38 - Kingslayer (Kingsaver)

10 months before corruption.

"Is there something that compels you to sleep in my room?"

Artoria blushed before finding the ceiling interesting to look at.

"Is it strange to want to sleep in one's own room?"

Shirou narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"This castle is full of rooms. I might have taken yours, but it would make more sense to make me leave than to sneak in every night."

Instead of replying, Artoria just turned around and walked away.

"Hey! Don't ignore me!"

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9 months before corruption.

"Caliburn."

"What?"

"I'm hungry."

"Aren't you always? Also, I keep telling you my name is Shirou. Caliburn was just a name that humans placed on me."

"Make me food, Caliburn."

Artoria was already gone when Shirou tried to scold her. Her speed as a Transcendent was much too useful for her to not abuse.

"Tsk. Spoiled king."

Around an hour later, Artoria was salivating at the feast in front of her. Shirou smirked at his own skill as a chef, believing that he had outdone himself once more.

If being a Hero of Justice doesn't work out, I can always be a Chef of Justice.

"Your skill is befitting of one who shall become the queen of Camelot."

Shirou froze.

"Huh?"

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8 months before corruption.

Shirou stood in fascination at what he was seeing.

Artoria tilted her head, wondering what he could be thinking about.

"What is it?"

"It seems that I have underestimated you."

She smirked, even though she didn't know what he was talking about.

"Yes, of course you did. What exactly did you underestimate?"

"I couldn't tell since you were always wearing that armor. It turns out that you aren't flat, just small. Looks like Avalon stops all types of growth."

Artoria stood still, her face twitching in multiple spots. Excalibur appeared in her hand, as she slowly stepped towards Shirou.

However, Shirou simply continued as if his life wasn't in danger.

"Although they may be small, they certainly suit you."

Shirou nodded to himself, as if this was a serious conversation.

Artoria dismissed her sword, and turned away with a red look on her face.

"Hmph. As long as you understand that."

A nearby puddle moved to Shirou's foot, causing him to look down in confusion.

Why is she doing that? Now my shoe is wet.

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7 months before corruption.

Artoria can be seen laying on the floor, sword in hand. She had went easy on him by lowering her strength, but she was only able to fight at the level of an Ascended.

Even so, Shirou had defeated her without much trouble.

"You… you are an insult to knights around the world!"

"Hm? I think I've heard something similar before."

Shirou scratched the back of his head.

"Anyways, you want something to eat?"

Artoria immediately became submissive.

"Ah! It seems that I have forgotten who my superior was, oh Sword of Selection."

Creepy…

Shirou shivered at the amount of power in his hands.

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6 months before corruption.

"Oh! It's another one of those golems!"

"It seems that the Daemon did not learn from last time."

"Maybe he just doesn't care that much?"

"Then I shall gut him myself."

"…I don't think that is necessary.

As the Chimera was forming, he saw that it started to take a different shape from last time.

"What a cute puppy."

Around an hour later, that puppy had it's soul destroyed. It had enshrouded the place in darkness, but Shirou was the perfect vessel to contain it.

Huh? My essence is much better now. It might be as good as an Awakened.

[You have defeated a Great Titan, Obsidian Hellhound.]

[You have received a Memory: Obsidian Locket.]

Less of a hound, and more of a puppy that needed to be euthanized.

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5 months before corruption.

Shirou watched as a meteor of red lightning fell in the distance. He had an impish grin on his face at the amount of power he now wielded.

Draconis had become a Corrupted Tyrant after using communion on the heart of the red dragon. He had also become a Terror within the past few months, and was almost as strong as the dragon that Artoria had fought.

Strangely enough, some of it's communions had completely changed, rather than obtaining any new ones.

Creature Name: Lumen Draconis

Corruption Rank: Corrupted

Corruption Class: Terror

Soul Shards: [4967/6000]

Creature Description: [Blessed by the moon itself, Lumen Draconis will search for true power, no matter the cost.]

Corruption Attributes: [Dragonkin], [Moonspawn], [Reforged], [Boundless Determination].

Corruption Abilities: [Glintstone Sorcery], [Moonblade], [Dragon Communion], [Full Moon Sorceries].

Communions: [Death Lightning], [Ancient Lightning], [Flame], [Frostbolt], [Earth].

Noble Phantasms: [Darkmoon Greatsword].

The [Lightning] communion had become [Ancient Lightning], and was the lightning that the red dragon used. [Ice] had become [Frostbolt], and was was simply lightning that carried the properties of ice. Finally, [Rot] had become [Death Lightning], and would inflict rot onto enemies struck by it.

Additionally, Draconis had received a new Ability.

[Full Moon Sorceries]

Ability Description: [You can use the sorceries of the moon.]

Draconis was able to use an entirely new sorcery upon becoming Corrupted. From what he had seen, it was quite useful.

Artoria stared in disbelief at the red meteor.

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4 months before corruption.

Cerise had finally become a Fallen Titan. Strangely enough, her appearance didn't seem to change. Her growth was much slower than Draconis, but she wasn't as fast as him.

Creature Name: [Cerise, Heir of War]

Corruption Rank: Fallen

Corruption Class: Titan

Soul Shards: [285/7000]

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],[Titan of War], [Bloodborne], [Reforged], [Blood Thief].

Creature Abilities: [Blood Manipulation], [Blood Inferno], [Blood Conduit].

Noble Phantasms: [Chikage].

Shirou recalled her to see if anything had changed. She hadn't received any new Attributes or Abilities, so he decided to test her out.

"Alright, is there anything new that you can do?"

She immediately moved away from him. Shirou didn't know what she was going to do, but guessed that she couldn't do it near him.

The body of blood started to expand, and the terrain was completely covered in blood. Shirou watched as the blood was pulled back to her.

He blinked.

A giant made of blood was standing in front of him.

Shirou grinned at the scene in front of him.

A Corrupted Terror and a Fallen Titan. You can't match up to that, right Sunny?!

Artoria watched as Shirou started to maniacally laugh to himself. She didn't think that he was such a lunatic.

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3 months before corruption.

Shirou did not know how he had gotten in this situation, so he looked back on the events that he led up to this predicament.

He had woken up as usual, finding Artoria using the bed as if it was hers. He got up, made some food, checked the runes of his Blades, and woke up the spoiled king.

Over the course of the past few months, Artoria was quite prone to blushing for whatever reason. It had steadily increased up until this day, in which she had gotten extremely aggressive. Not in a violent matter, but in a way that made Shirou want to keep a certain distance.

She had kept brushing his arm, calling him certain things that he wasn't sure he should be called, and had offered him a lap pillow.

Of course, he had accepted, but that was besides the point.

He was now pinned down on a bed, with a woman who doesn't look her age above him.

Shirou calculated what could possibly happen in this situation, and came to a singular conclusion.

…Will my pelvis survive?

"Shirou."

The boy in question was startled. He hadn't heard her say his name even once since they met. He looked up to see Artoria go completely red. However, there was a look of determination in her eyes.

She leaned down and whispered something to Shirou. Although he didn't understand why, he decided that she was telling the truth.

If he was being honest, he couldn't understand why anyone could feel such a way about him.

That night, Shirou truly showed how well he can wield a sword. His sword to be precise.

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2 months before corruption.

They never stopped.

Boredom seemed to be quite the powerful force, as with nothing to do except each other, Shirou and Artoria went at it day and night. The sounds could be heard across Camelot, yet their was nobody to hear it.

On the bed, on the throne, on the roof, in the dungeon, in an empty house, on the streets, on the walls, and many other locations within Camelot. They simply kept going.

Even if Artoria had overwhelming strength compared to Shirou, his skill with the sword was not something that she could have handled. It was something that not even a Divine being could withstand, as they fell into depravity.

It had gotten to the point that Shirou received a new Attribute.

[Kingslayer]

Attribute Description: [Royalty of the opposite gender are naturally attracted to you.]

Shirou's eye twitched.

What a useless Attribute.

Shirou did not know that the ability to seduce princesses would be quite relevant one day.

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1 month before corruption.

Shirou was starting to get worried. The real Caliburn hadn't been found, and there was only a month left before Artoria became a Nightmare Creature.

Her right eye had become completely golden, matching her left. Her hair was starting to become extremely pale, and her sword was almost completely covered in corruption.

He knew that if he couldn't find the sword, that he would have to kill Artoria. He had stayed within this Nightmare for the sole purpose of making sure that she wouldn't get corrupted.

He looked down at her sleeping form, before summoning a Memory. The [Obsidian Locket] appeared in his hands, as he used it on Artoria. Nothing seemed to visibly change, but that was because the Memory did not effect her.

Name: [Obsidian Locket]

Memory Rank: Supreme

Memory Tier: VII

Memory Description: [As long as you have seen it, nothing will be lost.]

Memory Enchantments: [Soul Tracker].

Enchantment Description: [For a single use, you can teleport yourself to a persons whose soul was tracked.]

He might not be able to save this Artoria, but what about the real one?

————————————————————

1 day before corruption.

Shirou looked at the Nightmare Creature that was forming right in front of him. A strange mask that only covered her eyes was spreading across Artoria's face. Her sword was completely black, with red marking along it.

She smiled somberly towards Shirou, and asked him:

"Am I worthy of being the king, Shirou?"

Shirou was completely baffled at the question. At this point, it should have been obvious…

"I'm not Caliburn."

"I know. I was not asking the sword, I was asking you."

Shirou stood still, thinking about it for a moment.

"…Yes. I can confidently say that you would be fit to be a king now."

She smiled at him before having a startled expression.

Shirou watched in confusion as the mask started to crumble, and Excalibur started to glow.

Avalon was pushing back the corruption.

They looked at each other in bewilderment.

…IT WAS THAT EASY?!

Shirou saw new runes appear, causing him to widen his eyes.

[Wake up, Shirou! Your Nightmare is over.]

Shirou quickly looked towards Artoria as he felt his connection to the world around him fade away.

"Sorry, but I'll be gone in a moment."

Although she didn't know why, she nodded her head in understanding.

"Thank you, Shirou. For everything."

She smiled towards him with tears in her eyes. She hugged him as Shirou's conscious slowly faded away.

…Well, I can't say I regret anything. Actually, why does it sound like I'm dying?

[Prepare for appraisal…]