Meanwhile, he kept an eye on how his children were doing. Despite having the numerical advantage, the Jormungandr clones were being picked apart and defeated by the coordinated assault of the Sitri and Gremory teams while the former Dragon King kept busy most of them.
It was a pity he wasn't able to give them the Eitr venom of the original World Serpent capable of slaying Gods. Those wounds that the blonde bishop quickly healed would have been mortal.
There was also the group of girls led by the angel and Azazel's right hand, but something wasn't right. Emiya Shirou was nowhere to be seen, as well as half of the white dragon's followers. There were only the descendants of King Arthur and the Monkey King.
Those questions were answered when his eyes drifted to where his dear Fenrir was. The red knight was running around the God-eating wolf just like last time, but he wasn't the only one. A certain black-haired nekomata was also running around it while placing frighteningly familiar magic circles.
"Those chains again? Heh, is father really out of ideas?"
"Nyaa! It's all set, Le Fay-chan!"
Having been given the signal, the little witch once more rose her staff and closed her eyes in concentration. The entire place was covered by the blinding light emitted by the circles as she recited the aria she came up to activate the new formula.
"Constricting formula locked and loaded. Great anti-divine ritual, commence! O' mystical chains, become the bringer of salvation, and let us bind the disastrous fate promised by this God-eating monster once again!"
With an unexpected new power, purple chains shot from the magic circles a wrapped themselves around the great wolf's limbs and neck like vicious snakes. Fenrir tried to shatter them with all its might. The astounding strength caused tremors and metallic cracks, but the chains kept it firmly in place... and completely defenseless.
"Trace, on!" Merodach was immediately projected on the red knight's hand and pumped full of magical energy. "O' light of selection, cleave the wicked-"
"Wait, Lord Shirou!" However, he was interrupted by the genius who was able to operate the divine construct with only a few drops of sweat on her forehead to attest to it. "Conserve your strength for Loki and leave this to us!"
He wanted to object, but seeing such resolute and sincere eyes, he decided to trust her. "Alright, then. Hnn!" Instead, he swung his sword without releasing its name at the Jormungandr clones, and it turned out to be more than enough to wipe out some of them.
A frown appeared on Loki's face for the first time during the battle, only worsened upon hearing Vali and Issei's taunts.
"Heh, so much for your dog. With just a little improvement to those chains, he's completely out of the battle."
"Just you wait. Once Sensei comes, we're gonna give you the beating of the century!"
"Hmph. Don't get cocky, pathetic devils. Unlike you nitwits, I haven't played all my cards from the start. Come, Skoll, Hati! Liberate your father from those obnoxious chains!"
All the bravado of the two Dragon Emperors went down the drain when two magic circles, one with a Sun theme and the other with a Moon theme, were drawn bellow the God. From them, two giant wolves of a size not that far from Tannin's emerged from them and immediately rushed towards the bound beast.
It was worse, as all the Jormungandr clones suddenly forfeited their offensive in favor of following that same command.
"Hahahaha!" The laughter of the God at seeing their plan and formation immediately crumble was only muffled by the next barrage of spells that Vali fired in a hurry.
"Hyoudou Issei! Put away the hammer and fight as you normally do! We need to take him down quickly!"
The Red Dragon Emperor couldn't help but nod. At this rate, trying to break through the God's defenses with his own techniques would have more odds than trying to land a hit with that absurdly heavy hammer.
"Dragon Shot!"
He added his own attack to Vali's barrage, but to their misfortune, the God quickly added a few runes to his barrier. The attacks weren't blocked but rather redirected just like the other day. Vali had to dodge Issei's, while Issei barely managed to avoid the worst part of Vali's.
"What a letdown. I was told that the two Dragon Emperors of this generation were different, but that couldn't be far from the truth. Unique personalities or not, at the end of the day, you are just masses of power good for nothing but destruction. Now I see why father put his trust in the human."
The stalemate between the God and the dragons continued despite their best efforts, so meanwhile, Shirou had to make a quick decision.
"Tannin! Forget the serpents and go for the wolves! Jeanne, you stop them!"
""On it!"" Both the dragon king and Jeanne's blade dragon spread their wings to fly at max speed towards their targets.
The heir to the Holy Maiden landed right in front of the horde of fake world serpents and raised her banner proudly as it started to glow with an intense, golden hue.
"Our Lord may not be with us more, but His blessing still remains! O' precious flagship, protect mine comrades! Luminosite Eternelle!"
Words with power came to her completely unwittingly, and the noble phantasm acknowledged her as a rightful owner, unleashing its blessing at full power. The intention might not be to directly protect her allies, but she was doing so by protecting Gleipnir from those unholy beasts, and her heart had no trace of hesitation.
The swarm hit the ethereal wall and was instantly repelled with nasty burns. No matter how much of them threw themselves at it, not a single crack or opening appeared. Some of them opted for using their dragon breath, but it was no use either.
"Kuh!" A grunt escaped the former executor's lips. The barrier was impregnable, but her body was feeling all the strain from keeping it that way.
Fortunately, her comrades didn't take long to come to her aid. A mass of destruction power pierced the head of one of the beasts, while a serpent made out of water crashed against another.
"Everyone, this is our chance!"
The two heiresses lead the charge against the Jormungandr clones in a pincer attack. While Sona and Tsubasa used their Rock Smashing Water Stream Fist to take on the few serpents that attacked back, the rest of the peerage would attack their weak points such as eyes, nose, and mouth. On the other hand, Rias' peerage followed a simpler strategy. Koneko and Kiba would attack with their fists and swords, while Rias and Akeno covered them, and Gasper froze the time around the enemies in critical instants. Lastly, Barakiel and Rossweisse flew over the main group of enemies while bombarding them.
"Stop right there, mutts!" It didn't take the former dragon king long to catch up to Fenrir's children, and he unleashed one of his meteoric flame bursts towards them.
However, Skoll, the wolf that chases the Sun, shrugged off the attack for the most part, while its brother dodged. No, rather than just dodging, it did a high-speed turn and lunged for the dragon king in the sky.
"Wha-" Tannin was caught off guard taken down from the twilight sky. A roar of pain was heard throughout the entire pocket dimension when the wolf that chased the Moon sunk its fangs into his collarbone.
Despite being smaller, those claws and fangs still had the same power as their father's, and cleaved through the sturdy scales of the former dragon king like a hot knife through butter.
To say things looked bad would be an understatement, but a voice that instilled hope pierced the battlefield just before a demonic bullet killed the distance between the red knight and Hati.
"Hrunting!"
The wolf sensed the massive bloodlust of the approaching redhound and tried to dodge it with its divine reflexes but to no avail. The "arrow" defied the laws of archery and struck true. The explosion cause a paralyzing wound, but it teared its thick fur and knocked it to the ground.
The time it took the wolf to stand up again was more than enough for a certain blue-haired swordsman to cross the distance. With swift swings, Durandal and Excalibur pierced the evil beast's front limb's tendons, immobilizing it for sure.
Before Skoll could retaliate with its voracious maws, several radiant black keys fell around it, pinning his shadow and binding him.
"Pray with me, Irina!"
"Yes!"
The two reincarnated angels landed on both sides of the wolf and clasped their hands in prayer.
"I will kill. I will let live. I will harm and heal. None will escape me. None will escape my sight."
"Be crushed."
Just as they started to recite the baptism rite, the glowing of the black keys increased tenfold to the point of forming a huge pillar of holy light that started to burn the hideous monster.
"I welcome those who have grown old and those who have lost."
"Devote yourself to me, learn from me, and obey me."
"Rest. Do not forget song, do not forget prayer, and do not forget me."
"I am light and relieve you of all your burdens."
Normally, this rite would only be effective against wandering spirits, wraiths, and even devils and vampires if the exorcist was really powerful. But casted by two angels, reincarnated or not, its power was increased exponentially.
"Do not pretend. Retribution for forgiveness, betrayal for trust, despair for hope, darkness for light, dark death for the living."
"Relief is in my hands. I will add oil to your sins and leave a mark."
"Eternal life is given through death."
"Ask for forgiveness here. I, the incarnation, will swear."
"Kyrie eleison!"
By the end of it, the wolf was so weakened by the burns that it could barely fight back. The only thing left for it was to receive the sharp edge of two of the strongest holy swords. The blades sliced through the charred fur with ease and quickly decapitated it.
"Wow, that was easy, Griselda-sama."
"Just as I expected. An evil monster born from an unconsented union orchestrated by a wicked, heretic God. It was the perfect target for this kind of rite."
Seeing them celebrate their victory, Shirou turned around to check how Tannin was doing against the other wolf. However, the sense of comfort was quickly crushed when he saw the mangled figure of the Dragon King, but not the wolf.
"Emiya Shirou! It's almost there!"
Tannin's warning prompted him to look in Fenrir's direction, and his heart stopped for a moment when he saw Hati just meters away from the chains.
"Trace, on!"
A second Hrunting was traced and loaded in the bowstring. He put just enough magical energy to turn it into a broken phantasm and fired. But he was just a second late.
The "arrow" struck the wolf and knocked it away from the chains, but in the last instant, its fangs tore one of the magic circles. Such a complex spell quickly fell apart without one of its pieces, and Fenrir started to thrash with renovated strength.
The chains were ripped away in a matter of seconds, and the God-eating monster didn't waste an instant to rush toward its father. It was so fast that even Vali wasn't able to react until those horrendous fangs were already closing in.
"AAAARRRGHHH!"
"Vali!"
Chills ran down Issei's spine. His brain couldn't register the image of the cocky bastard that always presumed to be leagues above him, now limp between Fenrir's mouth. He was still breathing weakly, but dangerous amounts of blood were flowing out of his shattered armor.
"Gah!" There was no time to think about that, as the wolf's claw came at him next at blinding speeds. This time, the was no save in the last time. He put everything he had into defense, but he still felt how his armor, muscles, and bones were rended apart as his body was flung away like a fly hit by a flip-flop.
His first action after hitting the ground, aside from gritting his teeth to endure the pain, was to crack open one of the phoenix tears he received for the occasion. The wounds were healed quickly, and his armor was repaired, but the phantom pains still remained.
However the same couldn't be said of Vali. Even if he used a Phoenix tear, it would be useless as Fenrir didn't let go of him.
"Hahahaha! What a pathetic end for the "Strongest White Dragon Emperor"! Even that loser Vortigern went out with a respectable fight!"
Despite the situation he found himself in, the White Dragon Emperor still had the strength to give the God a cocky smile. "No... I have you... where I want..."
Loki could only lift an eyebrow at those quiet words, but the only answer he got was an ominous chant accompanied by resentful and sorrowful chores.
"I, who am about to awaken..."
"They are going to be blasted away!"
"They certainly are going to be blasted away!"
"...Am the Heavenly Dragon who lost all to the principles of supremacy."
"The dream will end!"
"The illusion will begin!"
"That's... the Juggernaut Drive!?" Issei immediately recognized what was that. Even if he wasn't completely conscious at the time, that chant felt disturbingly familiar, and the tremendous power Vali was starting to give off left no room for doubt.
"I envy the "infinite" and I pursue the "dream"."
"Everything!"
"Yes, give us everything!"
Just before he completed the chant, Issei saw all the members of the team gather around Fenrir, and Kuroka spoke directly to the God of Mischief.
"Nyahaha! The only fool who thought we didn't have trump cards prepared was you!"
Just as she said that, the remnants of Gleipnir still clinging to Fenrir's body shone. The sets of magical circles composing its formula were reformed in an instant using the absurd amount of energy that the White Dragon Emperor exuded, and the chains were quickly reformed.
"Do you really thought a witch like me would create such a weak spell!? Just like the Chains of Heavens that could be recreated from the same clay that gave birth to them, these magical chains can be recreated with magical power as many times as necessary!" Le Fay announced while puffing her chest proudly.
The Red Dragon Emperor then felt the eyes of his destined rival on him. "Hyoudou Issei, Emiya Shirou, we will leave Loki to you!"
"I shall become the White Dragon of Supremacy! And I shall take you to the limits of innocence!"
And just like that, just a moment after Vali unleashed his Juggernaut Drive, they all disappeared, leaving him and Loki completely astonished.
"What the..."
"Those lowlifes... There must have been a teleportation spell engraved on the chains! But no matter. My children can be replaced. As long as Odin dies, there will be Ragnarök. Besides..." The God of Mischief looked down on the Red Dragon Emperor, the wicked smile returning to his face. "You still have no means to defeat me. I don't know what kind of miracle that idiot is expecting, but it won't happen!"
The myriad of runes and spells was casted again, however, now Issei was its only target. Luckily for him though, an gigantic figure landed in front of him. His fellow dragon and another of his mentors.
"That problematic brat. So he was planning on ditching us all along to capture the dog..." Tannin turned its head around while he blocked the spells with his wings. "Sorry for the screw-up, Ddraig. I'll cover for Albion's absence."
[Heh, don't exert yourself too much and end up spraining your back, Tannin. None of my users fought a God without activating the Juggernaut Drive, so I guess this was to be expected.]
"Juggernaut drive..."
"If I use that... would I be able to beat that bastard?" Just as that murky line of thought crossed his mind in that brief moment of weakness, those creepy voices came once again.
"Use it."
"It's always like this."
"It's always power."
"It's always destruction."
A hand rested on the side of his head. He knew he promised he would never use it again. But the alternative was... No, he couldn't let Shirou take the burden again. Maybe now that he was conscious, it wouldn't be the same.
He just had to activate it for a moment, tear apart Loki, and switch it off. That shouldn't take that much lifespan... right?
"Issei!"
A firm voice brought him out from that pull of darkness just in time. The first thing he saw was the helping hand of his Sensei- no, his friend, and he took it without hesitation to finally stand up.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, sort of. How are things going?"
"The number of Jormungadr clones is already lowering, so I'll join you to fight Loki. However, we need to take care of the last wolf, the one that broke free Loki. It's hiding amongst the serpents."
"OK! Old man Tannin, hold the front for a sec-"
"AKENOOOOO!" Their conversation was interrupted by Rias' panicked scream, and their assumptions were confirmed when they saw the Wolf that chases the Moon suddenly emerge from the clones to attack one of the prays with fewer defenses.
[JET!]
The thrusters on the back of Issei's armor ignited at maximum capacity while the red knight was already notching a cursed sword on his black bow.
But both of them knew that they would not make it in time. Even Rias, who was just beside her friend, had no chance of protecting her. But a blurred figure managed to get between the raven-haired girl and the monster's fang just in time...
By letting themselves be the ones crushed between them.
"Huh?" A confused voice left Akeno's mouth when her brain started processing the image in front of her. The hot blood that splashed over her only made the shock bigger.
"Father..."
The one who just risked his life without a second thought to save her... was none other than the sole object of her unending hatred.
"Why?"
Faced with that question, the dying man forced some words between coughs. "I can't... lose you too..."
The girl could react to those words. The opposing emotions bubbling inside her heart were too much to sort out just like that, even in the middle of the battlefield.
"HAAAAH!" Thankfully, her friend could make it in time. A touki-infused fist crashed on the side of Hati's head, forcing it to stop stumble some meters to the side, and let go of Barakiel, who was clumsily caught by his daughter.
"Akeno! Let me treat him!" Asia was already by her side. Rather than using her sacred gear, she used the only Phoenix tear they had reserved for the rearguard rather than the three dragons that acted as the spearhead.
"OWOOOOOOOOO!" But there was no time to rest. The hideous monster rushed back at them with the intention to finish the job.
However, this time another figure stood in its way. The heir of the Sitri family calmly met the God-slayer fangs with her watery hands and successfully redirected its momentum. Hati lost its balance and made a front roll that ended with its belly exposed.
That opening was quickly taken by the two devil knights, with their holy-demonic sword and katana slicing it open. The fur still prevented their blades from striking deep enough to damage organs, but they were left exposed for the next attack.
"Take this!" Rias plunged her hand wrapped in the power of destruction and released it inside the monster. Everything was completely incinerated, putting an end to Fenrir's second son.
"Is everyone okay!?" Issei and Shirou arrived in a hurry, and everyone else decided to regroup with them.
Aside from Barakiel who was still recovering and Vali's team, everyone was obviously tired, but they still had plenty of fight in them... All but a certain raven-haired girl.
"Akeno, are you okay?" Rias asked her, but the only answer she got from her friend was mumbling and stuttering.
It all stopped when Barakiel's hand moved to rest over her shoulder. "Akeno... You must continue without me..."
"Huh? What are you... I..." The confusion and indecision were observable on her face. She could no longer decide how she should address the man in her arms.
"You know... L-let me check something with my Pailingual." Issei suddenly stepped beside the father-daughter duo and closed his eyes in concentration while ignoring everyone's inquisitive eyes.
The entire area was plunged in silence as they waited for him to react, and when he did...
"Huh? No way... I heard an Oppai spirit!"
Some of them felt their jaws hang limp at those nonsensical words. Even Tannin stopped his battle with Loki to look at him in utter bafflement.
"Blonde bishop! Try to heal his brain with your sacred gear! I think Fenrir's claws had some kind of poison!"
[Wait! My partner isn't hallucinating! I've heard it too! Some kind of spirit saying to be an emissary of the Oppai God spoke to us!]
"Shit! Somehow the poison affected Ddraig too!"
[Why does no one believe me!? It's because I became the Oppai Dragon!?] The red dragon's voice became muffled by his own sobbing. Maybe what he needed was a therapist instead.
"Oi, Issei! This is not the moment for some kind of breast bullshit!" Shirou himself started shaking him by the shoulders with a really serious face, but there was no response. Even worse, Akeno and Barakiel seemed to have entered the same trance and weren't answering as well.
"You have to be kidding me!"
"Kuh!" The former dragon king landed in front of them after taking another hit from the God of Mischief, his scales already fuming.
With all of them in a single place, the remaining Jormungandr clones started to encircle them, led by the God that refused to leave the heavens.
"This is just ludicrous. I didn't even have to kill the Dragon Emperors. They just took themselves out in their own stupidity. But I guess this is how it was meant to be, right, Emiya Shirou? Let's get the real fight started already, shall we?"
The red knight gritted his teeth. The situation couldn't have gone worse. He didn't even have Issei to power him up now...
"It really came to this, huh?"
He silently walked to the front and extended his arm as if he were to cast a spell to everyone's surprise.
"Buy me thirty seconds."
"Huh? Wait, what are you going to do-"
"I am the bone of my sword." There was no more explanation as he started casting. All his magic circuits flared to life and started to spread his magical energy all over the place, gaining the curiosity of even the God of Mischief.
"Steel is my body, and fire is my-"
"RRROOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRR!"
However, to everyone's utter surprise, a massive roar interrupted the red knight's spell. The next thing that happened, was Loki widening his eyes as an enormous, black dragon appeared out of nowhere above him and proceeded to engulf him.
No... it wasn't a dragon exactly, as they could still see the God inside of it. Rather, it was more like a mass of murky, black flames that took the shape of a dragon.
"What in the world is this thing!?" The God seemed to be struggling for breath inside the cursed flames despite exerting all of his power.
"Guys, can you hear me?" And as if to answer his question, the voice of a certain General Governor was heard through their comms spell.
"Azazel? Don't tell me that thing has something to do with you!"
"Hehe..." The fallen angel let out a chuckle at Shirou's hysteric words. "Let me explain. That's actually your friend Saji."
"WHAT!?" Now it was Sona who shouted hysterically. "What did you do to my pawn!?"
"Wait! I asked you to let me explain. You see, as a side project of sorts I started upon hearing that the consciousness inside Saji-kun's sacred gear seemed to be awakening, I decided to collect all the other Vitra sacred gears. But as you can see, he needed some time to get used to it. Time we didn't have apparently. B-but you don't have to worry. I'm sure his consciousness is still there, just a little muffled after Vitra awakened. Once the dragon calms down or he runs out of gas, he will be back to normal. And his value in pawns won't change as this is just an extra to his base capabilities"
The Student Council President still seemed to be about to snap at him, but she somehow managed to swallow the myriad of curses in her throat and asked a single question.
"How much of his consciousness is intact?"
"Well, at least he managed to discern between allies and enemies and attacked Loki right away. Maybe you can actually talk some reason into him."
"But how am I supposed to..."
She didn't have to answer that question when a certain red knight suddenly burst forward at max speed. He quickly jumped over the Jormungadr clones, who were in confusion now that their master was trapped, and took air to shout at the top of his lungs.
"Genshiro! Are you still there!"
To his surprise, a weak voice came from the cursed flames. "Aniki... what is... where am I... My body is so hot... I don't feel so good"
"You'll be fine soon! But first, hear me out! Can you direct your... body towards the snakes behind me!? I'll deal with the powerful guy inside you!"
"Oh... Yes, I can see them... and I can see that guy too... He's... he's actually breaking free with that massive power... Okay then. Let me help you, Aniki!"
With those resolute words, the black dragon fired his flames toward the Jormungandr clones and started eating away at them. Meanwhile, Shirou traced a certain, purple chained scythe. He couldn't risk attacking Loki now that he was inside Saji, but at least the myriad of curses should have weakened him enough.
This was their last chance.
"...!" The struggling God suddenly felt a chain wrap around his torso and strength pulling him out. However, before that happened, a steel-tipped boot crashed on his cheek with a powerful mana burst, sending him and the red knight out of the dragon through the other side.
Loki was still catching his breath when he saw the blade of that wicked scythe coming for his neck, and barely managed to raise his left arm on the way.
The weapon sliced through his divine flesh like nothing, and cleanly cut his tendon. "Tsk!" With a mixture of a pained yelp and a tongue snap, he created a magic circle that blocked the follow-up attack and at the same time fired a burst of flames that pushed the red knight away.
Even before landing, he was already retrieving one of his Phoenix tears and pouring it on the wound. However, to his utter horror, it did nothing. The wound refused to close faster than the natural regeneration of his body.
Seeing the red knight already rushing at him, he created the toughest barrier he could muster around him before gritting his teeth. His right arm came down like an axe and severed his immobilized forearm before quickly applying another Phoenix Tear.
It worked, and his forearm grew anew barely in time.
"Sorry, Musashi, but I'm borrowing your Niten Ichi-ryu!"
Two blades came from both sides. One was a wicked katana that gave him even more chills than that accursed Vitra, and the other was a pure white katana with a crystalline edge that exuded royalty. Both cut through Loki's barrier with astonishing ease, or more like they cleaved through space itself, and came close to chopping the God in four parts.
A cross-shaped cut was left on the God's chest, adding even more damage to his pride. His still dazed mind from all the curses could barely keep up with those masterful, lightning-fast movements, and was quickly forced into a corner as his body started to receive cut after cut.
"Kuh... ENOUGH!" A burst of power sent the red knight sliding some meters back. Not just that. The once regal figure of the God quickly morphed into an abominable bear towering over him.
The animal instincts kicked in, and the God let them take the wheel. Letting out a murderous roar, the massive bear swiped his deadly claws toward the red knight at blurring speeds. Just one hit should be more than enough to tear apart that weak human body, but now the tables had turned around...
… and he was the one who couldn't land a single hit.
The red knight sailed through the vicious attacks and continued to cut apart the God's body. The Miyamoto Musashi from whom he was extracting their battle experience wasn't one who became the "Strongest under the Sun" just by fighting other swordsmen during the Warring States and Edo period. It was from a girl who reached her ultimate sword after drifting through countless worlds and fighting all kinds of enemies. A style that was adapted to fight monsters as well as humans, and blended with his own smoothly.
However, the God kept using Phoenix Tears to regenerate from his wounds. Just how many of those things had that bastard? At that rate, he would run out of gas sooner than Loki would run out of Phoenix Tears.
Hence, his target was clear. No matter how potent the regeneration capabilities of the legendary immortal beast were, it would die if it got its fate severed. The problem, of course, was seeing that fate he needed to cut.
"Hnn!" A grunt escaped Shirou's lips, not out of physical effort, but rather the pain he was starting to feel from straining his eyes.
The karma of an evil God that was overly obsessed with a dead-end prophesy was, without doubt, more stagnated than even the Heroic Spirit Swordmasters back at Shimousa. But no matter how much he forced his clairvoyance, he wasn't able to see it clearly. It seemed that his degraded Eye of Karma couldn't discern the fate of a deity...
"Got you!"
His consciousness ended up going faster than his body in his pursuit of karma. A smooth parry ended up being a blocking that had Mioujingiri Muramasa blow away from his hand, and the bear immediately took the opportunity to hurl himself at the red knight.
Sandalphon Muramasa managed to hit away the other claw, but there was nothing in the way of the bear's jaws and his neck. In a last-ditch effort, he put his free left arm in the way, and a massive pain assailed him as muscles and bones were instantly crushed as if they were under a hydraulic press.
"Gah!" There God pinned him to the floor with his own weight and started thrashing his arm.
He had to swallow the pain and think quickly. His arm wasn't going to stay attached to his body for long.
"Trace, on!" The pristine katana in his right hand was replaced by... a golden gauntlet?
That actually had the God pausing. The red knight only opened his hand as if he were about to hold a weapon, but no other sword was projected-
"...!" It was too late when the God realized Shirou's true intentions. No, more like he was hit by it like a truck.
A certain mythical hammer came flying at match speeds towards the red knight's hand, and rather than catching it, he grabbed the hilt and just used his arm as a lever to redirect Mjolnir towards Loki's head. The impact caused a massive shock wave that blew away shards of soil around them, and sent the God flying away like a rag doll.
"Kuh!"The red knight forced his body up and checked his mangled arm. The swords from his inner world had already stitched together the torn flesh and bones, and Camael's flames were restoring it to its original state a fast as they could. It should be back to normal after thirty seconds.
"Too long..." He had no such luxury. That hit must have caused a big commotion, but the God should be able to get his bearings faster.
The horrendous bear stood up, but rather than standing on his four limbs, he stood just on his hind legs. Now that he looked at it closely, that thing was no longer a bear, but rather some kind of... werebear? And its chunks of his fur had fallen, revealing reptile scales.
"Impossible... That hammer answered your call despite being a counterfeit!?" The God started grumbling in a much lower and bestial voice. "No... No matter what kind of trick you morons pull out, it won't change the result! This is just the prelude of the end!"
The rabid beast charged towards him once again, and the red knight spat the blood on his mouth to the side before straightening his stance. With a snap of his fingers, the hammer flew into his hand, and once again, rather than catching it firmly, he spun with the momentum before throwing it towards Loki with all his might.
Maybe if he had two hands he could wield it like a regular hammer, but for the moment, this would do. Besides, taking a page of Sigurd's book, throwing it was actually the most efficient way of using it.
"You fool!" The beast easily side-stepped the hammer and continued its dash without any decrease in his speed. But in its frenzy state, it forgot a crucial detail about that weapon. "AAAARRGHHH!"
Mjolnir was called back to Shirou's hand and crashed against Loki's back with a nasty sound of cracking bones. And at the same time, the red knight's gauntlet smashed the beast's cheek with another mana burst...
Loki stumbled a little as he desperately used another Phoenix Tear. He turned around as quickly as he could and swung his claw with enough strength to create blades of wind. The red knight called back the hammer, and this time, he just let it fly away to Loki's surprise.
No, he could see electricity arcs go from the hammer to the golden gauntlet. And the next moment, rather than the hammer being attracted to the red knight's hand, it happened the other way around, allowing the red knight to sidestep in the blink of an eye. The next thing Loki knew, the hammer was already crashing against his side.
The beating continued. The blows came from all angles and with enough strength to mow down his divine flesh. Those blows weren't near the might of the God of Thunder, but the speed in which they came more than compensated for it.
The God of Mischief refused to yield, but by now, Shirou could already feel that his left arm was finally usable. It was time to end this. The red knight threw the hammer up in the sky and let himself be attracted to it.
"ORRAAAAAAHHHH!" With a war cry, Shirou threw the hammer with all his might, and Loki's beaten-up body was no longer able to dodge, forcing him to block it with his arms.
"Reduce everything to atoms..." And right a moment after, Shirou descended and punched the hammer's hilt with a fist filled to the brim with magical energy.
"MJOLNIR!"
The hammer reacted to the magical energy, and unleashed the first thunder since Shirou started wielding it... as well as the greatest one everyone present witnessed. Its roar shattered some eardrums and its light turned the entire pocked dimension into pure white, followed by a shock wave that seemed to be one step away from destroying it.
After that, Shirou was only able to see a massive fuming crater before his body hit the ground several meters away. The impact barely added more pain to what he was already feeling. All his body was filled with nasty burns that even Camael was struggling to fix.
Brock was right. Lifting the hammer wasn't even the biggest problem. Only Thor and his children could use it without burning themselves, and that was with the proper equipment that was forged alongside it. The golden gauntlet Gilgamesh often wore to wield Ea, despite being an exquisite piece of armor, wasn't able to take it.
However, that ought to do it. That thunder was most likely on the level of an A-rank noble phantasm, so there was no way Loki could stand up after that.
"Why..." As if to defy the red knight's expectations, as well as the boundaries of logic and reason, a figure slowly walked out of the crater.
"Why can't anyone... just stick to their roles..." He looked more like a walking corpse now, only held together by all the Phoenix Tears he must have consumed at once. His face was filled with rage... but also, unwavering determination.
"It doesn't matter if my body is destroyed here... my will to see this through will lift me up. No matter the cost... I will right this three thousand-year mistake!"
With energy not even Loki knew where he got it from, the beast charged once again. His speed was lower compared to some minutes ago, but now his target had yet to get his bearings and was completely defenseless.
The red knight gritted his teeth and put strength into his still-recovering body. Kanshou and Bakuya's blueprints were immediately loaded in his circuits as they were the ones with the least burden. But even if he reacted in time... he had little strength left to be able to fight properly-
"Luminosite Eternelle!" But to their surprise, a figure stood between the two with a radiant banner. The warm light instantly relieved the red knight's pain and repelled the wicked beast's advance. Not just that. He also felt Twilight Healing's effects speeding his body's recovery.
"Tsk! The light of a dead God won't stop me!" The hideous beast ignored the way that holy light started to burn his flesh and kept pushing with his claws against the barrier. And to Jeanne's horror, some cracks started to appear.
Without losing a second, she commanded her Balance Breaker to tackle the God down. It didn't seem like the blade dragon would hold on as Loki started to tear it apart, but more help came in the form of a giant, water snake and several enhanced black keys. Even more, as Tannin landed beside the God and pinned him down with one of his hands.
However, the God of Mischief refused to give up and kept pushing forward.
"What's with this God? He's growing stronger? Not just that. He's literally growing!" The words of the former dragon king sent chills down their spine, but a certain red-haired heiress still had a backup plan.
"Gasper, do it!"
"Yes!" The half-vampire gulped down a vial with a red liquid, most likely Issei's blood and a massive surge of power raged from his body.
However, his face wasn't resolved or focused, but rather... embarrassed? And he struck a fancy pose before...
"THE WORLD!"
Upon shouting those words, his sacred gear activated at full capacity and froze the time around the God specifically. That seemed to buy them more time, but judging by Gasper's strained face, they wouldn't bet on it surpassing the minute.
"What do we do now!?"
"We blow him away, of course." Shirou said firmly as he forced himself up. Merodach was already projected in his hands, and he began to pour magical energy into it. "Xenovia, get Excalibur ready. Kiba, pull out Balmung. Throw everything at him without any kind of reservation!"
""On it!""
Xenovia put together her two holy swords and let Durandal's light rage free. That ferocious power was quickly absorbed by Excalibur and turned into caloric values. Kiba on his end was making a much strained face as he lifted the black, demonic sword and turned the hilt to release the true ether stored in the gem. Tannin took his time to muster his breath, Rias started concentrating as much power of destruction as she could, and Rossweisse started casting as many spells as she could.
"Hurry! I can't... hold him off... for longer!"
With a sound like glass shattering, the God of Mischief finally managed to break free from Forbidden Balor View's effect. The God took a moment to catch his breath, but when he raised his sight...
"NOW!"
"MERODACH!"
"EXCALIBUR!"
"BALMUNG!"
The figure of the wicked God disappeared among the myriad of attacks. The explosions were so powerful and numerous that it truly seemed as if the world around them would wall at any moment. It took them almost a minute to regain their vision and hearing.
The moment it all settled, everyone let out the breath they'd been holding, and some of them fell flat on their butts. Kiba collapsed without a single ounce of strength left in him, while in Xenovia's case, Excalibur's blade fell apart after firing so much power.
The dust and smoke had yet to fade away, but unless the God somehow escaped from the pocked dimension, he should be knocked out at the very least.
"You have to be kidding..." But Tannin's alarmed voice prevented any kind of victorious atmosphere from even taking form.
A pair of massive membranous wings sprung from the crater left by the attack, blowing away the smoke to reveal a massive European black dragon where Loki once stood.
"That bastard could turn into a dragon all along!? But why does he look just like Fafnir aside from the color!?"
"No, that's not just his power!" Shirou corrected Tannin, some drops of sweat sliding through his temple from his already-drenched bandanna. "Fafnir wasn't a natural-born dragon. He was a dwarf whose greed over his treasures was so big he ended up becoming a dragon. It's actually a common trope in many legends, and I think that's what happened here."
"But that doesn't explain why he won't just die!"
"HAHAHAHA!" The thunderous laughter of the now-turned-dragon God echoed throughout the place after hearing Rias desperate words. "I don't have an idea of how this came to be. Maybe my power, ambition, and Ophis' serpent combined to bring about this miracle! However it may be, it is proof that I'm right! Do you hear me, Odin!? I am the inevitable fate you've been running from, and your time has run out! I hope you've enjoyed all these years ruling over a dead pantheon!"
"Vitra! I know your power is fading, but throw me a hand here!"
"O-OK!"
Tannin and Saji rushed to confront the wicked God, but even between two dragon kings, they could barely hold him off. The God's fire breath was just as potent as Tannin's, and he was shrugging off Vitra's curses.
"Don't tell me... Another rune of resurrection!?" Amongst the chaos, Rossweisse's tense voice managed to tear through the air. "But that's impossible! Even a God would take months to prepare one!"
"And who said the one I used the other day was the only one I had prepared, brat!" The wicked God took the time to answer her question nonchalantly while wrestling with them. "Stop struggling and accept your fate, mortals! You had no chance from the very beginning-"
The evil dragon's banter was interrupted by a massive lightning that struck him with enough strength to actually give him pause.
"What the..."
That attack didn't come from Mjolnir, but rather, a father-daughter duo that was, to everyone's surprise, holding hands with their fallen angel wings on display.
"Shirou!" Not just them, but Issei seemed to have finally snapped out of that mysterious trance. "I managed to make those two come to terms thanks to the aid of the Oppai spirit. How are things going?"
The red knight decided to not even register that oppai nonsense and get straight to the point. "To be brutally honest, we're boned. We threw everything at him, and he didn't just survive but as you can see he got even stronger. The only thing left to us is..."
He didn't even finish his words, but everyone knew what he meant... and worst of it, they couldn't argue against it. They've literally exhausted all their resources, including the Phoenix tears. Prolonging that battle further would only lead to an inevitable dead end.
Issei gritted his teeth but conceded in the end. "Let's do this then. Ddraig, I'm counting on you!"
[Well, don't blame me if his body ends up torn apart.]
[BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST! BOOST!]
Issei forced his sacred gear to double his power as much as he could, and when he got the feeling that his Balance Breaker would fall apart, he quickly rested his hand on Shirou's shoulder.
[TRANSFER!]
His scale mail broke into specks of light just as all that mass of green energy was transferred to Shirou's body.
Everything around the red knight was muffled out as he focused on what he had to do. He even replaced his signature combat outfit with his swordsmith attire for it. Any worries about the power breaking his body or if it would be enough were thrown out the window as he reached his inner world for a specific blade.
One that would put an end to this fight with a single swing as he promised.
"Uncountable years of toil to reach this place, forging thousands of swords to create a barrow of blades."
The moment he started uttering that chant, all the mass of power flooding his body disappeared, and a ring of illusory fire shot outwards from beneath his feet, covering all the people present.
The next moment they opened their eyes, the desolate landscape of the pocket had been overwritten by the image of a lonely hill of swords that left them with mixed feelings of awe and sorrow.
"I sought a blade that terminates enmity…"
The hill of swords suddenly erupted in flames after the second line of the aria was spoken, but more than a hellish landscape, it felt more like a forge getting ready to fulfill its purpose. This wasn't the process itself, but a recreation of it.
"Severing bonds, severing certainty, severing karma…"
As if on cue all the blades around shattered in specks of orange light and gathered around the smith until they lost sight of him amidst the flames.
"That is to say… to free one of one's fate!"
All the flames were dispersed when an overwhelmingly powerful aura filled the place and revealed Shirou, with all his magic circuits glowing up in overdrive, and holding a single sword as his white cloak danced with the wind behind him. An incandescent blade with its name inscribed on it, an unfinished hilt, and a massive red aura that enveloped even the smith holding it.
The wicked God froze the moment his eyes landed on that single sword. Even if he wasn't aware of what was that sword like the other people present, he instinctively knew what it meant with just that glance.
And when his eyes met those golden orbs looking at him with the same unyielding resolve he had, the fact was finally hammered into his heart.
With that swing, that human would be the one to achieve his desired end.
"NO! It can't be! Wait!" Despair filled the God's heart for the first time. He didn't know what scared him more, that divine blade, or the human wielding it. His trembling body reacted on its own, unleashing a burst of fire towards the smith.
But it was useless.
"This is my... TSUMUKARI MURAMASA!"
The ultimate sword was swung, and everything ended there. It wasn't just that the dragon's fire, and the wicked God were cleanly sliced in an instant.
The pocket dimension, one that was created with the express purpose of withstanding a battle against a God, even sturdier than the ones used in the Rating Games of the highest rank, was also cleaved in two.
But more than that... the most important thing severed with that single swing, was the ill fate promised by that God, as well as the one Odin foresaw.
Once the pocket dimension collapsed, they found themselves back at the rooftop of the fancy hotel where the meeting between Gods was taking place.
The entire place was plunged into a dense silence. Everything happened so fast and was too absurd for their brains to process it. However, a single thing caught their attention.
"That's..."
They recognized Loki's form lying on the floor in front of them. He was back to his humanoid form and wasn't moving an inch as a pool of blood slowly formed beneath him.
Barakiel was the first one who decided to approach him cautiously and check his vitals. "Huh? He still breathes. It seems his torso wasn't completely cut in two, but..."
Despite that, the God wasn't making any attempt at healing himself. In fact, the fallen angel couldn't feel a single ounce of hostility from him. It was as if he lost completely his will to fight.
Barakiel decided to put those deliberations aside in favor of pulling out the special cuffs they had prepared just in case and restraining the God. However, the silence was finally broken with a piercing scream.
"SHIROU!?"
When Barakiel turned around, he saw the collapsed form of the hero who achieved this victory. Copious amounts of blood were flowing out of his mouth, nostrils, and even eyes. He looked as if he could barely cling to life.
Asia immediately activated her twilight healing at maximum capacity on the auburn-haired boy, but after some seconds...
"Huh!? W-why!? Why isn't working!?"
"Let me check him, Asia-senpai!" Koneko suddenly rushed beside him, and closed her eyes in concentration as she rested a hand on his chest.
After some excruciatingly long seconds, the little nekomata snapped open her eyes. Her breath was ragged, and she seemed to be terrified and about to cry.
"Koneko-chan, don't tell me my power..." Issei ventured to ask with clear remorse in his voice, but he was quickly shut down.
"It's his soul... He burned his soul using that sword! I need to treat him with my Senjutsu right away!"
"I-I'll call my sister! We can bring him to her hospital!"
The feeling of victory never truly sat in their hearts that day. Instead, a feeling of powerlessness took its place instead. Once again, the one who had to take the burden was the auburn-haired boy.
Meanwhile, in the VIP room below them, a similar silence filled the place as all the Gods stared at the magic circle that had been transmitting the events that took place inside the pocket dimension.
"That crazy bastard... really did it..." The same could be said about the General Governor accompanying Odin for the negotiations.
"Tsumukari..." The God of the Storms, a man with a... generous build, not that far from Thor's if you asked Odin, with a thick head of black hair, bushy beard and mustache, and wearing a regal kimono accompanied by his Totsuka sword, rolled that name on his lips. "But that's..."
He looked at her sister, the Goddess of the Sun, for confirmation. She was a beauty stuck in her twenties and clad in a kimono with ornaments matching her authority. She was often depicted with long black hair and brown eyes, but now she seemed to be showing her aspect as the origin of several legends about nation-ruining beauties, showed by her now hair of a color between golden and pick, fox ears, and nine tails.
"The Kusanagi remains in its reforging process after Yamato Takeru wielded it, brother. Besides, the sword that human used and our Kusanagi are nothing alike. Not to mention that power..."
The Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi was said to be one of the strongest holy swords said to be on par with Excalibur, emerged from one of Yamata-no-Orochi's tails after being slain, and one of Japan's three national treasures. But its power didn't even come close to that...
"Ehem!" The sound of the Norse All-Father clearing his throat managed to break them out of their stupor. "There you have it. As the youngster here said, the world is starting to change quickly. While we Gods remain stuck in the old ways, raising stars that seek to change this world are appearing among humanity. Emiya Shirou there is a prime example. To put it in his words, that is the ultimate sword he forged to end enmity. He must have used your Kusanagi as a reference, but that divine sword was entirely forged by human hands."
A smile crept to the old man's lips, as now he had the undivided attention of the two Japanese Gods.
"As impressive as it might be, I'm afraid it is going to quickly prompt those who oppose these changes to raise in challenge, just like the Khaos Brigade led by Ophis. Before that inevitable conflict arises, I think you should consider this treaty to at least be on good terms with my people so we can all face it together."
The meeting kept going for some hours, but after that point, the negotiations went smoothly. He gambled on what would happen during that fight for this, and honestly, the results were far better than he expected.
Unfortunately, the news of this was going to spread like wildfire, so their time frame was going to be reduced considerably.
But who knows? If you asked him, he was honestly somewhat excited to see what fate had in store for the hero named Emiya Shirou.
With some luck, this wouldn't be a case of "a star shines the brightest moments before its death".