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Chapter 186: Chapter 177

"Praise me more." I preened.

"Oh fuck off." Mordred rolled her eyes as she continued to poke at the strange structure. "The hell is this even made of? It\'s like stone, but also metal."

"Probably some material originating from the Age of Gods." I shrugged. "I would take some, but I doubt it would last for long considering its nature as a Noble Phantasm." Well, considering it belonged to someone else and wasn\'t abandoned in the same way that Ascalon was.

Ascalon was a unique set of circumstances that would be very hard to replicate again. It\'s not like a Servant can just permanently give away their Noble Phantasm after they leave the world.

Now that I thought about it, Avalon is one of the few exceptions as well, but that comes from the fact that it was created as a Noble Phantasm and wasn\'t elevated into Legends after the death of its wielder.

But I digress.

I walked up to another piece that impaled itself into the ground, towering above me by several feet. I withdrew Mirage from my ring and swung it at the strange material.

I frowned, running my hand along the small groove now carved out of it. It was shallower than I expected, but I could more or less estimate the durability of this stuff. Whether it\'s the same strength throughout, I had no idea, but the thought of merely bulldozing me way through the structure itself was not at the top of my plans.

"Hey Raikou." I looked towards my Servant who stood attentively at my side. Though her gaze was off into the distance, as if something was waiting for her there. I wanted to say something about Karna....but I held back. "How difficult do you think it would be to break through this?" I put a hand on the stone.

Raikou\'s attention shifted to me and to the stone I was touching. "I could guess the amount of strength behind your blow. It would not be difficult for me to cleave that piece apart." She answered. "But if you wish me to assail the fortress that is made of this material, I fear it\'s a futile effort."

Yeah, I figured, but second opinions are always appreciated. She does have the Mystery Slayer ability, but I guessed this stuff is still just a mineral, even if it\'s intertwined with a Mystery from an old age.

I turned towards Kairi. "You prepared?" I asked the other master who stood nearby.

He gave me a look. "As much as I could be." He patted the shotgun at his side with a grin.

I\'de been meaning to ask him about that. "Without prying into secrets....what exactly does that do besides normal bullets?" I tried to be polite. Gods know that Magi protect their secrets religiously. While he was not a traditional Magus, If I started trying to pry into his Mysteries, he could become hostile quickly.

"I\'m a Necromancer, what do you think I use?" I couldn\'t see, but I could imagine him quirking an eyebrow.

"Bones?" I hazarded a guess. "I know the Magus Killer did something similar with his own Ribs due to his special Origin." I mumbled rubbing my chin.

"Huh?" Kairi looked at me strangle. "The Magus Killer has a special origin?"

"Woops." I blinked I realization. "Forget I said that." He was a mildly interesting subject for Zelretch for various reasons. One reason in particular was his dual Origin of \'Binding and Severing\'. He surgically removed some ribs, and turned them into special bullets that severed Magic Circuits on contact, and bound them up like tying together tubes. It made it so your magical ability was completely crippled. "So probably the use of bones, as the most obvious answer. Perhaps grinding them down? Adding on a curse-based ignition due to their nature to conduct such things easily?"

"Close enough." He just nodded, and I took that as a que to stop delving into his specific craft.

"Hmm, that does give me a thought about the bones of different beings." I pursed my lips. "I wonder how well a Dead Apostles bones would work? Or on the other end of the spectrum, the bones of a saint – " A flag smacked me ontop the head. "Ooow!?" I rubbed the spot I was just hit, turning towards the source.

"No digging up the graves of saints!" Jeanne chastised me, waiving her flag around menacingly.

"Message received." I grumbled. "Anyways, I was getting off topic." I turned towards Kairi again. "You know how to use a blade?"

"I\'m decent with knifes, but larger ones I can manage."

I looked through my ring and retrieved one sword in particular. I hadn\'t really used it because I didn\'t like its origin and overall feel. Not to mention it fell short of my other swords by a noticeable margain. "Took this off an ancient Vampire." I tossed him Harkon\'s blade.

He caught it easily enough, inspecting the sword. "Hooh, this is a pretty nice Mystic Code." He gave it a casual swing. "What\'s it do? I can tell it\'s got some powerful property just by the Magical Energy seeping off."

"It can syphon Vitality to heal wounds." I explained. "Otherwise, it\'s a decent blade that shouldn\'t suffer damage even if it blocked a Noble Phantasm for a few rounds." That\'s not to say it was anywhere on the same tier, but it could survive against one, which was impressive in of itself.

I had a few other Enchanted weapons from Skyrim in my ring, but that was probably the best of the bunch.

"I expect that back when we\'re done." I added.

"I could get used to his." He swung it around a few more times with a clear smile on his face. "But I hope you don\'t expect me to start taking swings at Servants." He snorted. "Not all of us have that same level of bullshit that you can pull off."

A small laugh escaped my lips. "At the very least, it\'s a good last resort. And if any of those Dragon Tooth warriors pop up, you don\'t have to waste your good stuff on then."

"Good point." He nodded, accepting my reasoning easily enough.

"Good shit." Mordred agreed. "Means I don\'t gotta focus on those small fries when Servants pop up." She grinned savagely.

I smiled too, taking a look up into the sky, the moon peeking out from behind some clouds. Looking down towards our target, the field the fortress fell into was littered with debris. Pieces of it had fallen in every direction and the fortress itself had crashed into the ground and turned this field absolutely barren.

"Be Careful, I don\'t doubt this whole area is probably boobytrapped." I spoke up.

With how many pieces were just thrown about, it would be foolish not to set traps with their time since they suddenly became immobile and would obviously be attacked this night.

"Ready?" I swept my gaze around.

"As I\'ll ever be." Kairi nodded, and a firm nod by everyone else.

"I believe this is where we will have to part." Jeanne spoke up. "I do not wish to have others think I am not abiding by the rules.

"Eh, won\'t stop me from telling them just that anyways." I replied with a cheeky smile.

She bopped me on the head with her flag, much lighter this time. A small smile on her face even as she admonished me. "Don\'t you dare break the rules, Wilhelm." She tried to give a stern look, but failed.

"Hey, don\'t go." I reached out grabbing her shoulder.

"Wilhelm." She said quietly. "I can\'t—"

"I like my meat shields in bullet blocking distance."

"....." She gave me a very dry look.

I couldn\'t help but laugh before pulling her into a hug, earning a little \'eep\' from her. "No matter what happens, I\'ll think of you as a friend."

Yeah, I\'ve gotten rather attached to this Penniless Saintess.

"Wilhelm." She said quietly, accepting the hug. "Thank you." The smile she gave me seemed to bright up the night. We broke away after another moment, a little sad look she gave me. "I will take my leave." She looked at everyone. "Thank you for taking care of me all this time." She lightly bowed her head in thanks.

Without another word, she turned and headed off towards the Fortress in a different direction.

Well, she had her duties and wouldn\'t budge from them. Not much I could do in these circumstances, and forcing anything on her would just lead to resentment.

"Shall we head out as well?" I smiled towards Raikou.

"I am ready for battle, master." Raikou took on an even look, one that truly displayed her alertness.

"Finally." Mordred punched her palm, summoning up her armor. "This is gonna be great."

We started moving towards the Fortress in the distance, passing several large slabs of stone that jutted up from the ground. Watching each piece and looking for any signs of traps or the like.

"With my Bows and Arrows, I respectfully ask for the Divine Protection of the Moon Goddess Artemis, and the Sun God Apollon." Foreign words echoed throughout the surroundings carrying far more than volume implied.

Words that carried weight to them as we all seemingly moved at the same time. Instinct driven, we may not have known exactly what was coming, but it was dangerous.

"I offer thee this calamity....."

"Phoebus Catastrophe." Not far way, twin arrows shot towards the sky, and a bright light shined in the heavens as an uncountable number of arrows fell down like the wrath of God.

***

I think I wrote this chapter when I wasn\'t feeling too well, so it\'s a little shorter than my normal ones. But here begins the final leg of this Arc. Just a reminder, No chapter tomorrow.....or later today depending on your time zone.

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