Chapter 435: Chapter 394
"Master, when you removed my Madness, it required Grandfather and the Grail to accomplish." Raikou gently reminded me as if I was about to do something foolish.
Jokes on her, because this was probably a step past that.
"Can you really save him?' Jeanne questioned.
"....maybe?" I honestly wasn't too sure of it myself. "I have an idea with all of us assembled here. I have several tools available....every one of them by themselves or even paired would probably fail, but together with your status as Ruler and Raikou's Noble Phantasm, I think we may have a shot."
Either way, he had to be taken care of. He was a Berserker servant with another Berserker Saint Graph layered on top of his own and he was working for the enemy. We couldn't just haul him around with us forever and keep him sedated.
"Did your Grandfather not say it was immensely difficult even with his own hand and the Grail though?" Raikou seemed somewhat skeptical. "I do not recall exactly, but I think he equated it to surgery with a chainsaw...."
"That sounds about right." I nodded.
"We have neither of those here." Raikou added.
"That's also correct."
"What is your plan?" Raikou asked.
"We're going to metaphysically bludgeon him until he stops being a Berserker."
".....would it not be kinder to simply put him out of his misery?" Jeanne asked.
"Master, perhaps you should consider when the Saintess is opting for a mercy kill." Raikou agreed.
"Jeez, why are you both so bloodthirsty?"
"I am not!" Jeanne huffed. "Your plan just seems...."
"Let me ask you this, in all seriousness." I put a hand on her shoulder. "What exactly do we have to lose?"
"....would it hurt him?" She looked down at the unmoving Servant.
"He's a double Berserker. I would honestly be surprised if he wasn't experiencing excruciating pain on a mental level by just existing in that state."
"Master, do you truly believe you can succeed or are you simply angry at him on Artoria's behalf and want him to suffer?" Raikou asked.
"95% of the former." I answered honestly. As much as I wanted him to experience how much Artoria suffered, this wasn't how I would go about it. But I freely admit I wouldn't be upset at any pain or unpleasantness that may arise.
"Tell me what you need me to do." Raikou nodded.
"Your Mystery Slayer ability, I think we can utilize it here." I pointed towards the black mist that was pulsing around him. "That misty substance is tied to his summoning as a Berserker and should be a passive Noble Phantasm in its own right. Not in a way that we can simply disperse it and he'll be fine and dandy, but enough that attacking it may put pressure on his Madness. We're trying to reach below his Mad Enhancement."
"His Madness is different than mine." Raikou noted.
"Yeah, his is more of a curse than a mental influence."
And his Madness should be much lesser in rank. In that, it was something added on due to his actions later in life and crystallized by story and legend. Raikou, in comparison, had a warped view her entire life and that was merely displayed through the status of Mad Enhancement.
"And Jeanne, how good are you at removing curses?" She was a Saintess, by virtue of her existence she should have some manner of dispelling for evil statuses on her Servant Sheet.
"I can handle some things, but this is...." She paused. "I don't have any confidence in this, Will. Removing someone's Mad Enhancement, that's far beyond what I'm comfortable saying I can do."
"That's fine, I just need you to try your best, I don't expect you to do everything yourself."
"Alright, I'll trust you." She gave a warm smile.
"I won't betray your trust." I returned a similar one. "Now, what I need everyone to do first Is get naked." I said with a completely serious face.
".....can I retract my words?" Jeanne asked.
"Nope." I quickly denied.
Jeanne puffed up, smacking my shoulder.
"Master~" Raikou giggled. "If you want me to get naked, you don't need to make up a reason."
"No stripping!" Jeanne squeaked out.
"It's crucial for this to succeed." I delivered evenly.
"It is not!" She huffed, turning a light shade of red. ".....right?"
"I want to say yes...but it would honestly be distracting. I probably wouldn't be able to focus and would have just stared the entire time." I was honest with my reply.
"D-don't say something like that." She covered her face.
"Alright alright. The last thing we need is another lewd Saintess running around. Though...considering the outfit you have when not in your Servant attire, that may be too late."
"It's not my fault!" Jeanne whined. "I didn't choose that clothing."
"Big G did, which makes it even more suspicious considering what Martha was wearing....." I looked over to Raikou. I wanted her in something similar now.
A school girl uniform for Raikou...
Or maybe a Teacher?
Regardless, I was getting side tracked.
"Anyways, let's not lose ourselves in Jeanne's deviancy –"
"Neeeh!"
"—We need to focus and try to remove his Mad Enhancement."
"A question, Master." Raikou interjected.
"Yes?"
"Why do you desire to free him of his shackles beyond any moral quandary?"
"I may not need another Servant, but there are others who would benefit from him." We were already told that Chaldea arrived, so I didn't need to overly explain that again.
Call me a worry wort, but I would feel more comfortable if I could give them another Servant after experiencing the hand behind the curtain here.
And my dislike for Lancelot aside, he was a top tier Servant, comparable to Artoria.
Jeanne mentioned that several more Servants appeared, so that means they had successfully summoned them back at Chaldea, but more could never hurt.
I took out a stack of Talismans and went through them, mulling over the best way to go about this. Taking a dozen or so into my hand, I began placing them on the unconscious knight's body. "He's going to wake up and most likely rampage as soon as we start."
"I will not allow him to act as he pleases." Raikou stated.
Well, that was partly the role I had for her regardless.
I pricked my finger, letting blood seep out and pushed it against the top of his helmet over his head and drew a Thurisaz Rune. The symbol of obstacles and overcoming difficulties. Over his heart, I drew a Uruz Rune, that which determined willpower while also inherently holding the power of Soul Shaping and Spiritual Progress. And then I linked them with a Kenaz Rune for Spiritual Guidance and painful healing.
It wasn't quite a Runic Sentence for a spell, but rather to draw upon their base characteristics to make our actions flow properly.
And I used my own blood as a catalyst to set the Runes to fight against his Magic Resistance.
"Get into position."
Jeanne slowly knelt down and moved Lancelot's head onto her lap as she carefully placed her hands on top of his helmet "I'm ready."
"Begin." I ordered, and Jeanne closed her eyes and began to pray.
A Baptism Rite.
I felt my Devil Nature bubble to the surface in annoyance. The words she began to speak were grating on me, but my own Divinity swelled up to calm me down.
The Servant however began twitching, the sockets on his helmet flashed brightly as it was obvious he was now awake.
"Stab him in the stomach."
Raikou didn't question my order and her blade immediately shot down, impaling him through his midsection.
The Knight let out a painful roar while Jeanne continued to hold his head steady and chant.
There was even a Holy Power that became visible as it seeped into him, however, he was still struggling even with the previous wounds I gave him and Raikou's sword sticking out of his stomach.
"Left arm, then right arm." I said again, watching that black mist of his shift around.
If I was correct, it wasn't a Noble Phantasm specific to her Berserker Class, but rather one of his passive Noble Phantasms that became warped due to his Madness. Therefore, cutting through it with her Mystery Slayer would have elicited a response, which is what I wanted. I wanted his Mad Enhancement to flare up.
"Cleave away any chunks of this mist that you can." I stated, as she pulled her blade free from his arm.
"Will....this isn't working." Jeanne stated. "Anything I do, any progress I make just gets undone a moment later."
"My turn then, just keep going." I replied, putting my hand over his heart, pushing down to ease his thrashing.
Probably the key point of why I wanted to attempt this little experiment. If I didn't know the Thu'um or rather, the bits that I did know, then I wouldn't have any confidence doing this.
If he was a regular Berserker, I could probably just have Jeanne cleanse his mind and make him lucid enough to operate normally. But how he was now, well, this Dragon Witch added another layer of Berserker to him as a weapon.
So what better method than to disarm it.
Zun – Weapon.
Haal – Hand
Viik – defeated
The three words that made up the Shout to disarm an opponent. The thing is, Dragon words aren't a perfect translation to human languages.
For starters, Dragons don't have hands. So why would there be a Dragon Word specifically for a limb that they don't possess? I have no doubt that this word is the closest approximation to what a hand is, but that was probably more of a meaning added on over time as various races become more predominant.
Rather, it means something along the lines of 'grasp' in context.
What someone is possessing, they are holding. If someone was swinging at me with a sword in their mouths, I was fairly sure that the shout would work just as well.
And what was this Madness of his but a weapon in his possession? The Dragon Witch certainly made it into a weapon through her meddling. And I suppose it's ironic that I would be using the Words of a Dragon to undo her works.
"Zun Haal Viik" I spoke, altering the world as the strange syllables left my mouth.
Intent was vastly important in using a system of Divine Words like the Thu'um.
And speaking the words, I added what I wanted through my intent, thus targeting Lancelot.
His torso jerked and he made a strange gurgling noise amidst his usual roars.
It didn't work.
There was an obvious reaction, but he was still trashing about as Raikou restrained him as best as she could while doing what I asked.
"Zun Haal Viik." I shouted again.
Once more, his body jerked and he let out another strange noise, but continued his erratic movements again.
"Raikou, stab him through the Rune I put above his heart." In for a penny, in for a pound as they say.
"Master – "
"Trust me."
She nodded, and quickly stabbed right through his armor, piercing into his heart from above.
The Knight wailed and continued to fight against her, but it was obvious his strength was failing quickly.
Perhaps, we just need a push from the other end?
I placed a hand on my own chest, calling upon Artoria's Sheath, retrieving it from within myself. Strangely, he became almost placid when presented with it, but I didn't dwell too much on his new attitude, and quickly inserted it into him so he wouldn't die.
A Servant's Mad Enhancement was....natural, as weird as it was to say. It was something intrinsic to their summoning, a core part of their makeup. Which is why it needed the Grail to remove Raikou's originally.
What happened here, I can only summarize that Martha's and Lancelot's additions were added after the fact, thus making them something foreign.
Avalon repelled foreign invasions of nearly any kind. And it would keep him alive as I had Raikou stab him through the heart on purpose.
"I'm making progress." Jeanne blurted out. "It's getting a lot easier now, I think something's giving."
One more time then.
"Zun Haal Viik." I poured my intent and power into the Divine Words and a wave of energy swept up around him.
Something invisible also rippled around him, and like a burst of air, it popped and exploded outwards all around us.
Lancelot didn't move, and the malice around him subsequently began to lessen at a visible rate. His Passive Noble Phantasm also looked like it was flickering on and off before fading entirely. The true form of his armor appeared from underneath the wafting aura of hate.
Jeanne slowly set him down on the ground and took a step back while Raikou retrieved her sword and also stood back.
"Master, did you succeed?" Raikou asked softly.
"That would depend on Jeanne's efforts."
"I....don't know. I think I managed to push it down for now?" She sounded unsure.
And I couldn't blame her, it's not like there was an instruction manual for this sort of thing. A temporary lucidity was fine too, because we can just keep his sanity with a checkup every time he starts to descend again. The main concern was whether his secondary Madness would take hold, but we could keep an eye on that too.
We all stilled as he moved.
Slowly, and quietly, he climbed to his feet. It was awkward movements, denoting how weary he must have been after both fighting and our little operation, and even his legs shook just to stand properly. Gradually, his hands moved up to his helmet, and he began sliding it off, revealing a pale face underneath.
You could objectively call him handsome, and I think nearly everyone would agree. He had lavender hair that flowed down to his shoulder, sharp eyes, and a well shaped jawline. However, something was...wrong. He lacked the same kind of radiance you would expect. There was almost a shadow that hung over his head, and a hint of despair and sadness that marred his face.
"I'm – "
I punched him.
His head planted into the ground, sliding a few feet before he came to an abrupt stop and just slumped down, unmoving.
"Bwah!?" Jeanne exclaimed, rather confused and shocked at my sudden action.
"Did you get it out of your system master?" Raikou hummed.
"Yeah, I think I'm good now." I certainly felt better.
"Y-you!?" Jeanne pointed at me and then to him.
"I think it's time for a reunion." It was strange how much better a mood I was suddenly in. On a side note, I'm reminded of how annoying it was to work with the Thu'um. I considered myself talented on most Magics, but using Dragon Words was something I don't think I'll ever have much talent for. If not for Ddraig, I would probably barely know a word or two.
"Why don't we go find my wayward familiar? I miss that little rabbit."
"Oh, the other Saintess told us about a Dragon Slayer here. Perhaps we should acquire them as well? They were not allied with this Dragon Witch from the words spoken." Raikou replied.
"A Dragon Slayer?" I blinked. "Well, that would have been nice to know a few minutes ago...." I looked at the prone body of Lancelot. "I guess more Servants are always better, but I may not have gone through the trouble if we could have just grabbed another Servant so easily....oh well." I simply shrugged. "Alright, let's go find this supposed Dragon Slayer then we go meet up with some old friends."
Almost as if on cue, the Knight pushed himself up to roll over, staring at the sky.
"Am I in hell?" He spoke, perhaps to no one in particular.
"Well, this is France so.....depends on your perspective I guess."
He looked at me through his groggy eyes. "I....the memories are confusing." He held his head. "I am Lancelot Du Lac, Knight of the Light." He introduced himself.
"Nice to meet you, Lancelot." I held my hand up and he happily took it as I pulled him up to his feet. "I'm Wilhelm Henry Schweinorg, the new Queen of Camelot."
"....pardon?' He stared at me blankly.
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A/N
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