Chapter 162 : Apocalypse (part 2)

 

Saber was outside Westminster Abbey when she saw Sheol arrive; the woman, carrying her sword with her, trampled the bodies of her dead enemies and was accompanied by ghostly skeletons who bent down to caress the dead, kidnapping their souls and generating other beings like them, behind Sheol there was only fire , the darkened sky forbade the stars to show themselves, and silence was the song of that city on its knees. Sheol stopped, raised her arm, and pointed to the Saber with a theatrical motion.
« You, » she said « you're the last one left. Berserker has fallen and even if the Grail is not summoned I'm still a danger to you and therefore you stand before me brandishing that sword, showing me that fighting look, but you really think you're going to win this battle? I've killed hundreds of thousands of humans, you're seeing their souls; I've killed both Archer and Specter with no problems yet you're here, you look at me as if you could defeat me but we both know it will not happen. Miracles don't exist, Caesar. »
« I don't believe in miracles, when I fight I win. » Saber replied, pointing her sword at Sheol.
« A half truth, in fact you only win when it comes to humans, but I'm not human, I'm beyond humans and beyond divinities. For this reason you can never win against me. The odds are all against you, even if you have a great mind, even if you are a genius of war, even if you're a master of tactics, you still remain inferior to me. Your name, Gaius Julius Caesar, is a name that arouses fear in mortals but my name, Sheol, makes even the skies tremble. You're just a pawn, I'm destiny and you know perfectly well, you're not stupid enough to think that you're a challenge for me. »
« Yes I know. » Saber said, lowering her sword, then added, « But retreat is a luxury I can't afford, not after all the effort we've made to get here. I know that you are powerful, even in Rome you were feared, even I, who have never feared anyone, am afraid of you but… I will not run away from you. I will face my fears and defeat you for the good of the world. »
« For the good of the world? »
« Yes. »

« Are you telling me that you are willing to face me for the good of the world? Just for that? »
« Yes. To your ears this may sound silly, I know, but this world is too valuable to me to be wiped out by someone like you. »
« Well… I'm surprised. Are you brave or an idiot? However this is not relevant, the definitions are useless, what matters is that you're committing an objectively insane act. You're playing dice with God, Caesar, and you will lose. »
« Alea iacta est. » Saber said advancing towards Sheol with her head held high.
« Well, let's get started, then. »
Sheol made the first swing from top to bottom, Saber parried it, moved to the side and tried to counterattack but Sheol fired a fireball at her and Saber was run over; Sheol took the advantage and hit Saber with a blow of fire, the girl, wounded, was stunned by that attack and was unable to respond to Sheol's subsequent blows that put her to the ground.
« So that's all you can offer me? Do you call this a "battle"? » Sheol asked, bored.
Saber jumped up and stabbed Sheol with her sword.
« Wha-? How?! » Sheol was shocked.
Saber kicked Sheol back and then hit her with a series of slashes with which she cut her arm and then severely wounded her chest and finally aimed for the heart but Sheol managed to throw a fireball that knocked Saber back; Sheol's arm regenerated like the other wounds, she was still alive but was impressed by the speed of her opponent's blows.
« You make the skies tremble.» Saber said standing up. « You say you're not afraid of me but I will teach you to be afraid of the Wrath of Gaius Julius Caesar. » She exclaimed those words with a combative smile.
« Okay, then let's stop playing! Come on, Caesar, show me your strength! »
Saber and Sheol resumed fighting; their blows were very fast, their blades, impacting against each other, generated powerful shock waves; with rapid movements of the legs the two warriors were able to move easily dodging the most dangerous blows and counterattacked with equal force.

The duel shifted constantly, everything that got in the way of the two women was completely destroyed; Saber was technical, studied Sheol's every shot, paid attention to her movements and counterattacked at the right moment; Sheol was aggressive, she had no time for strategy, her only goal was to kill Saber while showing her power, for her the duel was also a spectacle as well as a fight to the death.
Saber eventually found an opening and disarmed the opponent, without hesitation she prepared to use Crocea Mors but Sheol punched her in the face, hard enough to stun her and then, once she retrieved the sword, walked away and used her Noble Phantasm:
« I am the Leviathan
My blood is ash
My body is a thousand lives
The right holds the Judgment
The left holds the Power
On my head there is the Right
Nobody sits on the throne of kings
Tremble you who observe my face
Seven-Headed Twisted Rule »
Saber found herself in another world, a dark world overflowing with suffering, but she didn't have time to study the place, she had to stay focus.
« This is the terminus, Caesar. Netsch. (The Eternal Song of Venus) »
One of the stars around the black sun lit up and a lightning bolt fell from it and hit Sheol's sword, the weapon began to glow with a purple color and began to release electric arcs along the entire blade. Sheol threw a swing that released some lightning that disintegrated the ground, Saber dodged the blow the first and second time but the third time was almost hit, this meant that Sheol was starting to predict her movements.

« I'm not going to be defeated! » Saber exclaimed. « Crocea Mors! (The Sword of Certain Victory) »
Saber used her powerful Noble Phantasm against Sheol but the latter didn't even try to dodge the blow, she stood still with an amused grin, it was as if she was not taking her enemy's attack seriously. She raised her still electrified sword and at the moment of the powerful impact neither of the two weapons triumphed over the other, but Saber continued to press with Crocea Mors, she wanted to destroy her opponent with the powerful attack; Sheol then said:
« Kether. (The Unity of the Prime Mobile Uranus) »
Another star lit up and a chain full of quills sprouted from it and tied Crocea Mors, tightening it tightly. Saber, confused, didn't understand what Sheol's intent was; the chain suddenly broke the blade. Crocea Mors disappeared from Saber's hands.
Saber was speechless.
« Anti-Treasure. It's a very interesting category of Noble Phantasm, I've to admit, as you can see I've the tools to win every battle. Now you don't have Crocea Mors anymore, I wonder what other Noble Phantasm you own. »
Saber didn't get discouraged, she couldn't afford it, so she replied to the opponent:
« Crocea Mors? Do you really believe that I need divine help to defeat you? Poor fool, I managed to subdue Gaul without any help from the Gods, I only had my legion. And with it I will destroy you! Legio Gemina! (Caesar's Favorite Legion Who Conquered Gaul) »
Suddenly behind Saber the territories of Gaul appeared, the world of Sheol was too powerful to be replaced by that of Saber however the Roman legionaries still managed to come to the rescue of their general, but they were not ten thousand legionaries but fifty thousand and there were also cavalry men and veterans. An immense army symbol of Roman power. Saber had no weapons but her legion was her best weapon.
Sheol thought of getting rid of those soldiers right away and then used the Noble Phantasm with which she had killed Specter:

« Gevurah. (The Power of the Wrath of Mars) »
From a star came millions of weapons of various kinds that were fired at the legion but those soldiers used the turtle and repelled the shots with ease, even Sheol was shocked to see that those men had managed to survive.
« Idiot. » Saber commented with a triumphant smile. « Here we're not talking about Crocea Mors or the Legio Gallica, this is Gemina, my best legion, my favorite legion, this Noble Phantasm is superior to the others, you will have to put more effort into it if you want to defeat it! »
The legion threw spears at Sheol but the woman managed to defend herself by erecting a wall of fire, however the cavalry took her from behind and wounded her, the soldiers advanced and in a short time Sheol was surrounded by the legionaries; the woman jumped and began to fly then, with the sword in hand, used another Noble Phantasm:
« Hod. (The Viscera of Mercury) »
A star lit up and suddenly under the feet of the legionaries came several quills of various sizes that impaled them. The legion was defeated in an instant.
« And now what? » Sheol asked, amused: « Is that all you can do? If that was your best Noble Phantasm then you are doomed to die. The "wrath of Caesar" was nothing more than a vain resistance and you're little more than a disappointment. Even Glasya-Labolas was able to entertain me, it's true that she was a demon while you… well… you're not. You're inferior. Sheol went down to the ground. So do you have any other particular attacks or can I kill you and be done with it? »
Saber had been silent all that time, she looked up at Sheol and replied:
« Only one. You only have one Noble Phantasm actually. All those Noble Phantasms are only possible if you are in this world. »
« Did the Glasya-Labolas Master tell you? Well, at least he was useful, otherwise it would have been useless to survive. It doesn't matter, however, Glasya-Labolas was also aware of this and nothing has changed. »

« What kind of demon is Glasya-Labolas? »
« Strange question to ask right now, however she's a demon that has several domains, among them there is knowledge, that's why she knew about my Noble Phantasm. But why are you asking? »
« Because now everything is clearer. » Saber replied, taking off her laurel wreath and untying her hair.
« So what are you going to do now? Will you give me a good speech? »
« Rome watches me, Sheol, and my ancestors and successors gave me this right. »
« What right? »
« This ... Veni, Vidi, Vici! (Caesar's Right to Rule the World) »
Saber broke the crown of laurels, it lit up like a sun, its glow blinded Sheol who felt her sword become lighter and saw her weapon dissolve little by little.
« NO! What the hell is going on ?! »
The dimension Sheol had created disappeared and the two warriors returned to the burning London; Saber threw the broken crown to the ground and it dissolved.
« I could only do it once, and I never expected to use this Noble Phantasm in this war. It's my trump card… or a desperate move, perhaps, it depends on how you look at it. But we're both unarmed now, Sheol. Now it's you and me bare-handed, do you think you can keep up? »
« Damn you! »
Sheol hit Saber with a punch but the latter parried the blow and counterattacked with a combination of punches, elbows and knees that put the opponent in difficulty.
« I won't let you defeat me! Mortal! »
« This is for Glasya-Labolas! » Saber yelled as she punched Sheol in the face.
« I cannot… lose! »
« There's always a first time! » Saber hit Sheol again.
Sheol fell to the ground inexplicably exhausted.

« Why? Why am I feeling so weak? Even without the sword I should be able to ... »
Then she saw Friedrich and Alessandro leave Westminster Abbey and understood what was happening to her. She got up and said:
« It's not me… it's the Grail… the Holy Grail is no longer in this world. The glyph connected it to this world, it was like a bridge and now it's gone ... »
«You were drawing magical energy directly from the Holy Grail, then. Now everything is explained ... and it all makes sense. You've never been invincible or indestructible, you simply drew your strength from the most powerful magical object there has ever been. And now? »
« Isn't it obvious? » Sheol asked with a resigned smile. “I lost to you. I lost to a Servant. There's no greater embarrassment. »
« No, you lost to life. You, who want to be feared, don't understand one thing: death is not only capable of frightening, it can also be what spurs us to move forward. There are those who are afraid of dying and there are those who live knowing that one day they will die, they are two different things and you didn't take it into account. You were hoping to scare but you've become pathetic, like a shadow figure that makes monstrous sounds to scare those who don't see it. But the shadow falls, sooner or later, we all stop being afraid and then we fight. »
« Death is inevitable anyway! » Sheol said. « No matter how hard you fight, no matter how long you endure, however you will die and you will never be able to avoid it. Everything that has a beginning also has an end. »
« We all die, yes, it's part of the cycle of things. But how you die is important, and that's what determines the kind of person you really are. You can die scared or you can die head on. I've never sought immortality but I've never been afraid of death. »

« So that's why you didn't run away from me ...

« Nobody should run away from death.

Sheol smiled. She was no longer angry, she was serene, it was as if she had just discovered something wonderful.

« You're really brave, Caesar ... I recognize it ... like you ... Glasya-Labolas was also really brave ... I will accept my end but one day we will meet again. »
Sheol disappeared; the dead body of Fukano Harumi appeared in front of Caesar. Alessandro, when he saw her, didn't recognize the girl but her face was not unknown to him; that blissful face seemed to be that of a sleeping girl, a girl who had found peace.

« Rest in peace » he said.

 

Caesar vs Sheol by Bikowolf

 

Chapter 161 : Apocalypse (part 1)

 

« Why did you do that? »
Outside Westminster Abbey there was Saber in front of Berserker; the proud King of Knights ... wounded, lying on the ground, on the verge of dying.
« Why did you let yourself be hit? »
« Because… I don't want to suffer anymore… this battle, this war and this destiny… I'm tired of being a pawn … I want to be happy. Before our battle, at the beginning of the war, my Master had told me that you had already defeated me in another universe ... and I couldn't understand it, how could you be so strong? But now I understand ... I've lost my way and I don't deserve to be your rival in this state. So I'm just another monster in this war. But, know this, I'm the King of the Knights… and I'd like to face you as such one day. »
« You're an idiot. You get killed for something like that ... for something as trivial as this. Your sense of honor ... that's why I hate you and that's why I admire you. You are one of a kind and one day I will defeat in a real fight. Yes. You must be my last fight. You must be the last triumph of Gaius Julius Caesar. But not tonight ... » Saber was crying.
« Don't cry… maybe one day I'll be able to see that paradise you talked about but for now it's okay. Goodbye ... Caesar. »

« Goodbye, Artoria. »

Berserker disappeared.
Saber remained silent as a sign of respect for the deceased warrior, sheathed her sword and headed for the church but heard the sound of a horn and saw Friedrich Wolff arrive in the car, he told her:
« Saber, we need to talk now! »
« Huh? But where is Spect-? » Saber didn't continue, she understood everything from Friedrich's pained expression. « I'm sorry. »
« I know, but you have to know something… her sacrifice wasn't in vain. Sheol's coming here, now it's your turn to face her, but know this, she has a powerful Noble Phantasm but it's only one. I don't know why Specter told me to tell you but maybe you can stop Sheol and save the world. 

Where's Alessandro? »
« Inside the church facing Yukiko. »
« I'm going to help him, you have to recover your strength, you will need it. »

Friedrich walked towards the church.

« Wait. »

« What is it? »

« Please, protect him. »

« I will. »

 

Friedrich entered Westminster Abbey and the first thing he saw was Alessandro Serpi, wounded in his left arm; he was barely standing and further ahead there was Yukiko Kumahira without even a scratch, with an amused smile. Friedrich attacked Yukiko by throwing a fire wolf at her but this was destroyed by the girl with a single kick.
« What a surprise! You're here to save your little friend, aren't you? » Yukiko said.
« I will finish this business myself! » Friedrich exclaimed.
« Don't make promises you cannot keep. »
Alessandro then shouted to Friedrich:
« Get out! She'll kill us both! I can't allow it! »
Yukiko hit Alessandro with a kick in the stomach then punched Friedrich in the face, after putting them both on the ground, went to the second, who had just got back on his feet, and started punching his face, on the third punch he fell back to the ground, stunned; Alessandro snapped his fingers and exclaimed:
« Gladius Flammae! »
A fire sword appeared near Alessandro and was fired at Yukiko but the girl parried the blow with her skeletal hand without suffering any damage.
Friedrich, behind Yukiko, took a candelabra in his hand and hit her on the head, the candlestick broke, the girl turned and hit Friedrich in the stomach with a kick, the boy flew against the wall; Alessandro, driven by the will to defend his friend, exclaimed snapping his fingers:
« Lapis! »
The floor under Yukiko's feet rose two meters then turned into a fist that squeezed the girl, trapping her, then he went to Friedrich and helped him get up and scolded him:
« You shouldn't have come here! »
« Why? Did you really want to fight her alone? You're hurt and can't even stand up. You would've died without me. »

« No, I can get by! I know a Magecraft that can heal me but you no longer have magical energy, I can feel it ... »
« I know. I used everything just for that attack against Yukiko, but you've a lot of it ... why haven't you healed yourself? »
« Because … »
« Because he's afraid of removing all the magical energy needed to keep Saber on her feet. His Servant used two Noble Phantasms and during the battle against my Berserker she used a lot of magical energy and now, apparently, she will have to face Sheol too. » Yukiko replied.
Alessandro received confirmation from Friedrich's saddened gaze.
« So you can't afford to use either healings or even to use that magic that can deprive an opponent of magical energy, as you did in another universe. As if that weren't enough, you're together with a magus without magical energy, tired, unable to fight decently. How do you hope to win? » Yukiko split the stone hand using only the strength of her arms. « So, in short, you're screwed. »
Alessandro, listening to Yukiko, had noticed that there was a glyph, a little further on, drawn on the floor that was emitting a dim light, it probably meant that the ritual was ready to be performed, then there in the moment he had a flash of genius.
« Alchemy? » He muttered to himself.
He nodded to Friedrich and when he too watched the glyph light up he asked:
« So? »
Alessandro answered by saying only:
« Alchemy. »
Alessandro then pointed out to him some pieces of glass from the church window that were a little farther on, near Yukiko; Friedrich immediately understood, got up and left.
Alessandro approached Yukiko and said, with a confident smile:
« Hey, if you've stopped talking, I'm ready to fight. »

« What? »
« You talk too much, Yukiko, how about starting our fight again? »
« Where does that smile come from? Do you think you can defeat me? »
« I think I understand how to fight you, yes, but don't worry I won't use tricks and there will be no deceptions. I don't need any particular Magecraft to defeat you, I just need to use my legs and this ... » Alexander snapped his fingers and exclaimed: « Obscuro! »
Nothing happened. Alessandro was frightened, tried again to snap his fingers but nothing happened.
« Why it doesn't work? »
« Ah, ah! You're an idiot! Your Magecraft is useless! »
Yukiko kicked Alessandro and threw him to the ground, then turned around expecting an attack from Friedrich but he wasn't there.
« Tch! If he hadn't run out of magical energy I would've been able to perceive him, now I'll have to waste time hunting him down ... unless he ran away from the church. »
Yukiko began to check the abbey for a few minutes, but there was no trace of Friedrich, he had completely disappeared and then she realized that the glyph was lighting up and with a victorious smile she exclaimed:
« We're ready. Finally it's time to make the sacrifice, Nidhoggr will come back to life and destroy everything. »
Yukiko grabbed Alessandro by the head and dragged him in front of the glyph.
« Rejoice, big brother, you're about to offer yourself to the glorious Nidhoggr! You're about to begin the new end of the world! Your blood is the key to bringing emptiness to this fucking world! »
Suddenly Friedrich appeared near the glyph, he was clutching a piece of glass and cut his handbreadth making the blood drip on the symbol on the ground; the light disappeared.
« What?! NO! »Yukiko yelled in shock.
The girl left Alessandro and hit Friedrich with a fist then looked at the magic circle on the floor, it was off for some strange reason, it no longer gave off the light as before. Alessandro stood up, laughing.

« Ironic that a creation of alchemy knows nothing of alchemy itself. Everyone knows that every magical ritual that uses symbols uses the same principles of alchemy, this means that using unnecessary ingredients completely nullifies the magical ritual itself. With Friedrich's blood we prevented you from summoning the 

Holy Grail of Yggdrasil! »
« NO! NO! NO! Asshole! You can't really have done it! You corrupted it! »
« This is what you deserve for the harm you've caused. You lost, Yukiko Kumahira. You'll never be able to destroy the world. »
« You ... Alessandro Serpi ... and you ... Friedrich Wolff ... a brother with the fear of abandonment and a nobody who interfered with my war ... you two ... you've just dug your grave. Maybe I won't be able to fulfill my dream… never mind… I'll find another way to do it… but you two… you two will regret hindering me. Starting with you, Alessandro. »
Yukiko ran towards Alessandro, grabbed him by the head and threw him against the wall with immense force, approached him and started punching him in the stomach, chest and then in the face; punch after punch, yelling and laughing, Yukiko made blood splatter everywhere; Friedrich tried to stop her but Yukiko immediately turned, took Alessandro, and threw him against the other boy shouting:
« You want him? There he is! Here's your refusal! Here comes the whining brat abandoned by his father and mother! Here is that refusal incapable of even being a sacrifice! Here is that rejection that wants a family so much! Poor kid! What are you doing, are you crying? YOU CRY! I want to hear you cry, bitch! »
Yukiko kicked Friedrich, pushed him away from Alessandro and went back to beating the latter, she wanted to kill him slowly, she wanted to enjoy the moment of his death, and in the meantime she was screaming:
« You're a loser! You're a child! You're a whiny nerdy brat with no place in this desperate world! You are a waste of air! You don't deserve to live! You deserve nothing! You've ruined everything! You ruined my dream! You ruined my only hope of ending everything in a decent way! I'll taste your tears, asshole! I'll have fun watching you die, you little bitch! »

A fist. A punch hit Yukiko's face. The girl fell to the ground. It had been Alessandro. The shocked girl saw him get up laboriously placing first one foot, then the other, he strengthened himself with his arms and legs and raised his head covered with a mask of blood. Alessandro advanced. He abandoned the desire to see that father again who wanted to use him as a sacrifice. Alessandro advanced with clenched fists. He abandoned the desire to embrace that mother who repudiated him to leave him in the coven. Alessandro advanced gritting his teeth. He abandoned the regret of the Coven, that false family that had forced him to be unhappy by exploiting his fears. Alessandro moved forward looking only in front of him, he observed  with lion eyes Yukiko Kumahira, the sister he had hoped to be able to call "family", but he also abandoned that vain dream.
Yukiko stood up and Alessandro punched her again.
« You don't know anything. »
Punched her again.
« You don't know anything about me, you don't know how much I suffered ... I wanted to be a normal person, with a normal family, with a normal life ... I suffered to find that happy and peaceful life ... but I never had anything ... »
Another punch.
« I continued to suffer. I've been screaming silently for years, I've never been happy, but now I want to stop suffering. I'm tired of the pain. »
Yukiko punched Alessandro, he lost his balance a bit then counterattacked with another punch that knocked Yukiko to the ground.
« I'm tired of you. You know nothing about me and you insult my life, my pain as if it were easy to be alive. But it's not easy to live, it will never be easy to live, you who desire emptiness are just a coward who has stained herself with the blood of thousands of innocents just to be able to continue to flee. Do you think you're strong? You're not. You're weaker than me. You're weaker than Friedrich. You're weaker than all the Masters who participated in this war. You're weaker than all the people you've killed. You're the weakest being that exists. »

« Be quiet! » Yukiko yelled.
« No! You must be quiet! I'm tired of your chatter! »
Alessandro gave Yukiko a last punch, the girl completely lost consciousness after that last blow. It was finally over, the Holy Grail of Yggdrasil would no longer be a problem. Alessandro could no longer stand up, Friedrich took him by the arm to keep him standing; Alessandro was tired and full of wounds both on his face and on the rest of his body; Friedrich was happy with Yukiko's defeat but he knew Sheol was missing and so he asked:
« And now? »
« Now it's all in the hands of Caesar. »  

 

Alessandro Serpi by Bikowolf