Thursday, October 15, 2020

Chapter 160 : The path of Saber

 
Westminster Abbey. When Alessandro and Saber arrived on site, they saw the corpses of magi from the Coven and the Rote Mäntel outside the church along with the bodies of men who belonged to the police. The Holy Grail War of Yggdrasil was this: a war that involved too many innocent lives that had nothing to do with the conflict. Alessandro entered with the determination to put an end to that useless massacre.
Inside the completely silent abbey there was only Yukiko who when she noticed Alessandro's arrival turned around showing a spontaneous, happy smile, but it didn't give any sensation, her face was fake like the face of a porcelain doll. Alessandro noticed that Berserker wasn't there and Yukiko removed all doubts:
« She's out waiting to face Saber. If you want you can send your Servant away, I'd like to talk to you privately, after all she's not part of our family, is she? »
« Go. » Alessandro said to Saber.
« Are you sure? » she asked, worried.
« Yes. I promise you that I will not die, with this one I will not go light.
»
« All right, may Fortune assist you, Master. »
Saber left Yukiko and Alessandro alone.
« Well. » Yukiko interjected. « Finally, the situation is a little more ... intimate. You and me, brother and sister, sons of a power-hungry father who wanted to use both of them as sacrificial victims just to summon the divine monster named Nidhoggr. From your face I guess you didn't know anything about it, did you? Well, apparently no one in this universe told you what your father wanted to do with you ... and with me. So how do you feel? »
« What you say doesn't matter to me. »
« You're really unkind now, big brother. But I know you're lying. I can see it in your eyes… I see it from how you're acting… you hide your pain because you can't bear that your whole family was a lie. I know it. I know you. »
« You don't. »
« But I do, Alessandro. It's not the first time that you and I have talked about our family and I know that you see a last hold in me, you want a family. If Friedrich is your mirror, I'm your dream. I'm what you want, I'm the sister, the family, that you're looking for.
»
«How do you know about Friedrich? »
« Him? You must not be surprised, Alessandro, I know everything I need to know ... especially about you. By the way, I like your new look. » she said, winking.
« Stop playing with me, Yukiko, this isn't a joke.
» Alessandro was impassive.
« Yes, for me is a joke. Killing you will be easy and I will use your blood to summon Nidhoggr. The blood running through your veins ... your family has a connection with the ancient Druids who sealed Nidhoggr. Your blood is the key and I want it. »
« So you need my blood to get the Grail of Yggdrasil ... »
Alessandro put his attention on Yukiko's skeletal arm, that arm made of mercury, at first he was a bit surprised but then he understood it's true nature:
« The Miracle of Eden. Only a member of the Coven know that spell. You're not even human ... everything you are is just a reflection of a life that no longer exists ... you're just a shadow. It makes sense that you want this. What else could you wish for? »
« You're trying to psychoanalyze me, I like it, but unfortunately it won't work for you. »
« You're wrong, I don't want to "psychoanalyze you" I just want to make you understand that what you are doing is dictated by your own empty nature.
»
« Do you want a prize for figuring it out by yourself? »
« No. Your defeat will be enough for me ... Dis!
» Alessandro exclaimed, snapping his fingers.
Yukiko was knocked over by a powerful shock wave. Alessandro came up, snapped his fingers again and exclaimed:
« Gladio! » A sword appeared on his hand.
Alessandro tried to kill Yukiko but the girl got up with a jump, disarmed the boy with a kick and with her skeletal hand took him by the throat and threw him on the ground; strangling him, she said to him with a sadistic smile:
« Pushing your younger sister and trying to kill her isn't very polite, you know? Wait… now I'll give you back the wrong… Jag är Stark. »
Yukiko lifted Alessandro off the ground with impressive force and threw him against a church column, then exclaimed:
« Are you hurt, brother?! Do you want your little sister to cuddle you? Maybe I know how to get you back on your feet, but it could be very painful. »
« Crazy bitch ... »Alessandro said, trying to get back on his feet.
« And we're just getting started. »

Saber and Berserker met outside Westminster Abbey. Berserker was strangely calm when Saber arrived; Berserker's fists were engulfed in flames, she was ready to fight, and Saber was visibly pleased with it.
« We can finally face each other ... I've been waiting for this moment for a long time. King of the Knights ...
»
« We have nothing to say to each other, I'm not here to talk, I'm here to fight. »
« So be it. »
Saber drew Crocea Mors.
« Do you recognize it? You obviously recognize it. This sword is your sword ... our sword. The sword that has been entrusted to you ... the name by which you know it is another ... Excalibur, right? »
« You're not worthy to pronounce that name and you're not even worthy to wield that weapon. »
« And what about you? What are you? You're not Saber, I would've liked to face you to your fullest, it would've been an epic battle to tell in my commentaries, but instead I have you. I know what you are, I understand it ... but do you know yourself? »
« AAARRGH! » Berserker suddenly shouted.
Berserker hit Saber in the face with a punch so hard it sent her flying to the ground; Saber got up immediately, wiped the blood from her lip, and without hesitation attacked Berserker in turn with a series of blows that managed to throw the opponent off balance, then, with extreme speed she hit Berserker with a kick in the stomach, walked away, and lunged with her sword; Berserker grabbed the blade in time and punched Saber's face, then grabbed her by the throat and threw her against the church wall; she approached quickly and began to beat her with fists with the same fury of a beast but without realizing it she left her guard open and Saber used that opportunity to hit the opponent's side with her  sword; Saber walked away, caught her breath, but Berserker was already close to her; Saber parried several hits from the enemy then with agility moved to the side and wounded Berserker in the back with a powerful slash.
« Crocea Mors! (The Sword of Certain Victory)
»
The blade, illuminated by a divine light, struck Berserker in full with a magical slash so powerful that it destroyed parts of her armor.
Berserker's helmet fell and revealed her pale face, with dragon scales and dragon eyes.
« So there you are, Arthur Pendragon. » Saber said.
« You… bastard… how dare you use that sword against me ?!
»
« Your sense has returned. It's like you have a second personality then. But why?
»
« Because Avalon… the place that was supposed to guarantee me peace gave me only sadness and regrets. I suffered knowing that I was unable to save my homeland… my kingdom. God has abandoned me, he has not beatified me. »
« But I see that your sense is stronger than your madness, you manage every time to get out of that state of fury and to speak like a rational person.
»
« No ... it is my curse, the Pain of Exile. I'm condemned to this, because I was exiled from Avalon. My suffering, incomprehensible to God, cost me this. »
« And haven't you learned anything? After all, it's your fault that you ended up in this state. »
« Don't you dare blame me! You don't know anything about me! » Berserker yelled.
« I know enough to tell you that what you have done has reduced you to a rejection of heaven. You gave away your humanity to be a perfect king, you brandished my sword without ever understanding the meaning of its power, and the kingdom fell due to your incompetence. »
« BE QUIET! »
Berserker punched Saber in the stomach with a fist then continued to beat her to the ground, kicked her up into the air, Berserker jumped, grabbed Saber in midair, grabbing her by the head, and threw her back on the ground opening a crater then, once landed, she used her Noble Phantasm:
« Ashes of Camelot! (My Hell is Eternal)
»
Berserker launched a vortex of fire from her hands that hit Saber and generated an immense explosion.
« You speak as if you know me but you know nothing of the sufferings that I have had to endure, you don't know the sacrifices that I have had to make to be a king worthy of the throne of Britain. You, who are just a miserable dictator, couldn't understand concepts like honor and justice. » Berserker said in front of the flames that blazed.
Saber appeared behind Bersker and slashed her in the back. Berserker fell into the crater and when she recovered she exclaimed, furious:
« Hit your opponents from behind! You have no honor!
»
Saber, from the top of the crater, spat the blood from her mouth on Berserker's face.
« How dare you?! Disrespect me in this is ... »
« Shut up, please, you're making me sick. Honor? Justice? You speak like an aristocrat. You got everything from life. When you were born you were already predestined to take the throne and rule Britain, you were a chosen one, no one dared to criticize you and no one dared to turn against you. You even had your personal wizard and your personal knights, even my sword was given to you without you doing anything to prove yourself worthy of it, you were simply born to take it. You haven't done anything in your life, you haven't made any effort, nothing. You have never known poverty, you have never suffered the loss of family members and you have never abandoned royal luxury; you never expanded your kingdom and were unable to prevent the only civil war that broke out in your little kingdom. You come to me, I who have worked hard to get what I got, and command respect? You are just a child, criticized only for being "too perfect" ... poor princess, you are "too perfect" for us mortals! Too perfect? Ah! It's easy to be perfect when you're nothing. We are the antipodes, Arthur Pendragon ... I've done everything in my life, you've done nothing. For this reason, if you want my respect you will have to earn it, certainly it will not be given to you. Not from me. »
« I'm not going to earn a tyrant's respect! »
« And I won't give my respect to a presumptuous princess. Ah! If you had fucked more often you might not have had that perfect princess temper. »
« How dare you?! » Berserker's fists were engulfed in flames.
« What happens, King of the Knights? Can't keep up with words? Do you by any chance need a hand? Maybe I can suggest some insults ... but I doubt someone like you can speak decently. You have never been a champion of oratory. »
Berserker, enraged, leapt out of the crater and hit Saber with a straight punch to the chin, Saber managed not to fall, walked away from the opponent and brandishing her sword she struck some blows but Berserker was able to parry with great speed; at the tenth blow of the sword Saber realized that it was useless to continue attacking from the front and decided to strike from the sides but Berserker intercepted her with a punch so powerful that Saber flew against the wall of the church which was about three meters from them.
Saber moved away from the wall to avoid being hit as before and with a jump reached the roof, Berserker followed her and resumed hitting her non-stop, Saber tried to parry all the blows but then received a punch in the face that knocked her out of the roof; the girl got up, exhausted, thinking she had exaggerated with the insults, she hoped to make her rival lose focus but in reality it had simply made her more angry.
She began to calculate a way to be able to face Berserker without having to face those devastating punches, she had to force Berserker to let her guard down. But how?
Saber looked at her Crocea Mors, she had a brilliant intuition.
When Berserker came down from the roof, Saber ran towards her but threw the sword in the air, that move left Berserker astonished and Saber took the opportunity to throw a punch in her face that knocked her off balance, then, resting her hand on the ground, exclaimed:
« Fortress! »
A square shaped wooden fort surrounded Berserker, the latter tried to break the walls but failed, that wood was hard as steel, and then Berserker decided to jump over the walls and track down Saber, but she was gone.
« Where did she go? »
« Here, King of the Knights!
»
The fort disappeared and Berserker saw, a little further on, Saber near a scorpion; the weapon fired a powerful dart that pierced Berserker's stomach. Saber saw her opponent fall to the ground and then used her Noble Phantasm:
« Legio Gallica! (My Eighth Legion Who Served in Gaul)
»
Saber evoked the vast territories of Gaul and with them her legion of ten thousand soldiers. Berserker was in front of an army of impressive dimensions but she didn't let herself be shaken by fear, she took out her broken sword from which a blade of light came out.
« So be it. I will end you. » Berserker said.
« Do you really want to make this bet with me, Arthur? » Saber asked, entranced by the competition.
« Try to survive this, Gaius Julius Caesar! No More Avalon! (Deicide) "
Berserker destroyed the plains of Gaul with a powerful slash of light that killed most of the legionnaires but Saber wasn't among them, she was jumping from one clod to another in mid-air reaching her opponent little by little; Saber held Crocea Mors, Berserker held Excalibur; the two warriors ran towards each other brandishing their weapons, moved by the desire to end their battle once and for all.
Berserker was smiling like Saber.
The two blades collided once, twice, three times; the metallic sounds exploded from the incessant impacts of those two sacred weapons, every single slash was powerful and fast, every single blow had such energy that it lifted the wind and made the earth tremble and the two warriors were smiling, they were caught in that duel to determine which of them was right; one blow after another, one blow after another, neither of the two warriors was giving in, neither of the two warriors was going to stop fighting, it was a battle between two powers: a woman with dragon's blood and one with divine blood; two opposing women but both faithful to their ideals. Only one would be the winner.
« Do you feel it? I'm winning, Arthur! »
« I'm the one who's winning, Caesar! »
« What's that? Are you finally developing some pride? »
« And you finally made up your mind to face me fairly!
»
« Ah! Maybe you're right, King of the Knights, so let's finish this battle with a bang. Let's see which of the two deserves to win this duel! »
The two girls distanced themselves from each other. Berserker then asked:
« Yes, it seems appropriate to me to give you my best, but on one condition: I want to know what wish you hoped to fulfill with the Holy Grail. »
« What's the difference? It's useless to ask. »
« Consider it a form of courtesy, it's my respect towards your desire and towards you.
»
« Do you really want to know? »
« Yes. »
« I want you. »
« Huh ?! And what is that supposed to mean?
» Berserker asked, astonished.
« I want my family… I want to take everyone to the Elysian Fields and that includes you. You were never destined for Avalon… you're Roman and therefore you deserve my own paradise. »
« I see know ... but you're a fool. I'm not really Roman ... »
« You are. And I will save you. »
Berserker looked thoughtful, something was troubling her, now she seemed not so sure she wanted to fight Saber.
« So, are you ready? » Saber asked.
« Yes, I'm ready. »
The two warriors with drawn swords ran at full speed against each other, charging their best shots. Saber was targeting Berserker's heart. Berserker was targeting Saber's head. In an instant a sword fell. Berserker dropped the blade. Saber was shocked at that moment. She pierced her heart from side to side with the image of her rival, imprinted in her memory, that comes upon her with a blissful smile.
 
 
Arthur vs Caesar by Bikowolf

     

No comments:

Post a Comment