After Loki and her familia left, the others went to do their own things. Ash walked towards the training ground to do something else.
He wanted to try summoning. He will choose Servant Summoning this time from the Fate series. So, he simply snapped his fingers and a magic circle appeared on the ground glowing red.
Since he wasn't summoning them as servants, but instead for fun, he decided to speak to them.
"Send my voice to the Throne of Heroes, Lene."
[ Yes, Master. ]
"This is a choice for you. You can choose to answer me or not. This summoning would be permanent, meaning, you will not return to your origin. If you desire adventure and freedom, you can choose to answer my call."
The magic circle dimmed slightly then the next moment, it shone with a dim purple flash. What come through the circle was an extremely beautiful woman, with her body proportions being perfect, having long purple hair and crimson eyes, a veil covering half her face, wearing a metallic armour, and a red spear in her hand.
[ Image ]
"Are you my Master?"
"As explained before, you do not need to call me as such, Witch of Dun Scaith and the Queen of Land of Shadows, Scathach. My name is Ash."
Scathach, squinted her eyes at her summoner, as she couldn't see through his strength. Atleast she could see that he was a god with the divinity oozing out of him. But that was all she could see. This made her smirk a little. But she nodded.
"I'm surprised that you know of me. But then again, having a connection to the Throne of Heroes, it is impossible if you don't know the names of many servants or heroic spirits."
He nodded. "Do you have anything to ask?"
"Before accepting this deal, I heard that you will grant any wish as long as it is not too extreme of something related to your important people?"
He nodded again. She smiled under her veil and said,
"Then I have a wish. And I see that you are capable of granting me that. So, if you grant it to me, my life and soul shall be yours to command."
He expected this, so he nodded. He asked,
"I will. So, what is this wish of yours?"
"Fight me and kill me."
Like he expected, she wanted someone to kill her. Maybe it was because she lived too long, or no one could kill her, or she wanted to be free from the curse of being the Queen of The Land of Shadows. She wanted someone to kill her so much that she trained heroes for that specific task.
"Very well. But just letting you know, I can resurrect you. So, even after killing you, I will make sure you keep that promise of yours."
Scathach showed a small shocked expression, but smiled and nodded as she could believe his words. After all, reviving dead is not an impossible task in her world. Besides the moment she arrived here, she understood one thing, she was no longer binded to her prison, the Land of Shadows. That can mean only one thing, he is powerful enough to negate such a contract.
"That's fine with me. So, when are we going to fight?"
"Now."
He snapped his fingers and the two of them appeared inside his inner universe in a planet. She looked around in surprise and wonder before asking,
"What is this place? I can feel that this place is like a paradise, for spirits or even gods. It's comfortable even though it's just a dessert."
"This is my inner universe, born out of my soul. So, the entire universe have my essence in them."
She nodded with an amused smile. He then did something that made her question him.
"What are you doing?"
"Sealing my strength. Although I'm not underestimating you or anything, if I were to fight with my all, i can just snap my fingers and kill you. But i wanted to see how I will fare against you who is a master in weapon arts and rune with just my weapon proficiency. Also, I will only lower my physical strength to your same level."
She once again was shocked hearing him, how easily he can kill her if he wishes. But his descision to seal his strength made her a little crazy as well.
"Then, let's do this. We can't use anything other than our weapons, intent, and physical power. How?"
He nodded and created a sword that looked like plain but in the style of a long Katana with a curved end. It was similar to the sword used by the MC from 'Plunderer'. He made it indestructible, so that was enough.
Scathach called for her favourite spear, Gae Bolg and tapped the ground sending a small shockwave throughout a radius of 100 metres.
Ash lowered his sword to the front with a smile and infused his sword intent into it making even the ground and air to be severed. A gust that felt like the slash of the sharpest sword in existence passed by Scathach, making her spear to tremble, unable to control her hands under that sword intent.
Feeling her own excitement rising, Scathach waited for him to say something. He snapped his fingers and a digital stopwatch with 3 second remaining appeared in the air. Understanding the meaning behind his actions, she nodded.
As the atmosphere between them tensed, the time began to go down.
3
2
1
GO!!
The two of them disappeared from the positions and appeared in the middle with their weapons clashing with sparks and shockwave that made the entire earth to split open!
CLING!!
CLANG!!
BOOM!!
Pushing each other aside, they created a cloud of dust around them. Again their figures disappeared, next moment they were in the sky, exchanging their attacks at each other.
Her spear landed on his sword which was defending against her slamming. He landed with a spider web cracks formed under him.
Scathach infused her spear intent to her weapon, and pointed it to him. She pulled it back and threw it at him with inhumane speed that could have destroyed the entire Orario with its sheer might! Together with her intent, it was a deadly weapon that would destroy anything that it touches.
Ash smirked and dodged it, but shocking her, he held her Gae Bolg and did a arc and threw it back with her and his own spear intent infused within it. To make things more interesting, he threw a sword intent following it!
Scathach couldn't but be impressed by his way of fighting. But it felt like he was learning it through their fight.
She was sure that she can't catch her spear without sustaining any injuries even if she pulled out another one. So, she sacrificed her right hand by stopping it. But in the process, her right arm was obliterated! Then she used her left hand to stop the incoming sword intent.
BOOM!!
Dust flew everywhere, making it impossible for anyone to see. But the two of them could see everything. In the ground stood Scathach with a bloodied hand and a crazed smile. Opposite to her, Ash stood there with a smile and concentrated eyes.
"Hahahahahahahahaha!!!!!! Great!! Show me!! Show me more!! Ash!!"
Ash could only shake his head at her craziness. But there is always a reason for their wishes. So he wasn't going to admonish her.
She appeared in front of him with her spear head against his chest. But he moved his knee, kicking the Gae Bolg's trajectory to upwards. She didn't back away, instead tried to use the other side to hit him, but his sword met it and pushed her away. He saw that she was getting exhausted. So he nodded and said,
"Then, let's make this our final attack. This attack will kill you."
He said confidently making Scathach chuckle, but she didn't deny his claim, instead smiled like an excited child.
"Using the power of my spear should be allowed, right? I don't mean its skills, but the raw power?"
"Yeah. I was going to use an improved technique using my intent and weapon. So, that's fine."
His left leg half-kneeled on the ground, he pushed the sword into the ground, and pulled it back behind his leg. His hands tightened around the hilt of the katana, releasing a heavy pressure and sword intent that is strong enough to destroy the entire world.
Scathach spinned her spear making an unknown sign with its flow, and tapped against the ground once. A red pillar of light erupted from her spear, piercing through the clouds. That light was all absorbed by her spear back, giving it a red shining gleam!
The next moment, their whole surroundings became white, as Scathach and Ash moved. She moved at an even more terrifying speed and reached in front of him. If anyone else, even a god were to stand in front of this spear now, they will feel their Instincts scream just by standing against it!
At the same time she moved, he pulled his sword in an upward slash while muttering,
"Se~kai!"
BOOM!!
The Gae Bolg touched his skin and resulted in a scratch. But on the other side, Scathach was smiling, but she was split into half from middle. Even then, she was smiling ecstatically!
"How beautiful..."
She muttered before the entire planet was filled with fire and smoke. Ash immediately teleported outside the planet above it, and saw the spectacle. He summoned her soul which appeared in a spiritual form near him.
Opening her eyes, Scathach could only say one thing.
"How absurd.."
Because in front of her eyes, the world which they were in for a moment ago was now in the process of splitting apart slowly. The next moment, it exploded into pieces creating a beautiful spectacle of a star exploding!
He turned towards her soul and asked,
"So, how was death?"
"It was a great feeling. Though it was all dark and like I slept for an unknown amount of time. But when you summoned me, i felt like I woke up from the sleep the next moment. It's a mysterious feeling..."
He nodded. Because he was the same, someone who tasted death before. He snapped his fingers again and reformed the planet. He then asked,
"Although I said that all, I will still give you a choice. What do you want to do? Enjoy true death or be resurrected? You can decide. After all, i don't like when I force anyone."
She was a little surprised that he said this, but looking in his eyes and seeing his honesty, she closed her eyes and said,
"No. Now that I got my wish, I want to repay you. Besides, I want to enjoy this new life the way I want."
He nodded and resurrected her. She thanked him and asked,
"So, what was the exact reason for you to summon me?"
Ash scratched the back of his head and said,
"It was just to have some fun...hahahaha..."
Scathach was amused. She gave a cheeky grin and nodded. Suddenly he heard someone talking through telepathy. It was Haruhime.
'What's wrong, Haruhime?'
'Master, I have a request. Where are you?'
'Ah.. I will come in a second.'
'Understood.'
After replying to her, he taught Scathach about the world of Danmachi making her intrigued. So, with that, they exited the soul universe.