32 - Powerful Presence

Shirou could hear the gaurds patrolling around the city. Strangely enough, there was nobody guarding the castle itself. Realistically, the castle should be the most secure place.

Maybe they are all inside the castle?

Shirou walked past the large garden in front of the castle. His enhanced vision couldn't detect any guards around the area. Instead of making him relax, his unease grew more intense.

Shirou opened the large door to the castle, and just like before, there were no gaurds in the vicinity. He kept walking through the maze of halls, before standing in front of a large door.

He did not open it.

Shirou felt a pressure press down upon him, telling him that he will most definitely die if he opened that door. He turned around, and decided to explore the rest of the castle.

Most of the rooms were empty, but he had noticed old paintings of what looked to be a young blond girl. She wore a blue cape around her shoulders, and a crown atop her head. She also had a sword that radiated power, even if it was only a painting.

Strangely enough, Shirou felt jealous of the sword. A sword of all things!

As Shirou explored the castle, he saw a staircase leading downwards. He decided to go down the staircase, and found himself in what seemed to be a dungeon. He couldn't find anything in most of the cells, but after a few hours, he found something.

Within a decrepit cell, was a hammer. The hammer was covered in dried blood, and was alone within the empty cell.

Shirou walked towards the hammer, and the blood on it had started to glow, before burning away in crimson flames. Shirou did not know why it did so, but he reached for the hammer anyways. Once he grasped it, he held it up for a moment.

Nothing happened.

Shirou didn't want to leave the hammer here, so he summoned the [Bottomless Box], and threw it in there. He felt Ingvild enter the city, so he sent her a message to meet him in the dungeons of the castle.

After around an hour, a puddle of water slid into his cell.

Shirou immediately informed her of the deadly presence that he had felt behind the large doors within the castle. Ingvild had felt it as well, so they both agreed to not go in there.

However, they key to completing this Nightmare must have been within that room.

Shirou sighed before deciding that they should leave the city. There was not much that they could do here after all. After a few well-placed distractions, Shirou was now outside of the city.

Shirou did not think that any amount of preparation could allow them to become strong enough to defeat whatever was within that room. However, he didn't have much choice other than to try.

Shirou sat next to a tree, eating the dragon meat he had just roasted. He had offered some to Ingvild, but she stated that she didn't require food anymore. He looked up at the now night sky, and tried to figure out what he should do next.

If I can't kill it as a Devil, then what if I was a Titan?

Shirou shook his head. That wouldn't be enough to make a difference. He would also need to make his Blades Titans as well. Even that might not be enough.

As Shirou thought, he realized that the gap may close if he can make either Cerise or Draconis a Corrupted. He didn't know if it would be enough, but he instinctively felt that they would at least have a chance.

I'll need to get two Corrupted Titans. That's going to be pretty difficult.

Shirou did not know how to make them rise in rank. He would need to do much experimentation if he wanted to have enough power to fight the being behind the door.

Shirou stood up and decided that the best course of action was to just keep killing Nightmare Creatures.

Shirou summoned the [Bottomless Box] and pulled out Draconis. He seemed somewhat annoyed at being disturbed before looking at Shirou attentively.

"Do you know how to increase your rank?"

Draconis thought for a moment before pointing his head at Shirou's chest.

"You need to get dragon hearts?"

Draconis nodded.

Shirou summoned Cerise and asked her the same question. He wasn't sure what she needed, but it seemed that it was something that she needed to find.

Shirou thought for a moment before ordering the two of them to go kill Nightmare Creatures on their own. Draconis was quite weak, and wasn't any good in a fight. This would be a good opportunity for it to learn.

Before they left, Shirou had grasped the Darkmoon Greatsword, and turned it into a Noble Phantasm.

Noble Phantasm: [Darkmoon Greatsword]

Noble Phantasm Rank: Divine

Noble Phantasm Tier: VII

Noble Phantasm Type: Weapon

Noble Phantasm Description: [There was once a dragon that guarded the moon. This dragon was absorbed by the moon, and used it created the Darkmoon Greatsword. The remains of that dragon was used to create Lumen Draconis, the last Moonspawn.]

It seemed that the [Darkmoon Greatsword] was also a Divine Noble Phantasm. Shirou didn't know what the odds were of this occurring, but he didn't want to find out.

He watched as Cerise and Draconis left towards the distance. Shirou looked towards Ingvild and told her the plan.

"We're going to find an ocean, and slaughter the entire ecosystem."

[…I see. I'll lead you to one.]

Shirou and Ingvild traveled to where Ingvild had appeared when the Nightmare started. By the time they had arrived, it was already the next day, early in the morning.

As the sun slowly rose into the sky, Shirou stared ahead in confusion.

They were standing in front of a large ocean.

"Ingvild."

[Yes?]

"What did you call this place?"

[The Stormsea, of course.]

"…That's impossible, the Stormsea is all the way to the south."

[I wouldn't be surprised if the landscape changed overtime. It definitely was near here when I was alive.]

Shirou sighed.

Ingvild entered the water in her puddle form before becoming solid once again. Shirou widened his eyes.

She had taken the form of a large water serpent.

Shirou snapped out of it and hopped onto her back, [Storm Ruler], in hand. He summoned the [Bubble Pendant], and a bubble started to cover his body. Ingvild's large serpentine body dove under the sea.

They spent the next few months killing as many Nightmare Creatures as possible. The abominations within the ocean were mostly of the Fallen rank, with some being Corrupted. They were able to gain many sword fragments and soul shards.

They surfaced to the beach in order to rest. Shirou opened their tunes to check their progress.

Class: Tyrant

Forge Cores: [5/7]

Sword Fragments: [4736/5000]

Shirou was getting close to becoming a Terror. Every time that him or his Blades killed a Nightmare Creature, he would gain sword fragments. He had even obtained some memories that would prove useful later on. His [Shroud of Justice] had received a new enchantment as well.

[Soul Storage]

Enchantment Description: [You can store anything within your soul sea.]

Although Shirou was initially disappointed, he figured that this was much better. He wouldn't have to stuff Draconis into the [Bottomless Box] anymore.

His Blades have made quite a bit of progress as well.

Name: Ingvild of the Storm

True Name: —

Rank: Awakened

Class: Devil

Soul Core: [4/7]

Soul Shards: [487/4000].

Aspect: [Storm Priestess].

Aspect Rank: [Divine].

Attributes: [Mark of Divinity], [Undrowning], [Child of Storms], [Reforged].

Aspect Abilities: [Galebreathe], [Sea-Sunk], [Vorpal Blade].

Noble Phantasms: [Storm Ruler]

Ingvild had recently become a Devil, but unlike Shirou, she did not gain any new Attributes. This further proved that Shirou was an exception among Divine Aspects.

Creature Name: [Cerise, Heir of War]

Corruption Rank: Fallen

Corruption Class: Tyrant

Soul Shards: [2765/5000]

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

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

Cerise had obtained another Attribute from becoming a Tyrant.

[Blood Thief]

Attribute Description: [Whenever you inflict a wound on others, you passively drain their blood.]

This makes it much easier to kill enemies. Shirou was still not sure what she needed to increase in rank, but Draconis had made outstanding progress.

Creature Name: Lumen Draconis

Corruption Rank: Fallen

Corruption Class: Tyrant

Soul Shards: [674/5000]

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].

Communions: [Rot], [Lightning], [Flame], [Ice].

Not only had Draconis become a Fallen Tyrant, and gain another three communions, but he had also gained an extremely useful Attribute.

[Boundless Determination]

Attribute Description: [Your determination to gain power is so strong, that no mental attacks can effect you.]

Draconis had an Attribute even better than [Mind of Steel]. He was completely immune to all mental attacks, which makes a whole category of attacks useless against him.

Shirou sighed after checking their progress. It had been four months since they had entered the Nightmare. An entire year since the Winter Solstice. If this kept up, he might be here for another year. Getting two Corrupted Titans was simply too time consuming.

Shirou stared up at the sky. Every second wasted in this Nightmare is another person he fails to save. The faster he gets out, the faster he can save people.

Shirou has made a decision.

He sent a mental command to all of his Blades. Although Ingvild protested, she inevitably gave in.

The next day, they were going to confront whatever was hiding within the room of the castle.

Shirou checked his memories to make a plan. He currently mainly used Transcendent Memories. Although he did not have any from the fourth tier or higher, they were still quite powerful.

Memory: [Drang Armor]

Memory Rank: Transcendent

Memory Tier: III

Memory Type: Armor

Memory Description: [Fine protection that is both light and strong, having been reinforced with rare geisteel. The Drang knights were once feared sellswords, until treason meant descending into the abyss, and they were seperated forever.]

Memory Enchantments: [Fireproof], [Speedster], [Hunter].

[Fireproof]

Enchantment Description: [This armor can not be effected by flames.]

[Speedster]

Enchantment Description: [This armor allows the wearer to be able to move much faster.]

[Hunter]

Enchantment Description: [Defeating enemies in quick succession gives you an increase in power.]

The armor was extremely useful, as it could increase Shirou's physical capabilities while also providing him more resistance towards flames. Actually, it didn't improve his own resistance, but simply made it so the armor wouldn't be affected.

Memory: [Ashen Estus Ring]

Memory Rank: Transcendent

Memory Tier: II

Memory Type: Tool

Memory Description: [Their used to be those who had crippled souls, whether due to their flaw, or outside elements. This ring was used to help restore soul essence at a faster rate.]

Memory Enchantments: [Soul Surge].

[Soul Surge]

Enchantment Description: [This ring increases the speed of soul essence regeneration.]

This ring was able to restore soul essence quite quickly, making it easier for Shirou to use [Chronos Rose]. It would still run out very fast, but he will get another chance to use it faster.

Shirou looked in the direction of the city.

It can't be too bad, right?