The Underworld Scales (Part 2)

The key to this fight is gonna be dealing with all the damn minions.

First, we gotta get past the huge army. Then, we take down the leader.

There's always just smashing through, but we don't really have the Servantpower for that.

(Sigh) If only Kagekiyo was here to help out. Or hell, even the new Hassan.

Yes, having a third Avenger specializing in offense would certainly improve matters.

Since that isn't an option, the two of us presently accompanying Master will just have to do the best we can on our own.

Yeah, yeah. Real helpful revelation there, Captain Obvious.

So yeah, the two of us're gonna do what we can, along with Master's simple summons.

I wanna start by getting a sense of how they operate. So, our next battle's gonna be against some of their outlying forces!

Approaching enemy gathering point.

I see them! Ghosts and skeleton soldiers up ahead!

Eh, kinda figures they'd react to us approaching. Okay, we'll take these down first!

Then we'll see how their leader responds and adjust our strategy accordingly.

Got that, Salieri and Master!?

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(Impressive. But then, Alter or not, she is still the savior saint of France. She knows how to fight an army.)

(Not that she'd likely appreciate me saying any of this aloud.)

...Lamenting Exterior, activate. Stay behind us, Master.

...Assuming you have the option, of course. Let's go, Alter!

... ...

...Let's go, Alter!

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Will you stop calling me that already!?

Report.

Two enemy Servants have made their way into Shinjuku Central Park and destroyed three-tenths of our southern army.

No matter. Keep chipping away at their magical energy.

Not only are their spears and magecraft not able to extinguish the flames of our vengeance, but they also have limited magical energy to maintain their Spirit Origins.

All the more so for their Master.

Let them flail about and wear themselves down.

If you can force them to unleash one of their Noble Phantasms, so much the better.

Yes, my lady.

That being said...I suppose I may as well do what I can.

Huah Sphinx!

Of the three of you defending my position, I want two to head out and meet the enemy!

Go forth, nighttime desert winds! Grind down the two Avengers' Spirit Origins all at once!

Never mind the enemy Master. Once his Servants are gone, he will be completely defenseless.

Alter! Above you!

Yeah... I hear them.

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Krgh!

Guh, I hate these freaking Sphinxes! As if it weren't bad enough how damn strong they are, they even bait you with feints!

They're strong, fast, deadly... Ugh, what a pain in the ass!

RRRAAAAAAHHH!!!

Be that as it may...they're not invincible.

All right! Way to kick ass, Salieri!

Too bad its Spirit Core is intact, but we don't have time to finish it off!

Because it looks like their leader finally took the bait... She sent some of her own guards out on the attack.

So we're going with plan C!

Plan C...

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That's right. Now's our chance! We need to make the most of this opportunity!

Let's go, Master! Full speed ahead!

Mr. Sal, help me with the wall walking! Oh, and carry Master, too!

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Of course. Hang on tight. I'm going to jump.

Emergency report! The enemy has defeated two Huah Sphinxes!

You must fall back, O avatar of the underworld and heavens!

...Hmph. They've left me no time to retreat.

I am impressed to see them latch so tightly to my talons. They are clearly experienced warriors.

You've shown why you are the Heroic Spirit who ended a century of war! Well done, Jeanne d'Arc Alter!

Why, thank you, Queen Nitocris!

Dammit!

Another black Sphinx! She must have kept one here in spirit form to protect her!

That's okay. She has little enough in the way of defenses that we're still going with plan C, especially with your spikes making it easy for me to walk on walls.

Come on, Master. Now's our chance to take her down!

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...I am fire. ...I am tears.

You who still bear a heart, listen well. I am the teardrop that will end your life.

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Is that what you wish?

Very well, then I will welcome you into my underworld. ...Come.

Ghh!

This is bad. We can't get in close enough. If we can't break through, she'll have time to regroup.

I know!

Hmm. You three have fought well.

I am the underworld and the heavens, but this also means I am ignorant in the ways of human conflict.

I commend you for reaching me so quickly. You are all strong indeed.

But this is the end for you. I grow tired of this back-and-forth.

She's summoning reinforcements! Alter!

Yeah, yeah, I know. She's obviously not throwing them in without a plan. I'm still not seeing any limit to her magical energy.

Hell, it looks like she might have enough that she doesn't even have to pretend to care about it. Am I right?

I'll take your silence as a "yes"! The problem for you is that we've got plans of our own.

Master! Salieri! Plan C2! Let's back off for now, and

Master of Chaldea.

Fujimaru. That was your name, yes?

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Don't listen to her, Master. We're going with plan C2. Let's fall back.

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Master!

Aha. I know that face, Fujimaru.

That is the face of a fool who was too weak to protect those he loves.

Oh yes... I know that face very well.

I, Nitocris, am also one such fool. I loved my brothers more than anything...

...but our treacherous retainers killed them, tainting my authority, my pride, and even my very fate.

I might have simply lamented my powerlessness, but to what end? I might have flooded the Nile with my tears of rage and grief, but to what end?

Yes, that's right.

There is no point. Not in any of it.

So, tell me, my fellow fool...

Who did you let die?

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What are you doing, Master!? I told you, stay bac

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Are you freaking serious!?

Look around you! Taking on a single Divine Spirit Servant with tons of magical energy is hard enough...

...but this one's got a damn army fighting for her! And it's not just mooks! She's got a freakin' Sphinx!

And if that's not bad enough, it won't be long now before those other two Sphinxes regenerate and

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Oh no, you don't! We need to fall back right now!

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Master!?

Heh. Too bad, false saint.

Your skill in the art of war matters little with your Master in so sorry a state.

This is where your journey ends.

Sleep well.

Hrngh!

No!

Sleep well.

Fujimaru! Close your eyes!

I told you to close them!

Kagekiyo!

I'm here. Leave him to me!

Kagekiyo? New kid!?

It would seem both the transfer students have arrived. I see... So you finally made it to West Shinjuku!

We did. Transfer Student No. 1! The music teacher, the glam girl, and I will handle these things! You look after our Master!

You got it!

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I'm not letting go until you're thinking straight! Come on! We're falling back!

Sorry about this.

Settle down!

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...Looks like nothing's coming after us, at least for now.

Kagekiyo and the others must be keeping them busy.

Now then.

You!

What do you think you're doing!?

I figured out what was going on right away. I'm impressed you reached the enemy commander, given how many enemies you had to fight through to do it.

It probably wasn't your strategy though, and I doubt the music teacher came up with it either.

So it must've been Jeanne Alter. You know, I forgot she's a pro at these kinds of things.

Anyway, that's it, isn't it?

It really is impressive that she came up with such an effective strategy, and that you were able to execute it so well.

But then...

What happened to you back there? Were you just desperate to finish the enemy commander off?

Were you trying to get yourself killed? ...No, it's not that.

You were probably just so angry, you lost your mind or something like that.

...Did you want to kill her that badly?

Listen to me, Fujimaru!

Look at me!

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I'll ask again: What did you think you were doing?

Why are you here? What is it you really want to do?

I'm not talking about how you were caught up in a Rayshift.

I asked the music teacher about you during the break after fifth period. He said you've been on a journey.

A long...long journey.

What was it all for?

To kill your enemies?

Are you just in it to bathe in their blood? To enjoy the sweet taste of victory and slaughter?

What are you?

The music teacher said you were a traveler trying to make his way back home.

Was he wrong? Are you actually hoping to become a historic mass murderer or something?

You've been to all kinds of Singularities and Lostbelts, right?

Why did you go there? Was your goal just to go around killing every enemy you could find?

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Damn! That's one big Demonic Beast!

Is it using Presence Concealment!? Is that why I didn't sense its magical energy up till now!?

Impressive trick for a Demonic Beast! Stand back, Fujimaru!

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...Well, shit.

Get ready to fight, Fujimaru. I'm pretty sure I can't beat this thing on my own.

And I can't have you dying on me while I'm still evaluating you.

Let's do this!

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Dammit, I can't get past it! I'm gonna have to jump!

Hold on!

Damn, it's coming after us!

It's even shooting fire storms at us! I'm gonna have to go back down!

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Huh!? Don't tell me you're

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...Just don't get yourself killed. Not until I've finished evaluating you!

Hm!?

Magical energy signal incoming from above! Alter! Salieri!

Dammit, now YOU'RE calling me Alter, too!? ...Wait.

Aah! Why is it raining glass!?

There's a Servant signal sliding down the building at high speed! Is that

Phew, we made it somehow!

Hassan? And...Master!?

That's not all, it seems. There's a powerful magical energy source right on their tails. Get ready!

Huh, not bad! You did some pretty good work on this Sphinx's Spirit Origin!

Sorry I couldn't finish it off. Let's do that now!

Got it!

...So, you are back and none the wiser. Very well.

My torrential waters shall swallow you. The underworld will make you mine.

If you would resist, then take up your sword.

Fight me. Kill me. Transform your inner fury into flame.

Or, if you wish to see tomorrow, then once again...

More hostiles materializing... I count several hundred at least!

To think she can still summon so many soldiers... It seems Divine Spirits' magical energy is truly boundless!

It would seem the three Divine Beasts are alive and well, too. Heh. You've been struggling here, haven't you, music teacher!?

Alter makes the tactical decisions, not me.

Th-that's a lot of pressure! I mean, I'll take the compliment, but still!

All right, Master, I know you just got back, but I don't think

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Huh?

... ...

Or, perhaps...

Perhaps, if you seek something even deeper...

...then raise your hand.

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I am death and slumber. O wind...frigid night wind!

Holy shit!

I can't believe it... She took out both of those Sphinxes with a single strike! Who is that Servant!? Some kind of monster!?

...How foolish. How truly, pathetically foolish!

That Spirit Origin... Nitocris Alter! A mere flawed Avenger, foolishly afflicted with madness!

You may be blessed by Anubis. You may even be Anubis's Divided Spirit.

But you cannot compare to my perfect Spirit Origin!

Whether in Spirit Origin, or spiritual or divine rank, I surpass you in every aspect!

Even your magical energy is far less than mine! You are nothing but a pale imitation of me!

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What...?

She broke her own formation! Now's our chance! Everyone, advance!

Understood. Kagekiyo, moving to slaughter.

Time to move. Try to keep up!

That's my line, dammit! All right... Let's finish this!

Great Anubis!

Huh!?

You broke my Bounded Field infused with my divine aura!!! How? How!? HOW!?

...

(I can't believe how evenly matched they are!)

(Records from the Seventh Lostbelt said Nitocris Alter's Spirit Origin was unstable due to her Madness Enhancement.)

(However, that very madness is also proof of who she is.)

I am an avenger without vengeance. That is who I am.

So if I should ever be summoned in an Avenger Spirit Origin...

...that Spirit Origin is bound to be flawed.

Such a version of me would have Madness Enhancement, Mental Corruption, and other traits along those lines.

If she did not, then she would not truly be me.

Remember this well, my ally.

If you should ever encounter a version of me as a pure Avenger...

...do not hesitate to kill her.

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You can. I assure you, you can.

I don't know about other Heroic Spirits, but knowing myself, and how close I am to death and the underworld...

...Listen to me, Fujimaru.

Queen Nitocris trusted you once in the desert...

...and again in the depths of the earth.

Though you are still alive, you've wielded the power of death and darkness against the gods themselves.

In the face of someone like you, any imposter of mine...

Hrrrgh!!!

You!

What... What is that jet-black...thing mixed in with your soul!?

How did I fail to see it until now!? I have Authority over death and the underworld, and yet, I...

I...!

Any imposter of mine...would surely be paralyzed by fear.

And that means you would have no trouble killing her.

You!!!

You... You... You would resort to something so horrific!?

Impossible! Impossible!

Your very existence should be impossible, Fujimaru!

I don't know what's going on with her, but she's scared! Hey, Chaldea guy!

Master!

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Very well. Here lies death's domain!

I, who hold the scales, invite you to the underworld.

And now, you will be judged for your sins.

Neferu Swen Anubis!

This... This can't be! I can't lose to such a flawed Spirit Origin, with such little Divinity!

Punishment to the disrespectful! Releasing Anpu Neb Ta Djeser's limiters... Master!

I'm going to borrow the shadow lurking at your feet. Now, to be doubly sure... Come forth!

The stars of guidance that shine in the heavens!

We descend here and now!

Huh? The Dioscuri!?

That's right... An Avenger Spirit Origin! They're a dual class consisting of both Saber and Avenger Spirit Origins!

She's using the shadow's ability to summon Chaldea's Avenger Spirit Origins as though it was second nature!

Dioscures Tyndaridae!

Khh...!

This...can't...be...!

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...!

I am an avenger absent vengeance. Which means...

...I must never speak of my own revenge. Goodbye, my improbable self.

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