บท 26: Chapter 17.2 - Supernova [2]
"Wah…" Francis can't help but gawk at the earth crumbling below, seeing as it is her first time seeing an earthquake. Never in her wildest dream would she watch the earth, something she'd known to be far more durable than any men or ship, to be torn apart so wildly like that. Thankfully, she has her flying ship, so she and Gareth are safely floating above all the chaos.
'But still, isn't this really bad?'
Everything had been quite normal just a few minutes ago. Hanami and Shirou had gone into the mansion while she and Gareth watched from a distance away. Then, Shirou's presence disappeared, her connection with her master was suddenly muted, a powerful surge of prana shot out from the Matou mansion, and the world suddenly began to explode.
"Can...we do anything…?" Gareth says, her voice unsure. Francis hoped to assure her that everything's fine, that things would turn out fine in the end, but she can't say that, not when everything's become like...this.
Francis sighs, turning back to drive the helm, but three individuals suddenly make themselves known, "Gareth!" She shouts, and the knight quickly snaps into attention and jumps back, in time to avoid the lance that was thrown towards her.
"...Just in time, huh?" A man says, his wild red hair swaying as he pulls back his lance from the deck, with two other landing just behind him; one a handsome man of Indian origins with a bow of divinity, and the other a goddess turned monster, with accursed eyes to turn those she looks to into stone.
'...Huh? Where did that come from?'
Somehow, just in a glance, she came to know who they are, and as much as she liked to boast about her skills, instant knowledge just isn't one of them.
She shakes her head, pushing the thought for later. For now, three opposing servants have stepped onto her ship, and as ship captain, it's her job to take out the intruders. "Gareth!"
"Yes!" And so they charge, with Gareth facing Li Shu Wen and Francis taking care of the other two.
Make no mistake though, she knows she's outclassed. Facing Medusa alone won't be too hard, but with a divine being like Arjuna as her opponent, she's sure this battle will be an uphill one.
So, together with Gareth, she jumps from her ship, and taking some inspiration from those movies the grail had for some reason supplied her with, she let the cannons on her ship malfunction. A spark bounces through the entire ship, before the flying ship explodes into a blinding light, looking almost like a sun in the dead of night.
Francis takes a glance at her partner, the timid girl now replaced by a determined knight. "Good luck!" She says, smiling, and as the three servants begin to follow, Francis summons the [Golden Hind] once more and shoots Gareth with one of her cannons, sending her far away. She does the same to Li, the other one who can't fly, firing one of her cannons at him and sending her flying towards Gareth. With Gareth and Li separated from them, she begins to fly away with the remaining two on her trail.
Now, did she say that this was going to be an uphill battle?
Let's make it slightly more fair, shall we?
Excited, she takes out two pearls, one deep red and the other yellow. It feels rather incredible actually, her skin shivering from the enormous amount of prana condensed into the two orbs, the feeling comparable to her touching one of Fuyuki's leylines.
How did Hanami get these anyways?
Those questions aside, she swiftly crushed both pearls in her hands, and light envelops her. She's pleasantly surprised to find how comfortable the light feels, but that's probably because those pearls belonged to her master. Slowly, as the light fades, two new presences make themselves known on her ship deck.
And surprised she definitely was.
One is a giant crimson woman, sitting atop a flower of cracked dark stone, a goddess cursed and left alone by the believers she once had, and the other a girl that looks fairly similar to Saber, just with her blonde hair let down, her eyes blue instead of green, and a pair of dragon horns and wings visible on her body.
A lot of new people are appearing…
It's rather annoying actually, especially with how their information and history somehow just appears instantly in her mind without her wanting to. Still, at least she knows what each of her new comrades can do.
"I will assist as well." A familiar voice sounds, and she turns to see Caster land by her side, looking as stoic and emotionless as always.
And again, something sparks, and knowledge starts flowing into her mind, just this time about the woman standing beside her.
An extraterrestrial existence, once living on the moon before fleeing onto the earth below. A genius of unparalleled intelligence and skill, capable of creating magical concoctions at a moments notice. A woman loyal to the princess she'd given immortality to, vowing to spend such immortality together with her.
She is Yagokoro Eirin, the cause of the Imperishable Night.
"I'm down with that!" Francis says, before turning to Amarilla and the Brimstone Elemental. "You two, mind taking on Medusa?" She says casually, and in the distance Medusa recoils slightly, surprised her identity is revealed so quickly. The two look at the pirate captain, confused. "The one with her eyes covered."
"A-Ah, we will, Captain Francis!" The dragoon says, bringing out a pair of knives from her back. The elemental silently nods, burning embers already beginning to flare around her. Then, just as Medusa is about to crash her Pegasus onto the [Golden Hind], the two take to the skies and promptly knocks the rider down from her steed and towards the earth.
Which leaves her, Eirin, and Arjuna. A two on one, with that one being a god.
Seems fair enough.
"So, like last time?" Francis asks, grinning at the woman beside her.
"Like last time." She says, smiling, and just like last time, she brings forward three of her Noble Phantasms.
"[Sovereign of the Moon]"
"[Lunar Technology]"
"[Imperishable Night]"
A specialized reality marble appears over them all, turning the turbulent night sky calm, only filled with a moon far larger than the usual. The effects of gravity lessens over the ship, the forces pulling the ship back weakens. Electricity arcs through the entire build, turning every piece of technology within the ship into a technological marvel. The ship's cannons turn into powerful railguns and the ship's normal navigation disappears, instead replaced by thrusters for travelling through the stars.
But unlike last time, that strange spark inside her mind lights again, and a painful amount of knowledge decided to make themselves home inside her head. Concepts of gravity, the blueprints for the railguns and the thrusters on her new upgraded ship, and the ins and outs of the reality marble Eirin had casted over them.
Most of them are all moon-speak to her, but one thing is clear, and her grin grows impossibly bigger.
"[Resplendent Plunder]!"
It's a Noble Phantasm that increases her power depending on how much treasure she has. A Noble Phantasm built around her life as a pirate of the seas.
She had no treasures, not right now at least. Instead, the ship she helmed has received a massive upgrade, one far more intricate and expensive than anything on this earth. So by technicality, the market value of the things she now owned has skyrocketed.
Sadly, she didn't-, no, couldn't account for how much treasure her master had.
What was supposed to be a fairly minor Noble Phantasm suddenly became several times more taxing than her [Golden Wild Hunt], and it's only barely that she manages to hold herself straight. Fatigue shoots through her as most of her prana disappears and vertigo strikes her mind as her class parameters are forcefully altered, increased far beyond what is supposed to be normal.
Francis Drake (Rider)
Master: Tsunaka Hanami
Strength: A
Endurance: A+
Agility: EX
Mana: B+
Luck: EX
Noble Phantasm: EX
'W-What?' Francis nearly chokes as she reads her parameters. They don't look like hers, not at all. Having an EX on one attribute is great enough, but having three? Furthermore, her strength, endurance, and mana jumped by 3 ranks or so.
Her body still feels somewhat sluggish from the recent jump in power, but she's already recovering the prana she'd lost, regenerating energy at an incredible rate. It feels almost euphoric, as if she'd drowned herself with kegs after kegs of expensive rum.
Ah...it's been a while since she drank some nice rum…
"Are you alright, Rider? Our ship's about to crash." Eirin casually states, pointing at the skyscraper their ship is heading towards. "...Oh." Francis laughed silently, before taking control of the helm and moving it out of the way. She let out a soft sigh. "That's over-, wait, where's the archer?"
"...Are you sure you're alright, Rider? We've been trading attacks for several minutes now."
"Eh? Have we now?" Perhaps the upgrade had done her in more than she first expected. Oh well. She turns to look at where Arjuna now is, and she sees him a distance away, firing arrows of divine flames to counter the projectiles automatically fired from her ship's upgraded cannons.
"He seems to be dragging this out." Francis says, knowing that the ancient hero isn't even trying, using only a small portion of his authority to counter her ship's railguns. "I assume he's trying to wear you down." Eirin supplies, and she can't quite help but grin. "Then why don't we turn the tides?"
Eirin goes silent for a moment, before she smiles. "Let us."
Turning the ship to face the approaching archer, Francis aims her pistols. "Fire! [Culverin Cannons]!" Behind her, portals of rippling gold appear, much like Gilgamesh's gates, and out from them comes giant railguns, much like the one on her upgraded ship. Eirin follows along, drawing her bow with as much energy as she can, and together, they fire.
Arjuna looks at it, before firing another arrow of blue fire, one much larger than those before it. The two sides clash in a bright explosion, but that momentary blindness is enough to catch him off guard as the front of the Golden Hind is smashed onto his perfect face, launching him through several buildings and most definitely creating more destruction than needed.
The ship isn't stopping anytime soon however, and they continue their chase, firing railguns and bolts of moonlight at the archer. After some more seconds spent twirling through the air, Arjuna finally reclaims his balance and rushes forth, flying right towards the approaching ship, lighting himself with blue flames before crashing right into the ship.
The 'ship' cracks and the wooden planks that make up its body break apart, only to reveal a layer of thick titanium plating under it. His eyes widen in surprise as he sees the metal harmless take in his impact, his flames seemingly nullified by the plating.
But he continues, placing his hand onto the ship plating and concentrating as much fire as he can, even as Francis' railguns continue to shoot him. Pain shoots through him as one oddly powerful railgun shot burns through his left leg, but he remains silent, focusing as much heat to melt the ship plating.
Then, his efforts begin to bear fruit as he sees the plating begin to turn red, but the ship suddenly jerks to a stop, before flying forward again, smashing the front onto his face once more. He's flung back again, however he swiftly regains his balance and summons his bow. He draws its divine string, and with the flames given to him by Indra, he notches an arrow.
One that had shot down the glaring sun.
A glance is all Francis needs to know what that arrow is, and the amount of firepower resting inside it. She knows the ship's plating can take some serious damage before it begins to break, but she's not going to try and tank that damned arrow.
So she quickly turns the ship and begins to fly away, heading towards the last group of buildings still standing in hopes of using some of them as cover.
"Hey, Caster, mind building some defense around us?" Francis says as she points a finger at Arjuna, who's currently shining as bright as the sun with an arrow notched on his bow. "The guy's about to throw some major firepower."
"...How many layers should I maintain?"
"Eh?" Francis blinks at the question, surprised the woman would trust such an important question to her.
[Twenty two layers]
"Twenty...two layers." She blurts out, and Caster nods before casting her magic. Rows of bamboo grow out horizontally through the buildings, intersecting and overlapping over one another and surrounding the Golden Hind in a makeshift magical shield. Just as she'd suggested, exactly twenty two layers are formed over and around them, and Caster then dedicates all her attention to making them last as long as possible.
Idly Francis realizes that a strange, familiar yet mechanical voice has been supplying her mind with knowledge, information a woman from the age of piracy shouldn't even be able to comprehend.
But that's a question she can ask for a later time. The amount of prana being expelled into the air has reached its peak, and she can hear the small voice of Arjuna. Calling its name, his voice far too small for her to clearly comprehend, he aims it at them and releases the arrow, letting it blitz through the air.
And soon, everything goes white as the arrow strikes the wall of magical bamboo, exploding with the power of the stars of old. Francis' eardrums ring, her balance sways, and her ship rocks in place as shockwaves pass through their shield, but she ignores all that. Summoning her [Culverin Cannons] once again, she aims them at where Arjuna's rough presence is, waiting for the wall before her to open up.
Several seconds pass, and just like that strange voice supplied her with, the twenty two layers of magical bamboo is just enough to hold back the entire blow, with only minor scratches forming on her skin as sharp chunks of bamboo are flung back towards her. However, with the path clear and Arjuna only half-way to notching his next arrow, Francis smirks.
The space around her begins to distort as ships of old, those vassals that had once sailed together with her appear all around her, floating atop an unseen sea in the air. Their number is numerous, far too many for a sole person to count, and the increase in her overall parameters causes even more ships to be summoned than normal, crowding the sky in floating ships.
It all grows exponentially from there. With her increased parameters, the ship's stats are brought up as well, and they're further boosted as Caster's passive magic is applied to them as well, turning their wooden shell into one suited for travelling through the stars.
All that happened in a split second.
"Remember my name by the death from my passing!"
Her Culverin Cannons fire, and with them the ships begin their attack, filling the skies with streaks of white.
"Temeroso el Draque! I am the woman who set the sun!"
Arjuna quickly summons a shield of fire, burning away as much of the incoming projectiles before they come too close. His eyes narrow, tingles of pain beginning to appear as the shield he created starts to break from the endless shower of railgun projectiles.
"The king of storms, a swarm of ghosts! You rascals, it's time!"
Francis looks to the struggling Archer, and with a wide smile, her eyes shine gold.
"[Golden Wild Hunt]!"
Every single ship she summoned arms itself, and at the same moment, they fire. Shockwaves ripple through the air as countless objects break past the sonic barrier. Every projectile makes impact with the shield, and overwhelmed, it shatters, and Arjuna can only watch before he's bombarded by an endless barrage of attacks.
Francis sighs, sweat pouring down the back of her neck. Her prana is nearly depleted again, and already she can feel the ships all around her begin to fade, but she stops them, anchoring their existence back onto the world with the small amount of prana she has left.
Because she knows, even without that voice telling her, that even that isn't quite enough to take him down.
As long as the man known as Arjuna still lives, victory will never be assured.
In the distance, the man lets out a wet cough as blood pours out from the many holes the railguns had blown through him. Most had hit his arms and legs, with several blowing through his lungs, but his other vital organs are fine, the control over his authority still active, and with it, he calls upon his final phantasm.
Gathering as much flames as his dying body can handle, he squeezes them all into one small sphere, its form an ethereal shifting blue with tips of flames escaping from its skin. He raises his hand, and with another cough, he sends the orb flying into the sky above.
"By...Shiva's wrath...the world shall end."
"[Pashupata]."
Then, like the final moments of a dying star, the orb shatters, and out from it comes a brilliant shower of fire, each bolt spreading out and descending towards the earth. With his task done, Arjuna closes his eyes and floats there, his heart no longer beating.
That's...not good.
"Got any ideas, Caster?"
"...A few. However, most would destroy your ships, this one included." Caster says simply, and Francis looks at her, before shrugging. "Not much we can do. Either the world burns or we die trying."
"Good enough." Nodding, Caster lays out the plan, and internally Francis cringes. Her prana is already low enough as it is, and even with the additional regenerating energy given from the mana potion Caster gives her, it'll still suck her prana out completely. There's a high chance she'd burn herself completely and fade away, but it isn't like they had any better ideas anyway.
Taking a deep breath, Francis steels herself, and as she'd done a lifetime ago, she commands all her ship to move, stopping right above her and creating an almost net-like formation all over the city below. Then, together with Caster, she connects all the ships into one giant formation, causing every gap between the ships to be filled with energy, creating a wide makeshift shield over the entirety of Fuyuki.
The falling flames approach fast, and with speeds of falling stars, they crash onto the shield. Immediately she feels her prana being drained to maintain the shield. Seconds pass, but it feels like hours of draining torture as she feels her life slowly being sucked out, her body slowly failing as fatigue overwhelmed her muscles.
Suddenly, something else crashes onto her shield, carrying more impact than all the previous falling pillars of flames combined, blowing away all nearby falling flames, and she only barely manages to hold the shield from tearing apart. By her side, Caster staggers back in surprise, and they both look up to see just what had hit them.
Only to see a...person?
Francis blinks in surprise, not expecting to see a person, especially someone who looked like a highschooler suddenly fall from the sky. He looks completely average actually, with his black hair slick back and a white school uniform.
But even muted, his presence is that like the ever endless night, far wider than she can comprehend.
Everything goes silent, and the two servants simply stare, surprised. Then, a minute passes, and another presence appears, this one strikingly familiar.
"Touch...down." A voice says, sounding far too casual for such a situation, and Francis can't quite help but smile.
After all, the one floating above them all is Tsunaka Hanami.
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