Chapter 190: Chapter 181
Chiron POV
Caster was defeated.
I hesitated to step in, opting to watch the fight from afar to better gauge Wilhelm while he was in this state. This.....draconic power that he was using. It was strange, not the strangest thing I've ever seen, but truly a strange sight.
It may as well have been a Noble Phantasm.
It certainly was as strong as one if looking at its purely destructive potential.
"Achilles," I turned towards my student. "How about it?" The corners of my lips curled up slightly.
"Damn." He scratched his head. "Kid's a monster." My student admitted. Arrogant as he often was, he could recognize the situation when needed. "As much as I want to fight him alone.....yeah, we'll need to work together." He let out a small laugh.
This War had turned out to be so interesting.
I expected a true War once I was summoned, two sides pitted against each other, every tactic deployed to gain the upper hand on the battlefield. Somehow, it turned into a large brawl between Servants, my Master safe behind the castle's walls.
And the cause of this had just killed off one of my teammates.
Flippant as he'd been acting, he managed to warp the war solely around himself. Even when the Red Faction – whom he also pitted himself against – stole the Grail, here we are scheming to take him down.
No wonder Achilles had been so aggressive towards him, they're so much alike. I suppose it helps that Wilhelm is the type of person who knew how to get under another's skin.
Calling my student Siegfried. I had a good laugh when I found that out. Especially since Siegfried was on my team, he found the joke amusing as well.
I let out a sigh thinking of Saber.
I made a small prayer to the Gods to honor his death. The Norse deities were foreign to me, but I hoped they would hear of his honor, regardless of the era.
But he died with a smile on his face, what more could a warrior ask for?
"And you, Atalanta?" I asked the Chaste Huntress.
Her ears twitched, registering my words. "I'll follow your plans." She nodded. "But do you think only the three of us will be able to handle him?" She questioned.
It was a fair thing to ask. If we were still living people, I would be confident in any of us facing him alone, but as Servants, we were very much diminished from our primes.
"I'll have Lancer and Rider attack the Berserker next to him" I stated. "I believe us three will be able to win if we work together."
Achilles kicked his spear off the ground and back into his hands. "Alright, I'll follow your lead, teacher."
"Very well." I smiled towards them. "Caster and his Golem were defeated, it's time to move." I never had a chance to meet Caster in person, but I can't say he left a good impression after his little reveal.
If Wilhelm had not stop that creature, we would have had to step in, regardless of sides. Something like that could not be allowed to persist, it would have been harmful to the world.
However, it made a wonderful distraction.
***
Wilhelm POV.
Killing Caster had been...not unpleasant.
I try not to enjoy the taking of life, but it felt a bit better after that.
Annoying prick.
"Nice kill." Mordred walked up, holding her fist up.
I blinked, a smile creeping up on my face, bumping my fist to hers. "Thanks."
"Yeah, whatever." She dismissed me, but looked rather happy overall. "Just let me have that pink bastard. Kept taking pot shots at me and flying away out of my range."
I let out a laugh. "He's all yours."
"I heard someone talking about me!" Said Servant flew over on their strange mount.
Was that a hippogriff?
I thought those were fake even during the Age of Gods....But then again, this is one of Charlemagne's Paladins. A group that could give the Round Table a run for their money on weirdness.
"You bastard, get down here and fight me!" Mordred roared, pointing her sword up towards him.
"Nope, nope." Rider cheerfully shook his head. "You're pretty scary, I'll sit up here." He smiled.
Mordred growled, activating her Mana Burst, and rocketed into the air with a crackle of lighting. Rider and his mount shifted – teleporting right as she was about to slice him.
"Woo." Rider laughed. "That almost got me." As he said that, he kicked his mount and it shot towards the falling Mordred who could only bring her sword up to block his Lance. The force of the blow shooting her towards the ground.
"Bastard." Mordred growled through the new dust cloud, standing up from the crater she made.
"He's been doing that this entire time?"
"Fuck, yes." She spat out.
"Huehue." Astolfo cackled.
What a little troll.
I kind of liked him.
"Want a hand...?"
"He's mine!" She spat out angrily.
"Alright, alright." I held my hands up in surrender. "I won't interfere."
If she wanted to deal with him herself, I wouldn't do anything unless she was in danger.
Speaking off.
A green glow jetted around in the sky, the sound of horses neighing in the air and Arrows began to rain down on me.
I jumped back, leaving a trail of arrows impaled into the ground in my wake.
I looked up, seeing Atalanta riding with Achilles in his Chariot.
Well then.
If you want to fight in the air, so be it.
I arched my back, my Draconic wings burst out from behind. Pushing against the ground, I shot up into the air towards them.
The Chariot zipped through the air in such a way that it was hard to keep up. I think it was faster than me even with this many boosts I had going. I could say it was definitely a better flyer than me, something I would need to practice in the future.
Still though.... "Boost, Boost." I accelerated up again, getting closer to the limit I could handle.
The horses continued to gallop through the air, but I was gaining. Atalanta turned back, arrows knocked and fired towards me. My Swords flash out, intercepting the arrows, and deflecting any other shots towards me.
Suddenly, Achilles jerked the reins, the Chariot turned on a dime, flipping around, and headed right towards me.
"Lightning Arrow." I cast, summoning the newly created spell, actualizing the lightning in the form of arrows.
Several of them appeared around me and I held my Gauntlet out. "Transfer."
They grew in size and power, dwarfing what they had been before. Each one was as big as I was, and I flicked my wrist, firing them off towards the pair of Servants..
Atalanta, backflipped off the rear of the chariot, bow held high and two twin arrows finding the heavens. "Phoebus Catastrophe!" She activated her Noble Phantasm, a hail of Arrows were called down from the sky.
Achilles, anticipating this, jerked his Chariot away, baiting me right into the Noble Phantasm activation.
But if this was all they had planned, I would be disappointed.
"Boost, Boost, Boost."
My hand erupted in a brilliant light. "Dragon shot." I discharged towards the sky at the oncoming barrage, destroying a good portion that would hit me. Whisper was not kept in reserve; it flew around creating Runic Spells that also fought against the onslaught of arrows. Having experienced this before, I was prepared, mitigating the majority with my retaliation. The rest I braced myself for, my Aura flaring and my natural defenses with the Scale Mail handling the attack with relative ease.
"Wilhelm!" Achilles shouted, spear in hand, shooting towards me like a comet, his Chariot abandoned.
I gripped Mirage, swinging it to meet the spear head up, the collision shattering the space around us. This small world already on the brink of collapse, minuscule spatial collapses at each collision of our weapons.
We fell to the ground with a thump, neither retreating even as we collided with the earth.
His spear snaked out, trying to find any opening in my defenses. The lethal point meeting the edge of my blade and was flicked away.
"Take this!" He roared, his body shined with the obvious signs of gathered Magical Energy, his spear hissed through the air discharging all of it right towards me.
I planted my back foot down and met his own strike with my own. Gathering Magical Energy onto my sword, I swung to meet it in a massive collision of power. Our weapons met, and his spear was knocked away, his feet leaving the ground as he was blown back, losing the confrontation.
"Teacher." Achilles grit out, sliding across the ground, summoning his spear back even as saliva was spat out of his mouth.
I snapped my head to the side, several powerful arrows whizzed by my neck as I slid my body out of the way. Right into my blind spot, barely out of the corner of my eyes, I saw more arrows coming at me. I ducked, moving to the side and gesturing for my Sword to slash out where I had just seen someone.
Again, my head snapped up to see Atalanta, mere feet above me, arrows knocked and fired down. To the side, Chiron appeared, mimicking her actions, as my vision became filled with powerful arrows.
The hairs on my neck tingled, my instincts told me that Achilles' spear was right behind me as well.
"Front, back, and top." I muttered. "Is this your plan!?" A roar escaped my lips. I was boxed in with attacks from every angle. Ascalon flew into my hand.
"Ascalon!" I activated my Noble Phantasm, the Defensive ability manifested, blocking every attack simultaneously. And I didn't stop after just defending. "Zuun Haal Viik!" My shout echoed out, the immediate area around me rippled with the Divine Words.
I noticed immediately how much stronger they were now that Ddraig was bolstering my Dragon Aspect.
All their weapons flung from their hands, their shock clear as day in their eyes. The world declared, their weapons would not be in their hands, and it was made so.
Pivoting, I turned, sword in hand, and lashed out towards Chiron. The Teacher of Heroes, he gave me a foreboding feeling, similar to Scáthach. I didn't want to wait and see what he could come up with if he had more time to analyze me.
Surprisingly, he didn't look shocked to see me coming at him, he didn't even get flustered when he became disarmed.
Instead, he took a stance, and I realized he looked very calm.
My sword swept at him, and he lightly stepped back, barely allowing it to pass by without much effort.
I stomped on the ground, changing the flow of my momentum and swung my sword down from up top.
He gracefully stepped to the side, even as my swing sundered the earth, he calmly followed up with his fist shoot out like lightning, aiming right below my arm. It wasn't hard, but I could feel it through my armor, a mild discomfort at the very most.
Flicking my wrist, my other swords moved to intercept him, attacking from all side. Almost as if he could see behind him, he moved so gracefully around each attack, never letting any get more than a small cut on him.
"Are you surprised?" He smiled towards me, dodging another beheading strike. "I have taught longer than this land had been a country." He laughed, sweeping his wrist to deflecting a swing from me to the side. My strength at this point dwarfed his, but he was using the most minimal amount of power necessary to counter my every attack.
"Among my students was Herakles." He spoke, knee shooting up. I slammed my elbow down to counter it, and he rode on the momentum, falling low to the ground and spinning his body to sweep his leg towards me. "When he was a child, and throughout his life, I was his mentor." He continued to speak, even as sweat poured down his brow, and minor cuts began to add up, staining his clothes red. "You are strong, there is no doubt. In pure might, I am not your match at all. Even your speed makes the hairs on my neck stand up. But, at his peak, you are still far off from his physical abilities." He had fond smile on his face as our exchanges continued. "And I'll tell you a secret – Even then, when he was but all but a god in name, I was still his sparring partner." His smiled turned somewhat vicious.
His leg swung up, and slammed down on the ground, rupturing the earth. Clouds of dust were kicked up, obscuring my vision, but I saw a light pierce through, a spear that aimed for my head. I raised my arm up to block and the Spear of Hero Killing met my Dragon scales.
Atalanta reappeared, coming underneath with her reacquired bow. The amount of power she was holding in the Arrow she had knocked, I questioned if it was comprised of a command seal.
And to my other side, Chiron burst through right towards me and my eyes widened seeing what he held – Achilles' shield, and it swung right at me.
Did he predict all of this and plan for it?
What great teamwork.
If they weren't trying to take my life right now, I would have applauded them. It was humbling in a way to be on the receiving end of this.
But I was playing for keeps.
"Feim Zii Gron." The same trick that first dragon pulled on me. My body became ethereal, the concept of 'inviolable" overcame me. I was separated from the world while also still being anchored in it. If it were an activation of a Noble Phantasm, I would not have trusted this. The focal point of a legend, used and pointed right at me, I felt like it could overcome the concepts that shielded me.
That shield, it was no doubt a Divine Construct, and if my recollection of legends was correct, it was said to contain a world inside. But, this ability separated me from the material world.
The Spear slipped through my body; arrows flew helplessly through my stomach. And a Shield.....it swung true, but did not touch me.
I rematerialized, arms snapped out, grabbing Atalanta, and Achilles' tossing them to the side with my floating swords shooting at them for added measure, leaving only one behind. The closest sword entered my hand and pierced right through Chiron's chest.
Blood began to flow from the Heroe's mouth as he looked down at the wound, touching my blade.
"Well done." He gave a gentle smile, one filled with a surprising amount of warmth in it. "I did not expect that trick at the end...." He coughed out some blood, shield falling out of his grasp.
I slowly pulled my sword out as he stumbled onto his back. "It's as you say, just a trick." I could just smile bitterly.
"Don't dismiss yourself. It's a wonderful ability that you used at the perfect time." His tone was jovial if admonishing me a little bit. "I'm a little bit jealous of your teacher."
"Hah." I let out a small laugh. "I think she'd like you."
"That or we'd fight each other due to our different methods of teaching." He laughed along with me, shifting slightly.
I gripped my sword tightly but he raised a single arm up. "Don't worry, you hit my Spiritual Core, I'm almost done."
I sighed, sword lowered. "Anything you want to say? I won't interfere if you want to say something to Achilles."
"You're a good kid." He continued to smile bright. "But I already said what I needed to say to him. Any more would just fill each of us with more regrets. I do have one request for you if you don't mind."
"Speak." I said quietly.
"My master, she is confined to a wheelchair due to her Magic Circuits taking away her ability to walk." Chiron slowly explained. "I think you would have means to heal her without taking away her future as a Magus."
I closed my eyes, letting out a breath. "Consider it done."
"Thank you." He nodded, eyes slowly closing. "If you'd listen to the last words of an old teacher like me, I'd like to give you a lesson."
"Pardon?"
He slowly raised his finger up into the air, shaking as it was. "You have great strength, but your skill is falling behind. Had you a few more years under your belt, I fear my attempt at fighting you like I had would have been fruitless." Even with his eyes being forced to stay open, he didn't stop. "And one more thing......be careful of lowering your guard unless you're absolutely certain of victory." His hand very shakily raised towards the sky.
My head shot up, as I noticed a strange phenomenon in the sky. Stars lit up, a constellation that formed the Sagittarius.
His Noble Phantasm
"The arrow was let loose before we even fought." He fell back onto the ground, eyes closed and a big smile on his face.
But my attention was preoccupied as a meteor fell from the sky, fast enough that I could not react as it slammed into me, my back arched at the impact, my knees buckled as I struggled to keep myself standing in that moment.
Blood spurt from my mouth as I held my side. My aura had been penetrated, and my Scale Mail blown apart at the small spot of impact.
I had to hold myself back from letting out a pained cry, as the blood in my throat threatened to spill out.
"Haha." Chiron meekly laughed. "It's a shame the sky inside here is fake." His body began to fade away.
Avalon went to work quickly healing up the wound, my Aura working alongside it, and my Lightning Nature crackled all over, knitting back together my flesh. I reached into my ring and took out a health potion, chugging it down.
My heavy breathing settled down to something normal, as I looked at the blood I spat out onto my hands.
"What a scary guy." I spat out. I was able to pick apart my fighting style and weave himself into it even when outmatched in every other aspect. I turned towards Achilles who stood there, having recovered from my attack. "You had a good teacher." I said with complete sincerity, even after getting hit.
Chiron had my respect.
***
Well, there goes another one. Chiron showing just how skilled he really is, someone who could stand shoulder to shoulder with Scáthach as a teacher.
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