All Roads Lead To Rome

Entry 170:

Linus Ozias POV:

"So this is the capital of the United Roman Empire; it reeks of efficiency but lacks soul and life, an empire that promotes conquest and glory over luxury and contentment. Was this the true form of Rome? Was this what those in the future will remember Rome for?" Nero asks as we approach the city with the armies of Boudica, Jing Ke, Spartacus, and Lu Bu.

I shake my head and say, "An empire is whatever the ruler makes of it. It can be either stagnation, constant conquest, or simply contentment. The Empire is the shadow of the ruler and not the other way around. While I do admire the efficiency of this place, it lacks purpose, and those that live here seemingly just exist ." The statement causes Nero to smile slightly as we approach the main gate.

From what I can sense, Romulus is here along with Caligula and the Grail, all of which lie in the central palace. As we neared the gate, Ritsuka looked at the large gate and asked, "So, who is gonna knock on the door?" I look at Ritsuka and say, "Why knock when it seems they wish to invite us in?" As I say this, the gate lowers, the streets are emptied, and the silence is deafening.

But as quickly as the silence reigned, it was soon filled with the loud roaring of man and beast as giant phantasmal beasts appeared with Roman soldiers riding atop the beasts. I recognize the beasts from the facilities database. 

"Chimeras, it seems they wish to welcome us, Nero." I say as the Empress readies her blade and says, "Let them bring thousands of them. We shall not be stopped today."

Nero then looks behind her and begins to say to her men, "My fellow Romans, look upon the tactics of our enemies! They ride atop monsters and deny the grace and beauty of our glorious Empire! They used diversionary tactics and their own home as a trap! We shall not fall to such tricks, and we shall stand upon the field of battle honored forever! Now fight not for me and not for yourselves but for the name and glory of Rome! Fight for your future!"

The men began to cheer, and form ranks while I gave all of their weapons and armor buffs and wards to aid in battling phantasmal beasts as well as ward off attacks. 

It's kind of funny as it feels like I'm playing a game of Age Of Empires with cheats. As the servants stand in front, I look at them all and say, "Well, what are we waiting for? Let us end this farce, shall we?"

The servants nod as Nobu pulls out her katana and says, "Let us dine on their blood!" Artoria reels back at this slightly but remains focused as Mash replies, "Nobu phantasmal beast blood is unhealthy, and you do not know where those beasts have been."

Nobu snorts as Ritsuka nods while I look to Nero and pull out the BFG, and as the Empress looks at my weapon, she asks, "Ozias, What does that device do?" I smirk and say, "Clears a path, of course." The Empress remains confused as I charge up The BFG, and as the Chimeras begin to charge and the streets are filled with soldiers, I fire the first shot.

The green ball of energy enhanced by Necron technology disintegrates every piece of flesh it passes, and a large majority of the beats are simply flayed as their bodies are ripped apart and the normal soldiers simply disappear in red mist. 

The street, once full of soldiers, is reduced to a road lined with raining blood, and Nero looks in awe while Ritsuka throws up as Mash looks on with an unreadable expression.

DOOM weapons really go hard on the gore, but the soldiers seeing the display rush in to deal with the traitors and the city is filled with sounds of fighting and death, and as the battle goes on, the rest of us head to the palace, and once we reach the palace Nero asks Jing Ke "So do you know where the leader is?" The assassin looks at her and smiles while saying, "Of course, follow me."

The woman had been scouting ahead, and thanks to that, she was able to map out the basic layout of the palace. But as we are about to enter, a roar can be heard emanating from the entrance, and from it comes Caligula holding one soldier by the neck and another by the head as he drags both on the ground. 

Before Nero can say anything, Caligula looks at her breaks one of the soldier's necks, and crushes the other soldier's head like a normal person would crush a grape.

"Give me your life, my beautiful niece." The man utters as Nero narrows her eyes at the once proud general and says, "I am going to have to disappoint you again, uncle." Caligula drops the two corpses as he rushes the Empress, and she meets his punch with her own as her eyes turn black and red.

Yet unlike before, she is controlled, and as they fight, Nero begins to say, "I have failed you, uncle; I have failed you if this is how others remember you. I shall end your misery." I give her a boost as she begins to move faster and faster, and her punches meet the berserker's armor.

Caligula attempts to strike her in the chest, but she dodges and strikes at the man's legs, which causes him to buckle under the power of her kicks. As he dodges backward, he tries to grab Nero by the neck but misses by mere centimeters. Nero grabs his arms, throws him into a marble column, and throws another punch, to which Caligula rolls out of the way.

The column crumbles as Caligula picks up the remains and uses them as a weapon. Nero takes out her sword and cuts the column remnants into pieces, which allows Caligula to rush through the dust at Nero, yet in that moment, Nero closes her eyes and in one motion, carries her blade through Caligula's chest. His own momentum carried him through the blade.

Blood begins to spill, yet as Caligula begins to disappear, his eyes clear, and he places an arm on Nero's head and says quietly, "You have never failed me, my beautiful niece. Now go and lead our people and know I am always with you, and I will always be so proud of you."

He disappears as tears fall from Nero's face, but she rubs them away and, with a reignited vigor, looks at us and says, "Let us end this." We all nod as we enter the palace, and as we run through the halls, I say, "Well done, Empress Nero. He seemed proud." Nero then looks at me and says, "Of course, I am the Great Nero after all, umu!" I chuckle as we find a very large door leading to the main throne room.

"Why do all final bosses have giant temples or doors?" Ritsuka asks as, surprisingly, Artoria replies, "It's mostly an aesthetic choice or a means of intimidation. I myself had one in Camelot." Ritsuka looks at the King Of Knights and says, "You would probably make for a terrifying final boss." I say nothing at this comment as I open the door, and in the large room, a large man holds the holy Grail and says, "Here you are, my beloved child."

Nero looks at the former founder and says, "Umu, I am here! O proud founder of our great nation, King Romulus!" Romulus looks at Nero with prideful eyes as he picks up his weapon and places the Grail on the table near his throne. "Splendid radiance. In that case, should I call out your name, "Emperor?"

Nero, with righteous energy, replies by saying, "I am Empress Nero! Daughter of Julia Agrippina and Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and the great-granddaughter of Augustus Caesar and I refuse this Rome. While I shall forever thank you for founding this great Empire, you are no longer needed." 

Romulus smiles and says, "Well then, show me your radiance and the depths of your love for Rome! Show me your might, Nero!"

But as she goes to enter battle, we rally to her as I say, "You do not fight alone, Empress." Nero smiles as what I can call a jumping as Nero rushes the lancer class Romulus, and as he goes to strike her, Mash blocks it as Ritsuka punches the man into a wall with her gloves. Nobu slams her katana into the man's right hand. Yet he doesn't even flinch as he pulls the katana out and throws Nobu into the opposite wall.

Karna stabs the man through his left leg and, with a grunt, pulls out the spear. She swipes his weapon toward Karna, which he easily dodges, and taking advantage of the injury, Artoria slices the man across the chest, causing blood to spray, yet the man continues to fight. 

To which I grab the Roman wanna-be custodes and throw him into the air and, with Nero jumping off Mash's shield and slamming her fist into Romulus's chest. As he crashes into the ground, he slowly stands back up.

"I commend all of you for making it this far, as even I could not foresee all of your strength, and the radiance all of you show with clarity of purpose truly inspires me. But my strength is not yet spent interlopers! Everything! Absolutely everything leads to my lance, as all roads lead to my glorious Empire! Magna Voluisse Magnum!" Romulus waved his lance towards us, and from the ground, trees began to form and encircle us.

The trees then began to crush inwards, yet before they could reach us, all of them caught fire as Karna began to float into the air, with his eyes glowing red.

The demigod then yelled out in vigor and fired lasers from his eyes from his Brahmastra skill that destroyed the trees and the throne room along with the palace itself. Karna then floats downward with Ritsuka yelling out, "Karna, there is a time and place for lasers, but not when we can be crushed!"

Karna ignores her as I give him a thumbs up, to which Romulus, who remains standing, looks to Nero and says, "Truly a display of power. I feel honored to die such a warrior. My time has long passed, and my Empire has grown past me, yet I am at peace, for Rome is eternal! Roma!" As he yells out those words, Nero stabs him through the heart, and he disappears, smiling at his end.

Ritsuka then begins to walk up to the Grail, and as she is about to take it, the ground begins to quake, and the Grail begins to shine. As I grab it and throw it into the air, a being forms from the light, and red eyes look at me and say: "I told you we would meet again, dumpling holders."

Altera has arrived from what I assume was most likely due to the amount of magical energy used and a possible defense mechanism from Goetia. 

I look at her, and as she stares at me, she begins to utter, "I am Altera. A warrior of the Hun. And it's King. I am the King of Destruction, the one who destroyed the Western world. Destruction calls to be wrought. I won't destroy life. I will demolish that civilization. Photon Ray!"

"Everyone to me!" I yell as her multi-colored sword produces a light towards the sky that forms a magic circle, and as the circle ignites, a large beam forms and fires toward us. The beam then hits and the world goes white.

Olga Animusphere POV:

My new heart stops as all four of us hear the explosion and see the noble phantasm activate, and as they huddle together, I yell out, "Get out of there now, Linus!" The beam then hits, and the screen goes white, and the silence is deafening.

"Linus say something! Ritsuka! Mash! Anyone!" I yell, yet all I hear is static.

I lost my friend again.

I failed again.

As my sadness grows, the facility begins to shake, but before I can begin to cry, the screen clears, and Romani yells, "Look!" I glued my eyes to the screen and threw Roman to the side, and where the blast landed lies an enormous crater, yet in the center, and in that crater, it showed a golden radiance in the form of angelic wings. 

And as I see the golden hue recede, I see everyone okay, and over the comms, I hear Linus say, "We are not dead. Although Olga, the concern is very touching."

I am not crying. I then shakily say, "Linus, we will have words when you all return, okay?" Linus says softly, "Of course, we are not going anywhere." 

Ritsuka then yells out, "Is everyone going to ignore the fact that we just survived a high-powered nuclear beam from space!" I say nothing as Altera floats above them with the Grail in her hands, feeding her large amounts of mana.

I then say to them all, "All of you must defeat Altera. Linus kick her ass." The man then smiles and says, "Of course, getting lasered is not exactly fun." Linus then pulls out his crucible and flies up to her, with Altera looking at him with a stoic expression.

Linus Ozias POV:

Future fact: do not attempt to tank noble phantasms if you are not me. That laser would have killed all of us, barring myself and Karna and maybe Mash, if she used Lord Camelot. For right now, I fly up to her, and she looks at me with almost intrigue as she says, "Will you stand in my way?"

I nod and she takes her sword and points it towards me as Romani says [The magic energy signatures are rising rapidly it seems like the Grail is increasing her power at the cost of her mental faculties! Be careful!]

We stare at one another, and in nanoseconds, our swords clash and produce multi-colored sparks as we disconnect, we slash at one another over and over, with each blow creating enough air pressure to cause massive tremors, and as the land shakes, our fight continues. Altera even shows a small smile as she says, "I am destruction. I am Hun. Show me more light."

I oblige her and form my archangel form, and as my wings appear and I grow in height to my primarch height, nature itself seems to come alive, and the sun's light grows brighter in the sky. 

The display even gives Altera pause as she reaches toward me as if trying to grasp the light. She then dashes towards me, and with my Blade Encarmine, I parry and deflect her strikes. She grows more and more ferocious.

While her strength is increasing, her servant's vessel is limited and is showing its degradation as cracks have begun to appear on her form, yet she grows more and more fervent, and as she says, "This light is new. What is it?" As we clash, I say with my voice echoing for miles, "This light is produced by the belief of worlds far beyond this one. Let me show you."

I then form my reality marble, and the current plane cracks apart, and we find ourselves among a silver city on a metal/natural world. I then unleash more of my purifying aura, and the darkness within the Grail is removed. Altera falls to her knees due to the pressure, yet I soon reel it in, and she stands back up. "Why do you fight Altera?" 

I ask, and as she answers, "I fight for destruction." I narrow my eyes and say, "And if there was more to life than that?" I say as she responds, "That is all I know, and that is all I shall ever know." I sigh and walk up to her and say, "What if I could show you another way?" Altera tilts her head slightly and asks, "What more is there?"

I then pull a classic Emiya move and present her with some desserts, and as she stares at them, I grab one and say, "Life can be enjoyed in other ways. Try one, Altera." 

I hand her a cookie, and as she takes it and places it in her mouth, she chews like a squirrel and then begins to glow as if having a revelation. She then takes the rest and eats it as I pull the patented Headpat EX, and she smiles and closes her eyes.

Hook, line, and sinker, my friends.