6 - No Longer Human

The children were hesitant at first, yet they could not resist the pull of hope, and they slowly exited the room, one by one.

Shirou ordered Ingvild to stand guard, as he quickly checked the memory he just obtained.

[Rebellion]

Memory Rank: Awakened

Memory Tier: 1

Memory Type: Armor

Memory Description: [After slaying a maiden of the sea, @$/*%# *^ *#\~ led the captured children, in an act of rebellion, revenge, and justice]

Again? Does the spell just forget my name when making these descriptions?

Armor Enchantments: [Hidden Rebel]

[Hidden Rebel]: (This armor completely masks the wearer's presence, although they can still be seen.)

The armor was of the awakened rank, so it would not be very useful if he were to encounter a transcendent, but he doubts that they have anything stronger than an ascended here.

Shirou dismissed the runes and noticed the red-eyed girl about to exit the room. He got her attention and quickly asked, "Where is the water source?"

She pointed in the direction of the basement, "I believe that they store the water we drink down there."

Oh, well that's convenient.

Convenient indeed, as Shirou planned to go into that basement anyways. He wondered what may be down there if a Priest of this cult would be there.

"Thanks!"

Shirou mentally ordered Ingvild to follow him, as they both ran through the empty hallways. He did not notice the Crimson-eyes staring in wonder at the two.

————————————————————

Shirou summoned the [Rebellion] and [Washing Pole], as he was running down the stairs with Ingvild watching his back.

The [Rebellion] was mostly consisting of cloth, but it came with a shoulder guard for his left shoulder, and a guantlet for the same side. He also had a tattered red cape flowing behind him as he attempted to get to the basement as fast as possible.

Once Shirou and Ingvild reached the basement, he saw a tall statue of what he can only assume is the War Goddess. In front of the statue is the priest that Shirou saw when he was being dragged towards the arena.

The priest stood up suddenly, as if sensing their presence. Most likely Ingvild's, as Shirou was wearing the [Rebellion]. He turned around before smiling at him.

The priest grabbed onto a sword that was leaning on the statue of the War Goddess, and proceeded to calmly walk towards them.

Shirou blinked, and the priest was already in front of him bringing down his sword. Ingvild quickly pushed him out of the way before blocking with her own sword.

The sword fell out of her hands, similar to when Shirou fought her while she was still alive. The priest was about to slash down at Ingvild before she suddenly dissapeared, almost as if she simply sank into the floor.

As Shirou and Ingvild were making their way down the stairs, there were were portions of the wall that seemed similar to windowsills. The water and other supplies were stored their, most likely for convenience as it would be much easier to bring water from a halfway point than from the basement itself. Shirou then made Ingvild pour all the water over herself, allowing her to use her attributes to some degree, while also allowing her to use [Sea-Sunk].

As Ingvild dissapeared, the man quickly looked around, almost forgetting that Shirou was still in the room due to his hidden presence. This gave Shirou the opportunity to sheath the [Washing Pole], and activate the [Hold] enchantment in order to increase the strength of the swing.

To his dismay, the priest simply blocked it. With a light push, he sent Shirou flying across the room, landing in front of the War Goddess statue.

This damn priest, he's an ascended!

Shirou wondered how he was supposed to win against an ascended human, as this is not the sort of threat he should be facing in his First Nightmare.

Ingvild suddenly appeared behind the priest with her sword drawn, but he immediately grabbed and tossed her into Shirou, who was still sitting in front of the statue.

The priest appeared in front of them with his sword aimed to stab through both of them.

Shirou's eyes widened as he instinctually knew that the blade would destroy Ingvild and kill him.

In that moment, a body getting cleaved in two appeared in his mind.

Shirou dismissed Ingvild back to his soul sea, distracting the priest who quickly looked around in an attempt to find Ingvild. As Shirou was once more forgotten by the priest, he took this opportunity to attempt another [Hold]. What they both saw caused them to pause and widen their eyes.

In front of him he saw the crimson-eyes girl standing with a horde of children behind her. She glanced at the priest and Shirou before looking up at the Goddess statue. She smiled and said a few words.

"Perfect, everyone in this room, kill yourself."

Shirou widened his eyes as he saw every single child slit their throats. The room started to be covered in blood and carried the stench of it too. Shirou felt a pang of pain in his head, and quickly understood what just occurred.

It's a mental attack.

Shirou was able to withstand it due to [Mind of Steel], and the priest was simply too powerful to be effected by it as an ascended.

The girl did not seem to be that suprised that the priest survived, but she seemed confused that Shirou was able to withstand it.

"How did you resist? No matter, I've already achieved what I mu-," she was cut off, as the priest had already stabbed her in gut. She spat out a mouthful of blood and started to grunt in pain.

The next few seconds were baffling to Shirou, as he felt something resonate within him, before the priest suddenly was split in half, from the top of his head to, well you can probably guess.

"It… worked," the girl breathed out roughly before she fell to the ground.

Shirou rushed over to the girl, attempting to stop the blood loss by putting pressure on her wound. Her blood glowed slightly when it made contact with his hand, not that he noticed of course.

"Why?"

Shirou asked her after figuring that she most likely wanted to achieve this outcome. Although, maybe not after being stabbed in her abdominal region.

"…How else…am I supposed to…beat this Nightmare? Although, I guess… it was all for nothing," she chuckled before coughing up some blood and closing her eyes.

Shirou took a second to comprehend her words before widening his eyes. All First Nightmares are trials that are centered around only one person. It is not possible to go into the First Nightmare with another person. Yet, that is what he is witnessing right now.

Shirou understood why this girl seemed so detached from the world. After all, she wasn't even from it in the first place. With this knowledge, he couldn't be truly mad that she bought the children here to kill themselves. They aren't real to her after all.

Shirou put in even more effort into saving her, as she was still alive in the Waking World. He started to run out of options before remembering what she did with the children

He yelled, "Do you really need another person to die you damn goddess!? I'll give you anything you want, just save her damn it!!!"

Shirou felt another strange feeling run through his body, as he saw runes appear before his eyes.

[You have offered a sacrifice to the War Goddess.]

[The War Goddess is dead, and cannot hear your sacrifice.]

[Your soul bears the mark of divinity.]

[You are an abandoned sword.]

[Your skin is soaked with the blood of the War Goddess's lineage.]

[The War Goddess is stirs in her slumber.]

[She grants an offer from beyond the grave]

[Your wish shall be granted in exchange for your humanity]

[Accept?]

"Yes!"

[You have sacrificed your humanity to the War Goddess.]

[Your very being begins to shift.]

[You have attained an Aspect Legacy: Fleshforge]

Shirou feels an excruciating pain and begins to grunt, as if he was being stabbed by swords from the inside of his body.

Shirou looked down at the girl, and noticed that her wound seemed to be closing itself up. He sighed in relief through the pain, as he slowly began to go numb.

[Wake up Shirou! You're Nightmare is over.]

[Prepare for appraisal…]