Demonic Power erupted from within me.
It was different than before, not in the sense that the effects differed, but that I didn't hold myself back when I called it forth. There was no testing the waters this time, no need to be hesitant to make sure nothing bad happened. Scáthach had helped me enough that I was comfortable opening the DamFloodgate, so to speak.
There was a slight sense of euphoria. The general concept of Devils was one drenched in the spectrum of desires, thus making the transformation one of enjoyment. That wasn't to say I was going to suddenly change, nor that I was going to lose myself. Perhaps I would lean towards certain ways unconsciously, but I was still fully myself.
Horns pushed out from my forehead.
A tail sprang out from behind me.
I could feel my nails get sharp and even my eyes shifted to accommodate my heritage.
My wings, well, I didn't quite need them right now. It wasn't like the first time where it was a surprise, I could more or less control things now. My wings were always a part of me, if I didn't want them to come out, they would stay withdrawn.
I hesitated for a brief moment to look at the others, but finally I glanced their way.
Raikou gave me a reassuring smile, while Jeanne barely even reacted.
The expressions of the others, I suppose they were to be expected. Medea looked at me curiously, Saber's eyes widened a smidge, and Olga, well, her mouth was opened as she stared at me.
Gilles, he took a hesitant step backwards, genuinely terrified by what he saw.
I couldn't blame him. By his entire world view, I was the epitome of the enemy to his core belief.
Jeanne put a hand on his shoulder, snapping him out of his fear entrenched silence.
"Wilhelm, are you…?" She asked.
"I'll bring down the barrier."
"Boyo, don't know what you're going to do, but if you wanna do it cleanly, it's gotta be big enough that it falls apart and simply doesn't regenerate." Medea reminded me.
"I just have to destroy it." I turned back towards the flashes of faces across the Bounded Field positioned in front. "I'm fairly good at that."
My initial thought was to take out the Sword of Destruction….but I didn't need it.
My Demonic Energy swelled up, the large pool inside of me that I had yet to use. And with it, my bloodline power was called forward, it started small, the uncharacteristic crackling of my Power of Destruction ignited at my fingertips.
Then, I did something I hadn't done before.
I activated my Semblance.
My arms were gone. Instead, what replaced them was pure Destruction.
Similar to how I usually coated my arms in Lightning, now, they were Destruction incarnate.
I admit, wielding this much of my Bloodline was unfamiliar, but I remembered Venelana's words, combined with the training I had thus far.
Shape it, but don't restrict it.
A small space between my palms, it began to gather, shaped. I compressed it, but allowed it to dance around. Compress, compress, compress.
And I clapped my hands together.
Venelana showed me it a few times now, and I was nothing if not studious.
"Γαία Εστία Εκάτη" Medea shouted suddenly, and the makings of her own shields sprang up between me and them.
How did she do it again?
Oh yes.
"Extinction Star."
I let it out.
It bloomed brilliantly, in the form of a four-pointed star.
It was as if the barrier wasn't even there. The Destruction tore away at it without resistance. It was not in the barrier's nature to be impenetrable, but to be resistant and mendable. The swath of Destruction was large enough, that even past the barrier, the walls of Orleans were consumed as well, the large gate that towered over us reduced to nothingness as my star illuminated the sky with its blackened hue.
It lasted for a split second before collapsing into itself, almost like a singularity in nature, leaving behind but a large empty area devoid of any matter.
The Barrier itself imploded under the strain. Having a chunk just utterly destroyed on a level that was not mendable left it without a means to continue operating based on its predesigned formula.
The quietness persisted for a heart beat, no one seemed to want to say anything in this small reprieve. No, the source to break the eerie silence that followed wasn't anyone from my side.
They started to appear. Shambling corpses, making a mockery of an Army. Calling it a loose formation would be generous.
But they were numerous.
The now open streets of Orleans were barely visible with their numbers. The thousands upon thousands of lives lost due to Bluebeards idiotic desire.
However, that didn't seem to be the end of it.
Something felt off.
The walking corpses, that is to say, something was wrong with them.
"A little warning next time!" Medea huffed, dismissing her shielding spell. "I nearly didn't get that out in time."
"Apologies, I don't have much practice using my demonic heritage in this state." I gave an awkward smile.
"S-Schweinorg?" Olga whispered. "Y-you…"
Ah….that was one thing I was a little afraid of.
It must be quite the surprise to find out that I am a literal 'Demon'.
Thankfully, someone else read the mood fairly well.
The white blur landed onto her head quickly, making the Director yelp in surprise.
Sir Wiggles did his job beautifully.
I held my hand up, producing my Staff of Magnus, and tossed it over to Medea.
She caught it happily, nearly hugging it.
"Medea, would you please snipe one of the Zombies in the front. I want to confirm something."
Medea blinked, then shrugged. Barely a true spell, a cantrip by her standards, A small ball of energy fired off without even the need for an incantation. It collided with a Zombie at the forefront, disintegrating a large portion of its body.
That would have been the end of it, but instead, tentacles burst out, wrapping it up and pulling free what hid beneath.
"Of course." Medea grumbled. "Those abominations are hiding in the corpses. Wonderful."
That meant, they all had to be dealt with. There was no knowing if simply killing Bluebeard would do anything to stop them existing already.
They were something that had to be removed, there was no way about it.
"Mozart." I called out, the Musician appeared next to me rather quickly. "You have a large audience."
The Musician began to cackle. "What an audience it is! I knew my instincts were not incorrect, I have chosen my Master well. A demonic tune for a Demonic master!" He held his arms wide open, his conductor's baton appearing in his hand. "Please Enjoy! It is time for a public Performance! Prepare to listen! To the sound of a Demon. Requiem for Death!" He declared, his Noble Phantasm activating.
His Noble Phantasm was rather interesting. It wasn't merely a large-scale damaging ability, but rather, it operated sort of like a curse. They were attacked physically by the sound, but they were also cursed in a way that attacked their physical abilities. If the enemy couldn't resist, their strength, speed, and stamina would drastically lower.
Figures appeared all around us, Golden silhouettes of Angels holding their instruments, an orchestra to announce the coming of Death.
The Music erupted.
Hundreds of Zombies were immediately taken into the caress of the tones. Their outer shells were destroyed nearly instantaneously. The things living inside of them burst out once their hiding spot was gone, the tentacled monstrosities.
They too were assaulted by Mozart's performance. Many of them too fell under the onslaught of his Demonic Tune. But frankly, there were an absurd number of enemies.
"If I recall, your longest performance was 33 minutes. Care to take a crack at that record?"
Mozart chuckled and waved his Baton as if to signify his agreement.
Still, the number of targets he could hit was limited.
I took a step forward, but Jeanne grabbed onto my sleeve. "Where are you going?" She asked.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm going to rip the head off that bastard."
She frowned, hesitating for a moment, but something seemed to win over. "Not alone."
[***]
Olga Marie Animusphere POV
…..did I appoint a Demon as the leader of B-Team?
The show of Magic that he did was….well, impressive may be an understatement. But I already knew he was a Magician, so I didn't dwell on that aspect too much.
Taking a moment to acknowledge my situation, I am the Director of an organization, attempting to return the world from destruction by traveling to the past to apparently fight the King of Magecraft with the help of Legendary Heroes. And I have taken all of that in stride, yet, at this moment, I found myself out of my depth.
Lev….
It was Lev all over again.
That's what he said before? Lev was some sort of Demon? How was this any different?
Was I being manipulated the entire time, was I just a fool again?
"Servants incoming." The Ruler Servant informed everyone, but I felt myself hardly focusing. As idiotic as it was, I was….unsure of how to act.
There were more Wyverns in the sky, but at this point, I doubt anyone was surprised. They came flooding out of the central area of the city.
"Γαία Εστία Εκάτη" Caster chanted again, and once more, a shield appeared overhead, blocking arrows covered in Magical Energy, presumably from the Archer.
Though, after wielding the apparent Divine Construct, her shield was much larger than before.
Mozart's Noble Phantasm still played, killing off those things by the dozens, but there were still so many, I couldn't even count them all.
"Director, I'm going to go ahead. I'll leave everything to you here, alright?"
I blinked as Schweinorg turned to look at me.
He had horns. There was a tail behind him!
Even his eyes looked….different.
Demon.
It was a joke, wasn't it?
I put my trust in a Demon, again.
But…. It didn't feel the same.
He said that, and it felt sincere. I unclenched my fists, not even realizing how tightly my nails were digging into my palms. I grabbed the Rabbit off of my head, taking him into my arms. "Of course." I breathed in. "I'll handle everything here! You can take care of that Dragon Witch and that other one."
"I'm going too!" The Ruler Servant declared.
"Jeanne!? You can't that – that Demon!" Gilles nearly pulled her back, trying to stand protectively in front of her.
"He's my friend, Gilles." Her words were few, but they apparently were enough to disarm him of his directed disgust.
"But, he was deceiving –"
"Erm…I always knew." She said softly, maybe even bashfully.
…..A Demon and a Saintess are friends….
What even has my life turned into? I would laugh if the situation wasn't so ridiculous.
"Trust, me Gilles." She smiled brightly. "Lead our troops like you always did. Let me go with him to handle the Dragon Witch." There was no more room for a peaceful talk, as a roar shook the entire city.
The massive dragon rose high up into the sky, and the other Servants came barreling down the streets.
If she was a Saintess trusting a demon, why was I hesitating? Schweinorg never let me down, he's been supporting me ever since we first met. Even through the….deceit, he's been nothing but helpful.
….I'll deal with the Association and Church later.
At this point, I no longer cared.
"Dragon Slayers!" I called out.
The Servants appeared quickly.
I grabbed the gob smacked Gilles by his chest plate, jerking him down so we were eye level. He was still unfocused on the real issue, so I gave him a crisp slap across the face. "You can either have an existential Crisis of Faith, or you can rally your troops and help the Demon that's trying to save your country! What's it going to be, abandon your country or sit here like a blubbering buffoon!?"
….why was everyone staring at me?
"Y-yes." Gilles said absentmindedly. "Yes!" He grabbed his sword, holding it up into the air. "Soldiers, forward." He pointed towards the oncoming hordes of monsters.
…..the random thought now occurred to me.
He had been teasing the Saintess with comments like 'touched by the devil' since they arrived...
God Dammit, Schweinorg.
I'm going to find a cross to beat you over the head with if I make it out of this with my sanity intact.
But that was much less of a concern than the giant Dragon overhead with its large mouth open about to spew a breath attack!
"Marie!" I shouted. "You're up."
"Whew!" The French Queen appeared spectacularly. "Then let me show everyone my love for France! The Lovable Brilliance for Eternity! Come Forth – Crystal Palace!" She held her arms wide open, and beautiful sculptures and crystalline figures burst out of the ground.
They all formed into a singular existence, a palace that superimposed itself onto the surroundings.
I felt power flow through me. It almost felt like I had cast a Reinforcement on myself. My Physical capabilities were enhanced to a higher degree than would have been possible by my own effort.
And it was not just me.
An army of Soldiers all received the blessing from her Noble Phantasm.
Not just that, this Crystal Palace stood tall as the Dragon's Breath landed upon its delicate-looking exterior.
"Look at this, Miss Shielder!" Marie held her arm out, pointing at the Dragon. "My love for France is boundless, so too is my Palace that shelters my fellow countrymen. It will not fall, because my heart will never waver!"
Was she speaking to Mash?
Mash looked on with sparkling eyes, taking a defensive position near the other Masters.
It sounded flowery and ridiculous In all honesty, but it didn't fall under the attack by the Dragon.
The pause after its attack was enough that the Dragon Slayers then moved.
"Marie!" A roar erupted from within the groups of Undead. A Servant jumped out, the one I recognized as having the strange looking sword.
"Charles!?" Marie's eyes widened.
"Wait, the man who executed you!?" I blurted out, recognizing the name after she seemingly knew the Servant.
"Charles! It's so good to see you again!" The French Monarch waved happily.
"Don't greet the person who cut off your head!" I shouted.
"Teehee~"
"Oh, someone set the stage for me. The music is dumb, but I can fix that with some vocals~" Elizabeth Bathory….was holding a microphone….
"If you dare to start singing, I will turn my Noble Phantasm on you"! Mozart screamed.
"My my, what disgusting creatures." Kiyohime joined in, waiving that fan of hers, producing a blue flame that tore through dozens of disgusting tentacled monsters.
"Ritsuka, command your Servants! Samuel, use Cu to help Marie! Pierre, support Medea." I quickly shouted out my commands. "Hinako, Mash there are enemy Servants missing, try to find them!"
Everyone moved.
A chaotic display of discipline.
"Schweinorg, I can handle it here." I informed my B-Team leader. "Take your Servant, and Ruler. Hopefully, things will settle down if the Dragon Witch is Defeated, but regardless, we'll take the slower route and march through the streets to take care of all these things properly."
"Then I'll leave it to you." He smiled.
"And we are going to have a long talk about everything when you get back, do you hear me!?" I grabbed his collar, pulling him down as well. "You're going to be telling me what all this – " I gestured to his new features. "Is about!"
"….my father is Satan."
"Don't just drop that on me when you're about to leave, you bastard!" I kicked him away with an annoyed huff. "We'll talk later, let's fix this Singularity."
So what?
Was he joking? Or wasn't he? Did it matter?
Frankly, I found myself not caring any longer.
Fafnir fell from the sky with Lancelot's sword stabbed in the side. It crashed down into the main street, crushing plenty of abominations, and whipping its body around, many more were just turned to pulp by the sheer force of its body movements.
I had to hold my arms up to shield my eyes from the shockwave and dirt that was kicked up as my hair whipped around.
"I will go too." Saber stated.
"No, you're staying here."
Her face twisted back into a snarl, and I felt like she was about to swing her sword at me. "I will –"
"You listen here you abrasive and angry bitch!" I had lost all my patience. "I am dealing with too much right now to also deal with your bullcrap. There are enemy Servants unaccounted for and we are up against a literal army of undead, wyverns, Servants, and eldritch monstrosities in addition to a legendary Dragon. Either stay here to help, or throw yourself on your own sword and save me the headache."
"...the only reason I do not cut you down is because you hold that rabbit in your arms." She scoffed.
"Shut up."
She opened her mouth briefly and closed it again, sort of blinking with confusion. Eventually, she scowled, and clutched her sword tight, looking towards Schweinorg. "You are not allowed to die." She grunted, moving towards Ritsuka.
"Go, Schweinorg. I can handle this fight."
"After that, I completely believe you." He chuckled. "Thank you, Director."
"Shut up, I'm pissed at you right now." I huffed in annoyance again. "But the same as she said. I'm going to be even angrier if something happens."
[***]
Wilhelm POV
I've never seen Olga lose her cool like that…..it was kind of hot. Especially with even Saber sort of lowering her head to her.
I'm getting distracted though. I was still very angry at a certain bastard hiding in Orleans.
The human Soldiers were buffed to all hell by that Noble Phantasm of Marie's. I was a bit disappointed that my Magic Resistance prevented it from helping me. Jeanne and Raikou, however, benefited from it, as was everyone else.
"Let's go." I stated, moving with a burst of Shunpo.
Raikou and Jeanne followed behind me.
I jumped right into the middle of the enemy's 'lines' if they could be called that. I let my Destruction soar outward, destroying anything in my path as I cut a bloody swath through the hordes of enemies, moving towards the large Castle set up in the center of the city.
Raikou was on my left, her Mana Burst turning into a large burst of lightning, her blade slicing through enemies like a scythe through wheat. These things couldn't even dream about holding her back unless they all tried to converge on her at once.
Jeanne was….well, she didn't enjoy this experience, that was for sure. It seemed like for every zombie she 'killed' she mourned what happened to them.
Even with her banner piercing through them with the ease as one would expect, and her holy light burning away any of the corruptive influence, her face was one of melancholy.
We hopped up onto the nearby building, and only getting a large field of vision did it put into perspective how many people were actually killed by their hands.
The streets of Orleans from North to South, East to West, were filled with shambling corpses and other monstrosities.
It just further pissed me off.
I suppose I should be thankful that Bluebeard was a mix of crazy and idiotic. Otherwise, he could have done way more damage by using this kind of thing strategically.
Especially now that Raikou managed to damage his book like she did. That thing was monstrously dangerous if left alone and he was backed into a corner.
Regardless, I didn't care to think too deeply on the what-ifs.
I was much too pissed right now.
They didn't deserve this. Just random people living their lives, turned into meat suits for Zombies and Eldritch monsters.
And it made me annoyed that the closer we got to that palace set up in the center of Orleans, the fewer things there were to take my anger out on.
I grabbed one tentacled monster in particular, and just ripped its appendages off because there didn't seem to be any further ahead.
"You came!" A voice shouted from atop the walls. He jumped down right as the words reached our ears, crashing hastily into the ground. Amidst the unsettled dust, he burst out, hand clawing at my throat. "Amusing, amusing!" He laughed. "Why is it that you look this way!?"
I stepped forward and grabbed his arm, my Destruction still present and it sunk into his gauntlets. "Half Devil." I said simply.
"Hahaha! Of course, why not!" He merely laughed heartily. "Everything else of mine has been stepped on, why should my faith be any different."
I….felt pity for him.
He was aware enough to know how far he had currently fallen, but had no way to stop it. And the last thing he'd probably wanted was the literal antithesis to his faith to be his end.
"Raikou." I called out.
A purple bolt of lightning slammed into him, sending him into the wall of the palace.
He pulled himself free, barely phased, looking ready to go again. "I am to stop anyone from entering."
Raikou held her blade up at him, noting his obvious insinuation. "If you do not slay me, I will enter the palace, Impaler."
Despite the madness there was a look of genuineness in his eyes. "Then we shall fight to the end!"
"Let me give you an honorable death." Raikou easily guessed my desire, because that's something I wouldn't have been able to give him.
"Thank you, Raikou." I turned, and left it to her. "Come on, Jeanne."
"Right!" She glanced at Raikou and Vlad, with a nod and we moved towards the entrance of the Palace.
Immediately pushing the doors open, those creatures burst out from the walls. Large appendages, shooting at either of us.
Jeanne's banner danced through the air, piercing through them as they came and I went with a much less elegant route. I merely shot through the corridor with my Destruction pulsing around my arms and ripping apart anything that stood in my way.
"Welcome, welcome!" As we kicked the next door off its hinges, Gilles appeared again, standing at the top of a flight of stairs, overlooking a ball area. His bulging eyes moved unnaturally before focusing on us, specifically on me. "….you…..practice wonderful Magecraft! What a blasphemous act, to take that kind of form! Yes, Yes, you see now, don't you? Do you wish to join us? Jeanne was rather fond of you. Simply kill that one next to you and offer her up, then the real Jeanne would be more than happy to have you at her side. We can defile this Godless world together!"
"Gilles!? Why are you doing this.?"
He twitched violently at her words. "You have no power over me. You are not my Jeanne!" He declared.
"Gilles…"
"Quiet!"
"It's funny, I had time to contemplate your actions, your motivation." I stepped in, knowing it was pointless on Jeanne's part, even if she would have to continue trying regardless. She would never give up on Gilles, even after everything. Even knowing his story was already written, she would try to save him.
That's because she's a good person.
However, I wasn't.
"Yes?" He seemed pleased. "Have you decided!?" He tapped his fingers eagerly.
"Will…?" Jeanne tilted her head.
"There was a fundamental flaw with your logic. Your desire to….disprove God's existence, yeah? Presumedly, you're committing heinous acts, and unspeakable atrocities in the thought that if God isn't stopping you, then he must not exist?"
I began walking up the stairs
"You understand! I knew we would find a like minded person! Oh what wonderful fun we'll have together! If you give me that woman who cut my book in half, I will happily forgive you. Water under the bridge as they say!"
"You missed the part where I called a flaw in your logic."
He twitched slightly. "And what flaw would that be?"
"It's always been the job of hell to punish the sinners, Gilles de Rais." Wings sprouted from my back and I shot up to where he was standing looking down from the railing.
He nearly stumbled backwards, but that book of his appeared in his hand. Oh, it had seen much better days. It looked like it was barely being held together, and even fraying at the edges. Especially as he cast a hasty Shielding Spell, it visibly sheared apart portions of the pages.
"Magecraft?" I laughed, pushing on his shield, my destruction eating away at it. "Do you think I'm using something like that? Please, allow me to introduce myself." I said, sending his body hurling back, rolling across the ground, his shield shattering. "My name is Wilhelm Henry Schweinorg, Son of Lucifer. Nice to meet you."
It was hard to tell his reaction, to read his expression as his face was warped in a disgusting way. His eyes rolled around, almost unable to truly focus.
I walked towards him again. He quickly stood up, and parts of his book flayed once more as another shield sprang up quickly. The Eldritch Magecraft came to his aid before I could grip his throat.
"It's funny isn't it, Gilles? I'm no Angel, I'm certainly not God. I'm completely on the opposite side of the spectrum. But that in of itself proves you wrong, doesn't it?"
"Lies!" He shouted. "There is no God!"
Instead of attacking, I dropped something at his feet.
Blackened wings fell to the floor with a soft sound.
"Never seen Fallen Angel wings before, Gilles?" I asked.
He took a step back.
"I tore those out of Kokabiel when he did something equally stupid." I pressed my hand against his barrier. "Why aren't you saying anything, Gilles?"
"S-stay back." He trembled.
"Is that fear I hear in your voice?" I tilted my head. "Not from me. No, you're scared of something else. You're scared that your motivation, your ideals could possibly be wrong. I understand your skepticism, I really do. So let me give you a more in depth look." I pushed through his barrier, rather, I destroyed everything in the path of my hand and I grabbed onto his arm.
A noise of pain was expected, but when I started to pull I did not expect the scream.
Servants felt pain and I knew this.
What I didn't know was that for all the atrocities he committed, he would scream like that from getting his arm torn off.
He recovered quickly, credit where it was due, he was a servant.
I even held it up for him to see as I disintegrated every bit of it.
"No, no no!" He scrambled; the book he held fell into two parts. Whatever bullshit he used to hold together, came undone already. He nearly fell over trying to juggle the two pieces. Instead, Magical Energy filled the room, and the Grail was revealed once more. "Heal me! Heal my Book! Stop him!" He commanded from the object.
It trembled in his hand, multiple effects going off simultaneously. The book attempted to mend, but something about it didn't get the memo as any repairs to it were immediately broken down and it further deteriorated.
The stump of his arm bubbled and his 'flesh' tried to knit itself back together, but it grew back into an amalgamation of flesh rather than an arm.
I was tempted to tear it off again, but it looked rather uncomfortable as was.
Then the Grail tried to stop me.
Oh, it was a scary artifact. I knew I was playing with my food, but that didn't mean I was at his mercy for him pulling that out.
The Grail was powerful, but like most powerful weapons, the user was often the weakness.
The Grail attempted to 'stop me' by sealing me.
The broad application of its function, the imprecise use left much to be desired.
I flexed my Demonic Power, letting my Destruction erupt around me as the focal point. The spells the Grail attempted to commandeer me to achieve the task required were utterly destroyed.
Funnily enough, he chose the most logical course of action.
He attempted to flee. Pushing open several large doors, he shot off further into the palace.
"Will!" Jeanne grabbed me from behind as I was about to 'chase' after him. "Please stop."
"I know he's your old friend, Jeanne. But –"
"No, what you're doing. I know he has to be stopped, I've come to terms with that. But you're taking pleasure in tormenting him. I don't like seeing you like this."
I…..felt a lot of my anger simmer down.
It was hard to keep it up when Jeanne was literally holding onto me like this for my sake.
"….maybe I got carried away." I let out a long breath, allowing myself to relax. "Fine, let's go do this properly. He most likely ran towards the fake Jeanne. Let's end this for good."
"Together." She looked at me.
"Together." I agreed.
This time, she grabbed me and pulled me forward, taking the lead. Right, she probably had a better claim to ending this than I did. The important thing was resolving the singularity and retrieving the Grail, I shouldn't lose sight of that.
It was fairly easy to track down where Gilles ran, a literal trail of blood and open doors had us moving further into the palace.
"She's close, I can feel her." Jeanne said softly. "I will handle –"
She came to an abrupt stop as we walked through the final set of doors. What appeared to be a makeshift throne room, rather than something of intentional design.
But that wasn't the most eye catching thing currently within our sight.
No.
That was Gilles impaled upon the fake Jeanne's sword as she ripped it free from his heart.
The Grail fell to the ground at her feet, and she picked it up.
[***]
A/N
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