"Xenovia, do not get angered by his words." Griselda gave her a warning before turning to Rias. "Lady Gremory, I would ask that you restrain your servant. He seems to be slightly lacking in manners."
...
"No, I will not keep quiet! I am not sitting back while some stuck-up girl comes along preaching about the good will of a god that does not bother to help someone in their need and trying to kill someone like it is the natural thing to do!" Ise gritted his teeth in anger.
"What would be the point of her living on if she can't even pray to God? He won't answer any of her prayers." Xenovia retaliated by saying those words with finality, but to her surprise Ise let out a delighted smirk.
"Is that so? Well too bad, at least he was lenient enough to make Asia an exception and allowed her to pray with no side-effects whatsoever." Ise folded his arms with a smug expression that Xenovia was tempted to cut off from his face. "She has been praying for the past few weeks and there has been no trouble for her at all."
"That is ridiculous, there is no way…"
"My Lord, please grant me this prayer and give them a sign that I am telling the truth." Asia put her hands together and gave a quick prayer for proof. As if to answer her words, [Twilight Healing] glowed a gentle green while Excalibur Destruction and Mimicry answered back warmly with a gentle humming.
"There! See, she can pray! Suck on that lady!" Ise turned with a triumphant expression only to pause at the sight of Xenovia's face. "What the!"
… What?
What?!
What was this blasphemy?!
Xenovia raised her sword automatically as she looked at the girl with hard eyes, ignoring everyone's shouting around her. She did not care if she got into trouble with Griselda later or whether she had to deal with the devils in this room, but she intended to remove this mocking display of her faith this instant from the face of the earth!
"BANG!"
Everyone's movements temporarily stopped when the door crashed open and a girl with red hair and an extremely distressed expression barged right in, homing in on Sona in a second.
"KAICHOU! Did you get Ruruko's message?!" Meguri rushed through her words without giving Sona a chance to butt in. "Emiya-kun started going into some sort of seizure, and he nearly suffocated for a short while, and…"
"Meguri, calm down!" Sona placed both hands on Meguri's shoulders to stop her movements. "What is the matter with Emiya-kun?"
That was when all hell broke loose.
The Excalibur Shards that had been glowing for a while suddenly shone with a brilliant glare that made everyone in the room wince and shut their eyes while pushing the devils away from the swords. Then without warning, Xenovia felt a heat radiating from Excalibur Destruction that threatened to sear the flesh off her hand, making her release her grip unconsciously. There was a loud sound of glass breaking and the glare diminished enough for her to peek through her eyelids to find both hers and Irina's swords have decided to leave the room through the windows, leaving behind broken glass and walls.
"Xenovia, Irina, where are the shards?!" Griselda demanded an explanation from the two.
"The sword tried to burn off my hand, I had to let it go!" Irina gave the same explanation as hers while revealing a hand that was slightly burnt.
"Never mind that, we need to get the swords back now!" Griselda got up from her seat and jumped through the window without any hesitation. Xenovia and Irina followed suit and, much to her displeasure, the devils came shortly after them.
"This is our matter, stay out of this." Xenovia growled at them as she ran forward.
"Like we would let you loose on our grounds, considering that stunt you just pulled, young lady." Akeno remarked with a dangerous smile that sent chills down the spines of the exorcists. "Furthermore, if any of the students saw those swords flying around, we are the ones who have to wipe their memories, so do us a favor and just be quiet." Xenovia was about to retort with a few choice words when a blood-curdling scream rang in the area.
"EMIYA-KUN!"
The fear that was evident in that scream made Xenovia's blood go cold. It certainly motivated the devils to move even faster with greater urgency, with her playing catchup for a short while before they went into a clearing that led to the school yard. It did not take her long to see two girls who were devils, frantically trying to do something…
And the lone human who was on the ground with two swords in his chest.
...
'Battlefields raged on for years…'
'Farmers and poor folk weeping in pain while cradling the bodies of their loved ones…'
'A decorated sword in the stone in the last lights of the sun…'
'"It is your choice, but if you should choose to take the sword" The old man dressed in rags address the young man in front of the sword…'
'"You will cease to be human." A young man with white hair and unusual presence address the blonde girl as she walked towards the sword in the stone…'
'"Britain must be protected." The young man gripped the sword without hesitation…'
'"For the sake of the country, I am willing to relinquish my humanity." The young girl gave that proclamation as she pulled the sword from the stone, the edge catching the light of the sun…'
'"ALL HAIL KING ARTHUR! ALL HAIL KING ARTHUR!" The people cheers resounded through the kingdom as a man in royal clothing and a crown waved to them from the castle walls…'
'"The king does not understand the feelings of humans" One of the knights muttered behind the back of the blonde girl as a village got razed to the ground…'
'A hand holding a golden sword of different design rose from the depths of the lake in front of the king…'
'"Why do you not accept me, father?!" A knight yelled at the king in front of the other knights before storming out of the castle…'
'"Mutiny!" One knight screamed before getting cut down by one who was formerly a comrade in arms…'
'"Forgive me Lancelot." The young man wept uncontrollably as he took down the man who was once the ideal knight and his best friend…'
'"Father…" The helmet broke to reveal a face identical to the girl who struck him down…'
'"I have failed my country." The king mourned the death of his knights as he stood alone against a legion of demons with a broken blade…'
'"I am not worthy to rule" The girl looked at the blood-stained fields of Camelot…'
'"If you can grant me this one prayer… To let me attain the Holy Grail and wish for a better ruler to take my place… Then I will serve you… for all eternity…" The girl raised her hand wearily at the sky as she leaned against the tree, her strength fading and her breath getting shorter. And in the last moments, she heard a voice that sounded like the devil's temptation…'
'"I am Servant Saber, by thy summons I have come." The blonde woman turned to face the red-haired boy who would be her future master and unknowing, her future lover. "I ask thee, are you my Master?"'
"Shirou…" The emerald eyes of the blonde girl seemed to cloud over as she and the boy embraced each other tightly…'
...
"That!" I clenched my teeth as I grabbed the blades edges of the swords.
"IS!" I pulled them with enough force to cut my hands and draw blood.
"ENOUGH!" With that, I yanked them out of my body and threw them away from me, my body collapsing shortly after from using a lot of my strength. Now that I regained full control of my body, the pain came right back and I started to cough out blood like a leaking hose.
Damn it, I was getting too old for this shit.
"Emiya-kun, hang on!" Reya rushed to me and flipped over on my back, paling at the sight of the blood that was staining my clothes. She placed both hands on my wounds and a light started to emit from them, only to yell out in pain when a golden light shone from my wounds and seemingly shocked her.
"Cough~ Get back~" I spat out some blood as I used my hand to push Reya away. I could feel Avalon was starting to get very agitated with all that had happened and it seemed to be lashing out with a fair bit of rage to the point of deeming everything around me as a foreign presence to be eliminated. I would have to try and calm it down later.
"Thump~ Bump!"
I quickly turned my head to find the two swords glowing brightly and vibrating hard. My fears that they would come straight at us came true as they levitated in the air before flying straight at us. Damn it, my Prana got disrupted by that sudden attack, and Avalon was getting agitated while trying to fix me up, I don't think I can project my swords in time!
"Ba~ Bump!"
The miniature spear around my neck glowed a crimson red and before I realized what was about to happen, a bunch of demonic spears appeared in the ground in time to block the swords from hitting me and Reya. It lasted for a few seconds before the swords got deflected back and hung a few feet away, the holy aura radiating from it seemingly intensifying in response to the aggressive aura of the spears.
"Xenovia, Irina, grab the swords!" I turned my attention to find the ORC, Sona, Tsubaki, and three other strangers rushing to our side. Two girls that I do not know jumped forward to grab the swords, only to yelp in pain and released their hold on the scabbards, revealing angry welts on their hands.
"Oh no you don't!" Ise called out his gauntlet and grabbed the handle of the broadsword, stopping it halfway in its tracks thanks to his dragon's immunity to the holy attributes. It was only for a brief moment as the broadsword started to glow brightly and restart its journey towards me, all the while dragging Ise with it.
"AH COME ON!" Ise grabbed the nearest column and held on for dear life as the blade struggled to free itself from his grip. Asia, Koneko and the blue haired girl came along and grabbed his arm, helping him to try and contain the blade.
...
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