Chapter 152 : Farewell, prince

 

Sheol, the Devourer-class Servant, stood in front of the advertising signs Archer had collided with. The woman rubbed her fingers on the hand with which she had slapped Archer as if to remove dirt then, with a bored look, turned to Hisae, who was pale and paralyzed like a Greek statue, and asked her:
« Is your familiar alive or dead? I don't have time to wait for him. » Then she turned to Specter. « What do you say, Glasya? In your opinion is he dead or alive? I bet he's dead. »
Both Specter and Hisae remained mute. Sheol shrugged and looked back at the signs that were emitting sparks left and right. An arrow was shot at Sheol's head; the woman grabbed the arrow in midair with one hand and, sighing, said:
« And of course I lost the bet to myself. »
Archer returned to the battlefield and without a word fired three more arrows which were disintegrated by a wall of black fire that rose in front of Sheol.
« You know you're not fighting, right? You're just digging your own grave and believe me, I love when others do the dirty work, that is, don't get me wrong, I love the dead but I prefer to just bury them, I generally don't deal with graves but only with corpses, I don't know if I you do understand. »
Archer, wet an arrow with his blood and shot it; the magic arrow made it through the wall of fire and when it hit Sheol it exploded; Specter secured Friedrich while Hisae hid behind a car so as not to be hit by the explosion.
The battle seemed to be over, more than thirty seconds had passed and nothing had moved, there was only an immense curtain of smoke and dust, but Sheol was gone: she was not on the ground and she was not even in the sky and therefore the battle it was apparently over. Archer, relieved, commented:
« You talk too much, Devourer. »
« And you don't listen. »
It was Sheol's voice but the woman couldn't be seen, where had she gone? Archer, looked around and eventually found the rival on the roof of a building. 
« This isn't a fight, Thomas de Camoys… or Archer… or whatever familiars like you are called. Do you think a Servant can somehow defeat me? »
« How did you survive that blow? »
« I literally survived your painful Noble Phantasm and you worry about that spit from before? You're really pathetic, even Glasya-Labolas would be able to make me have more fun than you and she's just a President of Hell and… well, that's saying something. So, are you done wasting my time? »
« Damn you, witch! » Archer yelled, firing another arrow.
Sheol deflected it using only one finger of her hand.
« Witch? It's easy for you to insult me, even knowing that the body I'm wearing is that of a woman who would probably have easily given you a night of sex. But I guess I can't talk about hormones and sexuality with a familiar… or maybe you too experience those things that mortals love? I find it odd considering you don't need to reproduce because… technically you aren't even alive. But I'm digressing ...  let's end this "fight". »
Friedrich was shocked to see Sheol in action, not because she was much more powerful than any Servant but because she was treating the battle as a game, it was clear that she was not taking the fight seriously; when he looked into her eyes he saw a woman who knew she had victory in hand, it wasn't banal pride it was absolute certainty and this terrified him.
Specter approached Friedrich and said:
« Get a car and let's go. I don't want to be here. »
« We have to wait for Alessandro and Saber, I can't leave them here. »
« I can track him, I recognize his magical energy. I'll take you to them, but we have to leave now. »
« What will become of Hisae? » Friedrich asked, worried.
« You already know the answer. »
There was an explosion, Archer had just fired another explosive arrow. Sheol stepped down to the ground and summoned a coal-black broadsword that was surrounded by black, red and purple flames; Friedrich immediately understood that this was her Noble Phantasm and exclaimed, turning to Hisae:
« Run! You have to run! You can't win this war! »
« I will win this war! I'm not afraid of this Servant, I'll find a way to defeat her! I must do it! »
« Idiot, you'll die! »
Sheol appeared next to Hisae, took her by the throat and lifted her off the ground with immense ease and replied to Friedrich:
« Correction: she's already dead. »
Archer decided to go into hand-to-hand combat: he kicked Sheol away, then saved Hisae and finally shot two more arrows. Sheol created another wall of fire and then, moving the sword, she began to strike several blows against the wall which caused several half moons of fire to be launched that flew in every direction cutting everything that stood in their way.
Specter took Friedrich with her and persuaded him to steal a car and leave, but in the meantime Sheol's attack was destroying everything.
« Left Wing of Agincourt! (Great Battle of Azincourt) » Archer suddenly exclaimed.
Thousands of spiritual arrows hit Sheol at the same time, this time she was badly wounded. The arrows had pierced her and she was on her knees and dying, with a trembling hand she tried to reach for the sword but eventually she passed out. Hisae let out a sigh of relief and complimented Archer:
« I told you you could do it ... I gave you a lot of magical energy but it was worth it! »
« Master … »
Hisae was staggering a bit.
« Are you all right, Master? You shouldn't have given me all that magical support, now you will be weak. »
« You don't have to worry about me, Archer, it's nothing. » 

« Well. »
It was Sheol's voice.
Hisae and Archer turned and saw the woman stand up. Her wounds disappeared in an instant and she was as good as new. The two shocked and frightened as children didn't know how to react to what they had just seen.
« How is ... such a thing possible? What are you? » Hisae asked in a swaying voice.
« Do you want to kill me? Well, you'll have a lot of work to do. A world disappears only when no one inhabits it anymore and I'm inhabited by the dead, you cannot kill what is already dead. »
« A world? »
« The simple explanation is that I'm the consciousness of the afterlife that has reincarnated in this body, but technically speaking I'm something more than just "consciousness"... I'm Hades, I'm Hell ... I'm Sheol. I'm not a deity, I am the tomb of the deities. »
« What are you talking about? No ... I can't believe you. This is all madness! » Hisae exclaimed.
« No, the madness is that you agreed to face me. »
Sheol prepared to deliver the final blow but Archer defended Hisae, getting his stomach pierced.
« THOMAS! » Hisae yelled, shocked.
« No! RUN! Run… Hisae… don't… don't worry about me… you have to live! »
« So you really want to sacrifice yourself for that human? You're a really good Servant but… » Sheol grabbed Archer's face, held it steady and then pulled the blade from the body and decapitated the Servant making him disappear in an instant.
The girl tried to escape but Sheol managed to grab her by the hair and threw her to the ground like a sack of potatoes. She approached Hisae and prepared to give her the last blow, the girl in tears prayed for the safety of her little brother. Sheol raised a pleased smile and proceeded to deliver the coup de grace. Hisae closed her eyes. She heard a metallic sound, nothing had hit her, she was still alive and there was a girl in front of her who had parried the blow with her sword.
Sheol was face to face with Saber.
« And you are ... Gaius Julius Caesar? What an interesting Heroic Spirit ... »
« I like it when people recognize me, yet I have little time for you. I have to save this Master without Servant. »
« Really? »
A car approached, driven by Friedrich, inside were Specter and Alessandro Serpi. Sheol immediately aimed at the vehicle but Saber got in her way and urged Hisae to join the others.
« Really very noble of you, Saber, but don't think about…! »
Sheol had struck a blow but Saber had been able to parry it and then the latter responded with an attack that wounded the woman in the belly. Sheol immediately recognized the blade and exclaimed, surprised:
« So now you own the Holy Sword, huh? »
Saber kicked Sheol and then jumped onto the roof of the car which accelerated leaving the woman behind. Sheol didn't follow them, her wound healed immediately but she was intrigued, she was determined to face Saber again.

 

Sheol by Bikowolf