53 - Red Sea

After around an hour of running, Shirou finally gained the opportunity to rest. He leaned against a tree, panting as his forge essence regenerated. He took a few glances around, making sure that he wasn't getting attacked. He stepped forward, continuing to move.

Shirou needed to find the cohort, as the difficulty in this Nightmare was absolutely insane. There was no reason for him to be fighting an enemy that was a greater threat than the Great Titans he had killed in his Second Nightmare. His head throbbed as he recalled the sheer amount of weapons that were being fired at him, and the size of that massive sword.

The wind around him started to pick up, causing Shirou to frantically scan the area for the source. In the Dream Realm, even something as simple as the wind could be a sign of danger.

He looked up, seeing a large moth hovering in the sky. The flap of it's wings caused the trees to sway, while the moth rapidly approached him. Shirou summoned the [Bow of Swords], pulling back the string while summoning a sword. At the same time, the sword twisted, while the wind blew even harder, cooling around the sword. Blood soaked out of Shirou's skin, coating the sword-arrow hybrid in a layer of crimson.

A wyvern suddenly appeared behind him, red lightning sparking around the arrow. Shirou kept his eyes on the rapidly approaching moth, preparing to fire the shot. He didn't know how strong the moth was, but he wasn't taking any chances. The sword he had used as a makeshift arrow was made from the sharp claws of a Fallen Devil, increasing the penetrating power.

His essence reserves took a major dip, but that wasn't enough for him. He fired the arrow, activating [Chronos Rose] for a moment to accelerate the projectile. The blood ignited, burning the arrow in pink flames, while also being fanned by the wind that was boosting the arrow. Crimson sparks streaked as it rose into the sky like a shooting star.

With his [Clairvoyance], Shirou was able to watch as the arrow made contact. It hit the head of the moth, but did not penetrate it. However, he could see it slowly digging into the Nightmare Creature.

Shirou snapped his fingers.

The arrow glowed a teal light, as it exploded against the large moth. Instead of killing the moth, the arrow blew one of the wings off, disabling the Nightmare Creature. Shirou sprinted in it's direction, summoning another sword, which was immediately coated in blood. While pink flames burned, the flame of darkness also joined when Shirou used [Furnace] to enhance the sword.

Shirou arrived at the mangled body of the moth, jumping into the air as he raised his sword. In a flash of pink and black the sword sunk into an open wound, the moth wildly twitching as he burned it from the inside out. The blood of the moth was being ignited, while darkness devoured it's soul.

[You have slain a Great Monster, Dark Butterfly.]

Shirou's eye twitched at the ridiculousness of this situation. There was truly no reason for a Third Nightmare to have Great Monsters. The average group of Masters would have no chance at defeating one. Of course, between Shirou, Sunny, Nephis, and Mordret, they would at least have a chance.

It was like this Nightmare was created especially for them.

Without his Legacy Relics, Shirou would have had no true way of killing a Great Monster. He wouldn't be able to summon Transcendent weapons, nor would he be able to use [Furnace] and [Sword Trial]. His Blades were also extremely useful, as they complimented his Aspect quite a bit.

Shirou had Draconis carve out the soul shards, before he stored them with [Soul Storage]. He was planning to use them to make some weapons, although he wasn't sure if they would grant any special properties.

Shirou flew on the back of the wyvern, as the moved at much faster speeds. He wasn't planning to stick around for any more Nightmare Creatures to appear. He searched around, before seeing something red in the distance. He looked up at the sky, finally noticing that there were seven suns hanging.

Shirou widened his eyes when he saw that the ocean was red. He landed, as he approached the crimson water that was moving slowly. He reached down, before realizing that the water was actually blood.

At the same time, he felt his veins and arteries twitch, as blood soaked out of his skin. It took the form of a young girl, who reached down to the blood with her crimson hands. Pink flames burned in her eyes for a moment, before suddenly disappearing.

Shirou blinked. It seemed that he had finally met the requirements for Cerise to increase in rank. He looked towards the horizon, seeing nothing in the distance besides red waves. He wondered if he could drink the blood, before deciding against it. He didn't think that he should try to do something like that.

He sat at the shore of the beach, before displaying his runes.

Name: Shirou

True Name: Forged In Hell

Rank: Ascended

Class: Titan

Forge Core: [7/7]

Sword Fragments: [7000/7000].

Attributes: [Ember of Divinity], [Lord of Swords], [Mind of Steel], [Anomaly], [Karmic Eye], [Clairvoyance], [Chronos Rose(Blade Works)], [Abysswalker], [Kingslayer].

Memories: [Washing Pole], [Rebellion], [Shroud of Justice], [Gandiva], [Ghost Consumer], [Bountiful Bed], [Gargoyle's Blackblade], [Bubble Pendant], [Daemonic Forge], [Bottomless Box], [Rotbone Lance], [Drang Armor], [Ashen Estus Ring], [Obsidian Locket].

Echoes: —

Blades: [Ingvild of the Storm], [Cerise, Heir of War], [Lumen Draconis].

Noble Phantasms: [Rho Aias].

Aspect: [Sword Incarnation]

Aspect Rank: [Divine]

Aspect Description: [You are a sword who was forged in the depths of hell and quenched with the divine blood of the War Goddess. You were the greatest creation of the greatest blacksmith of them all, which makes you a sword above all the rest. All types of weapons recognize you as their master. The blacksmith created you in his own image, and left behind one simple, yet daunting task. Destroy Fate.]

Innate Ability: [Bloodstained]

Ability Description: [The blood of the War Goddess does not flow through you, as swords are not alive. When stained with the blood of the War Goddess, you are able to perform at your fullest potential.]

Aspect Abilities: [Living Sword], [Blade Alter], [King of Fakers].

Aspect Legacy: [Fleshforge]

Fleshforge Description: [The War Goddess accepted an offering of humanity from the heroic Forged In Hell. In respect of his sense of Justice, and value of life, she bestowed upon him the ability to truly become the sword itself. This was only possible due to his ability to abandon his humanity for the sake of others.]

Legacy Relics:

First Relic: [Claimed]

Second Relic: [Claimed]

Third Relic: [Claimed]

Fourth Relic: [Claimed]

Fifth Relic: [Locked]

Sixth Relic: [Locked]

Seventh Relic: [Locked]

He was standing at the pinnacle of Ascended, having seven fully saturated cores, Corrupted Titans, and an Ascended Titan at his disposal. He was around halfway through his Aspect Legacy, which most wouldn't even unlock. He had multiple Attributes to help him in combat, along with a countless armory.

However, this simply wasn't enough.

He had just fought a Great Monster, but what would he do if there were two of them? What would have happened if he hadn't used [Rho Aias] to counter the falling sword?

Shirou conveniently had the tools to defeat a Great Monster, but not two at the same time. He had a shield which just so happens to have a hidden function to reflect damage, but that wouldn't be something he could always use in any situation.

Right now, Shirou needed power.