30 - Dragon Communion
Meanwhile, in the Waking World, a pale boy can be seen standing next to a young girl with amber eyes in a room with a pod.
Within that pod, is a red-haired boy, sleeping as if detached from all worldly problems. The girl stared somberly at the pod, before turning to the pale boy.
"Hey, Sunny? When is big bro going to wake up."
"Well, I'm not going to act like I know, but there's no way that he won't wake up. Uh… it's a Hero of Justice thing, I think."
"Oh, that makes sense!"
…No it doesn't.
Sunny did not have the heart to say that out loud however, so he simply sighed before moving to leave the room.
"Let's go. I'm sure Shirou would be pretty mad if you were late to school tomorrow because you overslept."
"Huh? Of course not! He'd just start to laugh awkwardly before making me some food."
…What an irresponsible brother.
Sunny could certainly see Shirou doing something like that.
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Shirou sneezed.
Sunny was thinking something rude, wasn't he?
That sneeze had snapped him out of his trance. He looked back at the Seed of Nightmare, before turning away. He grabbed Ingvild by the shoulder before pulling her away from the Seed.
"I guess we'll use that after Draconis is done turning into a Blade."
[Huh?]
"The Seed of Nightmare. We're going to use it."
[Wait! Aren't you still only Dormant?! There's no way you could survive!]
"That would be true if it was only me. That's why you're here after all."
Ingvild paled.
"Yep, a weapon of mass destruction. Well, underwater at least. Actually, you're still not that useful on land, but an Awakened Monster is an Awakened Monster."
She curled up in a ball at the bottom of the staircase. She vehemently believes that they had no chance of survival.
"Oh, I have a Fallen Devil now, so that would certainly help."
[Huh?]
"I got it when I was checking this place out. It became a Blade immediately, and is hiding in my blood right now."
[Your… blood?]
"I think her blood type is O. It actually made me feel better."
[…Whatever.]
Shirou walked up the stairs, informing her that he was going to explore some more. As he did, he decided to test something. He tried to send a mental command to Cerise, and it seemed to have worked. He could talk to her, but she couldn't talk back.
He used the mental command to make Cerise summon her weapon, the Chikage. She did so, and it was now in his hands. Just like with the [Storm Ruler], the sword reacted to his touch. This time however, he felt a familiar presence.
…The War Goddess?!
He was almost immediately accepted by the War Goddess, most likely because of his attributes. The Chikage turned into a Noble Phantasm, similar to the [Storm Ruler].
Creature Name: [Cerise, Heir of War]
Corruption Rank: Fallen
Corruption Class: Devil
Soul Shards: [0/4000]
Creature Description: [A descendant of the War Goddess, who fought for the freedom of herself, and countless children. The toll was too high however, and her soul couldn't handle it.]
Creature Attributes: [Flame of Profanity],[Devil of War], [Bloodborne], [Reforged].
[Flame of Profanity]
Attribute Description: [Your soul is aflame with the darkness of corruption.]
[Devil of War]
Attribute Description: [You are a warrior that fell into the profane.]
[Bloodborne]
Attribute Description: [Your blood is much stronger than others, and can be used as a deadly poison once it enters the body.]
[Reforged]
Attribute Description: [You have been brought back from death. Your sword is now commanded by your savior.]
Creature Abilities: [Blood Manipulation], [Blood Inferno], [Blood Conduit].
[Blood Manipulation]
Ability Deacription: [You can control your blood.]
[Blood Inferno]
Ability Description: [Your blood can be set aflame.]
[Blood Conduit]
Ability Description: [You can hide within the blood of others, while enhancing their blood.]
Noble Phantasms: [Chikage]
Noble Phantasms Name: [Chikage]
Noble Phantasms Rank: Ascended
Noble Phantasms Tier: IV
Noble Phantasm Type: Weapon
Noble Phantasms Description: [When war came, blood flowed. As long as there is war, the blood of warriors will spill across the battlefield. To control war is to control blood, and that is the purpose of this weapon.]
He asked Cerise to dismiss the katana, and Shirou though about the description. He guessed that the [Chikage] was a medium to control her blood.
She already had [Blood Manipulation] however, so it might have simply amplified her control.
Shirou shrugged as he walked around the compound. He kept searching around for awhile, but couldn't find anything of worth. As he walked back down to where Ingvild was, he had gotten a notification from the Nightmare Spell.
[You have reforged Lumen Draconis.]
How is the spell so convenient?
Shirou checked his sword fragments.
Sword Fragments: [1243/4000].
He had lost 400 from reforging Draconis. It was most likely because it had four soul cores.
Shirou then checked the runes for Draconis.
Creature Name: Lumen Draconis
Corruption Rank: Awakened
Corruption Class: Devil
Creature Description: [Blessed by the moon itself, Lumen Draconis will search for true power, no matter the cost.]
Echo Attributes: [Dragonkin], [Moonspawn], [Reforged].
[Dragonkin]
Attribute Description: [You carry some of the properties of dragons in your blood. However, a wyvern such as you is created for speed.]
[Moonspawn]
Attribute Description: [When under the pale moonlight, you will achieve your fullest potential.]
[Reforged]
Attribute Description: [You have been brought back from death. Your sword is now commanded by your savior.]
Corruption Abilities: [Glintstone Sorcery], [Moonblade].
[Glintstone Sorcery]
Ability Description: [You can create constructs using your mind as an energy source.]
[Moonblade]
Ability Description: [When under the moonlight, your blade grows many times sharper.]
Shirou was not going to summon Draconis just yet. He had an idea on how to hide him, but it wasn't necessary currently.
Once Shirou had reached Ingvild, he told her that Draconis had finished reforging, and that they were ready to enter the Nightmare.
Shirou and a pale Ingvild were standing in front of the broken sword. The call to their minds was heavy, urging them to challenge the Nightmare.
Well, it's not like I have any other options.
They both touched the rusted [Storm Ruler], and everything started to shift. The sun and moon became a blur. Civilizations rose and fell. Wars were fought and won. Time moved in reverse before starting to slow down.
Shirou couldn't breathe. It was almost like he wasn't in his own body. Everything felt heavier, hotter, and out of place. He gasped for air until his mind adapted to his body. Once it did, he was finally able to breathe.
Unfortunately, he was falling through the sky.
He genuinely had no way out of this. He didn't have any memories that allowed him to survive a fall, nor could Draconis carry him, as it was a physically weak Nightmare Creature. Ingvild was not nearby whatsoever, as she was most likely in another vessel somewhere else.
Shirou kept staring up at the sky, while he was getting closer to the ground. All of the sudden, a dragon had appeared in the vicinity. It seemed to be trying to eat him.
Lucky me.
A song of steel rang out as dozens of swords started to barrage the enormous creature. It ignored it as it had almost reached Shirou.
A sword pierced it's eye, throwing off it's balance. It flew slightly under Shirou, giving him the chance to grab onto it.
Were my nails always this sharp?
His hands had became encased in protruding steel, strangely enough. The spikes spread all across his arms, making him feel as if he was a porcupine.
The dragon let out a harrowing roar, as it tried to shake him off. Fortunately, Shirou's grip was strong enough to not let go of it, his fingers digging into it's scales.
With one hand holding onto the dragon, he summoned the [Gargoyle's Blackblade], and used the [Corpse Wax Cutter] enchantment. The blade glowed with dark energy, as Shirou stabbed into the dragon's back.
The Corpse Wax spread across the dragon's body, slowly killing off the cells within it. However, it wasn't enough.
A moment later, the [Gargoyle's Blackblade] dissapeared, as Shirou pointed a sharp finger towards the wound. A stream of blood flowed out of the steel, and entered the recently created wound.
Shirou waited.
The dragon started to get lethargic, losing height with each flap of it's wings. The next second, it had completely stopped moving, falling through the air at terrible speeds, with Shirou upon it's back.
[You have defeated a Corrupted Beast, Rotting Wyvern.]
[You have received a Memory: Rotbone Lance.]
Shirou made sure to check the Memory, as the ground was still quite far away.
Maybe it will help?
Memory Name: [Rotbone Lance]
Memory Rank: Transcendent
Memory Tier: I
Memory Type: Weapon
Memory Description: [A lance made from the bones of a Rotting Wyvern. It inflicts the Scarlet Rot when attacking an enemy.]
Memory Enchantments: [Flight], [Scarlet Rot].
[Flight]
Enchantment Description: [Grow wings that allow you to fly.]
[Scarlet Rot]
Enchantment Description: [Inflict a deadly poison on enemies that you injure with this weapon.]
Ironic, considering I had just killed it with poison.
Shirou summoned the lance made of bones, and kicked off of the falling dragon. He summoned rotted wings from his back, as he tried to figure out how to fly.
Oh! I can move them! This is weird…
Shirou clumsily landed on the ground, which was completely green. For some reason, there was no snow anywhere, even though the future was completely filled with it.
Shirou looked at the corpse of the Rotting Wyvern, before pumping his fist. He had killed a Corrupted creature with nothing but poison.
Shirou froze. It shouldn't have been so easy to kill. As he looked at the Nightmare Creature, it seems that it was already rotting away, true to it's name. If it wasn't in such a weakened state, it would have been quite difficult.
Shirou shook his head, as he decided to summon his newest Blade. The Darkmoon Greatsword appeared in front of him, before Lumen Draconis appeared with his jaw clamping down on it. He dismissed the greatsword, before looking up at Shirou.
He seemed quite annoyed, before he looked at the dead Corrupted Beast. He shivered for a moment before walking over to the corpse.
What is he doing?
He started to slowly cut open the body with the Darkmoon Greatsword. It wasn't even a Noble Phantasm yet, but it was extremely effective. His opened up it's thoracic cavity, and started to dig in there with his face.
That's just gross.
After a few moments, he pulled something out of it's chest.
…Is that it's heart?!
Draconis laid the heart dragon heart on the floor. It sat their for a moment, before the dragon heart had ignited in flames. The flames spread over Draconis, as the heart started to dissipate within the flames.
…What?
Draconis looked back at him with a smug expression, before opening his mouth, releasing rotten breath.
The breath made contact with the dead dragon, and started to decay it's body at an even faster rate.
Shirou opened up the runes for Draconis, and found new runes in his abilities.
Creature Name: Lumen Draconis
Corruption Rank: Awakened
Corruption Class: Devil
Creature Description: [Blessed by the moon itself, Lumen Draconis will search for true power, no matter the cost.]
Echo Attributes: [Dragonkin], [Moonspawn], [Reforged].
[Dragonkin]
Attribute Description: [You carry some of the properties of dragons in your blood. However, a wyvern such as you is created for speed.]
[Moonspawn]
Attribute Description: [When under the pale moonlight, you will achieve your fullest potential.]
[Reforged]
Attribute Description: [You have been brought back from death. Your sword is now commanded by your savior.]
Corruption Abilities: [Glintstone Sorcery], [Moonblade], [Dragon Communion].
[Glintstone Sorcery]
Ability Description: [You can create constructs using your mind as an energy source.]
[Moonblade]
Ability Description: [When under the moonlight, your blade grows many times sharper.]
[Dragon Communion]
Ability Description: [You can absorb the abilities of dragons.]
Communions: [Rot].
…Why wasn't that there before?
Shirou started at the smug dragon. It was smirking at his own greatness.
Shirou sighed, before summoning the [Bottomless Box]. Draconis tilted his head.
"You're going to live in here from now on. It's bigger than it looks actually. Big enough to fit a bed."
Do not ask how Shirou had fit a bed inside a box.