she found out was that the Divine were not her only opponents. She saw as one of Gabriel's summons, Nigredo, fired some sort of miniature missile, thrusting forth with such force that it penetrated through the winds and plunged into her face. "WHAT?!" Having not expected another attack, she was taken off-guard as black gunge obscured her eyesight in its entirety. 

 

“My… M-My apologies, Your Highness,” Nigredo stammered as he prepared to slam his giant kanabo against her, “... but I’m afraid this… w-will hurt you m-more than it’ll hurt me…!” Realizing the danger was only going to worsen, she spared some of her Invisible Air to focus on blowing him away, a heavy torrent of wind keeping him from getting closer, trying to throw him off his feet. More than that, she could feel a corrosive force attempt to burn through her skull. Much of her skin and flesh was giving way, the upper left half of her face turning a deep black. 

 

Even though vast, unimaginable pain was electrifying Arturia's impaired senses and she was still being bombarded by the Divines, she remained strong, holding the wind barrier together. Chandra's jet of Banefire collided against it, nearly yet not quite causing it to give way. More allies of the Counter Corps had joined in, Ratchet firing a Devastator rocket, and an enlarged Clank unleashing a rocket salvo. The two rockets were caught in Dorian's bombardment and exploded, scattering the vast remainder of her Invisible Air.

 

When the Red Dragon Archfiend saw an opening to strike at her with his blazing claw, declaring "Absolute Neo Force!", she prepared for him. Although her barrier was no more, she still had a tiny bit of Invisible Air left. Despite all this, if she could just hold out until her weapon returned, then she could use Rhongomyniad and gain an edge again...!

 

"Forgive me, fellow dragon!" Arturia yelled, using much of its remainder she had left to tear herself out of her gravity hold. 

 

Even if she didn't have Mana Burst, all of her training and combat experience was not for nothing, and as it happened, this was far from the first dragon she'd faced. Now mobile, she lunged past the blazing claw, with dexterity honed by endless fights. For a moment, it may have appeared as if she was about to grapple him...but this was not the case. What little was left of her Invisible Air condensed into solid, sharp, invisible sword in her two hands. From there, Britain's greatest knight stabbed upwards---attempting to plunge this weapon of wind below his chin. The area in which dragons were almost always soft.

 

There was no time to think of the result, as Arturia nimbly jumped over the Dragon Archfiend's shoulder and started racing away. Even though she blinded, she could sense that her blade had grown 'limbs' of crimson energy, racing towards her location. The cloud of Mad Blood was pursuing her, but her weapon would surely make it in time. In fact, even if the explosions did reach her, they wouldn't be enough to finish her off - although her mana was depleted, her actual physical health was aplenty. There was no way this could go wrong.

 

"Everyone's feelings for you, my feelings for you...take it all straight into your heart."

 

At that moment, the mysterious girl, who'd been questioning her this whole time, had transformed her sword into a massive spear. Surplus energy was gathering within it, seeming to be collected from everyone in a manner very similar to Excalibur... Even if Arturia could not see, she could plainly sense the amount of energy gathering within.

 

"This feeling I have for you, if this is love, then accept every single drop of it."

 

The girl held the spear like a javelin.

 

"My only leader, the only one I would ever follow, please close your eyes and accept the bliss of death."

 

Just a little longer-

 

"This is my gift to you, Scarlet Romantia!"

 

YES! Arturia's weapon finally reached her, transforming into the holy spiral spear from which justice shall be accomplished. As the girl's spear hurtled towards her with the force of a rocket, specifically reading 'Arturia Pendragon', homing in on her exact location, she met it with a yell of "RHONGOMYNIAD!" White spiraling energies, set to negate all magic, launched at the attack and in an instant destroyed it. The godkiller, more than capable of suppressing the almighty attack of a strange magic wielder. She had sacrificed much of her remaining health to do so, but it was of little consequence at this point.

 

What...? And yet, it hadn't been enough. The weapon, destroyed, broke off into a maelstrom of temperaments that proceeded to overwhelm her. Even as she was bombarded with everyone's feelings, their frustration, their conflict, and their determination to stop if kill her, she realized why. Rhongomyniad, the godkiller... As mighty as it was, its purpose was to keep the Age of Gods at a standstill, to put all gods and sorcerers in their place. On the other hand, it could not hope to negate pure, destructive emotion.

 

Her blinded gaze breathlessly moved over to the nameless girl's position, visibly impressed. "...that wasn't a bad move, kid."

 

The body of the first Arturia had at last come to a standstill, overwhelmed by temperaments as well as Nigredo's former missile. Collapsing to the ground, which was covered in Black Blood and would no doubt assail her, Nigredo's corruption, the memory of being exposed to her own Rukh, as well as the chaotic flurry temperaments were destroying her mind. Ahaha. Ahahaha. Ahaha. Every memory she'd ever had, charred and insulted and negated and made irrelevant.

 

What was even happening outside? Thinking was impossible. Her heart was beating faster and faster as everything that made up 'her' was being driven insane. How to walk? How to breathe? Aahahahah ahahahah ahahahaha ah, was that the corruption burning through her skull and into her brain? Perhaps it was only warranted. It was a matter of seconds until the end. How strange it was that no mighty attack would finish her off, but merely a combination of mental factors. Beyond laughter or tears, she still remained silent. And, she still held onto a singular hope. Even if she was to die here, she still had a purpose to fullfill...for the Throne of Heroes...and for the other Arturias!

 

"MADARA, NOW! SEAL THEM!"

 

Clenching the false Rhongomyniad in her hands, it responded to this Arturia's words immediately. And the process was over before anyone close by could even react. Briefly transforming into an eerily familiar humanoid centaur composed of crimson energy, fixating its gaze on those whom were close by, exploding into a corrupting red light, declaring a familiar word.

 

 

 

 

"T S U K U YO M I."

 

The light touched everyone in the vacancy, inflicting a powerful illusion onto all those whom had selected Arturia One as their opponent. When the light faded, they would find a strangely indestructible dome of crimson energy surrounding them.

 

Some time ago, forces of the Divine and Counter Corps had encountered an energy creature named 'The Madara'. At the very end, it had finished analyzing all of them and proceeded to drag them into an elaborate illusion of their perfect world, intending that they would never escape. This was a similar genjutsu. However, without any prep or analysis this time, it had been a simple illusion; convincing their minds of the existence of a barrier, stopping them from joining the other ongoing fights.

It was clear the barrier wouldn't leave until it was already the next page the battle was over.

 

This dome of energy would be invisible to anyone who hadn't come into contact with the light - it would appear that everyone fighting Arturia One was convinced that they were trapped in some sort of nothing.

 

"Heh... It's been a while, death."

 

Satisfied, Arturia One finally let herself dissipate into red energy and fade away. Being a fake herself.

 

Having ensured that the others would not interfere.

 

 

 

 

Arturia Two

 

The second of the Arturias had unleashed Rhongomyniad, having caught her two primary opponents in a deadly trap. Kratos hurtling through the air, unable to change his momentum, in which he was bound to fall into the path of the spear aimed for Kenpachi. Kenpachi focused all of his Zanpaktou's force in negating the attack, but it did little, this furious white energy drilling further and further onwards.

 

At last, he called out "Kratos! I'm sorry!" to Arturia's intrigue but not surprise. With all his strength and speed, Kenpachi launched himself out of the attack, enabling Rhongomyniad to continue spiraling at Kratos, the demigod.

 

"Farewell, Spartan..." Arturia began, but cut herself shot when she heard a "God Speed!". At that instant, an invisible man rushed like lightning across the hallway with incredible speed - not only tackled out of the way, but also tearing away the chains in her grip. The duo crashed into the ground, rolling and twisting, until they were stopped by one big foot from Kenpachi.  Kratos groaned, certainly still injured by his friend's lighting, while his saviour whom could only be Killua panted.  

 

Kenpachi helped them both to their feet, at which point Arturia Three's arrows of white flames conveniently came raining down, interrupting Killua before he could launch a counter assault. The God of War summoned a horde of three hundred undead, taking and absorbing the flaming arrows with their own shields put together; a sight that could very well be expected in a warzone. Arturia Two watched them, brandishing her blade in anticipation, while thinking of potential ways to neutralize her opponents.

 

Once the wave had finally ended, the warriors emerged. With a smile and a renewed aura, the Shinigami Kenpachi launched himself directly at the former Counter Guardian. Killua shot two lightning bolts at either side of her. Lastly, Kratos quickly closed within range of her, declaring with much boldness, "You were a King, Arthuria!  There will be no more kings!"

 

"...that, I cannot deny." She responded with a lowered conviction. In response to the lightning bolts, she condensed Invisible Air around herself to quickly create two thick walls, barely enough to neutralize them. Gusts of wind blew against her body and spread out for the meantime. In front of her, she kept the leaping Kenpachi at a distance by unleashing a condensed ball of blazing dragonfire from her mouth - it may only keep him at bay for a short while, but that was enough.

 

Her spear transformed into the holy, glistening golden blade Caliburn as the oncoming attacks raced to meet her. Even with low health, she still had more than plenty of mana. Pouring much of her energy into Mana Burst, enhancing her physical stats in the process, she prepared as Kratos dodged the flames, striking directly at her. She deflected it with her holy blade and moved in for the kill, intending to outspeed him if nothing else would work. "But your people... They shall also be laid to rest, right here, KRATOS-"

 

However, at that very moment, silver wind rushed from a different source, wrapping itself around Kratos. The spell Aeroga. As soon as she made contact with it, it exploded outwards into a powerful gust that sent her flying back a few meters...just in time for Nero's attack.

 

"Now..." Nero said, before moving a bit before casting another set of spells. "FIRAGA!!! THUNDAGA!!!"

 

Thunder struck from above, while a blazing ball of fire launched at her from his X-Blade. Arturia sent another ball of dragonfire at the Firaga to cancel it, and promptly recollected all of her Invisible Air and hastily constructed a wind wall of protection above her; it took on most of Thundaga's electricity, but this time some sparks tore through, snapping and burning at various parts of her skin. She winced at the pain.

 

“King Arthuria.” Albedo, the origin of these white beams, approached, taking his stand next to Kratos and Kenpachi with Puritatum Albus in hand. His glaive transitioned into the form of a Positron Cannon, aimed straight at her. “I will purge the taint from your heart,”

 

Having concentrated all of her efforts on stopping the assault of the four Counter Corps members, Arturia was utterly unprepared as various beams of light sped through the air and struck her with - oddly weak, minimal detonations that chinked sections of her armour. Although, she caught on quite quick the true danger of this. As Arturia looked down at her battle attire, she noted as all its armoured sections meant to support her broke off; leaving merely a white dress interior.

 

This was a truly unfavourable situation. She'd started off under the best possible conditions, but had not only failed to eliminate either Kenpachi or Kratos, but the two short-range-focused fighters had now been joined by troublesome long-ranged shooters. Plus, her movements were slurred from the sheer amount of damage Rhongomyniad's usage had inflicted on her body - even with all the surplus of mana she had in storage, a single attack could very well knock her out. Oh well. She would just have to press onwards.

 

 

"Hmph. This is just as acceptable to fight in!"

 

Assuming a stance regardless of her loss of defense, Arturia's instincts brought attention to another attack. She noticed Alister fire a series of energy waves fired at her, scattering in various different directions before converging on her exact position from all sides. There wasn't enough time to gather up her Invisible Air to defend herself from it. In other words, she had only one choice - to face it head-on.

 

"CALIBURN!" Arturia declared, and her blade flared with brilliant light, just as the beams entered her range of attack. She swung downwards and slammed her weapon onto the floor of the Hallway, causing all of the built-up energy to explode outwards around her, canceling out a majority of the beams. However, a few still made it past - mercilessly striking her back, thrusting her onto the ground.

 

"Urgh..." She breathed out, tired. The backside of her dress had been torn away, exposing a large, bleeding wound. Crimson energy danced to repair it, but there was no time to actually heal. At the worst possible timing, Chandra's jet of Banefire went for her, forcing her to counter it with a ball of intense white dragonfire. Even now, she wasn't about to give up just yet. "Not yet...!" What could possibly enable her to turn the tables under such desperate circumstances, without the physical strength to fight back?

 

Quickly glimpsing into the fights of her other selves, she noted a certain individual. The normally powerless Revy, firing away with her own guns. Hm. As the warriors proceeded to continue their assault, Arturia hastily recalled her recent past, to the events in the Pathway to Death. Remembering that oh so despicable gunslinger. Her Ultimate Enemy, Emiya Kiritsugu. More specifically, she visualized his submachine gun. The same gun she sliced apart with this exact blade.

 

The information for it surely must be stored within. Creature of the Key... You can replicate it, no?!

 

The blade responded to her command. It proceeded to transform into the shape of the gun that this Kiritsugu had earlier wielded, with a design that had a unique helical-feed magazine, ordinarily allowing for fifty Parabellum rounds to be fired at a constant rate of seven hundred rounds per minute. This was otherwise known as a Calico M950. Using her very limited knowledge, she gathered the remainder of her Invisible Air and forcefully contained them into the magazine. Supplementing the absence of normal rounds with pure pressurized air bullets. Of course, Arturia herself had never wielded a gun before, displaying apparent confusion as she held it out in the direction of Kratos.

 

"To think I would have to resort to such an underhanded weapon...!" Then Arturia pulled the trigger, a little surprised at the sheer strength of recoil that was very different to that of a bow, but keeping her grip firm due to her own innate strength.

 

In any case, wind bullets streamed out from the Calico in a crazed flurry, heading towards the nearby Kenpachi and Kratos, then rotating 360-degrees on her position to hit Killua, Albedo, Nero, Alister, and anyone else who was in range. Her instinctual judgment allowed them to reach their targets, although her inexperience with a gun - as opposed to a bow - prevented being more precise.

 

Stray bullets were also sprayed across the rest of the battlefield, threatening to hit others at random. 

 

---

 

Arturia Three

 

Arrows of white flames rained down upon the entire Hallway of Origin. 

 

Even though Arturia Three had enshrouded herself in a torrent of fire, she used her senses to keep track of what was going on outside; very strangely, even though the human Revy was hit again and again, her body seemed to be repairing itself, as though there were some sort of external influence. Well, it couldn't be that surprising.

 

Revy got back up on her feet, telling her, "Ohohoho.  You're gonna pay for that.  You might be magic, but a bullet to the head is still a bullet to the head."

 

"Your little device can't do a thing." Arturia warned back on the other side of the flames, unbeknowst of the fact that Arturia Two would be resorting to it shortly.

 

"I'm gonna make you dance!" At the front, Revy let off six shots from each Desert Eagle, in varying succession.  Two shots, four shots, one shot, three shots, one shot, one shot, all entering the wall of white flames without losing force; Arturia gathered all of her Invisible Air to create a shield in front of herself, moving it in tandem with Revy's relentless shooting. The gunslinger had begun charging straight for her, apparently with a plan in mind as she fearlessly approached the white flames.

 

Meanwhile, to her left, Ed and Elsa had combined their ice magic to create some kind of makeshift frozen siege engine. One person moved the engine while the other reinforced the ice against the heat, stopping every so often to launch cold attacks of their own, diving through the burning flames and hitting her Invisible Air barrier. Withstanding the heavy barrage was taking all of Arturia's concentration, keeping her from stopping either it or Revy.

 

"When does food need to pay attention to the one who's eating it? Let us feed." The situation only worsened when a single concentrated beam thrust through the wall of white flames and smashed against Arturia's Invisible Air shield, scattering ALL of her wind in an instant. Only the tiniest portion had made it past, yet it still contained ridiculous strength as it slammed into her chestplate armour and pushed her back.

 

"GAH!" She let out a gasp as pain shot through her whole body. Nonetheless, she stood her ground and shrugged it off. Her eyes locked onto Rhadamanthys with a cold fury, before the wall of white dragonfire closed her off from him once more. "Such thoughts...are exactly the reason why Counter Guardians exist!"

 

It was then that the ice siege machine closed the gap. Gabriel joined in the fray to turn the wall into a bed of icicles that parted the flames. While it was doing so, Gon used Elsa's ice shield as a pivot point and jumped over Arturia's fiery defense, while Elsa herself formed crystalline ice armour around his body. With some protection from the fire, Gon covered his fist in black Nen as he yelled out, "First comes rock! Rock!"

 

"Willingly entering my range? Dear Gon, do you have a death wish?!" Arturia faced the diving Gon directly and opened her mouth, at which point a gigantic stream of white dragonfire burst out, colliding against his black Nen attack and ultimately engulfing his body in brutally hot temperatures, pushing him back into the sky. Were it not for his ice armour, he would have been incinerated to death in seconds. This was so obviously a distraction, yet to think this boy would risk his life! In the heat of the moment, Gon's bravery truly impressed her.

 

Almost as soon as she'd done so, however, Gabriel conjured forth a mass of dark green, diabolic chains from out of the ground, -ensnaring her from any kind of movement. It would only take a few seconds to break out of, but those few seconds could prove to be especially precious-

 

"Urgh...!"

 

And indeed, that was when Ed made his move to strike, encasing himself in black ice as he leaped for that small window of attack. He summoned a black flame dragon that took on the white flames separating them, enabling him to safely jump through. This wasn't good at all. Rhadamanthys had taken out all her Invisible Air and at the moment, all she had was a bow. In the seconds it would take to assume a new form, he would have attacked by then!

 

As Ed entered directly into her range, with high levels of energy concentrated into his blade, Arturia turned her attention to him and fired an intense wave of dragonfire; however, it barely even slowed him down as his encased body made it to her position, brought his blade upwards with two hands, and swung down in what was intended to be a fatal attack.

 

With no other choice, Arturia, with all of her strength and speed, Mana Bursted forth, manuevering towards the only possible escape route; directly into his attack. Her bow had melded into a form wrapping itself around her, freeing both hands. When Ed's weapon came down, she promptly poured much of her mana into her arms, and with the most perfect of timings clapped her hands together, stopping the blade inches away from her face.

 

Although immense amounts of pain shot through her body, her arms strained to their limits from the sheer amount of mana she'd poured in, she did not waver. Redirecting all of her mana towards her legs, she tilted as far back as she could. "That...was not enough!"

 

Then she jumped, thrust both her boots forwards, slamming them straight into Ed's black ice armour chest, which was surely weakened by her prior attack. The fullbody kick's incredible force cracked his armour all over, as he was thrown back five meters in an attack that would've broken all the bones in a normal human's body. Even if it hadn't killed Ed, it would be sufficient to delay him for roughly five seconds.

 

Around her, the surrounding white flames were being absorbed by yet another foe. It seemed that Darcy had now chosen her target, taking the dragonfire for herself as she readily passed through the flames, apparently unaffected by its blazing heat in any way. Her fragment of the Madara was pulsating greatly; informing her of a very important fact. Arturia's eyes trained on Darcy, her crimson familiar drawing attention a quick, tiny beam of light race across the battlefield. A white trading card, subtly attaching itself to the witch's waist.

 

"...!" The Key of Origin! IT WAS RIGHT THERE! What the hell?! What were the odds?! To think that Gemini's ridiculous gamble would work in her favour!

 

Arturia hit the ground on her back, not about to waste any time for this supremely golden moment. She knew if she attacked Darcy traditionally, Gemini's roulette would activate and cause it to transfer elsewhere again. She touched her chest with both her hands, and a powerful, golden light emanating from it. Her hands entered the light, seeming to reach deep within herself to retrieve a certain object...

 

While Darcy set her sights on the Counter Guardian, Arturia was pulling a very particular golden sheath out of herself as quickly as she could. In the process, removing her source of her immortality. Right now, at this very moment, she was at her most vulnerable. She had to get it out as soon as possible!

 

"Just a little longer..."

 

Darcy brought both hands forwards and let out jets of a superior version of her own white dragonfire. From a distance, the dragonic Red had unleashed a column of flames with elemental additions burning towards her. Not only that, Revy had leapt past the greatly-weakened flames with a grenade in hand. Unable to either move or counterattack, Arturia faced all the assaults head-on, with the single priority of removing that object.

 

And then-

 

Arturia spoke a single word of power. Invoking the ultimate defense.

 

 

 

 

"AVALON!"

The source of her immortality. Hence, this had to be the true Arturia.

 

Just as the various flames were about to make contact with her, potentially incinerating her into ashes, a brilliant light erupted from Arturia's body. Having removed her golden-adorned sheath just in time.

 

It radiated with a pure light that effortlessly defied the Dragon's Fire, as well as any other oncoming attacks,

 

transporting her whole existence,

 

into another reality entirely.

 

To any observers, it would seem as though she vanished. Without her, the circle of white flames died down.

 

Avalon.

 

The Land of the Fairies. An everdistant paradise. A physical heaven.

 

A beautiful, peaceful, timeless land of greenery and open blue skies, stretching on across the horizon. A garden that no other could hope to reach in their wildest dreams. It contained such beauty that anyone who entered would find it difficult to leave - after all, to stay would be to live a life of eternal bliss, separated from the worries of reality. To the out-of-place, battleworn and exhausted Arturia, it was the effectively the ultimate safezone.

 

Of course, as tempting as it was, she did not intend on staying. Now with all the time in the world to prepare, she released her own limiter, granting her access to the vast storage containing the rest of her mana. After all, she had only split apart a small portion between her four selves. Having kept much of it in anticipation of one last ultimate attack.

 

Her weapon took on the form of a golden blade in her hands... Excalibur.

 

As soon as she returned to the Hallway, she fully intended on unleashing it straightaway. The wielder of the Key, Darcy, would be directly in front of her. Hence, even if the others had the energy to counter her Excalibur blast again, Darcy would have to face it at point blank range... She would be immediately annihilated!

 

Arturia Pendragon took a deep breath, recuperating her energy in the midst of Avalon's world. Before she returned, she would take a brief moment to to recover her strength.

 

---

 

Arturia Four

 

Before the fourth Arturia even got close, she was forced to a standstill due to a telepathic attack. Her mind was being bombarded with gibberish, traumatic events, more gibberish, and the voice of everyone else on the Hallway, repeatedly with more intensity as if they were spoken from inside of Arturia's mind, a random sea of painful information that appeared to be attempting to flood her mind of steel. Was this the doing of that troublesome telepath Koishi?!

 

"Shadow of a king, be purified to your very atoms. May heaven's blessings be with your soul as it departs."

 

At that moment, while Arturia focused on resisting Koishi's relentless mental assaults, a pentagram formed underneath her. The nearby Shrine Maiden Reimu had apparently thrown amulets at her, and was now chanting to activate what seemed to be a rather powerful Spell Card.

 

Disappear into light! Divine Spirit: Omnidirectional Dragon-slaying Circle!"

 

Barrier walls of light shot up from underneath the king, boxing the king in. A simple entrapment technique like this would be almost effortless for her powers to overcome-

 

"Reasoning with you is getting tiring. I'll just exorcise you and call it a day in that case."

 

"You dare?!" At that moment, light flooded the entire innards of the walls. A purification ritual aimed to remove the impurities of life and death from the target. Originally intended to dissolve the unnatural, now repurposed to cleanse Arturia. With a displeased frown, she unleashed all of her Invisible Air around her, a hurricane of wind smashing through all sides of the walls, interrupting the destructive spell before it could disintegrate her.

 

"How dare you, Arturia, for wishing the end of the Omniverse by destroying the one thing guarenteed to stop its self-destruction." A young, impressive female Soul standing next to her spoke.

 

"Thank me later." Arturia responded in annoyance, yet she wasn't even able to act when a collective cry echoed out throughout the hallway, a fiersome shriek from each of the solidified Souls that no gust of wind could deaden, no barrier could shield against. Although, despite such intensity, the other Arturias seemed too engulfed in the roaring sounds of battle to have noticed. In general, the Souls had become such a nuisance that the four Arturias had been pushing and blasting through them without even thinking. Were they simply expressing their anger, or had that meant something more?

 

Regardless, Arturia charged on, targeting Gemini. Just as she closed in on him however, Hapshiel stood in the way of the strike, the angel's kinetic field thickened to the point that attacking was akin to pushing through tar. Her best efforts barely moved the spearhead even an inch forwards now that she was so thoroughly trapped within the heavy field. Even the white arrows that fell from above simply fractured on contact.

 

 "The only thing you will find, miss Arturia, is absolution through annihilation." Hapshiel stated, holding onto the point of Rhongomyniad.

 

"I'm afraid I'm not very interested in your judgement!" She retorted, resisting him as much as possible. From there, six copies of Hapshiel split off from him, dogpiling the trapped Counter Guardian with strange noises, each of them pinning her limbs with two over her torso.

 

As Arturia struggled amongst the bodies of the lewd angels and the force of the kinetic field, her efforts to think of an intelligent solution were impounded by Bayonetta slapping her head with Alraune Whips attached to each of her limbs. In desperation, she charged her whole body with as much mana as she could muster, moving through the kinetic field with outright force. Even so, her slowed movements made her unable to dodge Bayonetta's next attack - the woman had resorted to using Hapshiel as a bludgeon, laughing maniacally as she slammed the Archangel against her face.

 

Again, and again, and again, she was brutally hit, the angels moaning in pleasure all the while. It would have been comical were it not so pathetic. With each strike Arturia felt dizzier, blood oozing from her face - sensing cracks form in her skull - and each time she succeeded in throwing a copy off with Mana Bursting, they would jump right back on. Koishi's mental assault was certainly not helping either, although the kinetic field at least canceled out another one of Chandra's attacks.

 

Trapped under an unbearable amount of physical pressure, rendered incapable of thought, and moments from death, there was now only one clear solution. Grasping hold of her spear's hilt tightly, she gasped out, "RHONGOMYNIAD!"  

 

Immediately, the spear glowed with a light that defied even the grand will of God. Spinning with incredible violence, it sapped on Arturia's life force as its mere proxmity alone tore through the six angel copies as though they were cardboard, freeing the knight. Strangely enough, she seemed to feel their own pain, her chest throbbed immensely, unable to shake off the feeling of being ripped apart and blasted away - was this the doing of the Souls? What a bother!

 

Her spear punctured into the surrounding kinetic field as well, temporarily allowing her to move in place. It was just in time as well, since Red had unleashed an attack that was fast approaching, and she thrust the remainder of her spiral energy to destroy the spinning flames. Now freed, for however short the moment would be, Arturia focused her glare on her two current targets. Hapshiel, as well as the enemy carrying him, Bayonetta. The angel was definitely a massive threat, as was Bayonetta, and as it seemed, both of them appeared to be divine entities. The injuries they'd left behind, the bruises throughout her whole body as well as the disfigured, severely injured state they'd left her face in, were being slowly healed by crimson energy, and Rhongomyniad's usage had especially exhausted her. Even so, there was no time to fully recover. Even if she didn't want to, she had no choice but to press onwards. After all, the two of them stood between her and Gemini.

 

In the distance, she could hear a ridiculously giant head raving like a lunatic about friendship, whilst not contributing to the battle or the plot in any way whatsoever. In bemusement, she shook her head, beginning to grow weary of all the endless shenanigans these aliens were capable of conjuring up. Would it ever end? As if she didn't already have a reason to kill everyone.

 

"The idea of death must surely be strange for you two. Are you ready? Holy spear... anchor."

 

The spear in Arturia's hands blazed once more with a brilliant, bright fury as if to ensure its superiority, pushing back the kinetic field before it could reoppress itself. Caliburn and Excalibur were what proved Arturia's kingship, but it was this very spear that allowed her to keep Britain prosperous, in contrast to the rest of the world. In a manner, it was greater than a mere force of power. It was a physical embodiment of the promise that mankind would, someday, reign supreme over the very gods that created them.

 

"RHONGOMYNIAD!"

 

Invoking its name once more, the Counter Guardian abruptly jetted forward at rapid speeds, firing what Invisible Air she had left to boost herself as much as possible. Even with their physical prowess, they would almost certainly be unable to escape from her reach.

 

With Hapshiel and Bayonetta conveniently together in her range, she plunged her holy spear forward as it transformed into a spiraling beam of light in her hands. Tearing through the kinetic field, she aimed through both of them at once, this time with the proper weapon...ending these immortals for good!

 

 

---

 

 

[spoiler=~ Status of Arturia Pendragon ~]

 

Arturia One

Total Health: 230 -> 100 (death by mindf***)

Total Mana: 475 -> 0

Weapon: N/A (released to activate Tsukuyomi - all opponents cannot move for one page)

 

>>attempted to stab Crim through his chin

>>after destroying Tenco's attack, it backfired, overwhelming her with temperaments

>>combined with other factors, the temperaments destroyed her mind. Nigredo's corruption has since dissolved her brain

>>the mysterious blades' identity is revealed: All opponents have been sealed in a temporary Tsukuyomi

 

Arturia Two

Total Health: 50 -> 10

Total Mana: 1000 -> 500 -> 430

Weapon: Calico M950 (submachine gun - 1 MP per air bullet, 70 bullets per minute)

 

>>blasted Kenpachi with dragonfire

>>armour destroyed by Nigredo, now takes damage easier

>>turned weapon into submachine gun - now wildly firing at all her current opponents

 

Arturia Three (True)

Total Health: 198

Total Mana: 700 -> 9500

Weapon: Excalibur (giant beam sword - costs 10,000 MP)

 

>>blazed and sent Gon flying

>>caught Ed's attack and kicked him away

>>identified Key of Origin's new position

>>removed and activated Avalon, revealing her as the true Arturia

>>currently hiding in other dimension "Garden of Avalon"

>>warning: prepping Excalibur

 

Arturia Four

Total Health: 250 -> 150 -> 25

Total Mana: 450 -> 380

Weapon: Rhongomyniad (anti-supernatural spear - costs 100 HP)

 

>>tore through Hapshiel's copies & kinetic field by using Rhongomyniad

>>using Rhongomyniad a second time to strike both Hapshiel and Bayonetta

 

 

 

[Reinforce]

Darcy

 

Even as her flames surged forwards, Darcy could feel the sheer power behind what Arturia was attempting to achieve, and thanks to the knowledge gained through Satori, she could recognize the effect as it started. Reaching out with her own magic, Darcy quickly tethered a spell onto the knight, letting a piece of her magic follow Arturia's movement and trace her location, while once again hiding Satori and the key under an illusion of invisibility. Arturia may have gone into an entirely different dimension again, but this time Darcy could follow her, calling on more of her own magic and following the trail of the tracking spell, vanishing from the hallway just after Arturia had to follow the knight into her sanctuary. Appearing nearby the recovering knight and feeling Arturia's power surge once more as Excalibur reappeared, Darcy immediately struck forwards with another burst of dragonfire at the now unprotected counter guardian. As she did, she also started casting a second spell on the area around them, another dimensional transport spell to pull them both back into the hallway.

 

[spoiler=tldr]Darcy hid Satori and the key behind another invisibility illusion, before tracking and following Arturia into Avalon. Once there she threw more fire at Arturia, while starting to cast a spell that will drag Arturia back to the hallway with her.

 

[Super Chaos Sonic]

Nero - Keyblade War Master / The X-Blade's Wielder ~ Hallway to Origin

 

Nero was pleased at his Aeroga freeing Kratos from Arturia's attack, only to watch her summon forth a wall of wind to counter the Firaga. He figured that was what was going to happen. However...

 

There ain't anyway she'll stop the Thundaga! he thought, watching the thunder strike her. He did, however, notice she constructed a small barrier to stop it. Nevertheless, it was obvious it did some damage to her. Hmm...perhaps just a bit more thunder may do the trick... Just stay as far from her as possible and keep on with the long distance strikes.

 

"To think I would have to resort to such an underhanded weapon...!"

 

Nero's eyes widened as he watched Arturia literally pull forth a gun forward and proceeded to shoot at him and the others that were on the offensive against this Arturia. "JEEZ!! Pulling a gun out!? That hardly seems fair!!" he shouted in protest, already running around as she was shooting wildly at those before her. In order to get a better vantage point, Nero took this time to throw Divine Remnant and activate his Keyblade Ride. Within seconds, Nero was hopping on the hoverboard and taking off.

 

Master. Nero immediately heard the spirit of Divine Remnant speak to him as they got higher above.

 

I'm fine, Remnant. Don't worry. Nero thought with a chuckle. He took a sharp turn, making his way back towards Arturia. The Thundaga did the most damage from that strike...but its the barrier she keeps putting up that's the problem. With the gun there, it may be a bit different...however let's decide to make it harder!

 

With a small smirk, Nero swung the X-Blade in the air before shouting. "GRAVIGA!!" Suddenly above Arturia there would be a miniature event-horizon that began to expand. As it did, Arturia would definitely feel herself being weighed down immensely. That ought to slow her down quite a bit...now... he thought, swinging the X-Blade once more, before casting another Spell. "THUNDAGA!!!"

 

Just as before, a powerful thunderbolt would strike down against Arturia, just as Nero sailed overhead. He flashed a small grin to the others, letting them have their turns to strike. After all...she just got hit with a bit of heavy gravity and then struck by another thunderbolt. Nero knew good and well that the others had plenty for her still!

[The Warden]

"RHONGOMYNIAD!"

 

"I'm afraid not!"

 

Holding onto Bayonetta's wrists, Hapshiel hoisted himself and the Umbra Witch into the air, allowing Arturia's assault to sail uselessly below as Hapshiel held Bayonetta in a bridal hold, his wings extended outwards to maintain his flight as he thickened his barrier, to make it harder for the Counter Guardian to move. "Another sphere?" the angel remarked as a brown orb circled around Artu4ia.

 

---

 

"Stone from this hallowed ground that will become your grave" Lydia declared, her voice gaining power as the fifth orb encircled the two current Arturias, born from the very floor everyone fought upon.

 

The ground around the two targets began to tremble from the force of magic being applied to the two Arturias, their elemental powers quaking as it started to draw in whatever energy they could, including the Thundaga spell that was readily absorbed into the electric orb orbiting Ar2uria. "The wind you used to hide your deceit!" Lydia roared, her voice filling the hallway as the Invisible Air screen faltered, turning into fuel for the two grey orbs, each filled with swirling air that began to devour the rest of the stuff, including the spray of bullet Ar2uria was firing.

 

Now in plain view, Lydia's wings and armour radiated intense light as her natural magic crackled around her, her might reaching its zenith. "THE LIGHT YOU WIELD IN YOUR HOPELESS CRUSADE!"

 

In an instant the Rhongomyniad in Artu4ia's hand shattered, composing itself into a beautiful golden sphere that radiated with beauty, while the gun in Ar2uria's hand likewise shattered, becoming the sphere of light that joined the impossibly fast rotation of orbs. The weight of their power cracked the ground beneath the CG clones, with immense pressure building around her that was forcing everyone close back. "THE DARKNESS THAT HAS BLINDED YOU TO THE TRUTH!"

 

Born from the darkest memories and blackest emotions were pitch-black orbs, the octet complete, and their rotations near impossible to follow as they had become a rainbow ring. And despite the beauty, this was the end. Bearing down so hard the ground shattered beneath her boots, Lydia's eyes were alight with magic. "THE ONLY TRUTH! EIGHT POINTS OF DIZASTER!"

 

In an instant both clones were engulfed in a controlled maelstrom of elemental might, with fire, wind, and lightning raging about. Ice, water, and earth lashing and grinding. And light and darkness... consuming everything around them, until there was nothing left. Well, there were two things left: A pair of scorch marks where the clones used to be, before they were utterly annihilated. Gasping loudly, Lydia fell to her knee, her light shrinking as the feedback from such powerful magic hit her hard. "Are you hurt?"

 

"No. I-I'm fine, just drained after that. But, it worked. Those copies are gone."

 

"The real one fled somewhere."

 

"I saw. We'll deal with that when we come to it" Lydia responded as she picked herself up in the wake of what was probably a fair few looks.

 

Ignoring them, the Sorceress Supreme strode confidently over to where the real Arturia vanished, and she waited for the Counter Guardian to return. And when she did... there would be words. Very hurtful words.

[Dad]

The Power of Reflection

 

Arthuria barely skirted away with her life once more.  She fought off Kratos successfully, as her skill in combat was prevalent.  But now, with her armor shredded, and her defenses lowered, there was a large opening in which Kratos had to strike.  Well, that was until Arthuria produced a magical machine gun from thin air, and sprayed packed air bullets in his direction.

 

Opposite Kratos, Kenpachi was dealing with a blast of dragonfire.  And he didn't dare take it head on.  He understood only part of it's magical properties, but he could feel just how strong it was at a distance.  Cutting through the blast could have put someone else in danger.  He would have to be rid of it all together.  "Kratos!" Kenpachi said, leaping into the air, as the blast trailed him.  "Switch!"  

 

The spartan nodded.  He tossed a blade Kenpachi's way, and the death god caught it, pulling Kratos towards him.  Kratos used the momentum of Kenpachi's pull to leap over him, right into the path of the dragonfire.  Kenpachi landed among the bullets Arthuria released at his allies.  But there was no bullet a death god feared.  Turning to face Arthuria, Kenpachi let loose his reiatsu, its overwhelming pressure causing Arthuria's air bullets to merely dissipate as they reached him.  He marched forward, taking Arthuria's attack head on.  "Arthuria," he said, frowning.  "I'm sorry."

 

With Nozarashi at his side, Kenpachi put both hands on his blade.  He raised it over his head, still marching through her air bullets.  With a mighty swing, he pushed his reiatsu outwards and into his weapon as it fell, releasing a shockwave of raw energy in an attempt to slay her where she stood.

 

Meanwhile, Kratos was dealing with the dragonfire attack.  Thankfully, the magic in his godly possessions had been restored.  With the Golden Fleece on his wrist, Kratos took the magical attack head on, pushing it back with all his might.  The two magics made contact, a screeching noise unleashed as they did battle with Kratos behind them.  But in the end, the indestructible Golden Fleece would prevail, sending Arthuria's dragonfire hurtling into the depths of the Hallway of Origin.

 

Spreading his wings, he slowly hovered to the ground, where he watched Kenpachi from a distance.  The way he marched forward fearlessly, and kept his eyes on his goal, was something Kratos both admired and feared.  

 

Killua, who had watched Arthuria fend off his lightning bolts with ease, was dipping through Arthuria's air bullets, when a large portion of them suddenly stopped flying in his direction.  He looked up to see Kenpachi standing in the path of Arthuria's attack, absorbing the air bullets.  He stood behind Kenpachi a ways away, shaking his head.  "This guy is nuts."

 

---

 

Humbled by God

 

Revy had little time to react to Arthuria, but thankfully Arthuria had grown desperate and decided to disappear into her magical world.  This meant a few things.  The Arthuria that Revy was fighting was indeed the true Arthuria.  It also meant she was going to have a lot of time to restore her strength, and there was nothing Revy could do about it.  "Come back here!" Revy demanded as Arthuria disappeared.  But what Revy could not do, someone sailed past her and chased Arthuria into what Revy could only assume was another world.

 

She could only hope now that whoever it was that chased Arthuria was successful.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"...that wasn't a bad move, kid."

 

"In the end, my words never really reached you, did they?"

 

The nameless girl approached the dying Arturia with a vacant expression on her face. She watched as the king's mind eroded from everything that she suffered from, and even her last ditch attempt of summoning The Madara from her weapon to trap everyone into an impenetrable barrier didn't seem to faze her. As the king lie dying, the nameless girl sat on her side, her gaze fixated upon the figure who seemed to be no longer even capable of recognizing her. It was such a sorry state to see someone, let along a formerly great king. Having lost her mind, she pretty much was just a shell now.

"Heh... It's been a while, death."

 

And thus, the clone of the king dissipated into red particles, having served its function. The cloud of temperament that surrounded her dissipated too, reforming the Sword of Hisou on the nameless girl's hand. The nameless girl watched as the illusory copy made by the remnant of The Madara's energy disappeared completely with a solemn expression. It seemed that it was the end for her for the time being - unable to continue her participation with the barrier blocking her.

 

"And so, it ends, I guess.

 

It was a honor to fight you. It was a honor to serve under you, although, forgive me for being so useless for the Counter Corps before this."

 

The girl didn't feel like doing anything else now. A mix of catharsis and disappointment entering her expression, she chose to lay where the clone Arturia used to lay in before. No matter how she attempted to let her voice out, in the end none of it ever reached Arturia. In the end, the clone was simply just a clone, and the real Arturia was still out there, inevitably dying without being capable of understanding anyone there beforehand. Yet, striking the clone down brought some sort of odd feeling of accomplishment inside, and in the end, she simply was glad that she felt that she could feel like she understood Arturia. Letting her mind rest for a while, the nameless girl started to talk to no one. Not hoping that her words would reach anyone, it was simply the only way for her to express her gratitude to someone that would never be able to hear her clearly anymore.

 

"It was once a while ago that I was stuck with a single-minded determination for a cause that I couldn't actually understand. It was once a while ago that I was seeking an ideal I didn't even know about, and seeking someone I didn't even connect with.

 

It was you that made me understand what I did wrong. Forcing me to see the faults of my own warped train of thought, you set me to this path that led me here. The one I faced in Death... a spectre as she was, she's still born from my ideal of you, and I would not formed such a high and noble image in my mind if you as a person did not fit with it. It was why, seeing you here like this pained me. I can see what you are trying to achieve, yet with such a single-minded zeal, all I could think was that you fell into the hole where I used to dwell. It was why... here, I fought so that you could understand me, that you could understand the rest of us. I wanted to be what you were to me when I was lost. Failing that, I was fighting so I could grant you death before you fell further in your single-mindedness, just like what you would have done to me.

 

This would be my last expression of gratitude to you, now that I could not accompany you on your death throes. May death bless your soul, so you can find peace. If you truly wish for stopping the potential abusing of the door with your action here, then perhaps I could try to fight to continue that cause."

 

What was left of the red energies that used to compose the clone was absorbed by the weapon on the nameless girl's hand. She had nothing left to do, and she had said what she wanted to say. Staring at the barrier above as her expression gradually became emptier, the disappointment coming from what she couldn't achieve in the fight dissipated as well. Right now, what was on her mind had entirely become the desire to continue forward. This would be quite a long wait.

 

---

 

"...It seems that the key really does end up being in your care, Darcy. Fate truly works in a mysterious, if not annoying way."

 

Yet there was no room for them to properly react to the artifact's presence. Arturia had just left for Avalon once more, and Darcy took chase into the mental dimension as Satori continued to pump information into her regarding everything she could gather regarding the nature of the dimension. It was this time too that it was made clear that this Arturia was the real one. Excalibur was in her hand - she was ready for one last burst from it when everyone was not expecting it. Of course though, her and Darcy's appearance in Avalon would not be something that Arturia would probably expect, and Darcy rapidly casted two spells in succession, one being her flames that she used to attack Arturia while she was lowering her guard, and the other was a dimensional spell to drag both them and Arturia back to the Hallway. Satori, already preparing herself the moment Darcy casted her spells, sent out mental messages to as many people in the Hallway as she could regarding what both Arturia and Darcy was going to do as soon as the connection with the Hallway was reestablished with Darcy's magic. The moment Darcy had pulled Arturia out of Avalon, hopefully everyone would have been ready to perfom whatever to finish the king off before she could fire another one of her Excalibur.

 

---

[Love of Ghibli]

Team Dorian: Hallway of Origin

 

Butlerok looked on as Arthuria was being bathed in the Black Blood and her own Rukh. Butlerok just snickered as he watched her soldier through her own past. It was quite entertaining. As she pushed through the depths with more air magic it looked like Bulterok was going to put her back down. However it looked like the help he had anticipated showed up just in time. Butlerok just watched as she was attacked by black sludge, then by a massive dragon, and when it looked like she was about to counterattack she then hit with Tenco's attack. Butlerok put his hand over his mouth to keep the heinous laughter from coming out. 

But it looked like the time for all the fighting was finally over. The combined forces had won this round. As the combined mental torture attacks took their toll on the Arthuria. She stood still and eventually fell into the pool of Black Blood that was known as the floor. Butlerok reached out his hand and in his palm was a smile as wide as the Cheshire cat itself. He laughed as he wondered what should he do with his new subject.

 

"MADARA, NOW! SEAL THEM!"

 

With eyes widened and eyebrows raised Butlerok could only dagger upward and gaze at this last ditch effort trap that had been laid for them. The crimson energies of a past foe took shape and it was scary to say the least. 

"T S U K U YO M I."

 

Butlerok was admittedly taken off-guard by this and when the light faded he noticed the mega dense crimson energy barrier. He readied his blade to try to take it down but after a second of trying to charge up an attack he grabbed his head and came to his knees. He was hearing thousands of screams and voices inside his head. He had no focus which was completely rare for him. Something was a miss. What was happening? The thousands and upon thousands of Rukh inside Butlerok were in constant turmoil. While they couldn't leave it was like constantly poking birds in a birdcage. He realized then that someone or something is contorting his inner thoughts somehow. He delved deep into his mind palace of sorts and talked with the other souls that inhabited this vessel of a Kishin.

What is this? 

Do you not recognize this manipulation boy? The captain spoke. It is the same kind of attack as we had dealt with before. Its an illusion! 

Interesting, I didn't feel this much pain last time.

I surmise you didn't have five civilizations of Rukh locked inside you. Gyokuen said very passively. You consumed the entire history of Alma Torran. Almost half a planet of lifeforms and their Rukh. You have been conscientiously maintaining a balance with all the Rukh and the litany of other knowledge you keep assimilating in here. This illusion very simply warps your perception of events. It distorts your mind which then distorts the systems you use to keep the Rukh in place therefore they run wild. I guess Rukh are your new alarm for if you're ever being mind controlled.

 

How do we get out of this? Butler inquired seeing as this will be the second time in his life he will have been in an "genjutsu" and have been unprepared. This was pretty unacceptable. 

Its simple. Hades added. You just have to empty your mind and all other energies that dwell in this infinite vessel of madness. He chuckled because that is quite a tall order. 
 

Really? Butler said sounding very doubtful of his chances of success. 

Don't worry baldy I can do it for you. Ragnarok added. Admittedly everyone else look skeptical as this was something that one wouldn't think someone of Ragnarok's character could do. Yes, you douchebags Baldy and I are bonded now! His soul and my soul resonate so this should be easy for me. So Baldy I just need you to focus on something so you can come back from the void. 

Butler was thinking of concentrating on Dorian, but then he heard something from the outside world...

It was a honor to fight you. It was a honor to serve under you, although, forgive me for being so useless for the Counter Corps before this."

 

It was the other warriors voice this was interesting to say the least. But soon Butler seemed to only focus on this incoming monologue everything around him seemed to fade to black.
 

It was once a while ago that I was stuck with a single-minded determination for a cause that I couldn't actually understand. It was once a while ago that I was seeking an ideal I didn't even know about, and seeking someone I didn't even connect with.

 

It was you that made me understand what I did wrong. Forcing me to see the faults of my own warped train of thought, you set me to this path that led me here. The one I faced in Death... a spectre as she was, she's still born from my ideal of you, and I would not formed such a high and noble image in my mind if you as a person did not fit with it. It was why, seeing you here like this pained me. I can see what you are trying to achieve, yet with such a single-minded zeal, all I could think was that you fell into the hole where I used to dwell. It was why... here, I fought so that you could understand me, that you could understand the rest of us. I wanted to be what you were to me when I was lost. Failing that, I was fighting so I could grant you death before you fell further in your single-mindedness, just like what you would have done to me.

 

This would be my last expression of gratitude to you, now that I could not accompany you on your death throes. May death bless your soul, so you can find peace. If you truly wish for stopping the potential abusing of the door with your action here, then perhaps I could try to fight to continue that cause."

 

When the nameless girl finished her monologue she stared at the barrier above her. Butlerok had managed to put his hand on her shoulder. If she would look up she would see the hollow husk of Kishin behind her and then she would witness life slowly pour back into his eyes. With a series of rapid blinking Butlerok was back and his mind was clear. He couldn't see the barrier anymore the genjutsu was successfully dispelled. What an odd team effort that took. He looked down at that the nameless girl and instead of saying thank you he simply stated:

"It seems I have severely underestimated the Counter Corps. I will have to tell master that once again he was correct in your potential." 

 

With that Butlerok simply leapt back into the fight pass the barrier he no longer saw, but it seemed like he missed some pivotal information in his absence. That stall tactic may have paid off.

 

The nameless girl would hear a voice come up from behind her.

 

Well that is interesting. Dorian said slightly chuckling. I usually find Butler resistant to outside influences. I gotta say you have a way with words there. Dorian said looking to where he remembered the barrier to be. Do you still see dome thing? He asked. I'm pretty sure it was an illusion. Luckily for me, being a spectre, Rhadamanthys can instantly tell when my cosmos is out of alignment. So he pressed the reset button on me and I'm fixed. I'll admit, I can't feel your feeling or even begin to empathize. You won, you dealt the killing blow and to be even more honest you probably stopped that fake from being consumed by Butler...which you probably wouldn't like. You've done great things...so perk up it's time to get this win. And if you want to get out. Dorian pointed to the ground. Just ingest a little bit of that. The Black Blood that was on the floor still pooled in that area. A simple answer for a simple solution. 

I'll wait. Dorian said calmly.
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Rhadamanthys smirked as the woman took his attack. The ingredient wants to fight back, does it? Does it really want to be tenderized even more. White flames came down upon him separating him from his dinner. This was starting to get annoying, but it didn't matter these flames were not going to hold down a God. He dug his armored claws into the dragonfire and while its heat was impressive he moved it aside and looked on. But like fate was just trying to tell him during this fight he was going to get constantly interrupted. It seemed that throughout everyone else's attacks he would see that this Arthura was in fact the true one as she summoned for some kind of sheath like construct  and then seemingly disappeared from the world. 

Oh this was just the icing on the cake now wasn't it. She was out of range somehow. Rhadamanthys for a split second felt a disturbance in the Cosmos. A distortion as it were. He looked over and he could see Dorian's cosmos all a flux. Clearly the boy got himself into something again. Stupid boy. Rhadamanthys scoffed in annoyance and crumpled his hand into a fist essential killing and emptying Dorian's cosmos in one shot. Not a second later Dorian stood back up like nothing happened. Slightly confused, but better. 

Rhadamathys' was distracted with his young spectre that he didn't notice the last member of the Divine actually pursue Arthuria into this other world and was doing work to bring her back. Rhadamanthys began charging his Cosmos waiting for the first moment to charge.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"Well that is interesting. I usually find Butler resistant to outside influences."

 

"It's nice to see you still looking fresh, Dorian."

As Dorian approached her, the nameless girl got up from the floor to face him. Earlier, she could feel the Kishin that was partnered to Dorian touching her and saying something she wouldn't really expect to come from him anytime before. Well, with how the situation had shaped, at least she was glad that she's not alone in the dome barrier locking them from the outside world, however it seemed that Dorian had something in mind regarding that.

 

"Do you still see dome thing? I'm pretty sure it was an illusion. Luckily for me, being a spectre, Rhadamanthys can instantly tell when my cosmos is out of alignment. So he pressed the reset button on me and I'm fixed."

 

As he said it, the nameless girl noticed that for a moment Dorian fell to the ground seemingly lifeless, only to return back moments later. It seemed that what he was talking about was effectively a momentary suicide of sort. The girl paid close attention to what Dorian said as he continued his words as if nothing had happened. If it only took killing herself to be able to get out and participate in the rest of the battle, then it should be quite easy. As long as the illusion is dispelled from her being, she would be fine. However, it seemed that Dorian shifted the topic a little bit now.

 

"I'll admit, I can't feel your feeling or even begin to empathize. You won, you dealt the killing blow and to be even more honest you probably stopped that fake from being consumed by Butler...which you probably wouldn't like. You've done great things...so perk up it's time to get this win."

 

"Right, since you had shown me that it's possible to continue, then let's. This has gone for long enough.

 

And...thanks. I don't think anyone would really see what she wanted to achieve as anywhere near acceptable, but dying while being flooded with scorn and hate like this made her quite pitiable for me. I at least wish that she could somehow still be seen as something more dignified than a tyrant that closed her heart from everyone, but perhaps...at that regard, I was just deluding myself on how much she deserved that. I really couldn't be sure anymore."

 

The girl took a glance on her sword for a moment. It was her conscious decision to absorb what was left of the clone into the sword, although it was simply just motivated by her sentiments, compared to how Butlerok probably would absorb her for power. Even so, she felt a bit cautious. In the end, what she had absorbed was more a fragment of The Madara rather than Arturia herself. Would having something like that being integrated into herself conceptually be a good idea? It's a bit too late to take that back though, so whatever happened, she'd just have to deal with it somehow. She returned her attention to Dorian, his words managing to perk her up now.

 

"And if you want to get out. Just ingest a little bit of that. A simple answer for a simple solution." As he said this, Dorian pointed at the ground towards the lingering Black Blood pooling there.

 

"E-eh...? You sure about this?"

 

"I'll wait."

 

"Well...I guess, if you say so."

 

Of course, even now, the girl would still have reservations on consuming something like that, especially after seeing what it could do. It took her a while of being unsure, but in the end, she decided that it wouldn't hurt that bad. If it would affect her essence of being badly, she could eject it out before that happen, and like, she's already prepared to commit suicide if it'd allow her to leave this dome, so she had little to care about what would happen to her physical body. Removing her hesitation, she knelt on the floor and grasped a handful of the Black Blood before letting it go inside of her. Well, it soon made its effect clear on her body. The girl spasmed uncontrollably for a few moments, and she could feel something, her essence, or well, as Gyokuen would say it, her Rukh, she could feel it violently coming out of her from every orifice. It felt like for that moment she completely shriveled, but soon those Rukh came back into herself and after a bit more of readjusting, she was feeling fine again. Looking around, she could no longer notice the dome anymore. It seemed that this was a great success, potential side effects aside.

 

On the distance, she could see that two Arturias were being assaulted by some form of magic, but it was hard to make up whether they're actually being hit and disintegrated by it or were they still capable of escaping it. Before she could do anything more, she felt a mental message immediately entered her. It revealed the fact that Arturia was escaping to her personal dimension called Avalon and preparing Excalibur there, and there was this Darcy that's currently trying to pull her out. She was the real Arturia, the message also said. In which case, the girl's target was clear now.

 

"The real Arturia is going to reappear anytime now. This will end soon thankfully, so let's prepare ourselves.

 

Although...in the meantime...hey Dorian, I am curious. At the end of this, what do you, and your friends, really aimed to achieve anyway? I'd think it'd be something more personal with you being in the Divine, but honestly...all that faction thing felt like a complete nonsense now.

 

And...pardon me, but with her dying soon which we will make sure of, I want to know about something. What do you really think of her, of Lady Arturia? You, being her enemy since the start...perhaps could see something that I couldn't see about her. In the end, maybe I just wanted to see whether anyone really saw her the same way like I did."

 

---

[Love of Ghibli]

Team Dorian: Hallway of Origin
 

Although...in the meantime...hey Dorian, I am curious. At the end of this, what do you, and your friends, really aimed to achieve anyway? I'd think it'd be something more personal with you being in the Divine, but honestly...all that faction thing felt like a complete nonsense now.

 

And...pardon me, but with her dying soon which we will make sure of, I want to know about something. What do you really think of her, of Lady Arturia? You, being her enemy since the start...perhaps could see something that I couldn't see about her. In the end, maybe I just wanted to see whether anyone really saw her the same way like I did."

 

Dorian couldn't hold back his need to shrug. Maybe it was because the Divine had been so transparent since the beginning that the whole faction thing made more sense to him in the beginning. So sad that the other faction wasn't so fortunate. Good leaders are so hard to find. 

 

To be honest, I am very quick to dislike people who dislike me. Sooo he/she was never on the list of people I was going to halfway like to begin with. Second, if I had to be more metaphysical or smart...whatever. I would say that I don't like her motivation. She's one of those be a monster today so I can turn back time to yesterday, meaning today never happened people. That's just dumb to me. Literally rewriting reality to make yourself feel better...that is the epitome of cowardice. Everyone wishes for a magic reset button, everyone wishes they could just unhappen that stupid mistake from when they were young. But the truth is...we can't and we shouldn't. We have to live with our decisions and keep going. 

Dorian looked up to ponder.

I mean in total hindsight maybe and I mean "MAYBE" I was a little harsh and jealous of that Arthur boy. And "maybe" I couldn't deal with my own insecurities and I took out on someone who I thought had everything...again. In theory I should apologize and take whatever abuse he and with fish chick dish out. Dorian scoffed. I'm not going to do that though. I'm seeing my decision through to the end and the next time I meet him I'm going to put him in the ground and I'm going to personally curbstomp Eria's teeth out her face. Some wheels can't be unrolled. There are no "take-backs" and just because we found a way to have a "take-back" doesn't mean we get to use it. Your leader sac'd all of you from the moment he/she became the leader probably because she knew that in the end she'd get a "take-back." I'm almost curious as to why you like him/her.

As for what I want to achieve. Dorian put his fingers together in an evil pyramid. Actually, I don't know that much. I mean it's nothing too grand. But, like the saying goes "the future's a mystery" so I'll live in the now. I don't like not finishing things and quitting never seemed to work for me. In addition, I can't see myself, Butler or Rhadamanthys half-doing anything. It is probably why we're so strong now. If we're going to be on a team we should be as useful to that team as much as possible right? 

Dorian snickered as he hadn't really thought he could have such a polite conversation with a member of an opposing faction. To be fair this was the second time it had happened. Maybe there was something to being a good guy after all. Dorian looked square at the nameless girl. 

 

You know you should ask yourself a serious question. Are you a leader or a follower? And be honest. I mean, I get that as a strong female it is natural to look up to that mega he/she, but how often are you looking for someone to be inspired by? Do you ever pat yourself on the back? Are you ever truly impressed with yourself?
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

Rhadamanthys was charging his cosmos when he looked around noticed a familiar smell. It was that Butler of Dorian's who had become quite a thing to deal with. Rhadamanthys turned around to find that it wasn't actually him it was his experiment, this Revy person. Woman of Kratos complete with upgrades. Rhadamanthys took a closer look at her firearms and noticed something...off. 

Rhadamanthys motioned to speak. You...

Before he could go Revy would feel her gun hand get denser as Butlerok seemed to just appear out of nowhere inspecting the piece. Yes Rhadamanthys, she has barely tapped into her potential. But what do you expect, there is no concept of magic where she comes from. Butlerok added sounding a tad defensive.

Don't blame the student for her terrible teacher. Rhadamanthys scoffed. The two shot glares at each other. This would probably be settled at a later time. 

Butlerok took Revy's gun and proceed to take all the remaining clips out the magazine and had Ragnarok eat them. He then gave the gun back to her and gave her slightly blank stare. You have powers now, bullets cost money so do not waste them when you don't have to. Picture the most destructive force you've seen outside of "this adventure" and compress it. That is the strength of your "bullet." Butlerok smirked as it was a long time since he had the opportunity to mentor someone in a similar field...it felt weird. Being helpful instead of destroying and breaking someone. Maybe there was something to being a good guy after all.

Oh, not to forget... Butler immediately put his hand through Revy but it didn't come out the other side. Almost like going into a bag Butlerok went to grab something from Rukh which had to be reset since he technically cut everything off. Bulterok pulled back his and from Revy he brought out an anti-tank rifle. You have to start realizing that you have a wealth of potential...for a limited time anyway.

 

So use the most of it while you can. Rhadamanthys added. 

[Tesability Black]

~Gemini's POV~

Gemini #1:

Every Gemini had been irked that his attempt to draw fire towards himself to give everyone else the chance to talk sense though her insanely-thick skull or crack it into bits had effectively waylaid by the arrogant brod. A growl left his throat as he watched the madness from four different points.

Seeing the madness around him and seeing how Arturia was attacking despite the Souls he knew would eventually release their karmatic backlash, he took to a defensive stance. He watched as the Ruhk tried to pull Arturia into insanity, though he wasn't surprised that she did not immediately faulter, at the least.

He became thankful for the choice to go defensive once Arturia resorted to making use of her Invisible Air, a stupid name for an ability, once again.

He gave a grin at the missile that exploded in the Queen's face, though.

After a bit, he rose an eyebrow as Arturia fell for the moment, succumbing to madness finally, but neither laughing or crying in the throes of such.

"MADARA, NOW! SEAL THEM!"

This captured Gemini's attention, causing him to focus fully on the clone, eyes widening upon the sight of crimson.

Familiar crimson.

"T S U K U YO M I."

"Oh, hell, no," Gemini let out with a more human swear as the illusion surrounded and affected even him, temporarily cutting him off from everything else. Only a sliver of connection to Origin remained and that's to make sure he didn't fade from existance. "You're using that damned thing a second time against me?!" With this, Gemini's corrosive aura re-emerged into full view in an attempt to melt away the barrier and hopefully force it to open early. "It's on, jabroni!"

Gemini #2:

All three of the others noticed when one of them was seperated from the rest, causing all of them to be surprised by the turn of events as well as become faintly worried...even though none of them showed it. Like the others, he had gone defensive, content to watch the madness as Arturia wasted her energy on fighting her former allies.

He couldn't help but want to clap at the lightning boy's crash against Kratos to save him. That took some literal quick thinking to pull off.

It wasn't until her weapon shifted into something he never would have thought he'd see her use that he gave a devious grin of his own.

"Fight fight, eh, Queenie," he taunted with a question in his voice as he held up his hands, each of them holding a dark-blue orb of aura before reforming themselves into crystalline weapons that he could hold in each hand, a pair of pistols. "Let's see how well you do against this, m'dearie!" There was almost a maniacal laugh to him as he began firing away, firing with blackish-red bullets that glowed slightly with the same light. Hit or miss, each bullet would eventually revert back into aura before returning back to him to let him reload his twin pistols.

"I can keep this up all day, ya know!"

Gemini #3:

The third Gemini wanted to join in on Revy's gunfire, almost as if to have a competition as to whom could brain the woman with a bullet first. But he ended up not doing so, deciding to watch the shitshow while keeping himself on guard. He really wasn't interested in what was happening until he felt the Key move towards someone...

...someone that was right in Arturia's view and caught her eyes widening at this.

sheet! That was the only thought that crossed his head before Arturia vanished for the moment.

"Brace for impact," he shouted sheerly on instinct, not knowing if she was truly gone from the current reality or just invisible. All he knew was that, for the time being, he couldn't see her in the time line at all.

Gemini #4:

Unlike the other Geminis, this one was half-way glad that he did not need to step into this bit of madness, though he had been forced to keep his distance due to this Arturia chasing after him. He was glad to have an excuse to stay out of swinging range of a weapon he wasn't sure how it would affect him or his counterpart.

He really did not want to test whatever theories may be had regarding him and that weapon.

However, seeing the angel absolutely no-sell the weapon when she tried to nail both him and the witch was a fun thing to see indeed as he kept out of range with his speed...

~Neos's POV~

Neos was kind of glad that Arturia was distracted elsewhere, though he now was unsure of what to do. All of them seemed covered and he felt that he would only get in the way of everyone.

He watched as everyone seemed to be grouped together into familiar teams, a frown on his face as he realized that he made no impact on anyone present except for the mindmage to his side. He looked up towards the towering creature over them, still feeling the presence of an entire plane of existance within it. It was actually amazing to see such a creature exist.

A flick of discomfort briefly showed itself in his head, causing the shapeshifter to flinch minutely, causing the mindmage to look up towards him.

"Are you alright," was the question that was asked of him, to which he already had a reply for.

"I'm fine." ...I think?

~Jace's POV~

...I think?

Jace narrowed his eyes at the Ditto, unconsciously indicating to Neos that he did indeed hear that thought before turning his gaze towards the madness around them.

He wasn't going to lie, outside of the spell that he had to rely on the world he was supposed to govern to cast, he felt...practically useless. While he knew that Isamy originally wanted him to help her in a quest he sympathized with, he felt out of place now.

Even now, he needed protection. Jace knew that Neos could have jumped into the fray at any point, and possibly took out at least one of them by now. Instead, he hung back to keep him safe.

Why?

"Jace, you're projecting again." looking up, he saw Neos staring him dead in the eye with one of his 'scolding' looks he used when thinking like he was just then.

...sheet.

[Merci]

tick
tock

 

The Pathway to Truth

A land divided into a fairytale forest, a desolate wasteland, a mirror to view one's true self, and a sky-shaped window to the reality beyond. All to free individuals of their own chains.

Having stood firm beyond the edge of the omniverse, only those with the most resolute of convictions found themselves worthy of passing. As established by DATEA, it is one of the three primary failsafes that guard the Door of Origin. Designed never to fall.

And yet, Death has already fallen. Two straggler souls resisted, yet they inevitably succumbed, as this link tells.

Now, the structure that makes up Truth falls into pieces. To the beat of a ticking clock. To the chant of a nursery rhyme. And to the power of two distinctive shadows who were yet to be, one black, one white.

They laugh, knowing that their time shall come.

 

tick tock tick tock tick tock
tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock ti

 

---

---

~ Arturia Pendragon ~
Hallway of Origin

---

Arturia Two

With the Calico M950 in hand, Arturia Two was firing wildly, but had failed to land a solid hit on any of them thus far. Still, it had proven effective on keeping them from engaging her in direct combat. In other words, even if her health was exceedingly low, she could now focus on utilizing her vast mana supply to take her opponents down at a distance-

At that moment, she heard "GRAVIGA!!" shouted from the air above her. As she looked up in surprise, she saw Nero riding around her on his Keyblade Ride , casting a miniature event-horizon on her, expanding throughout her whole body. As it did, Arturia felt herself being weighed down immensely. Damn it! However, she was still capable of fighting at long range. Opening her mouth, she fired a volley of dragonfire blasts at the flying Nero, scattering through the air in an effort to hit him. Afterwards, the knight stood her ground, grasping the Calico with both hands as she kept the fighters at bay, successfully driving the human Kratos away.

From the Hallway's entrance, she could hear a very familiar voice chant, "Stone from this hallowed ground that will become your grave."
 
So Lydia Armstrong had finally joined the fray. However, it was far too late for her to make a difference at this point.

The Keyblader proceeded to swing his X-Blade once more, yelling "THUNDAGA!!!" as it was accompanied by a falling thunderbolt. However, instead of hitting her directly, it appeared to be absorbed into a nearby orbs---

It was at that moment that Arturia realized four orbs were circling around her, each one appearing to represent a different element, the lighting orb having taken in Nero's attack. Immediately after, a fifth one formed of stone joined in with them, at which point the former king finally realized what Lydia was about to do. Whatever it was, there was no way to figure out how to get rid of the orbs in time, each one quite apparently amassing power. Her only choice would be to exit the Hallway, as well as Lydia's range - pouring all of her mana through her body, she forcefully Mana Bursted forth, even as Nero's gravity spell slowed her down, firing her Calico all the while to ensure no one interfered...

And yet, one target stood directly in front of her, blocking her from passing. Kenpachi remained calmly in his position, the Shinigami's reiatsu dissolving the gun's air-composed bullets before they could have any chance at hitting him.

"Arthuria," he said, frowning, beginning to march. "I'm sorry."

"Indeed... A pity." Arturia admitted in response, allowing herself the slightest hint for sadness. At least to the two warrior-leaders, her meaning was clear: 'If only we fought under better circumstances.'

Unwilling to give up, the King of Knights intensified her assault, solidifying her pressurized air bullets even more, concentrating as much of her Invisible Air as she could in an attempt to break through his reiatsu. Although, even if she were gradually got closer and closer to his skin, she inherently knew she wouldn't make it in time. The mere sight of him made her understand; there was no way that she could defeat this man. Not her current state. Not with such limited time to do so.

Raising Nozarashii over his head amidst her direct line of fire, the Captain Commander fearlessly marched through her air bullets. With a mighty swing, he pushed his reiatsu outwards and into his weapon as it fell. It released a shockwave of raw energy straight for her. She had no choice but to gather up all of her spare Invisible Air in one place, defending herself with the strongest shield she could muster. The blast slammed violently into her defense, and it took all of her energy and concentration just to maintain it. Her body was already breaking apart, her consciousness fading away. Right now, she couldn't afford to take any damage.

"The wind you used to hide your deceit!" Lydia roared on, at the worst possible timing, her most vulnerable state. The circling grey orb proceeded to suck in all of her Invisible Air; the defense that just barely canceled out the attack, the bullets that failed to make it anywhere, even the wind that she'd relied on so much to boost her movements.
 
The swirling wind ripped out of her control, Arturia turned towards the beginning of the Hallway with clenched fists, Lydia's form entering her line of vision. The girl had donned armour with wings, radiating an intense light rivaling that of her own weapons. It seemed that her only choice was to kill that girl before she could finish the spell!

Morphing the Madara fragment as quickly as she could, it changed from the Calico M950 to the Thompson Contender. Kiritsugu's favourite gun, a handgun fitted with the blasting power of a rifle. Kiritsugu was known to be a Magus Killer; and this was this anti-sorcery weapon. She visualized the Origin Bullets he'd once used so long ago on an unsuspecting opponent. In that moment of desperation and to her own surprise, the Madara actually managed to recreate one, loading it straight into the barrel. Armed with the gun that would cripple the girl's very capacity to use magic, Arturia pointed it at Lydia, amongst the encircling orbs. "You crude magician... DIE-"

"Let's see how well you do against this, m'dearie!" All of a sudden, bullets from elsewhere knocked the Thompson Contender directly out of her hand. From there, blackish-red bullets came rushing straight, followed by an almost maniacal laugh from that BASTARD Gemini. The demonic shapeshifter had equipped himself with twin crystalline pistols, recklessly firing away. Even with her reflexes, the gravity spell simply made it impossible to avoid them all. Without her armour, much of the bullets tore straight through her body, leaving her physical form covered in holes all over. Even though there was no blood oozing out, this form was based on the biological body of the original. Her death had been spelt out.

"THE LIGHT YOU WIELD IN YOUR HOPELESS CRUSADE!"

Her life depleted, she was left with mere seconds to counteract whilst her body begun to melt into crimson goo. She lashed out for the Thompson Contender - however, as soon she grabbed it, it shattered in her hand. Her last resort had been stolen away. As she watched in shock, the Madara's very essence ended up being converted into a sphere of light that joined the impossibly fast rotation of orbs, radiating an immense pressure that was forcing everyone else back.

"THE DARKNESS THAT HAS BLINDED YOU TO THE TRUTH!"
 
No longer capable of any kind of resistance, Arturia felt memories flash through her mind. The many betrayals she had experienced, the screams of her people on the many battlefields she fought on, and facing All The Evils Of The World on her own, in the midst of a burning world... Her life had truly been filled with nothing but regret. With that, the octet completed, their rotations near impossible to follow as they had become a gorgeous rainbow ring; a marvel that may even rival Avalon itself. Before the end came, there was only one thing left Arturia could do. Under her breath, she whispered, "Madara!"

Then, bearing down so hard the ground shattered beneath her boots, Lydia's eyes were alight with magic. "THE ONLY TRUTH! EIGHT POINTS OF DIZASTER!"

The Arturia clone was hence engulfed in a controlled maelstrom of elemental might, with fire, wind, and lightning raging about. Ice, water, and earth lashing and grinding. And light and darkness, consuming everything in their midst. Was it over?
 
...but, for just a split second, the encircling orb of light flashed a crimson colour. Momentarily defying the control of its captor.

The Madara's consciousness breaking through vortex of magic, it at last exploded into a corrupting red light, declaring an increasingly familiar word.

"T S U K U YO M I."

The light touched everyone in the vacancy, inflicting a powerful illusion onto all those whom had selected Arturia Two as their opponent. When the light faded, they would find a strangely indestructible dome of crimson energy surrounding them. This dome of energy would be invisible to anyone who hadn't come into contact with the light - it would appear that everyone fighting Arturia Two was convinced that they were trapped in some sort of nothing, which they wouldn't be able to move out of for some time.

Even so, the second of the Arturia copies was no more - rendered into a mere scorch mark on the ground. And she would not be the only one.

---

Arturia Four

"I'm afraid not!" Hapshiel declared, just as the fourth Arturia lashed out with Rhongomyniad.

Timing his move excellently, the angel had let her get close, before evading her at the very last second, Arturia was unable to control the direction of her raging, spiraling godkiller as her feet sailed across the ground. Meanwhile, Hapshiel had simply hoisted himself alongside the Umbra Witch up into the air, having fearlessly avoided a deadly attack with the slightest amount of effort.

What a cruel fate. The fourth Arturia's last-ditch effort to defeat the two divine entities had absolutely nothing. Hapshiel's wings extended outwards above her, maintaining his flight. Just floating above her seemed like an act of mockery, and to make matters worse, his kinetic barrier was thickening again, making it harder for the Counter Guardian to move. Still, she struggled as hard as she could.

"You... You dare mock me?!"

Summoning forth all of her Invisible Air, sacrificing all her defense in favour of offense, she materialized dozens of condensed wind blades around her. And promptly fired them rapidly at the angel, in a sequential attempt to cut him and his companion down. However, the angel seemed unconcerned as he perceived and dodged each one, simply remarking something strange, "Another sphere?"

All of a sudden, Arturia felt a heavy force of magic being applied onto her, to the point of causing the ground to tremble - at which point she finally noticed the multitude of spheres rotating around her. She'd been so focused on killing her opponents that she had neglected to check her own condition. To think there was a sorcerer here who could cast magic surpassing her own Magic Resistance!

"The wind you used to hide your deceit!" A voice roared, filling the hallway. Arturia's wind blade assault was halted as the remainder of her Invisible Air was suddenly absorbed into a grey orb encircling her. Likewise, when she attempted to launch dragonfire from her mouth, the flames were absorbed by a prior-established orb of fire.

Of course, it made perfect sense now. Lydia. In plain sight close by, the young girl was fearlessly casting a spell on one of the multiverse's greatest knights. Now in plain view, her wings and armour radiated intense light as her natural magic crackled around her, her might reaching its zenith.

But Arturia wasn't about to give up. She raised her spear Rhongomyniad, and it begun to change shapes; even if she was to die here, she would take that girl with her if she had to! "You... I offered you guidance as a Counter Guardian, and this is how you repay me?!"

"THE LIGHT YOU WIELD IN YOUR HOPELESS CRUSADE!" However, she never even got that chance. In an instant, the Rhongomyniad in her hand shattered, composing itself into a beautiful golden sphere that radiated with beauty, joining the increasingly fast rotation of orbs, forcing an immense pressure upon her that, combined with the kinetic field, had made it practically impossible to move.

"THE DARKNESS THAT HAS BLINDED YOU TO THE TRUTH!" Determined not to give up, even when rendered powerless and when dark memories were surfacing, Arturia poured all of her remaining mana into movement. Mana Bursting just to take one step, then another, and then another, each one bringing her closer to her captor. As the copy closest to the entrance, she stood the best chance of taking her down in close range. Even without her own weapon, her overwhelming physical strength would be more than sufficient to down this girl!

Around her, the octet had completed with a pitch-black orb, its rotation impossible to follow as it had become a visually stunning rainbow ring. Impressing a ridiculous pressure upon her that was physically causing her bones to crack, and even Mana Burst could only do so much. And still, her target seemed so far away.

"Hm?!" Still, at that moment, she sensed a strange, unusually familiar trace of an aura on the girl. Unmistakable. It had to be that one weapon she'd had too much experience with, the one she fought against back in the Sphere Forest.

"The blade of Protheus! How did you...?!"

But this clone would never get that answer as Lydia's eyes lit up with magic, declaring "THE ONLY TRUTH! EIGHT POINTS OF DIZASTER!"

Madara... Help! Was her last thought before the ring of rainbows burst out with all their contained energy. Her body was being engulfed in a controlled maelstrom of elemental might, with fire, wind, and lightning raging about. Ice, water, and earth lashing and grinding. And light and darkness, consuming everything in their midst. The various elements crashed together, tearing through every inch and every particle of her body, ensuring that there was no possible way she could have survived that. She didn't even have the time to consider escaping as an option, and died, having accomplished absolutely nothing of worth. Was it over?

Then, for just a split second, the encircling orb of light flashed a crimson colour. Momentarily defying the control of its captor.

The Madara's consciousness breaking through vortext of magic, it at last exploded into a corrupting red light, declaring an all-too-familiar word by now.

"T S U K U YO M I."

The light touched everyone in the vacancy, inflicting a powerful illusion onto all those whom had selected Arturia Four as their opponent; stopping only inches before touching Lydia. When the light faded, they would find a strangely indestructible dome of crimson energy surrounding them. This dome of energy would be invisible to anyone who hadn't come into contact with the light. It would appear that everyone fighting Arturia Two was convinced that they were trapped in some sort of nothing, which they wouldn't be able to move out of for some time.

Nonetheless, the last of the Arturia copies was no more - rendered into a mere scorch mark on the ground.

The real Arturia no longer had anywhere to run.

---

Arturia Pendragon, w/ Darcy and Satori
Garden of Avalon

Isolated from the hectic battle, even if it would only be for a short period of time, Arturia observed the Garden of Avalon.
 
Its tranquil, impenetrable realm was an all too welcome change from the chaos she'd had to experience all her life. She breathed, in, and out, and in, and out, safe in the only place in which she could let herself be vulnerable. In her hands, a golden blade glistened. Or rather, the Madara fragment that had so readily provided her with weaponry, even granting her access to the holy arsenals she had lost long ago. Caliburn, the proof of kingship. Rhongomyniad, the pillar of mankind. Excalibur, the sword of promised victory. Even if the ones she were using now were not the original ones, that did not make them any less true.

"Why?" She asked it, a question that was far too overdue. "You are what the Madara, the Keeper of the Key, left behind. When you first approached me, you addressed my soul by the wrong name. You mistook me, Arthur Pendragon, for him. You gave me a blade and a body of full flesh, worthy of the Key... A mistake that was intended to be for Arthur Ancyl."

Excalibur, as though it were listening, temporarily lost its golden glow. Dropping that perfect illusion of holiness, and letting its true crimson radiance shine through.

"But since then, you have fought my every battle and witnessed my every memory. Even without an individuality, surely you must have caught on to that mistake. Why... did you stay?"

There wasn't much of it - it had been split into four parts to support the other Arturias, and the other three parts had since dissolved to fuel low-scale Tsukuyomis, but still it shone. Within the blade, what little remained of the Madara roused into consciousness.

i made a decision

Arturia frowned in confusion, at the very idea that it was capable of making a decision. She beckoned the blade to continue.

i, who cannot understand the dreams of life, could never have helped them. i was not needed. everyone who opposed me had sought to realize their ideal world, their way. YOUNG ARTHUR made that clear

and only KING ARTHUR, who was the very inspiration for that boy's name, was the exception

only YOU sought to dEsTrOy YoUr iDeAl wOrlD

i stay only to ensure that you LIVE as long as possible... until your mind is changed at last

Upon hearing the answer to her question at last, Arturia stood silently, nodding to herself a single time. She was not necessarily surprised as it fitted in with her own theory, but found herself somewhat repulsed nonetheless. In other words, the reason the Madara had continued to provide such support wasn't due it acknowledging her mission to be righteous...
 
It was simply out of pity.

"What... a pathetic reason, befitting an equally pathetic creature." She muttered, her tone displeased.

After that, the blade fully resumed its Excalibur form, brimming with the glorious golden light she was used to, making sure that the consciousness of the Madara stayed as dormant as possible. It couldn't act if every particle of its existence was dedicated to replication, and to begin with, its motive had zero impact on her actions either way. With her curiousity satisfied, materializing illusions from the past was all she needed it for now.

She knew all too well that, once she unleashed Excalibur one last time, she would no longer have any mana of her own left, to activate it or any of the Madara's other abilities. The creature had served to be exceedingly useful as a weapon, as well as a homing beacon for the Key of Origin, but her mana supply was simply far low to be picky. To fuel Excalibur's activation, she had no choice but to sacrifice its last remains. If she were to get this wrong of all things, without such a formidable weapon at her side, her death was almost surely be inevitable.

Her eyes gazing across the beautiful blue horizon of Avalon, as though wondering if she would ever see what lay beyond. Wondering if, no matter how this battle ended, she would be able to return to this heaven. With such a thought, she began to charge Excalib-
 
"WHAT?!"

And then Arturia sensed an unfamiliar presence enter this sanctuary, this paradise, this garden that ought to be uninhabited apart from herself - immediately followed by a dark burst of dragonfire. With no time to react, it blasted her exposed waist, the impact alone sufficient to splatter blood throughout the grass, staining it with the impurity of her body. She snuffed the fires out with Invisible Air before it could spread, but the pain was hellish, a million blazing-hot cinders eating away at her body and mind. That style of attack was all too familiar by now. As soon as she'd caught her breath, she grit her teeth before spitting out, "To think you'd be capable of even following me here... DIVINE SCUM!"

In response, the knight unleashed all of her Invisible Air outwards to ensure her survival,. It ought to be noted that Invisible Air in its passive form would ordinarily be condensed around her body, very much like her very own controllable atmosphere. No more contained, a hurricane's worth of wind escaped from her person in all directions, violently pushing away her nearby attacker ten meters away, as well as tearing apart the entire grasslands within a fifty-meter radius. It seemed that the very realm appeared to cry out in pain at this act of maliciousness by its own guest, but Arturia paid it little heed. As much of a waste as it was to use all her Invisible Air, she couldn't afford to risk another attack.

Afterwards, she collapsed to her knees, gasping as she held her hand on her waist, keeping the wound together. It had to be noted that now, more than ever, she was at her most vulnerable. Having removed Avalon to activate it, she had no healing factor or immortality.

Arturia fixated her eyesight on Darcy, expanding her senses to figure out just how this could have happened. No matter how quick-witted the witch was, she couldn't have possibly been so prepared for Avalon as to know exactly how and when to enter. Was she receiving help? Whatever the case, it didn't matter.

"You... The likes of you entering this holy land is unforgivable, WITCH!" Wincing in pain as she kept her wound in check, she raised Excalibur. "But as a matter of fact... this is actually convenient. There is nowhere for you, or that Key, to run in this world."

Wielding Excalibur with one clean hand and one bloodied hand, she gripped it with the firmest of grips. Even if nearly all of her gigantic mana supply had been used up, via the battle with Yukari as well as the three clones, she'd intentionally kept most of it for herself. Just about enough for one last usage of her ultimate attack. With that, she proceeded to pour her own mana into the royal blade, causing it to resonate with a distinctive, ominous golden glow.

It didn't matter if she was mortal at the moment.

It didn't matter if her lack of sufficient mana would make the attack weaker.

All that mattered was the fact that no warrior could possibly survive a direct blast from Excalibur on their own.

"Ex..."

Arturia begun to invoke the name of her holy blade. Golden wisps zoomed through the clear blue sky, hopes and dreams being drawn from the very Garden of Avalon she presided in, from every single blade of grass amongst the infinite, timeless work of nature. On an eternally open field, there seemed to be nowhere for Darcy to run.

But then, she didn't need to, as that was when her second spell completed. To be more specific, a dimensional transportation spell-



 

~ ~ ~

Hallway of Origin
 
For a fleeting moment, one could almost see a little girl behind the persona of the king.
 

 
To the great shock of Arturia Pendragon, she found herself already back in her original position, in the Hallway of Origin. Her right arm was stuck with a raised Excalibur, brimming with incredible holy light in all directions like a cross of heaven - yet it clearly paled in comparison to the scale of the previous Excaliblast. Lacking mana was one thing, but she simply did NOT have time to steal away the hopes and dreams of all the nearby warriors like she did last time. And yet, having already activated it, she had no choice but to use it right now.

How could this...

Her waist continued to drip blood from where she'd been blasted, making it difficult for her to stand from the sheer pain. There was no rgenerative process going on, no rapid golden glow fixing the wound in seconds. Excalibur needed two hands to be used properly and her Invisible Air had been left behind in sanctuary - thus, the golden sheath Avalon clattered onto the ground, unable to be recollected. As much as she hated to admit it, at this very moment she was more mortal, and vulnerable, than she had ever been in quite some time. A tiny window of opportunity, which she wasn't about to let others take advantage of.

Not only that, but her remaining two copies had disappeared. Having been in another realm, she hadn't been able to collect their memories, but the cause became immediately clear nonetheless. At the end of the Hallway stood Lydia Armstrong, fuming with such magical intensity that it was almost comparable to that of a Counter Guardian. It was only to be expected from a candidate...but to think even she would interfere.

Forget the girl. Concentrate on your mission!

However, Arturia did not falter, not even for a moment. Despite the circumstances, it didn't change the fact that Darcy was a mere ten meters away from her, fully exposed and without a chance of escape. The majority of players had been sealed away with temporary Tsukuyomis, which would prevent them from stopping her blast. Even if it were weaker now, only the unaffected had any chance at retaliating. And even though remarkable warriors Rhadamanthys and Ed were the closest, their considerable prowess surely alone couldn't deflect an practically point-blank Excaliblast. Lydia was all the way at the other end of the Hallway, so what could she possibly do?
 
Wielding the Sword of Promised Victory, she raised it high above her head with both hands, as it glowed with unyielding destruction. Before she'd realized it, the black bow tied into her hair had been swept away by its emanating pressure, causing the full length of her feminine hair to flow downwards. An unwelcome, yet insignificant change to her look.
 

 

At last, she finished her incantation,

"...CAAALLLIIIBBBUUUR!!!"

Then, without hesitation, Arturia swung her hands downwards and unleashed her ultimate attack for the last time. If not to obliterate everyone, then at least to destroy the Key of Origin! A gigantic beam of holy light erupted from it, threatening to incinerate whatever happened to be in its ridiculously wide path, expanding to cover the entirety of the Hallway. Akin to an oncoming wall of pure destruction, it charged onwards with an unnatural beauty to it - the very visual materialization of all of Arturia's ideals. And even if it wasn't quite as impressive as the last one, it was equally as dangerous.

A blast that a team of the strongest warriors would struggle to take on, let alone one. There was practically no hope of escape for the Key wielder, or her info-providing accomplice. The short distance between them and their oppressor allowed them too little time for a teleportation spell.

Those who could act, would have to act quickly if they were to save the Key!

---

[spoiler=~ Status of Arturia Pendragon ~]

Arturia Two
Total Health: 10 -> 0
Total Mana: 430 -> 200
Weapon: N/A (released to activate Tsukuyomi - all opponents cannot move for one page)

>>unleashed all her dragonfire on Kenpachi
>>slain by Lydia's spell: All corresponding opponents have been sealed in a temporary Tsukuyomi


Arturia Three (True)
Total Health: 198 -> 152
Total Mana: 9500 -> 0
Weapon: Excalibur (giant beam sword - costs 10,000 MP)
 
>>scorched by Darcy
>>dropped source of immortality, Avalon
>>returned to Hallway of Origin. Has unleashed Excalibur.

Arturia Four
Total Health: 25 -> 0
Total Mana: 450 -> 180
Weapon: N/A (released to activate Tsukuyomi - all opponents cannot move for one page)
 
>>slain by Lydia's spell: All corresponding opponents have been sealed in a temporary Tsukuyomi

 

[Reinforce]

Chandra

 

The real counter guardian had vanished briefly, followed by the divine's dark witch, and when they returned, Arturia was facing directly at the witch and using her beam sword once more. With no idea how to stop that, but her gut instinct telling her it would be a very bad idea to let it hit, Chandra did the only thing she could think of, remembering how the witch had managed to use and walk through the flames and seemed to wield both red and black mana for her spells. Channeling as much of her power as she could spare, the planeswalker directed it through the gauntlet, and from there into a stream of pure power flowing towards the dark witch, with a shout of, "I hope you can do something with this."

 

---

 

Darcy

 

She'd succeeded in dragging Arturia out of her protections, and hurting her considerably in the process, but now she was staring down an Excalibur blast directly, with not enough time to teleport again between returning and getting hit by the blast. Her only option at this point was to somehow stop the blast head on, and considering what it was and what she knew about it's nature, that would be no easy task. Thinking quickly, she brought her hands out in front of her, using her magic and the dragons flame to throw up a barrier of darkness in front of her, an area so black it looked like it could devour light, a property it did in fact have, though not to the extent needed to nullify Excalibur entirely. Just when she though it would fail to the blast, a large amount of fiery magic entered her body, accompanied with a shout from behind.

 

"I hope you can do something with this."

 

Not stopping to respond to that, Darcy went to work drawing that magic into boosting her improvised defence, thickening the barrier protecting her and boosting it's defensive properties further. The granted magic was thankfully elementally aligned in a form she could work with as well, being similar enough to the Dragon's Flame she'd gotten used to working with over the course of this war that she could put it to use. With her defence somewhat more stable, she finally took the time to say something, yelling at the counter guardian from her defense.

 

"I'm not going to lose to you, not this time."

 

---

 

Ayame

 

Groaning as she started to finally wake, the half-demon noticed a familiar song over the area, even as her missing wing regrew at a rapid rate. With her finally awake, and the rain of arrows finished, the ghostly figure of Jin finally moved away, flying to help block the incoming Excalibur blast, Enhancing his body into that of an angel-demon hybrid as he arrived to stand next to the dark witch. Raising his own hands, fire and darkness surged from his body, slowly draining away his own body as he threw everything he could into blocking the attack. Noticing what was going on, Ayame made her way to her feet, calling once more upon the darkness she could control to once more corrupt and drain away the blast. Beside her, the ghostly shade of Naomi continued to sing, this time giving a slight healing and restoration effect over everyone opposed to the counter guardian, while temporarily giving a slight boost to the strength of their abilities.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"I would say that I don't like her motivation. She's one of those be a monster today so I can turn back time to yesterday, meaning today never happened people. That's just dumb to me. Literally rewriting reality to make yourself feel better...that is the epitome of cowardice. Everyone wishes for a magic reset button, everyone wishes they could just unhappen that stupid mistake from when they were young. But the truth is...we can't and we shouldn't. We have to live with our decisions and keep going. "

 

"Acknowledge our mistakes and move on...as much as the thought of a reset is enticing, it will not absolve us from the sins we had made to reach it."

 

The nameless girl listened closely to what Dorian had said, yet as the words came out of him, instead of the image of Lady Arthuria that came into her mind as Dorian talked about what he disliked about her motivation, the image of someone else appeared. As Dorian finished with his words, the nameless girl started to speak in a haze-like state, not really to address him, but as a response to the image that passed into her mind.

 

 

“No one is going to stop me in becoming the hero that everyone deserved!

 

Not even you, me! I’ll reach the Door of Origin, and I will fix everything up! Just like everyone wanted it to be!”

 

The image of the blue-haired maiden that had been burnt to cinders passed through her mind for a moment. Pointing her blade at the nameless girl, she stood against her as she desperately clung to what she believed to be right. Although, the nameless girl shook her head not long after, removing herself from her daze just as Dorian continued his answer once more.

"I mean in total hindsight maybe and I mean "MAYBE" I was a little harsh and jealous of that Arthur boy. And "maybe" I couldn't deal with my own insecurities and I took out on someone who I thought had everything...again. In theory I should apologize and take whatever abuse he and with fish chick dish out."

 

"...As much as I hated to admit it, I know that feeling all too well."

 

The images inside of her mind shifted to show a certain scene, where the nameless girl stared down at the blue-haired girl underneath her, full of lividness as her intense emotions took over her reasoning.

 

"I'm not going to do that though. I'm seeing my decision through to the end and the next time I meet him I'm going to put him in the ground and I'm going to personally curbstomp Eria's teeth out her face. Some wheels can't be unrolled. There are no "take-backs" and just because we found a way to have a "take-back" doesn't mean we get to use it. Your leader sac'd all of you from the moment he/she became the leader probably because she knew that in the end she'd get a "take-back." I'm almost curious as to why you like him/her."

 

Dorian questioned her back, and it was quite a good question admittedly. The nameless girl took a while to ponder about it as he waited on her side. All that Dorian said made sense. Arturia had always view little to no value to everyone in the Counter Corps outside of being sacrificial pawns to halt and slow down the Divine until she could destroy the Key. It was still fresh in her mind how Arturia dismissed all of them one by one once she had made her intentions clear. Yet, she couldn't bring herself to hate her. To hate Arturia for what she did...would be like to hate herself for the same thing. Being in the same position as the king just a few hours ago, it made it hard for her to despise her.

 

"It's because, we're not different from each other. We followed through a misguided path stubbornly simply because we are unable to see any other alternatives as we closed our minds off them. We were so deep into what we believed in, and react hostilely to any attempts to challenge said belief. As much as I tried my best to hate her for what she did here...all I could see is still the just knight that I had vowed to follow, suffering from a state of mind I once stuck in.

 

And so, here I simply wish to reach out to her just as she reached out to me. Failing that, I am intent on killing her myself, as my last favor to the king who had saved me from myself."

 

Letting those words sink into herself, the nameless girl put up a satisfied smile. And to hate Lady Arturia for doing what she did would also mean hating her for what she did. She mulled it to herself as she waited for Dorian to continue. It was odd - the three of them, being bound together like this, falling into the same hole and doing the same mistakes. As much as she couldn't say that she actually understood the blue-haired girl yet, the nameless girl chuckled a bit at the thought of both the persons she had some form of affection to being quite similar in that regard. Maybe she found that blind stubbornness attractive.

"As for what I want to achieve. Dorian put his fingers together in an evil pyramid as he finally continued. Actually, I don't know that much. I mean it's nothing too grand. But, like the saying goes "the future's a mystery" so I'll live in the now. I don't like not finishing things and quitting never seemed to work for me. In addition, I can't see myself, Butler or Rhadamanthys half-doing anything. It is probably why we're so strong now. If we're going to be on a team we should be as useful to that team as much as possible right? "

 

"Right...so live for this moment, take the opportunities that life provides to you, and do not worry about what will happen next? I see...that isn't a bad way to see things. Thank you, Dorian. I understand what you say, and I'll keep it in my mind. As you said, it was not a grand goal, but it's still beautiful in its own way."

 

As Dorian snickered, the nameless girl let out a laugh, feeling lighter as both anticipated the last moments of this fight. What he said was very valuable in its own way to the girl too. It was not something that she had ever considered, and perhaps...it's not something that would hurt to try out. While she had been intent on the current goal she had, a carefree life where she could just face it as it came to her didn't sound bad at all. It definitely was above always feeling anxious about the possibility that she might not have a future after all. Though, after a while, Dorian started to eye her, and she turned around with a questioning look, her laughing stopped.

 

"You know, you should ask yourself a serious question. Are you a leader or a follower? And be honest. I mean, I get that as a strong female it is natural to look up to that mega he/she, but how often are you looking for someone to be inspired by? Do you ever pat yourself on the back? Are you ever truly impressed with yourself?"

 

"W...what do you...? I-I don't understand what you're..."

 

The question was not what she expected and for some moments the nameless girl was overwhelmed with it. It took her a while to be able to formulate any sort of a coherent response to it - a question that she never really thought the answer of before.

 

"I...I don't know. I am still trying my best to start living this life with my own decisions, without latching myself to someone else just so I could have any direction or sense of self. Yet...even now at times I am unsure - I still had doubts that I could really find my way without someone else's help. Perhaps I am latching unto you now, with Lady Arturia being gone soon. I couldn't really find any reason to be proud of myself even then. Hard to feel any when most things you chose to do felt like they were mistakes over mistakes.

 

But I guess, I'll think about it more once this battle is over. Even if I couldn't make myself proud with what I did, I could perhaps do my best to show Lady Arturia how much have I grown thanks to her, and perhaps, I could hope of making her proud to have me as her follower once."

 

---

 

"What happened? Why are most of everyone-"

 

Darcy had managed to pull Arturia back to the Hallway, but now she was already preparing her one last Excalibur to finish off the fight once and for all. Darcy and Satori was in range to take the full brunt of the holy light, which would unquestionably erase them if it managed to hit. Satori still had too little energy to attempt another Recollection, and there was only so much time to escape it. Yet, with Arturia's Excalibur being in full view, why did most of the people here didn't already prepare themselves regarding the attack despite Satori's warning, instead seemingly waiting for something? A cursory look into the thoughts of one of them made the reason clear to Satori soon. That creature that made up Arturia's weapon, The Madara, apparently still retained more of its abilities than what Satori expected, and managed to use some sort of attack to made a lot of the people in the Hallway thought that an impenetrable crimson barrier had been erected around them. To make herself sure that the barrier was truly illusionary, Satori even shot one of her tentacles towards the position where a barrier should be according to one of the minds, but there was really nothing there.

 

And, like a miracle, she could feel how a surge of energy entered Darcy as Excalibur was being fired, allowing her to cast spells that would hopefully gave both of them as much time as possible here. Seeing the opportunity, Satori then borrowed a little of what Darcy had in her attempt to reach into all minds residing in the Hallway. Overclocking her functions, Satori repeatedly sent the images of Arturia's current position relative to the general position of the groups that once fought her clones, and sent out a message to all of them.

 

"We don't have much time. The real Arturia had returned to the Hallway and is firing her Excalibur now. Any barriers you see surrounding you is nothing but a fake, an illusion made by the Madara and Arturia to deceive you all. I don't know the extent of the capabilities of the Madara to see how much its illusion affected you, but I also sent the general approximation of her location relative to your current location if it could help you stop her.

 

Please, let us all end her madness once and for all."

 

---

 

Kazuya watched from the sidelines as he was confused by the momentary change of situation as the clonethurias disappeared. While it could be just because the real Arturia had escaped somewhere, a lot of them didn't even seem to notice that. It was as if the battle was halted for a moment. Something was very off. And so once Arturia reappeared in the Hallway, Kazuya rushed forward with his COMP in tow. This entire mess had to end somehow. He admittedly was overwhelmed with the development of situations as Arturia split into four and he had little idea how to properly support the groups while the big guns doing their thing, but now he had no more excuses anymore. Feeling useless when everyone else risked everything to defeat the king going rogue made him sickened enough already.

 

"Makarakarn!"

 

Using one of the skills equipped on him at the moment, Kazuya created a barrier before Darcy as Arturia fired her attack. Reinforced as it was with some help from the power from the Bel demons, at its base it was still a shield that would not be able to stop and reflect Almighty-brand attacks. The reinforcement he did to it made it possible for him to let it persist against Excalibur for a few moments, enough time for him to call forth a demon from his COMP. Or perhaps...not exactly a demon, but this spirit of a famed heroine that replaced the demon his COMP would normally recognize. Her braided blonde hair flowed freely as she emerged from the summoning circle, surrounded by golden lights. With a defiant look, she stared at the upcoming destructive light before her, only being separated from it by a reflective shield that had shown many cracks on its surface. Full of conviction, the holy maiden held her battle flag before her as the golden light around her became brighter and brighter.

 

"My Lord, once more I call for you. Even in this furthest reach of existence, I know you will still be here on my side, guiding my actions. And so, with your approval, I shall raise this flag in your name!"

 

 

"My flag, defend our brethens! Luminosité Eternelle!"

 

A brilliant light emanated from the banner that Jeanne D'arc held, and it formed a barrier that protected her and everyone behind her from Excalibur. Powered by her resolute faith and her unyielding determination, the barrier withstood the ultimate destructive attack for the time being, even if as a temporary spectre herself, Jeanne was fading as each seconds passed. Even so, the holy standard-bearer stood firmly, fully intent on protecting those that she knew were the righteous ones in this conflict.

 

---

 

"Tch, no matter what I do, this damn thing won't disappear!"

 

Reimu kicked the crimson barrier before her in frustration after her patented barrier dissolver™technique failed to do anthing against it. Normally it was a cheat technique capable of dissolving any sort of barriers due to the nature of it, but apparently that didn't apply to whatever this barrier made by the clonethuria was. Had she trusted her intution earlier to go as far as possible before the Arturia clone she faced disappeared from Lydia's attack, perhaps she wouldn't be stuck in this predicament, although admittedly she perhaps could just try using Fantasy Heaven to go out, even knowing that the side effects of that had become worse and worse. However, any reservations she had soon changed the moment her mind registered Satori's mental message. Realizing the direness of the situation and the fact that the damn barrier was just an illusion, Reimu immediately activated Fantasy Heaven to shift herself outside of reality for a few moments. Erasing her existence momentarily before returning back at the Hallway, the moment she rematerialized Arturia had already fired her Excalibur. Realizing that there was already some sort of barrier there, Reimu decided that her best course of action was to reinforce it the best she could. Another spell card was prepared.

 

"Boundary: Hakurei Danmaku Barrier!"

 

As she made her declaration, the eightfold boundary that was the Hakurei barrier manifested in a U-shaped form just behind the first barrier. A barrier conceptually capable of separating fantasy and reality, the magical and the mundane world. With a copy of the same barrier that her family had mainained for 130 years, Hakurei Reimu joined the last stand against Arturia.

 

---

 

"I can hear you, sis. I will not let you down, for you and Yukari's sake."

 

Like a fleeting wind, the mental message from Koishi passed through Satori's mind for a moment, but she couldn't really find her, especially not after straining herself with her attempt to send messages to everyone earlier. Her presence was soon made clear however, as she could feel Koishi standing for a moment behind her and Darcy, and gave off a smile before disappearing again. And now, she was already on top of the barrier that Reimu had just erected, with rainbow-colored...something came from behind her back. Her third eye was still closed, and her expression was still clearly that of disdain as she stared at Arturia and began chanting. 

 

“Dyeing the world in blue, the longed-for round cocoon becomes a swallowtail butterfly. Before long it will envelop the sky.

Ah, wing patterns of infinity, making life sparkle brilliantly~!

 

Forgotten Cocoon: Moonlight Butterfly!”

 

The rainbow something on Koishi's back grew and grew as she declared the attack, becoming a pair of gigantic butterfly wings which she used to envelop parts of the upcoming Excalibur. While the Hakurei barrier and the holy banner blocked the brunt of the attack, Koishi's wings swallowed down the spillovers, eating up the energy from the attack and turned them into dust slowly but surely. Without the backing from the Moon like what happened in Remembrance, it seemed that Koishi wouldn't be able to maintain this for long, but for the time being, she seemed to be capable of helping to contain the attack, perhaps.

 

---

[Love of Ghibli]

Team Dorian: Hallway of Origin

 

But I guess, I'll think about it more once this battle is over. Even if I couldn't make myself proud with what I did, I could perhaps do my best to show Lady Arturia how much have I grown thanks to her, and perhaps, I could hope of making her proud to have me as her follower once."

 

Dorian smirked as the nameless one's heartfelt response was almost expected with all of that nobility but it was still more than he expected. These good guys do seem to have some redeeming qualities. He looked around the battlefield and he instantaneously noticed that there was something off about all of the other battles. It seemed as if the combatants had finished their fights, but they had seemed to stop moving since then. Of course, he realized once people started to look up at nothing he realized that they were then trapped in the same Tsukuyomi that had trapped him and Butler. Before he could even comment on the situation he noticed that Arhturia came out of...wherever she went to and she was already making a significant stance to deliver a mighty attack. He was quickly looking to figure out if there was something  that he could do to take care of the situation, but luckily that was about to be taken care of. 

He proceeded to walk forward yet still talk to the nameless one. Good for you. I'm glad that you have a goal in set. But it looks like it's time for us to make our grand stand. Dorian looked down in an almost somber way he then looked at the nameless one. Save your strength. I think the "Divine" should show just what we are about. With that being said Dorian stepped a couple more paces away from the Nameless one. She would notice how his surplice slowly started to crack and the faint embers of a purple flame were about to consume him.  

Keep watching. You're in for a show...

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

There she was. Their prey was right in front of their eyes. Within the very second they saw her they immediately noticed that she was about to wipe out all of them with some super effective blast like the first one she had delivered. But this time the gloves were off. If Arthuria saw Darcy one second then in the Next second she would be staring Butlerok and Rhadamanthys in the face directly the next nanosecond. She hated the "Divine Scum" as she called it then good, they lined up waiting to be slaughtered. Would they go down like that though? Of course not. 

Rhadamanthys with his sword of Hades clad in the Cosmos of Gods pointed his sword backwards at Darcy and he let loose a mighty roar and a pillar of purple light began to envelope him. Butlerok pointed Ragnarok in blade form back at Darcy and Ragnarok's trademark PIYAAAAAAA screech called out and black pillar swirling with a combination of other colors. With Darcy's combined aura creating a third pillar...

 

"...CAAALLLIIIBBBUUUR!!!"

 

Then, without hesitation, Arturia swung her hands downwards and unleashed her ultimate attack for the last time. If not to obliterate everyone, then at least to destroy the Key of Origin! A gigantic beam of holy light erupted from it, threatening to incinerate whatever happened to be in its ridiculously wide path, expanding to cover the entirety of the Hallway. Akin to an oncoming wall of pure destruction, it charged onwards with an unnatural beauty to it - the very visual materialization of all of Arturia's ideals. And even if it wasn't quite as impressive as the last one, it was equally as dangerous.

 

THE GRANDEST STAND: DIVINE RESONANCE!!!

 

The three pillars quickly turned into massive orbs that formed an initial wall that stopped the progression of Arthuria's Excalibur. But it didn't stop there. Echoing throughout the Hallway were the voices of the combatants who couldn't be seen due to the enormity of the attack. 

Talked all that mess against the Divine. 

And it is us who are going to be the ones to kill you. 

Do not pray to you Gods for assistance because... WE...AREN'T...LISTENING! 

Be slain! DIVINE PUNISHMENT!!

 

The three combatants pushed their left hands out in unison and a giant left claw started to form in front of them trying to push back the Excalibur blast. After a second it looked like the claw was starting to crack, Ragnarok let out a giant PIYAAA  and that clawed was instantly coated black. Rhadamanthys let out a roar. The claw was then coated in purple flames providing more resistance. Though this may be inefficient let us go out with a flare. Butlerok opened his eyes and that claw was soon attached to a massive upper half of summoned beast composed of all the mediums that came from the team that composed of the Divine. Two heads, A wyvern and a Dragon, dyed jet black with Black Blood, covered in chains from the underworld, cloaked with flames that rival the heat of the sun and Rukh of both colors swirling around in a maelstrom adding extra layers of defensive to beast. The beast dove directly into the blast keeping it a bay. The question was will it be enough to Take Arthuria down. 
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

Dorian smirked as his team was doing what they were supposed to do and take things to the extreme. Now it was his turn. He looked back to the nameless one.

 

When this all over, I do sincerely we don't cross paths as enemies next time. Dorian said as his armor was starting to crack as his aura and cosmos were starting to illuminate more intensely.  He then smirked. Until then! 

Dorian shot himself upward until he could see all the combatants involved. He was in the seventh sense...he could see everyone on the atomic scale. He could see the misalignments and forced manipulation of the atoms inside of everyone. He put his hand on his chin and thought to himself. Hmmm what is an overly dramatic way to do this? He then smiled.

 

GENERATION ZONE! He shot his fist into the air. OPEN!!

Above him a massive fire ball was taking shape and his armor looked to be irreparable and if it was about to break. 

I AM MY OWN LORD THROUGHOUT HEAVEN AND EARTH! GIVE ME TRUE POWER! 
 

Dorian's surplice shattered and it proceeded to float into the great ball of fire.
 

TRANSCEND! 

Dorian clasped his hands together and slammed them down. 

DORIAN'S OVERTURE!

 

Like a rapid fire machinegun pieces of Dorian's surplice shot at everyone who was trapped in the Tsukuyomi simply charged with his cosmos. Any contact with one his shards would be enough to give anyone a shock out of the Tsukuyomi. Since the only two people who know how fully manipulate their cosmos is himself and Rhadamanthys, the rest should be susceptible to a slight intrusion. With a little bit of a shock Dorian would reset the natural flow of everyone's atomic structure that his shards made contact which should be everyone affected anyway. 

 

He let out a huge smirk and fell out the air plummeting straight down. 

[Tesability Black]

~Jace's POV~

His gloved hand gripped tightly into a ball, seeing the unusual illusions that now surrounded three groups of beings to try and isolate them from everyone else. It looked to him like everyone under these percieved barriers thought they were alone, even seeing one of the three imprisoned Geminis throw a fit before surrounding himself with the strange aura of his to melt the barrier away.

The choice of words the dark shapeshifter used peeked his curiosity, however. "Second time?"

"Guildpact, why do we remain idle," the telepath heard behind himself before turning around...

...and proceeding to feel like the biggest idiot in all the Omniverse. Sure, there may not be much that he himself can do, but he's got the power of an entire plane behind him!

Looking towards the blast that Arturia was preparing, he didn't speak, only thought as he focused his own power as well as Ravnica's into the release of a gooey Voidslime towards her Excaliber blast to completely consume it.

Glancing towards the three illusions he could see that many others couldn't, he looked back up towards the towering masked Ravnica before ordering, "Release the First-Wings!"

A moment passed before a nod came and several bluish-white portals appeared around the large being, releasing a multitude of armored griffons, each of them entering the restricted areas of the Tsukoyomis with ease and taking up at least one being that seemed unable to exit the areas on their own power. Each griffon was more than strong enough to lift even the burliest of minotaurs into the sky with grace and ease, so those worried about potentially weighing down their mounts would have that fear soon expelled. Another First-Wing emerged next to Jace, whom began to get up and onto the back of the mighty best of the sky...

~Neos' POV~

The false human gave Jace a wicked grin before looking up at  simply asking, "Can I borrow a 'Wing?" Jace gave him a sharp look at how he asked the question before one of the many griffons appeared next to him, cooing in curiosity. "Thank yas," he simply stated before hopping on with relative ease and started to 'speak' more like the griffon was a moment ago before it took to the sky.

To be perfectly honest, he didn't need the First-Wing, he just got a kick out of taking flight using wings that weren't his. But, he wasn't one to pass up an opportunity, so...

Holding his hands in front of himself as a ball of blue energy appeared floating between them, he held onto the griffon tightly with his legs as he threw down the orb towards Arturia, the ball exploding partway down into shards that crystallized before zipping down at top speed.

"Oh, hey, I didn't know you knew how to fly on one of these," Neos found himself thinking before looking to one side, seeing the mindmage flying above the madness and next to the shapeshifter.

"Quite the long story as to why," was the only response Jace gave to that, to which Neos just gave him a smirk.

"Anything to do with the Infi---" The smirk immediately turned into a frown with widened eyes and raised eyebrows above it, a look that could only be read as 'oh, sheet', as Jace stared at him with a glare that promised pain the Ditto would not be able to get out of. "...shutting up."

"Good idea."

~Gemini's POV~
Gemini #1:

"I AM GOING TO MURDER THAT jabroni AS SOON AS I GET OUT OF HERE," Gemini practically roared as his corrosive aura flared out more and more, ceasing to care about potentially hitting others with it at this point. Rage consuming him, he was striking repeatedly with a pair of crystalline shortswords he had summoned in an attempt to literally tear through the barrier, hoping to forcibly open it and cause some damage to the weapon somehow in the process.

A shrill cry broke through his rage, causing him to look up just in time to see an armored griffon literally fly through the barrier as if it wasn't there, before landing and lowering itself, waiting for people to get on its back. He stared at the feathered beast, then at the barrier, which seemed to have straight up disappeared from his view.

"...I actually fell...for an...illusion?!"

A snarl leaving him, Gemini hopped quickly onto the back of the griffon after making the shortswords disappear before shouting, "If you want out of this prison, follow me!"

Once all eyes were on him, Gemini spurred the beast into flight before flying through the Tsukoyomi and out into the fight as a whole.

Gemini #2:

Gemini...

...well, in his state of madness, no such barrier occured to him, had entered his sight. For all he knew, Arturia decided to be nice and drop dead for him.

And that suited him just fine.

Guns in hand, he aimed them at the remaining Arturia after she reappeared to try to fire another of those annoying energy blade attacks, fangs bared as he cackled. "Time to die, little lady..."

 

He completely missed the sound of cawing as a griffon flew past him into the barrier he wasn't aware of.

 

Gemini #3:

Of all the things he could have expected to see...seeing various ways to repel the Excaliber blast was definately among the list of expected things, but seeing a bunch of green goop flying towards it then completely consuming the energy as if it was food was definately not on it.

Gemini looked towars where the slime came from, seeing Jace lower his hands before turning around to release a command towards the light-blue towering figure. "That would have been handy the first time around, Beleren," he shouted before hearing the sounds of gunshots, familiar ones. He turned to see a crazy-looking version of himself firing away at Arturia walking out of an area that it seemed like everyone else in it was rendered unable to leave somehow, twin crystalline pistols aimed at the king, shooting away without care whom he actually hit.

"This isn't going to end well," he muttered to himself before hopping into the air, taking on the form of the Malamar once more.

Gemini #4:

Gemini jumped back as the barrier began to surround him and others, irked at the imprisonment, but not yet allowing himself to lose his cool. First one of them became swallowed, now himself and another became engulfed...and it disturbed him slightly.

A cawing sound became heard before he turned towards the source, seeing an armored griffon with accents of blue and white decorating it as it flew through the barrier, a familiar symbol emblazed into the chest of the armor.

Azorius.

"An Azorius First-Wing, huh," he questioned to himself before seeing that the barrier was beginning to fade away from his view. "Illusion magic, and not of the telepath's doing...that's actually scary." Looking towards the others in the same area of the barrier he formerly saw, he shouted towards the rest, "Hey, if you want out, get on the griff here!" After saying this, he manifested into his hands a crystalline lance before running through the barrier himself, seeing the madness about.

[Dad]

Big Brother

 

Yachiru watched from afar as Kenpachi and the bald man engaged in a hectic fight with their now former leader.  The bald man's life was threatened, and Kenpachi had leaped away to spare himself, in favor of Yachiru.  Yachiru looked away, as Kratos fell towards the spear which Arthuria had thrown.  She wasn't ready to see an ally die.  Then, a bolt of lightning raced past her, causing Yachiru to look up, from inside her bubble shield.  It was Killua!  Killua leaped ahead and tackled Kratos out of the way of what should have been his inevitable death, much to Yachiru's surprise.  

 

The battle raged on, with Arthuria finding more and more tools to use against the Counter Corps and the Divine.  A spray of bullets.  Dragonfire.  A hail of magic the likes of which Yachiru had never seen.  Still they prevailed.  And with the help of one Lydia, whom Yachiru was not familiar with, one of Arthuria's four very powerful clones was defeated.  Soon, each clone began to fall, one by one.  But each time the clones vanished, a powerful illusion spell overcame the combatants.  Yachiru let her bubble shield expire, watching Kenpachi appear to be suspended in time.  "Kenny?" she said aloud to herself.  Carefully, she approached.  But before Yachiru could reach Kenpachi, Arthuria departed with a grand spell once more.  A miraculous blast of holy light stretched far and wide across the entire pathway, threatening to erase everything it touched.

 

Thankfully, there were still fighting forces to withstand the attack from Arthuria.

 

Rhadamanthys, Dorian, and Butlerok summoned a mighty force of hell-bound dragons, covered in a thick essence of Black Blood.  The creatures pushed back against Arthuria's Caliburn, as Rhadamanthys, Butlerok, and Dorian put their lives on the line for the sake of everyone else.

 

Yachiru sprinted to their sides, and drew her weapon.  "Sanpo Kenjū!" she commanded.  From her weapon, two enormous creatures appeared.  One made entirely of Bone, and the other which was covered in a bright pink fur.  She pointed at the blast ahead, and Boney and Lumpy understood Yachiru's command.  The Boney and Lumpy rallied beside Rhadamanthys, Dorian, and Butlerok's dragons, enhanced by Yachiru's own magic.  With her hands extended, Yachiru erected barriers around Rhadamanthys, Dorian, and Butlerok, using the extent of her Kido to protect them from any possible backlash.  Then, as she thought what most certainly would be a failure, Dorian diverted away from the others.  For what reason, Yachiru could not fathom.  She focused all of her attention on pushing back against Arthuria's attack, unfortunately having to drop Dorian's barrier as he departed.

 

Moments later, she heard him shouting.  Not wanting to divert her gaze, Yachiru put all of her effort into concentrating on the task before her.

 

"TRANSCEND!" she heard in the distance.  "DORIAN'S OVERTURE!"

 

Out of the corner of her eye, Yachiru could see whisps darting across the Hallway.  They found their way to the Tsukuyomi illusions around the Hallway, piercing and seemingly infecting her allies.  Yachiru wasn't sure what to think!  She had no idea what was going on, and so her perceived notion was that of betrayal.  Fortunately, however, she was wrong.  Some twenty seconds after Dorian's declaration, Yachiru heard a familiar bellow.

 

"GRAH!" came a deep yell from the distance.  Kenpachi had been freed.

 

"Ugh.  The hell happened?  Feel like someone messed around with my head.  And a few other things."  His vision was blurry for a moment, before the blinding light from Arthuria's attack caused Kenpachi to focus.  "sheet."  He snatched Kratos by the arm, then grabbed Killua for good measure.  They would take longer to be freed from Tsukuyomi's illusion, despite Dorian's interference.  Kenpachi threw both warriors on his back, and leaped away, landing beside Yachiru.  He dropped Killua and Kratos like rocks, their now stirring bodies off to the side.  "Got yourself into trouble, huh?" Kenpachi said to Yachiru.  She nodded happily, throwing her reiatsu forwards into repelling Arthuria's attack.  "I'm gonna have to get into the thick of it if we're gonna live," Kenpachi said.

 

"Kenny--!"

 

"Ah!  Don't you dare," he said with a big grin on his face.  "I'll be okay.  You keep doin' what you're doin'."  Kenpachi took a deep breath, as the sinister aura that surrounded him propelled towards the sky once more.  With Nozarashi in hand, he leaped forwards, and now stood side by side with Butlerok, Dorian, and Rhadamanthys' dragons.  He drew back his weapon with both hands, and erected his reiatsu around his blade to strengthen its steel.  Then, with both hands, he pushed Nozarashi forwards, and assisted the others.