"It must be a battle-oriented katana," Muramasa said.
"No, it must be a western sword, and it must be able to maintain its status as a symbol of the King."
When it came time to reform the Sword of the Selection, Muramasa and Shirou had this heated discussion. Muramasa wanted a katana that was perfect for battle, but Shirou wanted to keep the fundamentals of the old Caliburn, and from this difference of views, the present form of the sword arose.
Neocaliburn was a single-edged sword, and one and a half-handed or two-handed bastard sword could be said. The sword was straight and slightly thicker and longer than the original but was still decorated with gold details and elegant embellishments. However, unlike the original, its hilt now had a handguard used for protection, and somehow the letters that had been written on its original blade had resurfaced when it was reformed, albeit with the addition of some characters. In short, the sword was a cross between a ceremonial weapon and one made for battle.
Shirou could barely stand up straight, he was feeling the effects of the triple accel, and it made him feel like he was going to pass out at any moment. His father had warned him that while he could use it thanks to Avalon, the rebound his body would suffer would be enormous and that he shouldn't use it unless he had no other options. Also, he had made Shirou promise that he would not go any further regardless of his situation.
He had never used Neocaliburn before, and he didn't know how much of his Od it would take to attack with it, and after making one, he found the answer: almost everything. Now he could tell that an attack at "full" power was his limit, and while he could attempt to launch a second attack, this one would not have half the power of the first and would probably pass out after using it.
Using what was left of his energy, the boy turned his gaze towards his opponent, he smiled, knowing that the attack would not kill Altrouge, much less when he could not even use the full power of the sword, but that was not important, he had achieved it.
She was floating above the boy, and after receiving the attack, her appearance had changed: Her hair was still down, but her dress was partially ripped apart, although it seemed to be repairing itself. Normally, Altrouge was truly powerless, and she wouldn't be much different from a normal girl, but she was also... like a magical girl who could transform in two stages. And, when she confronted Shirou, she used a suppressed version of the first stage of hers, but now she had fully released it.
Red marks the same color as blood ran down her white skin, her hair black as night, her eyes shining like rubies, a mist covering her, and behind her, inscriptions that he couldn't understand floated like wings, and these were they looked a lot like magic crests. And while he couldn't understand them, he did know what they were: Geis, the contracts used by magi, and for some reason, her contracts had physically manifested in the form of these wings. Also, shortly after unleashing her first stage, her ripped dress had been reformed, now being a little more suggestive and, at the same time, much more elegant. This was the true Altrouge Brunestud, who was called the Master of Blood and Contracts.
She smiled, slightly showing her fangs, and, raising her arm, she showed the only thing that was jarring about her appearance: her arm, which was burned and scorched in its entirety by the light of the holy sword.
"Whoa, it seems you got a little careless and paid the price, Fake Princess," Merem said mockingly.
The girl's smile soured, "Merem, who invited you to our private game?"
"Oh? Sorry for interfering with me, your highness," he replied without hiding the hatred and sarcasm in his voice, "but I came to end your life," he said after smiling sweetly.
She smiled with amusement, "Kill me? Did you finally become senile? I'll feed you my hound."
"Will you feed your hound to me? What nonsense do you say?" Merem smiled cruelly, "can you summon Primate Murder out of nowhere?"
"I don't need to summon him, he's already here," she answered.
This confused the Burial Agency member, "What are you talking about, faker? If there was one thing we attached importance to, it's that you didn't bring that monstrosity with you. You only came with your two bodyguards and that..." then Merem realized, "d-don't tell me, the squirrel!?"
Now it was Altrouge who smiled cruelly, "Squirrel? Fou is a full-fledged hound. Though it's a shame that, due to the current state of the world, he had to take this form to conserve his power more efficiently, as well as to move about without causing disasters. But, you know... Lately, he's been asking me to let him play freely," Altrouge smiled sweetly, "thank you for offering yourself as his toy."
After the Princess said those words, something happened, something terrible, something monstrous.
Shirou, who could barely stand, fell to the ground trembling in fear.
What was this!? WHAT WAS THIS FEELING OF IMMINENT DEATH!?
Shirou trembled and writhed on the ground, not even in the great Fuyuki fire did he feel something like that.
"Come on PM, go out and play."
An excessive growth began to take place in the small animal, and not even the earth could contain him, with huge claws and colossal teeth, suddenly The King of the Land was sent flying like a simple toy, and from one moment to another, the primates remembered the terror of death. Rising above all of Aylesbury, shattering the reality marble in which the city had been submerged, he rose again: Primate Murder, The White Beast, also known as the Altrouge's Demon Dog.
Merem was terrified, how the hell had that monster concealed himself so well that he didn't even give off an ounce of his power? He didn't know, but if he understood anything, it was that he was going to die.
There were four members that it was stupid to mess with among the 27 Dead Apostles Ancestors: Primate Murder, his beloved teacher: Crimson Moon, The Dark Six, and ORT. Probably, old man Zelretch could sneak into that group as well, although for several different reasons...
"GRRROOOAAAARRR!"
That roar alone was enough to exercise his authority. And then, all those over whom he exercised his power, all those who shared the characteristics of primates, and all those who could be classified within this species or, as a variant of this, ended up dead at that very moment without exception.
For a moment, Merem felt life leaving him, he was a dead apostle, yes, but he had the same characteristics of a primate, and that was more than enough for Primate Murder'sauthority to have any effect on him, though, of course, he didn't do it with all its might, which allowed him to survive the roar.
But surviving was not a victory, because if Primate Murder wanted he could exercise his authority directly over him. No, that wasn't even necessary, Primate Murder was a monster born of Gaia, which meant that he had support from the Counterforce of Gaia, and he was also a gigantic being that surpassed all his creatures. He couldn't do anything against him.
"Why that face Merem?" two people were riding on the gigantic monster: his owner and Shirou, who was passed out. The Princess held something up, holding it in her hand, "I thought you came for this?"
Merem's face contorted, his calm lost, and he yelled angrily, "Damn you, Altrouge!"
What she had in her hands was the hair of his beloved Princess, Arcueid. She held it as if it were a toy, and he wanted to go and take it from her and then end her life, but not all the hatred in the world would make him jump against the monster in front of him.
"You know, Merem, in the last few decades, you've done nothing but pester me, and I should kill you for it," she said smiling, "but, this time, I'll let you live."
"What?" asked the young man in surprise.
"Thanks to your conspiracies, I have met someone interesting, so, for this time, I will allow you to continue living," playing with the hair in her hands she said, "it's not like I can't kill you when I wanted to. Besides, come on, even she doesn't care so much about her hair."
You and that other nasty of Blackmore are both big... huh, what do you call them now? Oh yeah, stalkers.
If only I could go and kill her at once
. Merem thought with much more anger for each word that came out of the princess's mouth.
"Let's go, Fou," she said, then yelled, "Rizo! Fina! We're done here, we're leaving."
The dead apostles returned with their Princess with overwhelming speed, and Blackmore didn't stop them, he knew that, against Primate Murder, plus the other three apostles, he had nothing to do.
After they were both together with Altrouge...
"GRRROOOAAAARRR!"
Primate Murder roared again, but this time no one died. A blinding flash engulfed the entire area, and Gaia's Beast disappeared along with the dead apostles and the apprentice magus.
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AN: And the 10th review have finally arrived! Thank you so much!
For this week. I will upload an extra chapter every 25 powerstones, as I will run out of chapters if we keep getting this much powerstones xd!