Ritsuka POV
The air was dry.
The taste of metal and the smell of oxidized iron invaded his mouth and nose.
The sky had gone from a clear blue to a depressed orange stuck in a permanent sunset.
Massive gears floated over the horizon, defying reason and logic.
This wasn't the first time he had been inside this rusted wasteland, this graveyard of swords.
He's been here before, when he experienced Archer's servant dreams. Except now, this is in real life, and everything remained exactly the same.
Well, mostly.
The faint music in the background was new, but he probably missed it due to the fact that he had only been here in a dream.
But, unlike in the servant dream, he wasn't alone.
His other servants had been dragged into this place, he could feel their connections scattered around him.
Kriemhild and Sasaki were the farthest away.
Looking in their direction, he noticed a black speck floating in the sky.
That was probably Fafnir.
On the left, Georgios and Kiyohime are far, but still close enough that he could make them out.
They were confronting Dracula, or Vlad the Third, and the cloud of wyverns behind him.
He would have been worried about his servant's safety if they had to face them by themselves, but it seems like whatever force dragged them in here had enough foresight to plop the French Army nearby.
"Aaaaaahhh"
The faint voice of Elizabeth echoed from the right, which meant she wasted no time starting her fight with her older self.
Finally, the rest of his servants were all standing nearby, all of them in awe of their surroundings.
Marie, however, had a sad frown on her face, the look she was giving Archer reminded him of a mother who wanted to comfort a child, but the circumstances in front of her stopped her from doing so.
[What the… where are we? What happened?!! ]
[CasCu: GARcher did the thing you kiddies were excited to see, and now, we're not in Kansas anymore. ]
[No, no it's not. But it does look a lot like Orre though.]
[Since when did the Orre region have massive gears floating in the sky?!! ]
[Look at all those swords… ]
[Tetanus, tetanus everywhere you look. ]
[MagnetKing: Those are some massive gears… but what's holding them? Electromagnetism? anti-gravity? ]
[Magic dude. Magic. ]
[MagnetKing: Sighs I don't know why I bother asking anymore.]
[Ecruteak_Gal: Anyone else hear background music?]
[You mean Elizabeth's screeches? ]
[No. It's not. It's something else. ]
[I can hear it, but it's super faint. Perhaps it's the sound of those gears rubbing each other? ]
"A reality marble? Impossible…" The voice of Dark Jeanne drew his and everyone else's attention.
She was staring at the vast wasteland with shock and disbelief.
"Oh, it's very possible, Dragon Witch,"
Archer told Dark Jeanne.
She snapped out of her shock and glared at Archer, who stood on top of a hill of swords, unmoving.
He spread out his arms, his palms facing the new rustic sky, "welcome to my inner world, my trump card, Unlimited Blade Works."
[Woah. ]
[GymLeaderErika: Thank you for the welcome, GARcher. I apologize if I sound rude, but it's dusty in here, and there are a lot of safety hazards everywhere. Have you ever considered doing some landscaping? This place would really benefit from some greenery. ]
[Prof.Burnet donated 1000 bits]
["What is a Reality Marble? Can you elaborate for those of us not in the know, please?"]
"A Reality Marble is an innate bounded field that centers around the materialization of one's inner world, i.e. the soul. A person with a reality marble can reject reality and manifest a mini parallel world outside their body that comes with its own laws of physics.
It is considered the pinnacle of magecraft, as it stands on the border between magecraft and True Magics. "
[ (O o O)!! ] x 1140
[Mighty1Oak: That's… I'm at a loss. I'm not sure we have an equivalent ability or move in our world, @El_Kukui? ]
[El_Kukui: Hm… afraid not. Room moves like Trick room and Wonder room are one of the closest examples I can think of that resemble this power in our world… but it's a poor example. Moves and abilities can change their surroundings, but no Pokémon we currently know of has the power to create an entire mini universe that defies the natural order. Even the mighty Tapus's terrain change doesn't compare…. erm, based on the legends, of course. ]
[HeavenlyDivinePearl: NEAT TRICK, HOWEVER, IT IS A PEBBLE BEFORE A MOUNTAIN WHEN COMPARED TO MY ALMIGHTY FATHER'S POWER. WHEN COMPARED TO MOST OTHER HUMANS? IT'S IMPRESSIVE. THOUGH, BE WARNED, IF YOU DEPLOY THIS ANYWHERE NEAR MY VICINITY, I'LL HAVE TO GIVE YOU SOME POINTERS!! ]
[Why are you yelling?!!]
[Fuck you Pearl guy, This shit is awesome!! ]
[Eon_Red: Mr. Archer's soul… it feels so… lonely… ]
[Guardian_Riley: What kind of stress and torture has this man gone through that turned his soul into such a hostile wasteland of steel and fire? ]
[Just_N: A real world example that outside beauty and handsomeness does not always reflect the ugliness of a person's soul. ]
[ZaWarudo: NO ONE LISTEN TO @ HEAVENLYDIVINEPEARL, THIS GUY IS A CRINGELORD. ]
[HeavenlyDivinePearl: YOU DARE MOCK ME, JUNIOR?!! YOU COURT DEATH!! ]
[ZaWarudo: WE WERE BORN AT THE SAME TIME, DINGUS. NOW STOP DISTRACTING EVERYONE WITH YOUR CRINGE!! THE GOOD STUFF IS JUST GETTING STARTED! ]
"Who said that?!!" Jeanne looked around, confused at who the disembodied voice came from.
"Don't pay the stalkers any mind, they are the least of your worries, Ms. Dragon Witch."
[Stalkers?! Us?! ]
[Electrical ★StreamerIono(MOD): He's not wrong. We are definitely stalkers.]
Dark Jeanne narrowed her eyes at Archer, then she looked around and let out an annoyed growl. She finally realized that she had been separated from her allies and was now facing a small army of servants by herself.
However, rather than despair, The Dragon Witch grinned, "so, this was your plan all along. You were going to trap me inside your depressing reality marble so that you could weaken both myself and Fafnir," Her grin turned mockingly sadistic, "you are a fool, Archer EMIYA."
Archer narrowed his eyes at the Dragon Witch, which only made her more smug.
"Yeah, that's right, I know your true name. As a ruler servant, True Name Discernment allows me to see your parameters and reveals your identity to me."
[D-Did Dark Jeanne just doxx GARcher?! ]
[Looks like it. Emiya huh? A very Sinjoh surname, though rare. ]
[Ecruteak_Gal: Depending on how it's written, it could mean 'outstanding' + 'increasing' or 'blessed beauty arrow' a very fitting name for Archer. ]
[What's his first name though? ]
[No need to be nosy. We're already inside the man's soul, let him have some privacy. ]
"You might have a rather rare and powerful ability, but you are but a mere modern heroic spirit. Your existence means nothing before the might of a True Dragon!!" Dark Jeanne exclaimed, and the distant roar of Fafnir reached their ears.
It agitated the army of wyverns into losing their restraints and flying towards them.
"You're right. Under normal circumstances, fighting Fafnir by myself would be suicide." A smile crawled up Archer's, no EMIYA's lips," but if you bothered to see past your own ego, you would have noticed that I'm not alone."
Metal and claw clashed.
The sounds of screeching wyverns and men yelling filled the air.
The French Army had intercepted the army of wyverns that was flying towards them.
The Dragon Witch clicked her tongue, "so you brought them into the fold as well? "
"And not just them, us too!!"
Dark Jeanne's face scrunched as Marie reminded her of her existence.
"I will be your opponent as well, Dragon Witch." Jeanne said, which only made Dark Jeanne angrier.
Her body burned hotter, heating up the already dry air even more.
"So, you want a piece of me?" She clenched her fists and glared, "Well come get it!!"
Fire erupted around the Dragon Witch, forcing Jeanne, Marie and Mash to take a step back.
"You might have a slight advantage in Servant numbers, but you are all still ants, ants which Fafnir will crush beneath his claws!!!!" she pointed her flagpole at Archer, "Now Burn!!La Grondement Du Haine!!"
A wall of flames came towards them.
"Everyone! Stay behind me!! I'll protect you!" Mash stood in front of them, her shield cracking the dirt underneath as she slammed it into the ground.
"Lord Chaldeas!!"
Mash's noble phantasm manifested, just in time to stop the fires of hell from burning their souls.
✦✧✦
Kriemhild POV
"The Celtic mage was right, Archer shows off too much, " she said with an sigh, annoyed that such a powerful ability was kept secret from her.
Seriously! Why didn't he tell her that he had a reality marble?!! She could have come up with dozens of better plans than what she came up with with this information!!
"Right? It's an annoying quirk of his. Honestly, sometimes it feels like he's just a child wearing an adult's body."
Oh god, it's habitual. For someone as cultured in the hate of heroes as he is, Archer can act annoyingly heroic sometimes. Keeping his power secret so that he could show it off?! Who does that?!
A hero, that's who.
He's lucky that she trusted him enough that she vouched for him when he petitioned Da Vinci to strengthen his connection to Fuyuki's grail. If not for that, he would not have been able to pull off this little stunt of his.
She rubbed the bridge of her nose. What happened, happened. The important part is that his stupid plan outside her plans worked, and all she had to focus on was keeping her end of the deal.
"RAAAAH!!"
Fafnir's bellows rattled her bones, the vibrations shaking off her annoyance and agitating the anxiety that settled in her stomach.
Her fingertips grew cold from the sheer force of her grip on Balmung.
This was it. This was her chance to prove to everyone that she, Kriemhild, could take Siegfried's place and slay Fafnir.
The dragon sensed her intent and locked eyes with her.
The massive lizard looked down at her like she was nothing more than a pest.
[Kream POV change!! ]
[Ugh, please go back to Gudao camera, I don't wanna be near this bitch. ]
[DragonMasterLance: Woah… Fafnir from up close is so cool…. Good luck Kream, you're going to need it. ]
[Ghost_Prince: She's gonna die. ]
She rolled her eyes at the camera manifesting near her and just focused on the dragon.
…
Who had grown disinterested in her in favor of staring into the distance, in Archer's direction.
Her forehead pulsed, her blood boiling in her veins at the disrespect this oversized lizard with wings was showing her.
Gritting her teeth, she poured all her magical energy into her sword.
Then, she launched herself at the lizard.
Balmung burned red with hatred, its dark tendrils reached out and took hold of Fafnir, who looked down at the magical energy with a raised brow.
Or at least, the closest thing a dragon could do to mimic the gesture.
Then, the dragon proceeded to focus on the horizon again, not giving her any attention.
"BALMUNG KRIEM-!!"
Or so she thought.
Fafnir gave her the side-eye, then flexed his muscles.
SNAP
The magical energy holding him broke.
She saw him lift his massive hand above his shoulder.
Then, before she could finish her chant, he slapped her away with the back of his hand.
Her bones creaked as the hard dragon scales slammed into her body and sent her tumbling backward.
She skidded over the dirt like a stone skipping over water, her clothes and skin getting cut up by the swords when she brushed past them.
The taste of rust got into her mouth as she rolled to a stop face down on the ground.
Then the pain signals finally reached her brain and she let out a groan.
[Ghost_Prince: See? I called it. Kream just got whipped. ]
[ (－‸ლ) ] x 321
[So much for the strong female protagonist being the saviour of us all. Welp, GG everyone, I'll pray for Gudao to die a quick, painless death when the dragon decides to stop playing spectator. ]
✦✧✦
Archer POV
"Damn it, Kream." He couldn't be bothered to say her full name right now, not after she botched that NP deployment.
Sighing, he focused his senses around the battlefield.
Vlad the Third was still trying and failing to join Dark Jeanne in battle, but Georgios, Kiyohime, and surprisingly, Gilles de Rais were giving him a hard time.
This was especially true for the man who would later become known as Bluebeard, the child killer.
He wasn't paying attention to their conversations, as he was too focused on observing and supporting the others when they needed help.
Well, everyone except Elizabeth.
She looked like she was competent enough to win her battle, so he would only step in just before Carmilla could deal the final blow.
Which just leaves the Dragon Witch to take care of.
Truth be told, he could have easily killed her right now. It would not take much, he had plenty of options. Revealing his true name alone would have been enough for him to kill her where she stood.
But he didn't.
There were many reasons why, but mainly because there was no need to bother.
Jeanne by herself would have been enough to kill her. Dark Jeanne was fond of fire and cursed up a storm when that fire missed. Jeanne, meanwhile, fought with a cooler head and only struck when attacked. A poor matchup for the Dragon Witch, despite how much she would disagree with his observation.
A situation made worse due to Marie offering support from the back and throwing magical attacks when Dark Jeanne least expected them.
And Mozart was on standby in case something happened to any of them.
With Mash and Shadow Gareth protecting Master, and him on the lookout, this battle was won the moment he unleashed his reality marble.
The problem was Fafnir.
The massive lizard just floated on the horizon, menacingly. Observing, waiting for his chance to strike.
Fafnir hadn't made a move, so he hadn't either. Not while the others are still engaging their opponents.
And he had a feeling the lizard knew that, but he couldn't prove it.
What a pain.
He snapped his fingers, and dozens of black keys manifested over Dark Jeanne and pinned her and her shadows in place.
"For fuck's sake!!!" She struggled in place and managed to break through the black key's hold, "stop doing that you cheating mother-"
Dark Jeanne's expletive rant got cut short when a loud whack from Jeanne's flagpole sent her flying backwards.
The dark saint landed on her feet and skidded to a halt, her hair was disheveled, and she was panting like a dog.
[Dark Jeanne looks tired. ]
[No duh, she's fighting so many servants at once.]
[JigglyWiggly donated 100 bits]
["Not so fun being outnumbered now that you are on the receiving end of it, is it Dragon Bitch? "]
"Fuck you!!" Dark Jeanne spat.
["Nah thanks, I'm a desperate loser but I'm not THAT desperate."]
Dark Jeanne's face contorted like a pissed-off chihuahua.
"GRAAHH!!!"
A blast of magical fire exploded from Jeanne's body, forcing everyone back.
["Missed me bitch!!"]
[Fire&Flamez: A fire type explosion! Nice. Though it loses points because a bad guy is using it. ]
Dark Jeanne bared her teeth at the taunter. That guy, whose name he won't say because it's too embarrassing to say even inside his head, is so lucky that he can manipulate the sound of chat so that it comes from everywhere at once.
He better step in before she gets a lucky shot.
"Oh dear, it would seem the Dragon Witch has become a beast. Proving once again that she's not the real Jeanne D'Arc." The glare she sent his way was scathing, but it was oh so satisfying.
Needling people was fun.
"I'm getting real sick and tired of people refusing to acknowledge my existence and saying That Trash I left behind is the real Jeanne D'Arc."
"That's because you aren't the real Jeanne D'Arc. You're just a faker Jeanne who committed identity fraud."
[ShortShorts_QUEEN: Damn right she is! A faker, not the real Jeanne I mean.]
[Lol. Faker Jeanne. Why didn't I think of that? Let's start calling her that from now on. ]
"Shut your mouth!! " Dark Jeanne threw a blast of fire at him, but he evaded it by jumping down from his hill and landing next to the false saint.
"Guh!!" And kicked her with a reinforced knee in the liver for her troubles.
The false saint fell to the ground, her hands clutching the side of her stomach in pain.
How pitiful.
He gave her some black keys of pity to ensure she doesn't move.
[BattleMANIAC: YEAH!! GO GARcher!! Avenge France!! Kick her until she starts bleeding!! ]
Normally he would have left his opponents in the dark, but he's feeling a bit generous today. He crouched down to get closer to her, "You may claim to be Jeanne D'Arc, but your weapon? It says otherwise."
"W-What are y-you talking… about?" She said between gasps of air.
"Unlimited Blade Works is a forge that holds an infinite amount of swords and other weapons, which includes noble phantasms. If I run into any noble phantasm or weapon I don't have in my reality marble, I can copy it by just taking a glance."
He projects a copy of her flagpole to emphasize his point, which makes her eyes widen in shock.
"You can feel it, can't you? I don't just copy the appearance, I can copy its history, which includes the smiths who forged it, its wielders, those it killed in battle…." he gave her a grin, "I can see all of it. "
"Y-You sicko… You copy other people's noble phantasm's without their permission?! GAH!!" Dark Jeanne hissed out, but a dozen more black keys stabbed into the gaps of her armor shut her up.
[Scary… ]
[Jeanne is getting the full Fuyuki Archer experience. And I'm all here for it! ]
[JigglyWiggly: So he's a living armory who can replicate weapons like a forge? Definitely a fire/steel type. ]
[GARcher is a ditto for weapons?!! ]
[We already knew that. But I don't think dittos are THAT thorough in their copying. ]
"Yes I do. I have years of experience doing it, so I can easily spot fakes with my eyes closed. Whoever made this flagpole did a good job of using the original spear as a base; however, they were sloppy. They never took people like me into consideration, people who could tell that the person who changed the history of a weapon used superglue rather than reforging the weapon into something new. "
The look of shock on Faker Jeanne's face was sad. She was in denial.
"N-No, y-you're lying! You're trying to get in my head!! I am the real Jeanne D'Arc!!"
"I admit, I do like getting my enemies riled up, but I am speaking the truth. BAsed on what I know about you from your interactions with my allies, and my own observations. I can confirm that you were not born, but made."
He sighed, "And poorly at that, because whoever made you didn't even bother to add memories of Jeanne D'Arc's family into your head, nor did they even bother to give you the same hair and eye color, so whoever they were, making the real Jeanne D'Arc was never their intention. You are NOT Jeanne D'Arc."
[Wait, so she was a literal fake?! Not a figurative one?! Mind blown! ]
[MagnetKing: I am skeptical, but knowing that magecraft doesn't care about analytical minds, I'll trust the guy who can create near exact replicas of weapons by sight to know what he's talking about. ]
He dispelled the flagpole and projected a copy of Siegfried's Balmung, an action that only made the woman squirm.
"Just like this sword. You look like the original, you have her powers, but you lack depth. An inferior copy. "
Faker Jeanne's face turned red with anger, but like the flip of a switch, her complexion turned back to normal.
"Stop calling me that. I'm not a fake."
He scoffed, "Or what? I'm not sure if you've been paying attention, but you've been on the defensive the entire fight. I pinned you down and you're surrounded by enemies inside a world that stretches for infinity in all directions. You lost the moment you let me utter the last verse of my chant. "
Faker Jeanne fell silent, her lips pursed, but then her grin returned.
"Fafnir, come to me."
"RAAAAHHHH"
The dragon finally decided to take action.
A giggle caught his attention, a surprisingly sweet one that he never could have expected from the Dragon Witch, "what are you going to do now, tough guy? You said it yourself, your swords are inferior fakes!! So there's no way your pathetic projections will penetrate Fafnir's mystery dense scales!! You and everyone you know will all die a slow and painful death!!"
She was awfully arrogant for someone who was pinned to the ground like she was.
Considering her pet dragon was coming over to kill them, her reaction was justified.
Well, at least Kriemhild had recovered, though her Balmung won't be able to hurt Fafnir in any significant way unless she lands a hit.
Once again, to reiterate: What a pain.
He regrets not sticking an arrow through that woman's head when he had the chance.
He's going to need a break after this, and he's going to make Kream pay for it somehow.
"But not your Master!! I'm going to make sure to take him alive and I'll personally make sure he suffers for daring to interfere with me!!"
Hm? The Dragon Witch was still yapping? Well, whatever, he doesn't have the energy to argue with people who can't be bothered to listen to reason.
He abruptly stood up, cutting off the Witch's rant, "Marie."
"Yes Emiya?"
He sent the woman a stink eye, but she just smiled at him, like she had done nothing wrong.
"Deploy your noble phantasm and take Master further into Unlimited Blade Works, it's about to get dangerous here."
"Okey dokies!!" Then, her smile turned sad, "Um, are you alright-"
"Stop wasting precious time and get going, the longer you talk, the more danger Master will be in. Now get moving. "
"R-Right" She manifested her horse and carriage.
Thankfully, Master decided to be smart and went inside the carriage, with Mash and Shadow Gareth following closely behind.
"HAH! Run, run, little girl! But no matter where you go, Fafnir will find you!! It's only a matter of time until EMIYA runs out of magical energy and his reality marble collapses!! "
Marie gave the Dragon Witch one final look of pity before she closed the door of her carriage and flew off.
"You're wrong." He told the Witch, who just chuckled more maniacally.
"Am I? You know as well as I do that maintaining a reality marble is expensive, which means that pretty soon, we will return to France. As much as I hate the place, I won't reject the boost that it will return to me."
[Wait Really? Even after killing most of its inhabitants, the land will just empower her anyway?!! That's some tauroshit!! ]
[Junior_Researcher: The energy part makes sense. Creating an entire mini universe must not be cheap. Chaldea's generators probably sound like my dusty PC right now. ]
"Oh, I agree, keeping a reality marble active is expensive. In fact, this is probably one of the few times in my life that I've kept it up for this long. But you see, Faker Jeanne, you made another mistake… "
He flooded Balmung with an insane amount of magical energy.
The faker Jeanne's eyes shot wide open, a look of horror on her face.
"Um… Archer… what are you doing?" The actual Jeanne D'Arc asked with some trepidation in her voice.
[That is a good question… ]
[SurgeOfLightning: That sword is looking more volatile than an electrode… Look son, there are better ways to kill a witch. Ones that don't involve explosions… ]
He ignored the saint's question and focused on the Witch, who was struggling to rip herself free from the ground with little success.
How cute.
His grin turned feral, "...you're not the only one who is in possession of a Holy Grail."
The Dragon Witch flinched when she saw the holy blade crack.
"Y-You suicidal bastard!! You'll kill us all!!"
More cracks appeared in the blade.
"Archer!!! NO!! DON'T DO IT!!" Jeanne shrieked as the magical energy nearly spilled out of the sword.
"N-No… I still haven't… I still haven't destroyed France… I can't die HERE!!" the Fake Jeanne was crying, but his sympathy tank was empty.
He squeezed the handle, and using all his strength, he threw the sword into the sky.
BOOM
Balmung exploded, its holy light shone in the air for a moment, casting its warmth on the reality marble like a newborn star.
Every sword inside his inner world glowed the same color.
From the weakest, all the way to the most powerful in his arsenal.
From the obscure swords without a name, to the most famous and legendary blades.
Everything the light touched, it was blessed with its power.
The light faded, and the sunset had returned.
"...What did you do?" The Faker Saint asked him, dumbfounded by his actions.
He shrugged, "Oh nothing, I gave every single sword in this reality marble the ability to slay Fafnir."
Her breath hitched, "y-you can do that?"
Normally he wouldn't have, but he got lucky. He was still Archer EMIYA, but somehow, his master had summoned him with... baggage so to speak.
Memories.
Memories of his younger self, of events he never lived, both light and dark.
Many of them were too murky to remember, others were crystal clear.
But a few of them opened his mind to the possibilities.
Possibilities that he had made his own.
He smirked at the Dragon Witch, "yes, I can, and I did. Observe."
He projected his trusty black bow, then he held out his hand and projected one of the newest additions to his reality marble.
"Is that a leek sword?" The Faker Jeanne asked, completely taken off guard by this exotic sword.
[A Sirfetch'd Sword!! No way!! When did he get one!!? ]
[That's the Sirfetch'd sword that Gudao was playing with earlier when he first summoned him. ]
[Is he going to do what I think he's going to do? ]
He flooded his magical energy into the sword and it twisted into an arrow.
[BA-BAKANA!! ]
[(OᗝO) ] x2305
He pulled back his bowstring, the steel cord groaning the further he pulled.
He aimed the dragon.
If he shot this arrow as is, it will surely miss.
He tugged on the connection to Chaldea, and a flood of magical energy filled his reserves past full.
Thousands upon thousands of nameless swords manifested in front of the dragon, their tips pointing at the beast, and let them loose.
With the dragon distracted, he finally took his shot.
And his leek arrow learned to fly.
✦✧✦
Fafnir POV
His eye stung.
His fucking eye stung!!
The king of the skies shrieked in pain, as a splinter had rendered him blind in one eye.
The hail of projections still kept coming.
The tiny pieces of mystery were too weak to kill him or to even breach his skin.
But they made his scales itch horribly. Painfully.
He reached out and pulled the splinter from his eye.
The blindness lingered, but his vision returned, albeit a bit slower than usual.
A frustrated growl escaped his maw.
He recognized the red one, for he was an enforcer of the Will of Humanity.
The enforcer lacked the backing of the world and relied on a different source of magic.
A weaker one.
A mere human.
This fact made him underestimate the Enforcer.
And that was a mistake he paid for in pain. Somehow, he had managed to replicate his rival's blade and spread its dragon-slaying aspect to every single weapon inside this inner world made real.
More of the swords manifested and bombarded his skin.
He scratched the area where they broke on his scales.
Enough of this.
"RAAAAAHHHHH!!!"
He expelled a force of magical energy, eradicating the hail of needles from making his scales itch.
He glared at the Red Enforcer, then he chuckled.
The Enforcer brought a True Dragon into his inner world.
The fool.
He will gain his freedom by eating him from the inside out.
He opened his maw and began to drink.
Magical energy flowed into his mouth and rushed into his insides.
He noticed the magical energy of his rival's mate nearing.
He could feel her evil energies pin him in place.
She was going to attempt to slay him again.
How laughable.
"Balmung-"
He flexed his tail and swatted the annoying fly to the earth.
The unnatural red sky shivered and began to fade into a natural blue, as the world intended.
However, that was as far as he got.
"TSUBAME GAESHI!!" The voice of a different spirit reached his ears.
He winced as three blades cut his scales in the same spot simultaneously.
Which broke his concentration.
A spear appeared just above his mouth.
It pierced his tongue.
His feast was interrupted, and his mouth was in pain.
He reached into his mouth and ripped out the spear.
But he knew it was too late.
The mystery in this spear had rendered his magical regeneration useless.
It will only heal itself naturally.
He growled.
Annoyed that it had been disrespected.
How dare they hurt him?
HOW DARE HE!!
Its instincts made him open his maw once more, but it closed it with a snap.
Just in time to avoid the barrage of swords from entering his mouth.
More swords and spears manifested and flew at his face.
He could see what the Enforcer was trying to do.
It was trying to access his brain through his soft organs.
Hmph, If they want to aim at his weak spots, then he'll just negate their ability to hurt him.
He covered his eyes with one hand, stopping the blades from getting into his eyes, and focused on the magical energy around him.
He could feel the two spirits who were trying to slay him.
The corpses of his kind and the humans who slew them.
But most importantly, the magical energy of the enforcer.
Every weapon inside this place was connected to him.
He was the leyline of this false world.
He followed the energy to the human.
Insignificant.
What he really wanted was the second connection.
The connection to a place outside spacetime.
A rich source of mana.
He cannot drink without getting struck in the mouth, but he has an idea.
✦✧✦
Archer POV
Archer notes the dragon putting a hand over their mouth then he felt it.
The drain on his magical energy was immense, but he wasn't feeling it being taken directly from him.
"Woah!! Chaldea's generators are being drained!! Fafnir is drawing energy from them!! " Romani said in alarm.
"Cheh, so that's your aim. You clever son of a bitch."
The bastard was using his reality marble, his soul, as a conceptual straw to drink magical energy from Chaldea's generators.
"Hahahahaha! Did you think Fafnir was some dumb dragon who exploded things for fun? He's just as intelligent as any of you apes. He'll suck you dry!!"
[Fafnir is gonna suck the bone of Archer's sword?! :nosebleed emoticon: ]
[I<3HorsePKMN: There's a time and place to be a degenerate…AND THIS ISN'T IT CHIEF!!! ]
[Ecruteak_Gal: Everyday we stray further from the light of Ho-Oh… ]
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New Chatters:
HeavelyDivinePearl = Palkia, the Legendary pokemon of Space.
ZaWarudo = Dialga, the legendary Pokemon of Time.
Guardian_Riley = An aura Guardian of Sinnoh.
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New Chatters:
HeavelyDivinePearl = Palkia, the Legendary pokemon of Space.
ZaWarudo = Dialga, the legendary Pokemon of Time.
Guardian_Riley = An aura Guardian of Sinnoh.
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Archer's power image