Paris Holy Grail War: Day 2 (2)

(Fuck, I can't italicize on this site. This is why I like using RoyalRoad. Fuck you WebNovel. Let's use old school blogging methods and use the HTML/CSS method of <i></i>. We will also use that in case I ever need to make stuff bold as well.)

"Shit. How'd I do?"

Berserker regained his sanity and looked around at the destruction his battle with Karna had caused. The small forest that he was battling in had been burned to the ground. Besides a few burnt logs, the only thing Berserker could see were ruptures in the ground.

"Hmm. I wonder where Karna went."

Just as he thought this, Berserker felt pain from the top of his head that quickly spread down the center of his body. Berserker's body was split in two at Karna's feet but the Lancer hero did not stop even though his body was severely injured.

Karna had to hurry and move away from his spot as an arrow pierced through the spot he was just at. When the arrow landed in the distance, it caused a massive explosion from the force behind it.

Unlike most Archer Servants, Jonah's Archer did not focus on speed. Instead, he was a strength-based Archer that only fired incredibly powerful shots. Even though he was slower than most other Archer Servants, every shot of his had power comparable to an A+ rank attack.

While Karna was trying to find an opening to attack Archer, he felt the effects of his last attack on Berserker assailing him. A small wound appeared from the top of his head all the way down to his groin while all the organs that were damaged on Berserker's body had been slightly affected by Karna himself.

'This Berserker is more of a monster than the one that Master has described. He not only heals no matter what wound he is given or even revives after death, but he also reflects that damage onto his attacker. If not for Kavacha and Kundala, I would have already died so many times.'

But even as Karna was clinging to life, he could tell that this would not end in his victory.

Archer was able to maintain his distance and had yet to even activate his Noble Phantasm while Berserker was much weaker physically, the Servant's dagger was not something that Karna could just ignore since it pierced through his armor without trouble and Karna couldn't kill the owner. He was truly placed in an impossible situation.

---

While Karna was in a bad position, so was his Master. Jonah decided to act personally against Gregory since he was no longer worried about Karna's Noble Phantasms.

"Damn you, you monster!"

Gregory fired a mana bolt down the road but it bounced off of Jonah's shield and onto a nearby car. The car exploded and created a small smokescreen.

"Is this all that the 12 Lords are capable of? So sad."

Jonah walked out of the smoke with a small smile on his face. To Gregory though, it looked like a demon was approaching him. Jonah had 3 phoenix pseudo-familiars that were made out of his hair floating around him.

"And you're right. I am a monster. How does it feel knowing that someone superior to one of the 12 Lords can be created artificially by my family? Must be aggravating. That all your training amounts to nothing before me."

"I'll fucking kill you! <i>Flames born of sorrow. Ashes born of malice. The souls of the wicked shall not be redeemed. Hellfire!</i>"

Gregory held up both his hands before unleashing a torrent of grey flames at Jonah. Jonah gave his own chant that Gregory couldn't hear over the flames which created a pure white barrier.

When the flame came into contact with the barrier, it was instantly extinguished. If not for the remaining heat in the area and Gregory kneeling on the ground due to exerting most of his mana, most would think the attack had not even happened.

"Zähre."

Each of Jonah's phoenixes opened their mouths before firing a bolt of mana. Each of the birds only fired one but the speed and power behind them made sure that Gregory was unable to defend against them.

One of the bolts blew off his left arm, another tore through his torso, and the last destroyed most of his neck. The older mage collapsed to the ground with very little life remaining in him.

"Boy. If you kill me, you will..." but Jonah did not wait for him to finish.

"Degen."

Each of the birds turned into an exquisite sword before flying through the air and cutting the lord into several pieces. With this, the last Master besides Jonah and one of the 12 Lords had fallen. The war was pretty much over.

---

Karna felt the connection to his Master's mana was cut off the moment he died. And with his death, Karna had to obey his Master's command.

Ignoring the arrow that pierced his armor, Karna flew up to the sky before abandoning the armor on his body. The armor burned away and turned into flames before fusing with Karna's spear. The already ornate spear turned even more magnificent and grand.

The air around Karna began heating up and burned nearly a mile around him. The ground turned molten while the clouds in the sky were set ablaze. Berserker that had just managed to stand up was burned to nothing and turned into ashes. Even his Nobler Phantasm could not protect him from the effect of Karna's full might.

Karna raised his spear above his head as the blade of the spear generated lightning while he generated flames to add to the lightning.

"On the battlefield, there is no more weakness."

"My father, I ask for your forgiveness. For the first and last time."

"End everything, Vasavi... Shakti!"

Karna pointed his spear at the city of Paris before unleashing a beam of energy toward it. This was an attack of pure destruction. It was something that not even the god of thunder could handle in his lifetime but something that only the skilled Karna could. Karna's Noble Phantasm was able to slay even gods with this attack so against a defenseless city, it was obvious what the result would be.

---

Archer stayed on his rooftop and saw that Karna had taken one of his arrows to his chest without complaint before floating higher into the air.

"Hmm. Seems like he is about to use a big move. Guess I need to counter it with my own."

[Permission to use my Noble Phantasm, Master?]

[Granted. That bastard is just like a sun with how bright he is. Shoot him down.]

Archer created 9 arrows in his left hand before placing them on his bow.

"Diplomacy failed, so intimidation was given a try."

"Intimidation failed, so they must be shot out of the sky."

"9 shall fall, a single shall remain. Sunfall!"

Archer waited until Karna unleashed his Noble Phantasm before firing his 9 arrows. The 9 arrows met with Vasavi Shakti outside of the city. But instead of clashing and making a massive explosion, the arrows had instead absorbed the power of Karna's Noble Phantasm. This was due to the unique nature of Archer's Noble Phantasm.

If it was any other Servant using an attack with any element other than flames, then this would have ended in their victory. But since it was Karna and his attack was fused with flames, it would only end in his defeat.

The arrows absorbed the full power of Karna's Noble Phantasm and gain three-legged crow auras around them as they soared through the air.

Karna saw that his trump card had failed and felt the intense heat coming at him as the arrows quickly approached. He was without energy and was a sitting target. Even if he had full energy, he knew that this was an attack he could not dodge. All of this had happened within a fraction of a second.

The 9 arrows came in contact with Karna's body. They did not create any holes or explode when they made contact. Instead, they simply passed through the area and exploded in the far distance. As for Karna, the only part of him that was not destroyed by the pure force of the arrows was his right hand. But even that soon disappeared as all the mana in his body was gone.

With this, the Paris Holy Grail War had officially ended.

(Any guesses to the identity of Archer and Berserker? Get both right and I will post another chapter today.)