Chapter 111: Into Enemy Territory

A bright blue light stretch across the vast blue sky, wind whistling as the air crackled with magical energy. Space warped and twisted, creating a rift that seemed to swallow everything in its path. The drill-like sword, now transformed into an arrow, streaked through the air like a comet, aimed directly at Zenkichi and Brunhilde.

Caladbolg, the Spiral Rainbow Sword, the magic sword of the legendary Irish hero and a brave warrior of Ulster, Fergus mac Róich. It was a sword capable of slicing off three hills with its power of spiraling rainbow light. However, the sword made into an arrow was a modified version of the original; Caladbolg II. Though it couldn't match up to the original's true destruction, having been altered to become an A-rank Broken Noble Phantasm, it was still something that most servants wouldn't dare to underestimate.

Zenkichi's instincts kicked in, and he swiftly grabbed Brunhilde's and pulled her extremely close to his side, he then raised his hand towards the drill-like arrow heading their way.

The arrow whizzed towards them, tearing through the air with deadly accuracy. The sand trembled around them, causing the sand to disperse as the arrow of Caladbolg II approached with incredible speed.

"Encounter." Zenkichi muttered as the arrow of destruction stopped before his hand, an invisible force stopping it for a moment, before he redirected it back towards the source with a swift motion of his hand. The arrow reversed its course, hurtling back toward the mysterious figure who had launched it.

"Crap!" The guy barely had time to move before the arrow, now redirected, surged back toward him with relentless speed.

Boom!

Black smoke arose from the impact as the arrow struck its target, unleashing a powerful explosion that sent shockwaves rippling through the air. The force of the blast caused debris to scatter in all directions, and a cloud of dust billowed outward, obscuring the aftermath.

Zenkichi squinted his eyes, trying to see if the perpetrator was dead or not; only to find traces of blood and no body.

'He managed to survived that? Who the hell was that guy?' He thought and for some reason, he had a bad feeling.

"Zenkichi."

Brunhilde's voice cut through the chaos, drawing Zenkichi's attention back to her. She didn't look at him, but instead at the cloud of dust that was approaching them.

"Someone's coming."

Zenkichi narrowed his eyes and raised his hand, extreme heat emanated from his hand and flames erupted like a raging inferno, engulfing the area before him and dispersing the dust cloud.

"Grrr..."

As the air cleared, a figure emerged from the settling debris, seemingly unscathed by the explosion. A terrifying growl echoed from the figure, sending shivers down Zenkichi's spine. It wasn't human; it was something else entirely.

It was a man, clad in dark armor that seemed to absorb the surrounding light. His features were obscured by a helmet adorned with a red visor, his eyes glowed with an eerie red hue, piercing through the shadows with a malevolent intensity. An aura of dark energy surrounded him like a shroud.

Zenkichi squinted his eyes, Reading Mind and Weighted Words couldn't penetrate through the black knight's armor; making it impossible for him to know who he was and control him. But he felt like the black knight was familiar.

Bzzt

'What the?' He blinked looking at the black knight in total confusion, why did he think he was familiar?

Suddenly, he sensed other presences heading to their direction, one of them was that woman who was guarding the gate.

Zenkichi furrowed his brows, spreading his senses to find a place to escape and enter the city without any detection.

"Brunhilde."

"Yeah, I understand." Brunhilde lopped an arm around his waist. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw him moving his hand, magical energy gathering in his palm as he weaved a certain spell together. "Are you using a teleportation spell?"

"Yup." Zenkichi simply said.

"You do know they're going to sense the spike of magical energy when we teleport inside, right?" Brunhilde asked again.

"Yup." Zenkichi smirked at her, finishing the complex magical circle before them that enveloped them.

Brunhilde wryly smiled at him. "I hope you do know what you're doing."

"RAAAAAAAGH!"

The black knight let out a deafening roar, taking out a long dark pole from his back and brandishing it menacingly. The pole seemed to pulse with dark energy, sending ripples of malevolence through the air. Without any hesitation, he charges at them with incredible speed, his dark armor gleaming ominously in the sunlight and he appeared in front of them almost in an instant.

"Yeah, nope." Zenkichi stuck out his tongue and an invisible barrier appeared in front of the black knight, stopping him in his tracks.

"RAAAA! AAAH! RAAAAGH!" The black knight growled furiously, pounding against the barrier with all his might. Each strike reverberated through the air, sending shockwaves rippling outward.

"Ah, ah, ah. Bad idea there, friend." Zenkichi snapped his fingers and the black knight was sent flying backwards; redirecting back all the attacks he inflicted on the invisible barrier.

"Both of you will not go anywhere!" The voice echoed through the air, sending a chill down Zenkichi's spine. He turned to see another figure emerging, a woman with a savage expression and a powerful smoldering aura emanating from her.

Zenkichi sweetly smiled at her and raised his middle finger.

"YOU-!" With a burst of speed, she outstretched her armored hand towards them to grab them but Zenkichi was already one step ahead. He snapped his fingers, and a blinding flash of light engulfed him and Brunhilde. In an instant, they vanished, leaving the woman grasping at thin air.

They reappeared in the far corner of the city, far from their pursuers.

Zenkichi and Brunhilde looked around to find themselves in a run down building with no one or anything within.

Zenkichi let out a relieved sigh, "Thankfully, the teleportation spell worked."

"...Why do you sound unconfident? Is this the first time you used this spell?!"

"Yes? W-What the..." Brunhilde pinched his cheek. Zenkichi winced at the pinch, rubbing his cheek. "Ow, hey! It isn't exactly the first time I used per say, but can you blame me? Back home, I don't have many chances to use it cause the places I go is just close by."

"If you weren't so confident, then you should've let me do it instead." Brunhilde grumbled, letting go of her partner's cheek. "Let me guess, you didn't set the space-time coordinates firmly and just focused on the general place of our destination, right?"

Zenkichi scratched his head sheepishly. "Well, you see, I may have overlooked that part a bit..."

Brunhilde sighed, shaking her head. "Typical. Always rushing into things without considering the details. But I suppose we're lucky this time."

Zenkichi nodded, acknowledging his oversight. "Yeah, but we made it here in one piece, didn't we?"

Brunhilde sighed again, but this time with a hint of amusement. "Yes, we did. Now, let's focus on what we need to do next before they find us."

"Isn't it obvious?" Zenkichi's blond hair and blue eyes suddenly changed into the darkest of color, his unruly hair straightened out like a flowing waterfall and a menacing aura emanated from his body but he quickly reigned in his aura. "We find where Last Master is hiding and meet up with them. And due to our connection and close distance now, I can pinpoint where they're holding themselves at."

Brunhilde raised an eyebrow, looking at his transformation. "Well that's certainly new. I didn't sense any energy from you, is that a another new Abnormality?"

Zenkichi nodded and took out a couple of worn out cloaks he got from back home(props from the drama club he got from his daily lottery) and wore one while handling over the other to Brunhilde. "It's new, I got it before we got summoned into this world. Think of it as like Divine Reflection but I use the abilities of others to 120% of their capability, becoming more skilled with them than even their original owners and it grants me a second form?"

"What?"

"I'm not entirely sure, I just got it. Now come on, lets go before the knights finds us."

.....

"They're here!" Gudako abruptly stood up with wide eyes, surprising everyone in the small tent they were in. Ignoring them, she stepped out of the tent and looked towards direction of where the presence of the mysterious servant she had a contracted with appear to be emanating from. "J-Just like you said, they arrived here."

"Hahaha! Never doubt your master ever again, disciple!" Sanzang chuckled triumphantly, similarly stepping out of the small tent. The others followed suit, curious to see this mysterious servant. "Although it feels kinda strange to be back in this place, but since you wanted a place to meet up with your mysterious friend then this place is the closest thing for a temporary refuge for us to meet."

Da Vinci nodded in agreement. "True. Also, it was unnecessary for you Fujimaru-chan to find them. As we are servants, we are bound to serve and protect you. We wouldn't just stand around and wait for you to come get us. I had us try find them when you said they were near yesterday, but since they have went somewhere far away from us that you couldn't tell anymore we had no choice but to camp somewhere, which is here."

She glance at both Sanzang and Touta, "I'm also surprised to find these two on the way of finding refuge. Thanks for helping us get in here by the way."

"Oh it's fine. It's the least that we could do to repay you guys, as well as help my newest disciple here." Sanzang said grinningly.

"Yeah, it's no problem. You guys seriously saved our hides back then. Especially mine..." Touta casually waved them off, muttering the last bit to himself.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Big sis, why did you rush out like that?" A tanned boy wearing worn out clothes and a turban walked up to Gudako with a concern expression.

Gudako softly smiled at the boy and gently rubbed his head. "Sorry about that, Rushd. I was just excited about meeting up with a... friend ours soon."

"A friend? Who are they?" Rushd tilted his head, a curious expression on his face.

Her smile slightly lowered and responded, "Well, we'll find out about it soon enough."

Then Mash walked up to her master with a serious expression, "Master, your orders?" she asked.

Gudako turned to her companions with a determined look. "Let's wait here for them cautiously. We don't know what to expect, but we'll handle it together."

Mash nodded, clenching her fist. "Understood, Master."

As they waited for the arrival of both Zenkichi and Brunhilde, Gudako couldn't shake off the sense of anticipation. They were about to meet someone who might hold the key to their current situation, and she was determined to make the most of this encounter.

.....

"Owowowow..." A man with unruly white hair and silver eyes hissed, holding onto his burnt side in pain; a gaping hold that teared off an entire section of his right torso. His black leather was charred and tattered, evidence of the powerful broken phantasm he had just barely survived.

He staggered to his feet, gritting his teeth against the pain. He could easily swallow this pain, he'd been through worst.

After all, Steel is my body and fire is my blood.

'Welp, this is what I get for not becoming a true Heroic Spirit. Oh brother of flowers, just what kind of favor did you ask me?' He wryly smiled, slowly dragging his body to get some rest.

Just as he was about to reach his room, he suddenly felt something inside of him activate and began healing his injuries, shocking him. He recognize this power, although it had been many decades since he last experience its healing power, it was something that belonged to his beloved.

Avalon. The sheath of Excalibur, one of the most powerful defense-type Noble Phantasm, that he swore he returned to the original owner of. He chalked it up to the doing of a certain brother of flowers.

But its healing ability wouldn't be this strong, unless...

"Archer." An emotionless voice sounded out from behind him.

'Archer' froze, a heartbroken expression flashed across his face, before he forcibly reigned it back and appeared neutral as he turned around to face the Lion King. Standing before him with all her majesty and overwhelming pressure with her armor and emotionless face.

He straightened himself, hiding his clenched right fist.

'She isn't her,' he thought, forcing down his surging emotions. They might look and sound similar, but this wasn't the Artoria Pendragon that he knew and loved dearly. This was the tyrannical Lion King.

Even so...

She looked at him in the eyes before looking at the healing wound on his side. "You're injured," she simply said.

'Archer' blinked and nodded, "Uh, yeah. Whoever those intruders were, they had a strange ability to deflect an A rank Broken Noble Phantasm and return it to me."

"..." The Lion King opened and closed her mouth as if considering her next words carefully. "Your well-being is essential for the success of our mission. So, here." she outstretched her right hand.

'Archer' looked down at her palm for a moment before shaking his head. "No need, your majesty. Your presence alone has increased its healing prowess so much that it's already beginning to close up." He gestured to his wound, which indeed seemed to be healing at an accelerated rate.

The Lion King's expression remained impassive, but there was a flicker of something in her eyes. "Very well. But do not push yourself unnecessarily, Shirou. We cannot afford to lose any of our forces in this crucial time."

'Archer' nodded in acknowledgment. "Understood, your majesty."

With that, the Lion King turned and began to walk away.

'Archer' continued looking at her retreating figure for moment when a sudden realization hit him.

'Did she just...'

Far from anyone's view, the Lion King looked down at her armored hand she offered earlier and noticed droplets falling onto her palm.

"Tears...?" she blankly muttered, her expression betraying a hint of confusion. She quickly wiped them away, her stoic demeanor returning as she continued on her way.

.....

AN: I HAVE RETURNED!! Sorry for the week long out hiatus, I just needed some time out from writing so I can properly make a story happen. I wanted to stew the ideas in my head. Again, I am incredibly sorry for not announcing it here beforehand but when I decided to take a step back, I decided to not open up my webnovel and patreon. Regardless of the notifications I get. Because seriously, I got a lot of things to do irl. One of them was cleaning the fricking old well, made me just stay in bed for the whole day(it was deep, slimy and dark, making me slip and fell constantly).

Got any questions? Just comment here(btw, I won't be able to reply to you all in the first few hours bc I'll still be asleep).

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