54 - Dragon and Serpent

If there was one thing that Shirou had learned since he became a Sleeper, it would be that those who are sane do not live long. Restricting yourself to logic is the same as leaving yourself vulnerable in this illogical world.

Which was exactly why Shirou was going to do something illogical.

He summoned the [Bubble Pendant] and the [Storm Ruler], standing before the sea of blood. He dipped a foot in, and after a few moments of making sure that the blood wasn't dong anything, slowly submerged himself into the water.

He was able to breathe thanks to the [Bubble Pendant], and used [Galebreathe] to propel himself away. Shirou rushed through the sea of blood, accelerating at terrible speeds. He encountered a few piranha-like Nightmare Creatures, but they weren't much of a threat.

Shirou poked his head out, seeing that the island was almost out of sight. He couldn't see any other landforms, but he wasn't going to wait around where that archer was. He narrowed his eyes as he saw a large shadow approach him, swimming through the ocean of blood.

Shirou dove down in an attempt to see what it was. Fortunately, no water could get into his eyes thanks to the [Bubble Pendant], so he could keep them open.

He widened his eyes at the abomination in front of him. It was a scaly serpentine creature, one that had large fins, a beak, and an aquamarine color. It was approaching him extremely quickly, speed that was unnatural even for a Corrupted. The [Storm Ruler] in his hand shook for a moment, for reasons that Shirou didn't know.

The sea creature in front of him eyed Shirou, looking at him with intelligence that shouldn't be found in a Nightmare Creature. It circled him, a whirlpool forming due to the speed and force being expelled from it. Its eyes didn't leave Shirou's form for even a single second.

Shirou was getting disoriented, but he was not going to sit still. Wind compressed near his feat, before exploding violently. He rocketed out of the ocean, flying in the sky for a few seconds. The Nightmare Creature was doing the same, piercing the surface of the water as it rose to attack him.

The sea started to freeze, as Draconis was shooting bolts of frosted lighting from the sky. Although it slowed down the abomination, it did not stop it. Draconis flew under Shirou, picking him up as they rose higher to the sky.

Shirou coiled his feet, wind blowing once more, as he jumped as high as possible, pumping essence to his legs. He flew quite high, and summoned a sword to use as a foothold. He stood atop a large greatsword, looking down at the serpent.

Draconis had disappeared.

The serpent watched as a glowing red star appeared in the sky, far above Shirou. Shirou looked down at the serpent, trying to recall something from long ago…

I've definitely seen this Nightmare Creature before, but when?

The red star got bigger, as it seemed to be coming closer to the two. Shirou shrugged as he flew away on his sword. The star seemed to be a meteor of red sparks, as it was going to crash down onto the sea serpent.

However, the serpent suddenly started to bend the sea of blood, causing it to rise and condense into a barrier. Lightning sparked around it, causing Shirou to tilt his head. He didn't know that the abomination had other abilities. He guessed that it was at least a Corrupted Devil.

It didn't matter, since a Corrupted Devil can't beat a Corrupted Titan.

Draconis crashed down on the barrier, red and blue lightning clashing for a few moments. The blood sea started to push away from the force of the impact.

Suddenly, blood flew in the air. Shirou's eyes widened.

Draconis had been blown away, a gruesome gash in his chest. He sank in the water for a moment, before Shirou summoned him to his [Soul Storage]. He looked down at the sea serpent, who seemed damaged, but not fatally.

They stared at each other for a moment, before the Nightmare Creature turned away. It sunk into the ocean, Shirou watching as it went back towards the island he had come from.

…Huh?

Nightmare Creatures don't just let their prey go, especially if they seemed defenseless. If the serpent could deal with Draconis, there was not much that Shirou could do. However, it just swam away, strangely enough.

He shook his head as he jumped back into the water. If the abomination didn't want to fight him, then he would accept that. He swam further away, trying to get as far away from the island as possible. He wondered what the others were doing, and if they were having as much trouble as him.

———————————————————

A girl appeared in a desolate wasteland, waking over to a man who seemed to be looking at something invisible. He looked up, wanting to ask her a question.

"Is he dead?"

She shook her head.

The man clicked his tongue, "Tenacious bastard."

She stared at him for a few moments, before going towards her floating lake. She jumped, transforming into a serpentine creature as she swam into the water. It was one of the few things she was able to do for… however long she had spent here.

She had lied to the man. She had let the boy escape. If the boy was just any person, then she wouldn't mind killing him. However, it would leave a bad taste in her mouth to kill that specific person.

Actually, she had killed him multiple times before. Unfortunately, living just to kill a single person again and again was quite the meaningless existence. Most people would mentally break by living like that, especially if the person being killed was someone they cared for.

Well, she guessed that she was already insane for awhile, but her monologue really hammered it home.

She mentally sighed, wondering where exactly she had gone wrong. In truth, there were countless things she could have done to prevent this outcome, but she was too naive. She believed that a boy who dreamed to be a hero couldn't become a self destructive, cynical man, who had no goal but to kill himself again and again.

Considering that she was older by a couple of years, she should have been more responsible, but there wasn't much one could do when they were a sword. Once she had regained her body, it was already almost too late. Yet, she believed that he would persevere, and this was the outcome.

She looked through her floating lake at the man leaning against a sword, before sighing once more.

…I guess we're both crazy now.