24 Chapter: 24

"You lost, Queen of Assyria."

The sound of waves bellowed below. Gin stared down at the wounded Semiramis. Her face covered in anger and defeat, she also stared up at the flying Merchant in silence.

To think she would be defeated, and that too so utterly. All it took was one attack from Gin, and her Noble Phantasm was annihilated.

Rather than feeling anger or indignation, the Queen of Assyria was unwilling to believe that she was weak. In front of the flying Merchant, she felt like an ant trying to scale up a giant. A useless endeavor indeed.

"Defeat? Me? Do not make me laugh, Detestable Merchant!" She shouted in anger, losing her cool, she raised her hand and roared. "Sikera Ušum!"

"Hm?" The water surface below parted, from which came a giant green serpent. It opened its mouth, its sharp teeth ready to pierce the strongest defense, it flew toward Gin.

"Useless." Gin muttered. "Kiffa-Ater."

The sword that destroyed Semiramis's Noble Phantasm, once more, formed into his stretched palm. He gripped it and pointed its tip at the coming serpent.

"Fall."

A static magnetic sound suddenly filled the void between the incoming serpent and Gin. As if pulled by invisible chains, the serpent that was flying towards Gin suddenly was dragged back down into the water.

Its skin, which was covered in thick scales, was pulled down with a such force that it broke from many places. The ocean also sank with the serpent, producing huge waves.

"Gravity… is it?" Semiramis quietly whispered. "But do not think I would let you do as such, Merchant!"

Magical circles bloomed behind her from which came purple chains. As if guided magically, all of them launched themselves at Gin, promoting him to bring his sword back and deflect them.

Sparks flew, and the sound of metal colliding resounded in the air. While flying backward, Gin's hand moved in a blur as it countered and parried every coming chain, wanting to impale him.

"As I have said," He raised his sword high in the air, and the space around it started to get chaotic. Static electricity started to bubble around it, zapping right and left, as Gin swung it downwards at the incoming chains and the serpent. "It's useless!"

"What!?" Seminaris's eyes widened. The moment Gin swung the sword down, a slash was released. A loud magnetic field roared and everything that came in contact with the slash was destroyed. It bent and got twisted into a weird shape before breaking down at the molecular level.

What was left of her serpent and chains was nothing but dust as even the ocean below was not given the mercy of the coming slash; it was parted in two.

"Just… What are you?" She finally realized the fruitlessness of her efforts against Gin. The only means of attack she was left with was her magic which seemed to be ineffective. Her second Noble Phantasm required Gin to be near the water yet he never landed below even once. It was as if he saw through all of her tricks which rendered her completely helpless at his mercy.

"Did I not inform you before, Queen of Assyria?" His face held a soft smile as he answered. "I am a Merchant, just that."

"Are you making fun of me, Merchant!?" Her anger-filled voice filled the gap between Gin and her. Her eyes burned with fury as she shouted. "Do not play games with me!"

Gin sighed. His hand raised and he pointed the tip of his sword at her.

"It seems that there is nothing much you can do any longer." The air around the sword once again started to bend, producing crackling electric sparks. "I'll have you retreat from the war then. Forgive me, but Grail cannot function without all of you dying."

"You—"

"Destroy her, Kiffa-Ater."

------------------------------------------------

The air was humid, filled with heat and ashes.

Everything was burning, buildings were destroyed, covered in raging flames all over the city.

Amakusa Shirou Tokisada stood alone in this raging inferno; his face in absence of any emotions, he stared at the burning city. His fist clenched tightly, there seemed to be this heavy feeling within his heart that he forcefully buried.

The moment Semiramis's Garden had entered Gin's territory, his consciousness had blanked out for a mere second and the next thing he realized, he stood within the burning city; a dying image of his past that he discarded in order to achieve his dream.

His head moved right and left, hoping to find the instigator of everything yet all his gaze found were dead bodies of people, burned and darkened, and destroyed houses covered in flames.

"What is the meaning of this, Ichimaru-san? Do you think you can shake me up by showing me this? I hope you know how useless it is. I have already resolved myself. Such images of the past won't change anything." He talked to no one, but Shirou believed that Ichimaru Gin could hear him.

"I doubt such is the case, Amakusa Shirou." The fire at some distance gathered and bent, taking the shape of Gin wearing a Shinigami Captain suit without any katana strapped around his waist. "No matter how strong you become, or how indomitable your will is; the past is something that never leaves you. Regrets are called regret for a reason, Shirou-san. Acting like it doesn't affect you doesn't mean it doesn't."

"You may be right." Shirou turned his gaze towards Gin and answered. "But to achieve my wish, I have decided to not let it affect me… For the Salvation of Mankind, I have decided to forgive those who have killed me. How can I save everyone, if I cannot save myself? Hate is hate, you cannot give forgiveness bearing even a little of it."

"I see… So you decided to throw yourself away, and have chosen to live for others." A smile formed over Gin's face as he stated. "Amakusa Shirou… What a sad existence you are."

Shirou chuckled. His hand reached for the sword in his hand and he pulled it out.

Staring at Gin, he stated.

"I never called myself a noble existence, Ichimaru-san. Amakusa Shirou is not a saint. He is just another person striving to achieve his dreams."

"Dreams huh…"

"What?" Shirou frowned seeing the soft chuckle of Gin, a slightly annoyed expression forming on his face.

"Nothing. I just remembered a quote. Would you like to hear it, Shirou-san?" Without waiting for his response, Gin raised his hand and made a grasping motion. A white halo formed around his wrist as he pulled the very fabric of space towards him, startling Shirou. He continued. "Dreams disappear when the dreamer wakes. Every last one of them with no exception."

The space cracked the moment Gin released it. The cracks soon filled themselves with silver light, and then—BOOM!

The distance between Shirou and Gin, everything between them was blasted by the condensed vibrations. The winds bellowed, and the earth was pulled out. The ground shook and Shirou barely dodged the incoming mass of vibrations.

His face held solemnity never seen before. He looked toward Gin whose face now held a smirk befitting his visage.

"Allow me to wake you up, Amakusa Shirou Tokisada!"

"Ichimaru Gin!"

The ground beneath Gin shattered, and the air around him cried with friction. Within a blink, he appeared behind Shirou and he punched. It was coated in Haki further infused with Temor Fruit's power.

Shirou spun and raised his sword in front of him, the punch hitting it.

A loud shrill sound resounded, the halo around Gin's hand bursting apart. As if there was a vacuum at the point of contact, all the air was sucked into it before another loud shirl resounded, and Shirou was blown away at tremendous speed, easily breaking the sound barrier.

His body spun rapidly like a diver falling from the sky without any control over his body. Destroying everything in its path, building or debris, Shirou finally gained control back over his body. With one last spin, he landed on the ground, skidding his way further away from Gin.

"Wake me up, you say?" Blood trickled down his lips, his hands trembling from the aftershock. His anger-filled eyes glared at Gin, and he shouted. "I have long been awake! Long before this war even started! Long before Darnic ever got his hands over the Grail! This world is ugly! Human beings are ugly! They fight, kill, steal, rob, and rape! All this conflict long since woke me up, Ichimaru Gin! And now is the time for everyone to wake up!"

"You talk too much for a dying man."

"What?!" Shirou exclaimed as Gin's leg hit him squarely in the face, once again launching him away within the burnt city.

"As I have said before, Amakusa Shirou, you are a pitiful man."

"... We just have different views, Ichimaru Gin." Shirou released a mouthful of blood from his mouth. With his teeth gritted, he glared towards Gin and shouted. "If you stand in my way, then I just need to kill you to achieve my dream!"

A huge influx of mana burst out of Shirou's body. A second later, his body changed into a full Servant. His hair grew longer and was tied in a single ponytail that reached below his hips. His priest clothes changed into more warrior attire. With his katana pointed towards Gin, he shouted.

"Set!"

Gin's eyes swayed at his left, a red magical circle blooming there with black keys in them. With a bombing sound, all of them were launched at him.

"Useless."

Gin muttered. He simply did a "knocking motion" in the directions from where the keys were coming, producing a mass of vibrations that blew them away.

"Hm?" He suddenly tilted his head to his right, a silver light passing by his previous position. A smirk was forever over his face as he looked toward Shirou.

Armament Haki started to form over his hands, Gin excitedly said.

"Well then, show me how you are going to wake up everyone, Amakusa Shirou!"

------------------------------------------------

"Oppressor! Show yourself! I will kill all the oppressors!"

The Servant of madness shouted, randomly slashing his sword around him, destroying the ground with it. The only thing on his mind was to kill the "oppressors", and that was the sole reason for his fight in this war.

"A mindless beast indeed." Suddenly, the space swayed and Gin appeared in front of the mindlessly slashing Berserker and sighed. "Why did I get the short end of the stick? I can't even play with his mind…"

He sighed in disappointment.

Berserker didn't care about all of this. He simply wished to destroy. So the moment Gin appeared, he laughed before doing a mad rush towards Gin, who once again shook his head.

'The only thing interesting about him is that he can convert all the damage into magical energy and grow infinitely. But with my close-to-infinite reservoir that would soon be turning into infinite, such power really doesn't interest me. Guess I'll sell it for a deal.'

"Come, Alrescha-Glacies."

A colossal demonic energy burst out of Gin's body, forming a mermaid behind him. She was a combination of siren and mermaid, glowing in dark blue and white light.

Without giving another look to the coming Berserker, Gin simply ordered.

"Alrescha-Glacies, kill him."

Alrescha-Glacies didn't question her Master's orders. She simply raised her hand and waved. With Gin as the center, everything started to freeze at a rapid progression. It didn't matter what it was. Air, space, ground; everything simply froze.

And within a second, everything froze around Gin, the Berserker of Red… Or was it Black now? Included!

"Sigh… Short end indeed." The moment Gin's voice fell, everything broke, turning into silvery dust. He stared at the sky, at the coming snowflakes silently before a small smile formed over his face. "At least it looks beautiful."

Soon enough, Gin's body also turned into magical energy and vanished. And with it, the Berserker of Black, Spartacus, retreated from the war.

…

Support me at: patr eon.con/meatball_chan 

Your support is highly appreciated!