Chapter 61: Episode 58

Disclaimer: I don't own Nasuverse or any other franchise that can be found in this fanfiction.

Words Count: 4755

Here's my usual spiel:

You can read exactly 25, maybe 26 Episodes in advanced?.

p a tr e on . com (/) LiamThePoor

A/N: Welp, first Kaiju battle incoming boys, and girls(Unlikely)?

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Despite having wandered near the Bounded Field where i suspected Gabriel was lying in wait, I did not immediately rush inside. I was vigilant, I had to be if I wanted to stay alive. The Witch had been active for four, maybe five centuries. She must have other tricks beyond her Witchcraft and Curses.

Not to mention, the Demonic Mana permeating the arena she had set up for us was... Quite problematic to deal with, doubly so when the entire field was basically covered in thick layers of them. After carefully studying the Bounded Field, I had come to the conclusion that once I was inside its range, any attempts to blink out would not only be risky and randomized, but it would likely require me to expend my precious weeks-worth of [Energy Storage].

“It’s neither ideal nor wise to willingly walk into a trap…” Closing my eyes, I focused on the connection between Invictus and myself. My teeth grinded together as the welcomed rage began to set in. The Umbral Witch was smart, she had noticed the sentimental values the Mystic Code had to me early on, and now for the very first time, was practically dangling it in order to lure me in.

Gabriel must be very confident of whatever she had cooked up if she was using it as the prize, having never tried in my previous trips.

I was not ashamed to admit her scheme was succeeding. “But when have I been afraid of anything?”

Infernal Iris in my grasp, I leaped on top of a nearby tree. Usually, I’d start by bombarding the Witch and her Demons with [Ansuz] and [Finn Cannon] to thin out their number, but those were useless in this situation. The sheer Mana fluctuations radiating off of the Bounded Field was so intense, the inside was almost a new, separate Dimension on its own. Hell, if I didn’t know any better, I might have thought it was a product of a Reality Marble.

But I did know better, the park where Angra’s Cursed Fire raged the strongest had the same problem, the resentments of the Daemon King’s victims, coupled with his Cursed Energy were enough to create a… Hole in Gaia similar to this place.

If it had truly been a Reality Marble, I would have waited for her to run out of Mana and confronted her then, but it’s not, it’s merely an imitation of the real thing, and not even a good one at that. Angra’s Curses were much stronger, more prevalent than hers could ever be.

‘Oh… I’m flattered you think so highly of me, Leo-tan. If I didn’t know any better, I might have thought you’re hitting on me.’ Angra joked tauntingly. I could almost imagine him lying on his side, hand pressed his hip, a saucy smile plastered on his expression as he winked. ‘Wait! Why would I ever imagine– Angraaa!’

I gritted my teeth, which only served to further the Daemon King’s manic cackles and sighed. What I felt wasn’t quite physical exhaustion, but a mental one that was bordering on the first. Wearily, I asked. “This is gonna be a regular occurrence, isn’t it? You messing around in my head while I’m about to, or am fighting for my life?”

‘Don’t be so down, Leo-tan. You’ll get used it, I’m sure!’ Angra projected an image of him pumping his fists in the air encouragingly. I simply ignored his antics. Loath as I was to admit it, the Daemon King was not wrong, I was getting used to his… Presence. He was annoying for sure, but it’s not like he had done anything to damage our relationship to a irreconcilable degree.

Beside, and I said this with the utmost caution, having him to banter with did feel nice? It had honestly done wonders to ease my high-strung nerves, and he even knew not to project shits into my brain when I was in combat, so… With a sigh that said a thousand words, I instructed. “Just- Just, can you at least try to keep it down when I’m confronting the Witch-Bitch, please?”

‘Got it, boss! My lips are sealed.’ Refusing to stoop to his level, I did not deign to reply. Instead, I went to collect palm-sized rocks that would fit perfectly in my hands. Yes, Mana-based Spells wouldn’t be very effective against her Bounded Field, but that did not mean I was out of options. “These should work…”

These rocks, while seemingly harmless, once reinforced and thrown by someone of Superhuman strength– AKA me, would be just as, if not more effective than 50 caliber, armor-piercing rounds.

Thus, once I had collected a decent pile, I began chucking them with reckless abandon at the Witch’s lair in the distance. Her Workshop and Home was the same as always, its exterior reminded me of an 36^th Century building with faded paints and cracks lining its walls, but that was merely a façade. The inside was a Bounded Field capable of enlarging Space itself, allowing her to station hordes upon hordes of Demons.

During my and Ciri’s first visit, we stormed the place and were met with rows of fangs, claws and rudimentary weapons such as stone-made knives, swords and spears from the weaker Demons. It was not exactly a fun experience, especially since those mongrels were backed by her foul-natured traps, having received an upgraded after the Witch realized she wasn’t the sole Magus residing on this planet. Obviously, in the end, we managed survived…

But that’s only because Gabriel was busy at the time, out to gather more ingredients for her Rituals and Demons-Summoning perhaps?

I must draw her from her lair, hence the pile of rocks. It would be unwise to take on the Witch in an enclosed Space. The House(?) was surprisingly tough, capable of withstanding even my assault, yet multiple visits had made me somewhat aware of her personality. Maybe it was her indoctrination as a Magus Heiress, but the Umbral Witch was fond of quietness and peace, it’s why she hid in this God-forsaken wasteland in the first place.

I could understand her thinking somewhat, being a Magus and a introvert myself. Bustling places were not exactly my favorite, it’s much better for us Mages to conduct experiments somewhere quiet.

Which was why I knew Gabriel was sure to come out soon. The rocks indeed couldn’t demolish her Workshop, but it would leave behind harmful, irreparable damages to the Spatial-Expansion Enchantment she had spelled the House with. Someone as prideful and as solitary as the Umbral Witch would not be able to take this lying down for long. I was right.

After the twelfth rock hit it target and cracked a window of her House, Gabriel quickly came out, her expression darker than coal as she glared at her surrounding, accompanied by several Demons and that silvery, Angel-looking bastard– Abel. “My child, thou art truly wearing mine patience thin… Reveal thyself.”

I responded by sending a sharp rock at her face, which the Witch effortlessly batted away using her reinforced strength. I wasn’t really surprised, her [Reinforcement] might be subpar, but if it’s that easy to kill a Magus, an Heiress at that too, then with their habits and prideful way, Mages in Nasuverse have dwindled considerably and Magecraft as an Art would have gone extinct decades ago.

I blinked to another position, this time aiming at the Demons instead.

After filling the rock with so much Mana it’s close to exploding, I threw it at Abel. Being a dumbass Demon, the bastard raised his spear to block when he could have totally deflected it and dodged to the side, thus avoiding the resulting Mana wave and fragments.

Instead, he received the full blast to the face, leaving half his features shredded and burnt, while the other half completely bloodied. He clutched his face, howling like an enraged beast, an act that seemed to upset Gabriel greatly. “That’s not how siblings should play with each other!”

The Witch announced sharply, before flaring her Mana and shooting her chaotic, unstable Demonic Mana flying everywhere. I blinked up to dodge the attack, but the trees and vegetation below me were not that lucky, being non-sentient and all, the waves utterly destroyed everything in its wake, leaving naught but death and destruction. Even the lands beneath were not spared as fissures filled with Demonic Mana ruptured the earth.

The fissures flashed bright violet, bursting with Hellish Fires that sought only to consume, to kill and feast on the Souls of the Livings. Seeing as I was the sole human unaffiliated with the Witch, it naturally directed its hatred and relentless wrath at me. And this, folks, was why you should never attempt to fight a Magus in their Workshop. A temporary one like the Le Blanc’s place atop the Tower was still fine, but a genuine, permanent Workshop was far trickier.

Although Gabriel might lack innovations in the Craft, she was still an Heiress of a… Well, a relatively unknown House, but surely it was once a prominent one? Its name– D’Leoncourt did sound pretty fucking cool after all.

‘You sure it’s not because it has the abbreviation of your name in it?’ Angra Mainyu deadpanned. I refused to deign the Daemon with a reply.

Gabriel’s the House Heiress, she must have inherited their Crest or a majority of it. The disappearances of both must have caused the House’s eventual downfall. ‘Hmmm… She must still possess the Crest. I has to be related to Demonology, right? Maybe I can use it?’

Yes, yes. You couldn’t just carelessly implant Crests into your body, lest you exploded in a gory mess, or melted to a puddle. But, I had survived the Witcher Trials, and said Trials were designed with the purpose to allow foreign substances and elements to take root inside someone… If it could even help me replicate the Elder Blood, a Magic Crest should not be too far-fetched, no?

I fell, blinking further up and above when I spotted a winged, flying Demon.

In an instant, I was on the creature, a projected knife in hand as I jabbed it deep into the Demon’s exposed neck. Its screeches of pain were booming, turning the shriveled trees to dusts as the sonic waves passed. I clenched my teeth, my free hand moving to cover my ear. “Sonic screech, that’s a first…”

I punched the Demon’s head so hard its head snapped downwards, its attack homing onto Gabriel and its fellow Demons instead. The Witch and Abel were quick to react, but the rest were kind of, sort of… Dumb? The flying Demon’s frantic movements might have alleviated most of the damages to Gabriel’s forces, but the dozens caught in the attack were essentially erased down to their atoms. ‘This is not a normal Sonic Screech–‘

I grimaced, trying to control the Demon with my knife. ‘It’s imbued with Demonic Mana!’

I pushed off the Demon, driving Infernal Iris into its brain to the hilt. I must admit, Olgierd’s sabre was simply a work of art, even more so after it was enhanced by O’Dimm, but it could not take the place of Invictus.

The fact that my rapier was given to me by Gil only contributed partly to the reasons, I just… Dislike sabre. The edge-alignment was all wrong, and the change in weight, while nothing to my Supernatural strength, made it a tad more unwieldy. It’s not an inferior weapon from a objective standpoint, it’s merely unsuitable for my usage.

In fact, if not for the weapon’s unnatural sharpness, I would have failed to pierce through and impale the flying Demon’s crown of horns right there. Don’t get it wrong, Infernal Iris was not inferior to Invictus, but it’s not to my liking. Perhaps I could present it to Shiro as a gift once I returned? Archer Emiya did use curved falchions, maybe it would suit her better than it did me…?

The gigantic winged Demon plummeted towards Gabriel. Much to my surprise, the Umbral Witch did not bother to dodge at all, her hair lengthening then coiling together to create sharp and thick tendrils that swatted the Demon’s carcass into the ground, crushing it to a bloody paste.

She turned her eyes towards me, a taunting raise of eyebrow as though to say, ‘Really?’. Unfortunately, the Witch’s previous AoE attack had annihilated the pile of rocks I had collected, but it’s no problem I couldn’t solve. My fingers clenched around the air as [Gradation Air] activated and I continued with my bombardment. Rather than normal Mana, I poured Elder Blood-charged Mana into these projections instead.

Even though I had never tried this before and had little to no idea what these would do, it’s not exactly rocket science.

The creation of these consumables was unexpectedly easy with [Mana Manipulation]. Again and again, I hurled them at the Demons and Gabriel.

The Witch herself survived fine, using her hair as a makeshift shield that blocked the explosions, but the Demons were less fortunate, being blasted to pieces and bits that decorated the surrounding area. ‘Man, that house’s so gonna need a new paint-job when you’re done.’

‘Not. NOW ANGRA!’ The momentary distraction was caused by the Daemon gave Gabriel just enough time to grab the debris around her and started hurling it at me with her hair-tendrils of all things. She even pumped them full of Mana! ‘This bitch’s stealing my tricks!’

“Come down and greet me, child of mine!” I avoided all the projectiles via blinking, but I couldn’t dodge all the resulting explosions of Mana. She had aimed them in a way that nearly ensured I’d be hit no matter what. Just as I felt the scorching heat of Hellish Fire coming at my back, I projected a platform beneath my feet and shot at Gabriel. [Petal Burst], [Reinforcement] and [Longsword Of Silence] initialized, consuming my Mana and the unseen bar of Stamina.

“I AIN’T YOUR FUCKING CHILD!”

Shattering the Hypersonic threshold, I shot at her like human-shaped cannonball, Infernal Iris swinging at her neck. Slowed perception was .quite an interesting thing, in those short moments while I was still airborne, I could see so many things all at once, I could see Gabriel’s tendrils shifting over to protect her, I could see the minute twitch of her fingers as a blade– Invictus came flying into her awaiting grasp.

In those oh-so short moments, I was able to cover Infernal Iris in destabilized Mana as [Mana Burst] responded to my mental order and the Demons wielding weapons moved their sharp, pointy edges towards me at a snail’s pace, likely hoping I’d impale myself on their weapons like an idiot.

I crossed the pulsing Bounded Field, cringing internally as demonically tainted Mana washed over my form and senses, leaving me with a rather… Distasteful aftertaste. Suppressing the feeling, I blinked. The Space around Gabriel’s Workshop House might be twisted to Hell, making teleporting in and out a real hassle, but that’s all it was– A method to stop me from retreating.

Gabriel couldn’t use the Field to twist the Space under the Bounded Field without the appropriate amount of Mana, and even if she could, the Witch would not, it would have been a monumental feat of sheer, utter stupidity for her to do so, seeing as destabilized Space-Time could be quite deadly.

A Spell gone wrong, a Ritual that affected the Space surrounding it, and it could all come down, collapsing right on top of her as Space itself became incapable of supporting itself… Thus, this trap was only to confine me here, it couldn’t stop me from teleporting within its bounds. Hence why I was able to blink behind the Umbral Witch.

There were two versions of [Blink].

One was Spatial, the other Temporal.

I specialized in the first, while Ciri focused on the latter simply due to our differing aptitudes.

But, once broken further down, each of these versions could be split into two paths I liked to refer to as: Unrelenting Velocity and Capturing Momentum. The names were explanations enough, Unrelenting Velocity allowed me and Ciri to continue with our movements, keeping the force we had accumulated for a surprise strike. As for Capturing Momentum… Well, it did as its name suggested.

I developed it in the very, very unlikely case either Ciri, I or the both of us were falling, and we must decelerate. Their principals were essentially the same, only the latter had the ability to… Stretch the Space around us, thus arresting our momentum. Obviously, I had thought of manipulating Space for an immediate effect, but after careful thinking, such an application of [Blink] would be more harmful than helpful.

A rapid deceleration like that would make our innards and brain bounce about inside us, turning us into humans-slushies. I could maybe, probably survive that? But Ciri would definitely not.

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Anyway, enough about the mechanics of my Spell.

Needless to say, I used the first application.

I was close, oh-so close to advancing to High-Hypersonic, yet somehow Gabriel was still able to react to my attacks, or rather, her fucking hair-tendrils were able to, forming a thorny, protective barrier just over and around her nape. Infernal Iris cut through them all the same, but was diverted and unfortunately lost most of its speed, barely nicking her smooth skin. “[Critical Strike]!”

Infernal Iris’ Enchantment activated in response to my calling, and the small, nigh unnoticeable nick suddenly expanding to the bones, exposing her spine.

The Witch did not scream, she did not even yelp as her hair pooled into the wound, knitting into Gabriel’s flesh to form a new layer of skin… I had seen her do this plenty, yet it did not make the sight any less disturbing.

Blinking back, I avoided the Demons’ waves of attacks as seven [Time Phantoms] came to life, butchering the Lesser Demons with fervency before dissipating as Reality corrected itself, realizing the anomalies that were the apparitions of my Alternate-Selves. Their attacks still only possessed a mere fifth of my own, yet that was more than enough to deal with these filthy mongrels.

I skidded, landing in a somersault to slow myself.

The Umbral Witch chuckled as she turned to face me, fingers caressing Invictus with a sort of… Deranged sensuality. “I truly doth not understand thee, art I not beautiful enough? If thee stay, mommy’s more than willing to take of thy baser… Needs.”

I patted the dust from my pants. “First, you’re not my fucking mommy.”

Cracking my fingers, I continued. “Second, ewww.”

“Please, I’ve seen thy gaze on my person. Whilst I’d admit I’ve not done this with any Child of mine, mommy understands thee have desires. There’s no shame in it.” Gabriel’s tendrils dragged themselves on her curves as her fingers gently touched her lips. Ignoring the twitches of my tool, I raised my blade. “Thee need not deny it, I could sense thy lust through the connection between us. Child of mine, will thee continue with this foolishness when we could be participating in better activities?”

I did not require a thorough explanation to understand what she was getting at, but I’d not be tempted. The sight of Invictus, its once glorious shine tainted black and red in her hand had ensured that. “Return my blade, and we may talk.”

That’s a lie of course, no amount of sex could convince me to double-cross O’Dimm. “I’m afraid that’s not possible, thee clearly still wish to stick thy less entertaining blade into me.”

Oh, for fuck’s sake. “Then we can only fight.”

Gabriel sighed, the cursed rifle appearing in her free hand, while the other clenched around Invictus. “So be it.”

‘Oooh, the Boss Fight is entering its second phase?’ SHUT. YOUR. HOLE. ANGRA!

‘Fineee–’ The Daemon whined in faux fear, his tone taunting as I my grasp on Infernal Iris tightened. ‘Geez, you don’t have to be sshhoo angry, Leo-tan. You’re scaring our children…’

‘WHAT CHILDREN? What the fuck are you talking about?!’ The only response I got was the Daemon’s chuckles, which soon transformed into manic cackles. ‘Just you wait, I’ll deal with you later…’

——◇  [Fate: DML] ◇——

Ciri burst through the treeline, the hordes of Demons close to her heels coming out soon after. There were many of them of many varieties, some were bipedal animals, some had human-heads but bodies of beasts, some were even a sick amalgamation of insects clumped together.

The only thing similar in them were the glowing red pair of eyes, or pairs in some cases, such as the Spider Demons, or the… Lizard(?) covered in eyes. Of these Demons, the most scary was definitely the Lizard, it was the size of three horses, its claws alone was thicker than her waist and its regeneration was miles better than its brethren.

The Witcheress had lost count of how many times she had cut off its appendages, or sliced off its limbs. Its tongue was like a toad’s, but far larger and more powerful, capable of uprooting trees and destroying rocks with a flick. There must be a sexual innuendo here that she was not seeing, but Ciri wasn’t Leonis, she wasn’t childish enough to taunt these Demons who speeches weren’t even coherent.

Still, she was her father’s daughter, it would feel like something was amiss if she didn’t say something, hence… “C’mon, you pieces of filth, what are you waiting for?”

They replied with screeches and roars. “Demons? More like beasts…”

The Witcheress huffed, taunts audible in her tone as a Demon dove at her, its legs lashing at her. Having been trained by Witchers from a young age, Ciri was quick-footed, coupled with her Elder Blood, the Demons were unable to even touch the edges of her shirt, let alone hurt her. Leonis was just being a worrywart in her opinions, hadn’t Ciri accompanied him to attack the Witch all this time?

Wasn’t she fine? The so-called Witch Leonis was so fearful of, much like her hordes of Demons, hadn’t even managed to touch her yet.

When had she been harmed or hurt in any major way? Shaking away the distracting thoughts, Ciri flung several bombs at the hordes. Demonic beings were resilient, but they had weaknesses to certain objects such as herbs, chemical concoctions and fire. The Witcheress wasn’t fond of Magic, and Igni alone could not take care of so many of them, thus she could only use the bombs her father and grandfather had taught her to make.

These could not stop their regeneration completely, but…

The Demons screeched as their skins began to melt.

It was enough to leave them open to her attacks.

Flashing forwards, she sliced and diced, leaving a storm of limbs and bloods to decorate the sandy grounds beneath their feet. Oiled with a magic concoction and thanks to the Black Keys’ natural Holy elements, the Demons could do nothing beside blindly clawing at the air as their regeneration slowed.

Like a ghost, Ciri bolted, landing on the Lizard Demon’s head and jabbing the Keys into its skull to use as a makeshift rein. She pulled and the Demon, as though in response to her command, but truthfully was in anger, raised its clawed front-leg and swiped, crushing its fellow Demons to bits.

“Now that’s easier to burn.”

The ashen-haired Witcheress smirked, before making an Igni Sigh with her hand and burning the assembling pieces. Indeed, it was much easier to incinerate small pieces of flesh, than trying to do the same thing to a whole Demon. Gazing at the Lizard Demon whose back was covered with eyeballs, a diabolical grin crept its way to her lips.

Then, she paused.

When did she start having diabolical grins, and when she’s exterminating Demons of all things?

To even adapt his mannerisms… Maybe she was spending too much time with Leonis?

Yet, she did not dislike it.

Hell, Ciri found it kind of nice.

If she kept at it, the two of them would be bound by things beyond the Elder Blood, and when he left, for the Witcheress knew he would not stay, she would have something to remember him by, and what better way than to assimilate some of his personality traits?

Leonis had never hidden the fact he wanted to return to his planet, his World, but she thought he would need more time, time to locate said World, but she still underestimated him. It took the Sorcerer mere days to re-create the Artifact that sent him to her and he was growing more restless by the day. He wanted to use it, to return to his birthplace, it’s not a feeling Ciri didn’t understand, yet her chest jolted with painful aches at the thoughts of him leaving.

The thoughts distracted her long enough for the Lizard to twist its front leg up and reach for her. It failed, obviously, being a tad too slow and much too clumsy to grab her. It did knock her down though… Ciri dangled on its side, clinging to the Black Key jammed inside the top of its head and swinging up, but not before she had managed to project a… Fork and stab one of the Lizard’s many eyes.

It howled angrily, its large, lanky front leg sweeping at the Demons and ending up on its face, likely hoping to slap her to paste. It was still too slow, achieving naught but destruction to its allies and pain to itself.

Suddenly, a thrum of Magic swept across the entire Island, knocking Ciri off her new mount. The Witcheress fell on the ground with a loud thud, teeth clenched as her back scrapped against the ground. Thankfully, the Demons too were caught up in the mayhem. Not one of them bothered with the fallen Witcheress as she got to her feet.

Their red eyes pulsing as they took off towards the center of the Island. “What- What’s going on?”

Ciri blinked after in pursuit of them, wanting to know what was happening. ‘Something must have happened to Leonis…’

She thought, quickening her steps, yet the Demons’ backs kept moving farther and farther, until they faded completely. The shockwave of Magic just now had affected her ability to teleport, not only was it much more demanding to blink, it also wasn’t nearly as accurate as usual, Ciri noted.

Her back and sides were throbbing with a dull pain as well, perhaps due to being knocked off the Lizard Demon prior.

Yet, she couldn’t allow Leonis to face whatever was happening alone, thus she could only clutch the forming bruises and continued forth.

She barely dragged herself a dozen feet forwards, when a haunting roar sounded. It was bigger than anything the Witcheress had heard, and she had seen some wild shits during her journey away from the planet. Moments later, a behemoth of a hand rose up from the thick canopy, glowing fissures lining its charred flesh.

It looked slender, like the hand of a woman. ‘The Witch’s!’

Next came the its head and torso, pushing past the tall trees, until it was finally on its feet. The giant must have been at least 150 feet in height, its/her body composed entirely of Demons’ carcasses. Even from here, Ciri could see the faces of the Demons bulging from her torso.

The giant’s facial features also resembled the Umbral Witch Gabriel, if said Witch did not have any lips, and her teeth were all ferocious looking fangs.

Her eyes were closed, yet when it opened, there weren’t just two, but three– Two in the expected place, while the third lied like a vertical slit on her forehead. Her irises were blood-red, crimson really, their depth containing a hatred that promised to burn the entire World. For all her courage, all her boasts, the ashen-haired Witcheress couldn’t help but tremble in her boots.

This was not something mere mortals could fight… How, how were they supposed to stop something that’s the size of multiple buildings stacked on top of each other?!

‘Is- Is this fear?’ Ciri had felt fear before, when Cintra was destroyed, when she encountered the Crones, then when she realized she had been subjected to a horrible, horrible Destiny, but this was different.

This was beyond mere fear.

She was utterly terrified,

For herself,

For the World at large and what this- This monstrous behemoth represented,

Yet, the thing in the forefront of her mind was,

“Leonis!”

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