Chapter 17

~Shinji Matou POV~

"Damn, she hits like a damn truck." I said while stretching my slightly aching body. Despite healing with my flames, I still felt the phantom pains where Bazett hit me.

"Are you sure you're okay, Matou-san?" Miyu asked me with concern as she looked me over, despite my reassurance that I was fine.

She had arrived not seconds ago, having come after Sapphire was contacted by Ruby.

"Now we just need to wait for Bazett to wake up." I said while looking over to where Rin and Luvia were standing over the prone form of Bazett, who was tied up with my Cross Tail wires.

"Yeah." Kuro said before turning away from looking at Bazett to look at me. "Anyway, what was that move you pulled out at the end?"

Hearing her question, I looked down at my hand and remembered the sensation as I unleashed my very first black flash. It was a surreal experience since I was only in the zone for a short while, and while I was already back to normal, I felt my use of cursed energy was leagues above what it was previously.

"While I called it black flash, I actually don't know what it was." I said with a shrug, playing the ignorant card. "I don't even know if I can do it again."

"I see." Kuro said with a hum before falling silent.

"Anyway, Illya, are you okay? You were fighting Bazett as well." I asked Illya, who had been silent the entire time.

"Oh, um yeah I'm fine, Shinji-san." Illya said with a smile, but after spending two months with her as well as Kuro, I knew their usual ticks for when she was lying or just nervous. So I stared at her with a blank expression, and after a couple seconds, she cracked under my gaze.

"Fine, I'll tell the truth. Just stop looking at me like that. As for how I feel, I guess I feel relieved I made it out alive. That lady was crazy strong, and to be honest, I'm still kind of scared of her."

"That's fine. The fact that we got out of this fight relatively unscathed is a miracle in itself." I said with a sigh I thought about how the fight would have gone differently if Bazett had dodged my Worthless and was able to use Fragarach. I wouldn't have been dead due to my phoenix flames, but I would most likely be out of commission for a while due to having a hole in my heart.

"Anyway, I'm going to go talk to Rin and Luvia." I said before walking over to the older duo.

"Rin, Luvia," I nodded as I walked up next to them. "Is Auguste okay, by the way, Luvia? The last time I saw him, he got punched by Bazett here."

"He's downstairs in the safe room, resting. Thank you, by the way, for giving me that senzu; it healed Auguste and me." Luvia said while giving me a bow.

"It's fine, but I'll accept the thanks nonetheless." I said with a cheeky smile. Before I could continue talking, a groan came from below me. Looking down, I saw Bazett begin to stir, so I quickly created an orb of Worthless and shot her with so she didn't try to use those runes of hers.

After a couple of seconds, Bazett's eyes snapped open and she took in her surroundings before her eyes landed on me.

"So I lost, huh?"

"Yup, you did. Now Rin, you've got the parchment, right?"

Rin jolted before quickly pulling out a piece of parchment that she unrolled and showing the contents to Bazett.

"Is that the leylines?" Bazett asked, gaining a serious expression.

"Yes, that's why we want to form a truce with you to deal with this final card."

"And what's to stop me from killing you?"

"Well, you can't with that curse on you at least." I said while pulling up my shirt, revealing the curse mark on my stomach. "It's a curse of shared pain. And while you can most definitely ignore the pain, you would never be able to use your trump card against me since that would be a contradiction."

Bazett's eyes widened in shock before her face went serious. "So you even know about that as well. Understood, I'll agree to this truce."

"I hope you weren't expecting to just walk away with a spoken agreement." I said while pulling out a geis.

"I thought that was implied?" Bazett said with a tilt of her head.

Dammit I forgot she was emotionally inept like most of my friends! I thought with a deadpan as I released her from the bindings holding her.

I then handed her the scroll and a pen for her to sign, and after a couple seconds, she signed it and handed it back to me, the contract coming into effect immediately.

With that done, Bazett walked over to grab the container that held her Fragarach orbs before leaving the mansion.

"It looks like our plan worked." Rin said with a sigh as she collapsed to sit on the ground.

"Yup, it sure did." I said wiping off the fake curse mark on my stomach. While there was indeed a real curse mark that was on my clone, who will not be doing anything to injure himself for the foreseeable future, "Anyway, with this, we now have a powerful enforcer on our side to fight that card."

[****]

"So why are we here again?" I asked Kuro as I pulled off my shirt and placed it in my backpack while pulling out a pair of flip-flops I slid on.

"Come on, Shinji-san, it's good to get out for summer break." Shirou said while walking past me carrying the water cooler, and following him was Issei, who was carrying the umbrella.

"Shirou-san is right Shinji-kun, you've been training non-stop; you need to take a break." Kuro said while adjusting her red two-piece swimsuit. "So what do you think, Shinji-kun? Does this look nice?" She said as seductively as she could, but it didn't really work with the huge blush on her cheeks.

"It's fine, I suppose." I said, turning away slightly as I scratched my cheeks, feeling them burn slightly.

Damn, what the hell is wrong with you, Shinji? Not even a month ago, you didn't even find her attractive, just cute, but now I'm getting embarrassed over her teasing!? What the hell!?

"Ahem!" Turning around, I saw Illya and Miyu standing there, wearing their own swimsuits.

Illya was wearing a purple two-piece skirtini while Miyu wore a white and pink two-piece with a white sash around her waist and a sun hat on her head.

Without warning, Illya pulled me away from Kuro toward the beach in the distance. "Come on, Shinji-san, let's enjoy the beach!"

"Hey, what the hell, Illya!" Kuro yelled out while running after us.

I guess… I can relax for a day.

With a smile, I relaxed in Illya's grip as we arrived quickly at the sandy beach.

The rest of the day was pretty fun, all things considered, as I played with Miyu, Illya, Kuro, and all of Illya's friends.

And now I was standing on some rocks with Illya, Kuro, and Miyu as we separated from the group.

"So this is your first time going to the ocean, Miyu?" Illya asked.

"Yes, this is the first time being here, so I really didn't know what to do." Miyu said while looking over the horizon.

"Miyu, it's not about doing the right thing; it's about having fun." I said with a smile while looking down at Miyu. "Though don't be too carefree like them." I pointed to one of Illya's friends, with one of them headbutting the other.

"Understood, I'll keep that in mind." Miyu said with a nod.

Miyu then proceeded to talk about her time in her own universe, and the situation got awkward as, while she knew I knew about her situation, the others didn't know anything about it.

Hopefully she can tell them before we have to fight Gilgamesh, though from what Luvia said, that isn't likely.

"Ice pops! Hungry!? Squid! Ice!! Pops!!" Hearing that familiar voice, I turned around and deadpan as I looked at Bazett, who was wearing an apron over a swimsuit.

"Will you shut up!" Kuro yelled, having enough, and to be honest, it was getting annoying for me too. She then actually looked at who she yelled at, and she froze in place, followed by Miyu and Illya, who looked at who Kuro yelled at.

"Bazett!?" They all yelled at the same time, in shock.

"The berserker woman is back!!"

"G-g-g-gotta transform! Ruby!! Ruby!? Why aren't you here now of all times!?"

"It's a little depressing to see children react like this in my presence. Relax. I'm not going to get into it here with you all. Because right now, I'm… just a normal ice pop vendor!!"

I couldn't help but giggle at the sight of her saying that, all with a serious expression on her face.

"For some reason, the association billed me for the damages during our fights, and all my credit cards have been declined. So I'm stuck here in Japan until I can pay for my travel expenses. But it's not a big deal. I'll eat grass if I have to!!"

Now I just feel bad. I thought with a sigh as I walked over to Bazett. "How much for a popsicle?"

"300 yen each."

I guess that's fair. With a wave of my hand, I brought my wallet out of my space ring and brought out 1200 yen, and gave it to her.

"I'll take grape if you have it." I said before turning back to the others. "You guys can get whatever you want."

The others hearing me quickly picked a flavor before going back to the group.

"Bazett, how much would it cost for you to teach me the runes you use?" I asked while taking a bite of my popsicle.

"Can you even afford that?"

Without saying a word, I brought out a stack of ¥10,000 bills and placed it on the cart.

"I think we can talk, um... Shinji Matou, right?"

"Yup, that's me... now meet me tomorrow at this location." I said, reaching into my pocket and using Arc of Embodiment to create a small slip of paper with my address on it before handing it over to Bazett before walking away. "Keep the money; think of it as a down payment."

After walking back, I saw that the others were packing up the stuff.

"Shinji-san, your back, come on and help were heading to the meeting spot." Shirou said, picking up the water cooler.

"Got it," I said while pulling out the beach umbrella and putting it over my shoulder.

As we began walking, I looked over to Shirou. "I assume you actually got something for Illya, Kuro, and Miyu, Shirou-san."

"Oh, yeah, I asked Tohsaka-san for some advice."

"Don't tell them that. Just say you bought it yourself." I said with a sigh.

"What, why?" Shirou asked the most obvious question imaginable, so I simply ignored him and speed-walked to the restaurant in front of us.

"Happy Birthday, Illya, Kuro, and Miyu." We all said together after getting settled in. The party was nice, as there was tons of food and decorations on the walls.

"Illya, what is the point of birthday parties?" Miyu asked.

"Well, you have a birthday to celebrate someone's birthday, right?"

"So you're saying a birthday is something to be celebrated?" Miyu said with a tilt of her head.

I couldn't help but freeze as Miyu asked that simple question, though I didn't blame her. So I decided to give her an out.

"Well, Miyu, a birthday is to be celebrated to let yourself and the world know that you lived. So with that said, celebrate and have fun, Miyu, and you two as well." With a smile, I reached into my pocket and pulled out three boxes, with the red one going to Illya, the blue one going to Miyu, and the black and red one for Kuro.

The three of them opened their gifts at the same time, revealing the necklaces within. Illya's necklace had a ruby embedded in it; Miyu's had a sapphire embedded in it; and finally, Kuro's had a blood jasper embedded in it.

"Hope you guys like it." I said, ignoring the burning in my cheeks.

Seriously, what the hell is wrong with me!?

"I love it, Shinji-kun." Kuro said before hugging me tightly, burying her face in my chest.

"Hey, what are you doing? Let me go, Kuro."

"Nope~." She said with a wink as she clung to me even tighter.

"For being born, and being able to live until now, and for having met Illya, all of you, Shirou-san, and Shinji-san. For all of that…" Miyu looked up with a dazzling smile on her face, the setting sun behind her giving her an angelic appearance. "You have my gratitude... Thank you."

Damn I don't know if I can survive in this universe any longer.

[****]

The rest of the beach was par for the course as we ran into Rin and Luvia, who were at the construction site to get the 8th class card. Then Ruby tried to pull her usual perverted shenanigans, but a quick throw into the ocean dealt with her.

And now it was finally time to deal with Gilgamesh once and prepare for the Ainsworth's.

I was already in my Prisma trace form, and Kuro, who was beside me, was already wearing her servant attire.

We both continued to hop through the air in silence for several minutes before we arrived at the construction site that was completed. Waiting at the entrance were Rin, Luvia, and Illya.

"Sorry we were late; I had to do something before coming out." I said after I landed and dusted myself off.

"You're fine; you're not the last one here." Luvia said before heading over to the door. "Now come on, we're heading inside."

Walking inside after Luvia I was greeted by the long stairwell that led to an open area down below.

Yeah, I'm not walking down all those stairs. Running forward and past Luvia, I hopped over the railing and fell to the ground. Once I was close to the ground, I simply floated with Kunzite.

After five minutes, the others finally arrived at the bottom.

"Was that really necessary, Shinji-san?" Illya asked.

"Why would I want to walk down all those stairs like you all did?" I asked with a shrug.

"That's fair, I guess." Illya said deflating.

We waited for several minutes before the sound of clanking metal rang throughout.

"It looks like our tardy friend is here." Luvia said, and in a burgundy blur, Bazett landed with a thud on the ground in front of us.

"Alright, let's begin." I said seriously as I, Illya, and Miyu used the mirror road spell and brought us into the mirror world.

As soon as we arrived, I felt a jolt of fear run through my veins at the sheer malice floating in the air, as well as the dense black magical fog that obscured our vision. And at the center of it all was the black figure at the other end of the room.

"Don't be fooled. Just deal with it just as we planned." Luvia said, her voice firm and confident, as she leaped forward toward Gilgamesh. As we planned, I would be defending her, so when the fog of magical energy lashed out to attack her, I used my Aquabind chains to absorb them, feeling them become stronger as I did.

"Zeihen Jördmungandr (Witness Jördmungandr)!!" Luvia shouted in German as she threw gems that landed around Gilgamesh. Once they were all in place, they glowed with a brilliant light, and a complex magic circle burst forth under Gilgamesh, trapping. He staggered as he was unable to move, his black face twisted in anger as the magical energy created a vacuum around him.

With that done, I jumped back next to Kuro, who gave me a thumbs up, while Illya and Miyu worked with Rin to attack again.

Using the infinite magical energy of the Kaleidosticks and the rotation of that energy in a magic circle, they boosted the output of the energy with kinetic energy, creating a dazzling spectacle of colors and sparks.

"Vom Ersten zum achten (From first to eighth)—!" Rin said, her voice commanding and authoritative, as she lifted up her arm and pointed the tip of her azoth dagger at Gilgamesh. "Eine Folgeschaltung (Sequence start)—!" Gems flew out of her pocket and spun around her dagger, forming a spiral of jewels. "Now, Thor's Hammer!!!" She yelled, unleashing her ultimate attack. Out of the magic circle came a giant beam of magical energy that went straight for Gilgamesh, like a bolt of lightning from the sky.

"Guess it's our turn, Kuro." I said, feeling a rush of adrenaline as I saw her project her bow.

Now, I have to thank Sukuna for having used this and inspiring this move.

Clasping my hands together, I focused cursed energy, magical energy, demonic energy, and light energy, feeling them swirl and mix in my palms.

Combine it all to make it stronger. Holy Flames, Hell Flames, wreath it in Holy Lightning. I thought as I pulled my hands apart, revealing the swirling flames connected to my palms that had lightning arcing over them. They all fought each other, but with my control, they obeyed me despite being polar opposites.

This isn't enough. Hotter. It has to be hotter and stronger. I thought as I used wind manipulation to pull oxygen into the flames, making them burn hotter and brighter until they changed from their ordinary orange, red, and yellow to a dark blue, almost black. I ignored the pain; it is only temporary. I just focused on this one strike, putting all my will and power into it. Moving my arms, I made the flames contract into a ball of flames before I pulled my right arm back, like I was holding an arrow, and shaped the flames as such.

Now release. I thought, as I saw the figure of Gilgamesh appear in my sights, I released the flaming arrow, and judging by the golden light that followed my arrow, Kuro released her Excalibur arrow as well.

As soon as my arrow struck, it exploded out in a fiery explosion, engulfing Gilgamesh in a sea of flames. And not even a second later, Kuro's arrow struck as well, creating a giant magical explosion that shook the whole room.

"Shit." I couldn't help but curse as I looked at the giant orientate shield that was singed slightly but still intact, protecting Gilgamesh from our attacks.

"We're retreating! Fall back, Kuro, Matou!" Luvia yelled out, her voice urgent, and panicked.

"Then I guess it's my turn!" Bazett said, her voice determined as she ran past me and Kuro, heading straight for Gilgamesh.

"Damnit, Bazett, don't charge in, you idiot!" I yelled out as I ran after her.

"Wait, Shinji, you know she's going to die!" Kuro yelled after me, her voice filled with concern, but I didn't listen as I caught up to Bazett and roughly shoved her out of the way, just as several swords flew at her, with me taking them instead.

Of course, my Aura dealt with some of them, but these were noble phantasms, and after six failed to pierce me, the seventh broke my aura, and the eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth noble phantasms stabbed me in my chest, arms, and legs, making me scream in agony.

"Go, Bazett! I'll be fine!" I said, before spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Bazett gave me a look of concern, her eyes filled with gratitude and guilt, before her features hardened, and she gave me a nod. "I'll finish this quickly, then!" She said, before dashing forward, her fists clenched and ready.

Now to deal with this. I thought as I reached over and pulled out the blades quickly, ignoring the pain as they quickly healed with my flames, leaving behind only my blood.

"You have got to be kidding me." I thought as I looked up at the hundreds of weapons that hung in the air, glinting menacingly in the light. Holding my hand up, I used Hole to create an opening in space, just in time for the weapons to launch. But no matter how fast they were moving, those that came too close were sucked into the hole, disappearing into the void.

As they continued to rain down, I opened smaller holes next to me and aimed them at Gilgamesh, at even faster speeds, to knock away any blades that were close to hitting Bazett, who was getting closer to him.

Suddenly, a huge amount of the magical fog gathered behind Gilgamesh as he released a huge amount of weapons, like a swarm of angry bees. Like seriously, it was straight up overkill how many weapons Gilgamesh was using.

Bazett stopped on a dime, and three Fragarach balls flew next to her and transformed into their semi-true form of a short sword. She then used those to break through the literal wall of swords, appearing right in front of Gilgamesh, who looked surprised and annoyed.

Gilgamesh tried to use a long spear to pierce Bazett through the brain, but she was saved by Kuro, who knocked it away with an arrow with a perfect aim.

"Really, you two are such a pain." Kuro said with a smirk while lowering her bow.

Bazett didn't waste any time, dashing forward and thrusting her fist straight through his chest.

Bazett let out a gasp as she jumped back toward our group as Gilgamesh released a huge wave of magical energy that swept across the room like a tsunami.

No, I can't let you! I thought as I created a bounded field of compressed time, using my Time, and began gathering Worthless in my hand while pushing out my Cross Tail wires, wrapping them around my body over and over again, until I got to the very end of the spool.

"Kunzite, send a message to Ruby and Sapphire to leave the mirror world with Bazett." I said, through gritted teeth.

"But–!" Kunzite tried to say, but I cut him off.

"I know, and that's why I'm doing this. Even if I die right here, I'll make sure they survive." I couldn't help but chuckle at the thought.

To think, I would be sacrificing myself for these girls. I really have changed. Hopefully, Sakura can survive until she meets Shirou. She deserves that, at least.

With a thought, I dropped the time barrier and created a barrier wall, infused with Worthless, behind me to block the others from getting through.

I ignored the cries from the others to come back, and with a sigh, I told Kunzite to transform into his communications mode.

"I just want to say, I'm sorry about this, but this is the only way we can win this without us all dying." I said as I saw the Ea rise from the ground, and Gilgamesh grabbed the blade, causing the cylinder blade to begin to spin, creating a deafening noise. "So, all of you, survive, okay?" I said, with a sad smile. "Also, if you could, could you save my sister for me?" That was the final thing I could ask, as Sapphire and Ruby forcefully transferred the others out of the mirror world, and Gilgamesh released Ea.

"Now, let's do this." I said as I shot the giant Worthless orb forward, letting it fly out of my hand like a cannonball. I began manipulating the last hundred feet of the Cross Tail thread and activated its trump card, Realm-Cutting Threads! Using the last bit of wire, I created a giant grid that overlapped over and over again, forming a net of razor-sharp wires.

With this, hopefully, he won't be able to get out now. I thought as the Worthless orb made contact with the winds from Ea. They pushed back and forth for a couple of seconds, but eventually Ea broke through, and so did my realm-cutting wire. While they were able to block some of it, they weren't able to block all of it, and I took the blast head-on.

As I stood there, I looked into the eye of the storm; that was Ea, and despite my body being broken down by Ea, I couldn't help but feel that this was familiar. Wait! That's why it's so familiar, because I've seen this 'Truth' before.

My mind was racing, a mile a minute, as I continued to stare at these winds of creation and destruction. And with bated breath, I said the one thing, pounding at my mind.

"[ORIGIN RELEASE]"