26 - To the Finish

As Sunny ran towards the Crimson Spire, Shirou saw a bright light spreading across the battlefield. His eyes widened when he realized what was occurring.

Changing Star had arrived on the battlefield.

He had almost forgotten that she wasn't going to be fighting from the start. The light was quickly approaching his location, causing him to command Ingvild to hide in a puddle.

He didn't want to reveal his trump card unless necessary.

Once Nephis had arrived, he waved before ducking under a scythe from a Carapace Demon. He swung his sword at it's head, splitting some of it's upper torso.

"Hey there, Neph. It's been awhile since we fought together."

She let out a small smile before incinerating a vine that had tried to approach her.

"Hello to you too, Shirou. I hope you haven't grown rusty after spending so much time creating weapons."

That would have normally been an insult to someone, but Shirou knew Nephis well enough to understand that it was a question of genuine concern.

"Of course not! You have already seen firsthand what my attributes allow me to do!"

Her eye twitched after being reminded of his ridiculous skill with the blade. She swung the her longsword at a centipede, causing the oil sacks within it to split open.

Shirou summoned his bow and fired an arrow at the corpse, causing azure flames to rapidly spread. He shot a few swords at a Spire Messenger flying in the sky. It didn't die, but it would certainly become easy pickings for the front line.

Nephis shouted towards him.

"You are an insult to all practitioners of the blade! You have never spent any time to hone your technique, but was just gifted with the ability to defeat anyone!"

"Uh… it's not my fault that I'm talented! And besides, I used to be pretty bad with it, you know?! I think that this is just the world's way of making things right!

"Unlike you, I have spent years honing my technique, to fight against stronger opponents with nothing but skill! Yet, you just decided to make it seem easy!"

"I haven't decided to do anything!"

Surrounded by blue and white flame, two warriors were arguing about their swordsmanship. Despite this, they were completely in sync during combat. Not a word would have needed to have been said, which allowed them to bicker endlessly while being showered in gore.

Shirou checked on the state of the battlefield, and felt many of his swords falling towards the ground. He looked towards Nephis and shouted towards her.

"We need to go back to the front line! Their defense is crumbling!"

She nodded as they both ran towards where the boundary between the Dreamer Army and the horde of Nightmare Creatures should be. They slashed through countless abominations on the way, and managed to reach them.

Shirou saw Effie tearing apart Nightmare Creatures with her bare hands. He was quite impressed, until he saw her fall down on her knees. He looked towards Nephis and saw her running towards Effie.

…Guess I've gotta protect them.

Shirou turned around and sliced through a corpse with red flowers sprouting from it. He held his breath as to not inhale the spores. He jumped onto a large, metal spider, and stabbed the [Gargoyle's Blackblade] through it's body.

As he kept slaying abominations, there was no expression on his face. He simply stared at his enemy and took action. This was not a facade of normalcy. Not a mask to blend in with humans.

It was simply his nature.

The Nightmare Creatures hesitated, feeling something that should never be felt by one of their kind.

It was fear.

The Crimson Terror could never match up to this feeling of power. Although the vessel was limited, they could sense it deep within their souls.

This was the pressure of a Divine being.

No, it was actually more akin to their own kind. It was as if an abomination of the Unholy rank had disguised itself as a human. This hesitation lasted for less than a second before it was purged from their minds by the Crimson Terror.

The horde of Nightmare Creatures kept approaching Shirou, ignoring the unease causing their instincts to scream.

They were sliced, skewered, burnt in blue flames, disemboweled, and crippled.

Shirou had started to breathe quite heavily, as he had to completely all of the Nightmare Creatures that approached what remained of the front line. Fortunately, he was able to hold back the horde thanks to the active enchantments provided by the [Daemonic Forge], which allowed him to deal large amounts of damage to enemies outside of his reach.

Shirou saw dark clouds approach the Crimson Spire. Normally, this would have been a disastrous event, as the dark sea would have risen to flood the Forgotten Shore. If the sun was covered, then the water could not be contained.

Fortunately, Shirou had the perfect counter.

[Ingvild.]

She rose from a puddle behind Shirou, and summoned the [Storm Ruler]. Unseen to others, the water began to shift.

Ingvild had not grown proficient enough at controlling the storms, but was a natural at manipulating the sea.

As, the dark sea started to rise, the Dreamer Army looked on in fear and hopelessness. They couldn't see a single way for them to survive this catastrophe.

Before the dark sea could reach anyone however, it had stopped. Just as fast as the it rose, it was being drained by a single person.

The [Storm Ruler] absorbed as much water as possible. Shirou kept fighting in order for Ingvild to not be interrupted. He defeated countless Nightmare Creatures, the spell announcing his victory against each abomination.

After a few minutes, the dark sea started to fall. It seemed that Sunny had succeeded in containing the large Nightmare Creature that would cover the Forgotten Shore at night.

He made Ingvild turn back into a puddle, before turning back towards Nephis and Effie.

Nephis had been finished with with Effie's injuries for awhile. She was fighting against the abominations as well, before stopping in confusion. She looked towards Shirou in curiosity.

"…Your echo is quite interesting."

They both froze as they felt some pain in their chests. They looked towards the Crimson Spire before realizing that they had taken soul damage. They heard a loud sound resound across the battlefield.

"That's Sunny's bell!"

Nephis turned around and ran into the opposite direction of the Crimson Spire. He guessed that she was going to get Cassie, who was standing at the back of the chaos.

The Dreamer Army rushed towards the Crimson Spire. The Nightmare Creatures had started to die off from the soul damage, giving them all a clear path towards the tower.

Once Shirou arrived, he saw Sunny, Kai, Caster, and an unknown Sleeper. He walked over to Sunny, and sat down next to him. The Dreamer Army had arrived at the island immediately after, diving into the shade one-by-one.

After an eternity, Nephis had arrived while carrying Cassie. With her arrival, the entirety of what remains of the Dreamer Army had made it to the Crimson Spire.

Shirou looked around, and found that only one fifth of the Dreamer Army had survived. Around 100 or so people that had gotten to this point with skill, but mostly luck.

"It's time to go. Gather your strength. We're almost there."

Nephis's words had rejuvenated the Sleepers, as the light of hope had ignited within their hearts. They carried the wounded and the unconscious, and walked into the Crimson Spire.

Shirou, Sunny, Nephis, and Cassie were walking side by side at the front of the group.

As they walked in silence, Cassie had tugged on Shirou's cape. He leaned over to hear what she had to say as she whispered into his ear.

"There is something I need to tell you before we leave the Dream Realm."

Shirou tilted his head but nodded nonetheless. It must have been important if she was willing to prolong her stay in this hell.

Shirou saw Sunny frown into the darkness, and he whispered something to Nephis. He couldn't make out what they were saying, but it wasn't any of his business.

All of the sudden, Nephis pulled Sunny back, before shouting to the army:

"Everyone, back!"

A ray of blinding light fell down and swiped across the interior of the Crimson Spire.

Shit!

The Crimson Terror was now trying to attack them while they were in the Spire. The light seemed much more bright, which most likely makes it even more deadly.

"Hide in the shadows!"

The Dreamer Army attempted to hide behind growths of coral. Some were unable to escape, and had simply slumped to the floor when the light made contact with them.

He then saw golems made from coral start to approach the Dreamer Army. This must have been what Sunny had seen in the shadows earlier. Shirou summoned the [Gargoyle's Blackblade], and listened in on Sunny and Nephis's discussion.

"Are you crazy? That's a Fallen Terror we're talking about!"

Shirou watched as they argued for a few seconds, before Nephis stated that it was because of her sword. Shirou had already known that it had a soul protection enchantment, and agreed that she would be the best choice to go fight the Fallen Terror.

She took a transparent cloak from Cassie, before looking towards Sunny and Shirou.

"Once I'm gone, lead the people to the gateway. Make sure that everyone escapes."

A few moments later, and she was gone. Shirou and Sunny looked towards the Dreamer Army, before Sunny yelled:

"Follow us!"

Shirou grabbed Cassie's hand as him and Sunny sprinted towards a coral stairway. The sounds of footsteps can be heard behind them, meaning that the Dreamer Army was on following them.

Shirou turned towards the army before shouting:

"If you're near the back, make sure to have your weapons ready!"

Shirou carried Cassie as they jumped across a gap between two roots. The Dreamer Army repeated this jump, and they kept running towards the top.

Every couple of minutes, they would have to jump to another root, as the one they were usin would be too narrow.

After an eternity of fighting through coral golems, they had finally reached the gateway.

————————————————————

Shirou and Sunny watched as the Dreamer Army slowly dissapeared into the gateway. The defensive line fought off the golems without any casualties. They had noticed that Caster was not there, which was to be expected.

Shirou looked towards Sunny before saying:

"I really thought that he was going to try to fight me first."

"Uh-Huh."

"I guess you'll go after him?"

"Yeah, I'll see you back in the Waking World."

Shirou watched as Sunny faded into the shadows. He turned and saw Effie carrying Kai with her, a curious look on her face.

"Where is doofus going?"

"Uh… he's going to help out Nephis."

After a few minutes, the entirety of the Dreamer Army had passed through the gateway. The only one's left were Shirou and Cassie. They had been asked about why they were staying, and had simply said that they were waiting for Nephis and Sunny.

Shirou sighed before turning towards Cassie.

"So, what did you need to tell me?"

"…Sunny and Nephis are going to fight."

"Oh…"

So that's what the dying angel was.

Shirou patted Cassie on the shoulder.

"Well, don't worry. I'm not going to let either of them die."

"…To be honest, I was relieved when I learned that Sunny would win. I had known him longer than Nephis after all. But… I don't want to see anything happen to her either. I just wish that nobody would have to suffer."

Shirou nodded at her words. He understood why she didn't tell anybody.

"Well, it looks like I'm going to have to play the mediator here. I'll save them both, so you can rest easy."

She looked down at the floor of the balcony. Shirou heard drops of water call onto the floor. He grasped her hand and led her to the gateway.

"Just trust me, okay?"

She nodded, before latching onto him. She cried into his shoulder for a few moments, before stepping away from him.

"…Thank you, Shirou. Please stay safe."

"I'll see you on the other side, Cassie."

A moment later, and she had faded away into motes of light.

He looked towards the gate for a moment before exiting the balcony, and walking up the coral roots. His eyes carried nothing but determination.

I can't be a Hero of Justice if I can't save my friends, right?