The Chains of Heaven burst forth from the Gate of Babylon. They coiled around Altera's limbs mere inches from Gilgamesh's arrogant mug. A single second too late, and she'd have driven her sword right through his throat. Even then, the chains groaned and clinked, struggling to restrain her.
Gilgamesh threw his head back and laughed.
"Instead of gathering the courage to struggle, you ran and begged your Gods-"
"What the fuck are you talking about, schizo?" I cut him off, fumbling with the phone in my pocket without pulling it out.
He let his head fall towards Altera, "Are you that oblivious, mongrel? This one possesses Divinity. And the Chains of Heaven grow stronger for it."
"Keep talking. Get all the words in."
"Was the one time not enough for you?"
He raised a hand to grip the hilt of a sword. The chains holding Altera began to tighten. I narrowed my eyes at Altera. She was looking at me calmly, not at all troubled by the golden chains trying to strangle her.
Should I have trusted her strength?
Probably.
But, I ended up doing the one thing no one in their right mind would ever do, something no one would expect ME to ever do.
That was, I rushed forward, right at the King of Heroes.
Gilgamesh grinned.
The sword he'd drawn was never meant for me. It was to make me watch as he did to Altera what he'd done to my mentor. Even I knew that Scourge of God was on a different level entirely compared to Li Shuwen... What was even going through his head?
A dozen blades more shot out at me. I brought my fists close to block the incoming train of pain, and weaved under a wave of them with all the agility of John Rabbit that my body could handle. Then, I sank into my own shadow up until my waist to avoid several more.
"She may have Divinity herself-" I shouted at him, running again, "-but Altera might be the closest thing to an Anti-Divine existence."
That was her legend.
A sweeping wave of destruction that destroyed who knew how many cultures and beliefs in her deadly war. A war that made the Romans think that God had unleashed punishment upon humanity for their sins.
Mana surged through the white marks on Altera's body, and the chains holding her began to groan incessantly. Then, one after the other, they started snapping. Gilgamesh stepped away calmly as the Gate of Babylon closed off. Altera swung. A wave of raw energy carved through the temple roof and the mountain beside it.
She instantly gave chase.
Instead of following the two, I ran up to Medea. There was still a body, so she was still alive... I couldn't say the same for the middle-aged man she was trying to crawl to. I knelt down next to both of them.
"I can help you."
Medea's desperate eyes looked up at me, and then at the injured man, even when her own injuries were so much worse. A pleading noise escaped her lips.
She was asking... begging me to help him.
I steeled my heart, "But you'll be out of the r-... nevermind."
Round Deer emerged from my shadows. He looked at me in curiosity, then lowered his snout over my shoulder between the two of them. An incandescent light covered the two, momentarily drowning out the noise of the clash around us, and their injuries began to disappear.
The strange man coughed first. Medea sat up after, lips parted. Unexpectedly, her first words were not some stupid question. No, Caster lowered her head with closed eyes.
"...Thank you. How... How can I repay you?"
I waved my hand, and turned to the battle transpiring beyond. Gilgamesh had rightly decided to not let Altera get too close like before and rained down his treasury from atop a slight mountain. Golden ripples covered the sky. Sheer volume was presently succeeding at keeping Altera away... but the battle definitely wasn't in his favour.
"Help me absolutely dunk on that piss haired cunt."
Medea's confusion lasted only a moment. Her purple lips curved into a twisted smile.
"It'll be my pleasure to. Kuzuki, I'll..." She turned to the man beside her.
Kuzuki gave a slight nod, "Go."
As a Caster servant, direct combat was never meant to be Medea's strong suit. But, with a frontline combatant like Altera, there was nothing to hold her back from unleashing her magicks as a support-type.
I reinforced myself with my mana as best I could.
But, then, a multitude of unknown spells began weaving themselves into my body. The mystery was dense enough to not fall behind any servant.
"Caster?" I questioned, glancing at her.
The last time we'd met, she tried to kill me for my command seals on that lone bridge. Kuzuki had helped.
She smiled sheepishly.
"I'm sorry about... I won't harm you. I promise."
Did she love Kuzuki that much?
I shook my head.
None of that was important right now.
Nue took flight directly from my shadows. It took only one of the massive avian's talons to lift me into the air with it. I lurched violently when he threw me at Gilgamesh's hill mid-flight, but regained my balance mere moments away. Flying through the air, I caught a glimpse of the uninjured Altera cutting through a hail of swords, then found another hail headed right for me.
I heard something swish past my shoulders.
Gleaming blades exploded against the weapons headed from me.
Archer, I realised.
That meant my message went through.
A second volley exploded against the slight mountain Gilgamesh was standing atop. Stone and earth exploded, and the King of Heroes lost his footing for a moment. A moment that was more than enough for my feet to hit the ground only several feet away from him.
I practically leapt screaming at the chance to get a good hit in and struggled to accept reality for a moment when my fist slammed against his cheek with all the weight of a mythical guardian elephant and who knew how many levels of reinforcement. His body jerked violently from the unexpected strike.
"You... You dare?!"
He had probably never even considered that a mere human would punch him in the face. Even if he did, it was a reality he would never accept.
That was why I stepped in and threw another hook at the other side of his face too as the mountain collapsed all around us.
Then another, and another, and another.
Boom.
His head snapped the other way.
Boom.
His lip split.
Boom.
I heard a squelch.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
A spear tore through my shoulder.
I roared and pushed through to punch him again.
A sword buried itself in my gut.
I grabbed his bloodied collar with both my hands and smashed my head into mouth before reeling back and biting into his shoulder. Fangs tore through his godly flesh, tearing out a good chunk before he kicked me away and another sword tore through my stomach.
Blind, I lunged at him again.
"Stop, you mad dog!" Gilgamesh shouted through torn lips, gripping his bleeding shoulder, "Do you not know who you insult?!"
Swords and axes and spears shot right at me. A volley of gleaming swords struck them the moment they left the Gate of Babylon and lit up the sky in bright magical explosions. I gripped the earth with my hands as the ground under me gave way from the sheer impact above, and dragged my body along with my hands until I found my footing again.
My fist connected with his face again.
Altera shot from the smoke and dust around us, and sliced down faster than he could rightly react. The King of Heroes moved all the same, but gave up his left arm to her sword in exchange for his life.
I laughed, bleeding all over.
Gilgamesh's face flushed with rage.
The Chains of Heaven erupted all around us.
All this was definitely burning through his mana.
"Forgot about me, did ya, bastard?"
The sky shone a brilliant red. I looked up just in time to see Cu Chulainn reel back his cursed spear as all the veins on his face bulged outwards. He grit his teeth, and his muscles stretched his armor to its limits.
Immense mana gathered around his spear.
Gae Bolg... when thrown this way, changed from a sure-hit kill that reversed causality to pierce the heart... to an anti-army noble phantasm that could devastate the land.
"No-... I want him to suffer more-"
Altera slung a hand over my waist, and pulled me back with her despite my protests.
"GAE-"
Half a dozen shields materialised between Gilgamesh and Cu Chulainn.
"-BOLG!!"
A red star fell from the heavens above to rend the lands.
The shields groaned pitifully, unable to halt the cursed spear's advance. One by one, they cracked and shattered like glass. Suddenly, a massive explosion erupted through the already ruined mountainside. Altera jumped back a significant distance, but even then, we barely avoided being caught up.
When the dust cleared, Gilgamesh was still standing there. His golden hair had fallen over his eyes, and his arrogant grin was nowhere to be seen. Instead of the dozens of ripples like before, a single one hovered right beside his remaining arm.
He reached out for it.
"To think I'd be pushed this far by-"
I knew what was coming.
My command seals glowed. I clasped my hands together, blood seeping from my mouth.
"Altera. Use your noble phantasm."
The Scourge of God gave a slight nod. She did not raise her sword to unleash a massive beam like Excalibur, but instead flipped her sword in the air to point the hilt at the sky instead. An intense red arched for the sky. When it snapped out, a strange magical formation formed in the sky, layering in over itself again and again.
"Mars."
Altera pointed her blade at Gilgamesh.
"With this, I shall destroy you completely."
A beam of pure light fell from the skies above.
It passed through the formations, and multiplied in size again and again, until a massive pillar was falling down into the mountains. A strange mechanical hum hung in the air as it came down. When the pillar of light struck the earth right through Gilgamesh, everything began to crack and shatter.
Gae Bolg was nothing compared to what she unleashed then.
Uprooted trees went flying. The land collapsed in upon itself, and cracked, reaching through the temple and into the mountains all around. Then, even they began to crumble into themselves as rapid landslides devastated what was left. It even reached the lake beside the temple.
The beam never stopped.
It kept going and going.
When it dissipated, there was nothing left at all except for a massive hole in the earth where the King of Heroes once stood. The lake spilled over into the new depths.
He had died without ever getting to unleash his strongest attack.
"...Serves you right."
I fell on my back.
-
Hope you enjoyed.
What did you think?
This is probably the first time this depressive fraud has made me proud.