Chapter 21

~Shinji Matou POV~

"You can handle her, right?" I asked Gilgamesh while making sure to keep my eyes on Angelica.

"Of course, who do you think you're talking to, Shinji? Of course I can." Gilgamesh said with a smirk.

"She came... back! Damnnit run. But please, the center tower; that's where they're keeping Miy-Arghhhhhhhh!" Shirou's explanation turned into a scream of pain midway through, and I admit I cringed slightly.

"Thanks! We'll be heading out now, and Gilgamesh, I'll leave her to you." Grabbing the cloth from Gilgamesh, I wrapped up Illya and Tanaka before putting them over my shoulder. "Hold on tight, Illya, Tanaka I'm going full speed."

I pressed my foot firmly onto the ground before dashing off. As I ran through the halls, I released a thick mist behind me and used my darkness manipulation to make it almost impossible to navigate.

It only took a couple of seconds for us to arrive back outside, where I made my way to the main entrance.

"Wait, Shinji-san, why did you leave Gil-kun and Miyu's brother there!?" Illya yelled over my shoulder. "We have to go back and help."

"Illya, not to be rude, but you and Tanaka are completely useless in this situation, so staying there where we have to protect you from Angelica would be the worst possible situation. So we're going to save Miyu since we know where she is now."

"But…" Illya tried to say, but I cut her off.

"But nothing! We'll save Miyu, and then we'll save her brother, okay?"

"Fine." Illya said reluctantly.

After running for a couple of seconds, we arrived at the main entrance, where I smashed through the door. As we passed through the doorway, I felt my magic resistance fight against something, but it lost out in strength, and the surroundings changed from the entrance to an open hall, and now we were several feet off the ground.

With a thought, I made a bubble of water that broke our fall before dispersing it as I let go of Illya and Tanaka as I slid down the hill of mystic codes toward the only other person in the room, Beatrice.

"Oh, coming straight at me, huh? Fine, then I'll grant you a quick death, loser!" Beatrice yelled as she dashed toward me.

Yeah, come at me, you berserker woman. While I'm not going to end you because I need you for the future, I will beat you black and blue.

In an instant, I reinforced my body with magical energy, cursed energy, chakra, and ki, manifested my scales across my body and face like armor, and then activated my water armor.

Turning to the side, I dodged the umbrella Beatrice was holding and went to punch her in the side of her head.

Boost! My fist gained speed, and judging by her eyes widening, I caught her off guard as I clocked her on the side of her head.

Beatrice flew through the air before flipping to land on her feet and looked at me with a serious expression.

"You… Do you know what this room is? Our master is hard at work collecting mystic codes, magical implements, and vessels from all over the world. Over and over again, they've failed to live up to our master's expectations of being a replacement for the noble phantasms and the holy grail. All of the misbegotten failures are here. The history of the Ainsworth's mistakes. And now that we've finally obtained the actual holy grail, I'll kill you meddling fools right here right now!" Beatrice said as she included the Berserker class card and gained a crazed expression.

Yeah, yeah, we get it, you're crazy. With a roll of my eyes, I dashed toward Beatrice once again, and with her monologue, I could get off another boost, making me even faster.

My fist collided with Beatrice's new giant hand. As expected of the son of Thor, Magni being this strong as I felt my bones crack despite how much I was reinforcing them. But I'm far from finished! Boost! Divide!

Beatrice faltered for a second, and I felt power surge through my body and threw her back again.

With her in the air, I manifested my Aquabind chains, wrapped them around her, and slammed her into the ground, creating a huge cloud of dust.

Raising my hand, I created a small time bounded field and concentrated my hell and holy flames into a sphere that I then launched into the cloud of dust, creating an explosion of fire.

Turning back, I saw Illya looking at me in awe with Tanaka by her side. "Illya, if you could go and find Ruby, that would be pretty helpful!"

She was about to say something, but my instincts screamed at me. Leaning back, I watched as the huge hand that was wreathed in lightning passed right past my nose.

She's even faster than before! Before I could do anything else, she swung her arm, smacking me in the face sending me flying.

My head was rattled for a couple of seconds before I flipped, landed on the ground on my feet through I almost fell over.

Damn, she really is strong, but I'm not done yet! Reaching up, I popped my nose back into place, letting my regeneration heal it back up before taking a deep breath as I gathered magical energy in my throat, and my dragon core worked in overdrive to provide the appropriate magical energy needed before I breathed out, releasing a huge wave of pressurized water that shot out toward Beatrice.

Now it's time to show you how strong I am. With a smirk, I manifested a huge amount of water, allowing it to fall and pool on the ground. "Now rise, my servants, and destroy all who stand in my way!"

The water began to bubble, and various creatures, from birds to dragons. With a snap of my fingers, they all went to attack Beatrice.

Alright, they should be able to hold her off for a little bit, but just to be safe. Boost! Transfer! The water creatures suddenly grew in size, and their presence became even stronger. Turning away from that fight, I turned toward Illya, who was rummaging through the giant hill of stuff Darius had collected over the years.

"Illya, you find Ruby yet!" I asked while stopping beside her.

"No, not yet! But are you sure Ruby is here?" Illya asked desperately.

"I'm 100% sure." I said as I placed my hand on the ground and began using structural analysis. I disregarded all the useless information that didn't pertain to what I knew until I found the binding cloth. "Illya over there, the thing that looks like a club to your right!"

"Got it!" Illya said, running over to where Ruby was.

"Hey, you're doing something, right? Then I'm obligated to stop you!" Turning around, I saw Beatrice without a single scratch on her, and all my beasts were defeated.

With a smirk, she waved her arm almost casually, sending a wave of lightning at me. Waiting for the last second, I swung my arm up and used Crack to split the lightning, causing it to arc around me.

I then turned around as I felt the magical energy surge behind me. Turning around, I saw Illya in her magical girl outfit.

Really, Ruby, why are you wasting magical energy on those feathers?

"Shinji-san, I'll help you fight!" Illya said as she landed beside me. "Now install!" She said as a magic circle manifested under her, and she was covered in magical light.

Once the light dispersed, Illya was wearing Medea's robe and holding the staff as well.

"So you have one too, huh?" Beatrice said with a smirk. "Hah, hahahaha!! It's ultra time! It looks like I don't need to hold back! A battle between two card holders; it's like being in the middle of a legend, isn't it?!" Beatrice said as she installed the class card, bringing the giant hammer Mjolnir into the world with lightning arcing all over it, which was getting stronger by the second.

"Illya started gathering magical energy!" I said as I boosted once again, doubling my power and halving Beatrice's, but she just kept pulling on more power.

"Got it, Shinji-san!" Illya said before swinging her staff and manifesting five giant magic circles behind her.

"Scatter into elemental dust! The pinnacle of mythos!!"

Without turning away from Beatrice, I raised my hand and pointed my palm at Illya. Boost! Transfer!

"Smash it all, Mjolnir!!" Beatrice yelled before swinging her hammer at us, sending a gargantuan wave of lightning at us.

But Illya didn't waste any time countering it. "Rain of Light: Machia Hecatic Graea!"

The blasts of magical energy from Illya collided with the lightning, and they immediately created a shockwave that almost blew me away.

"Hahaha, yes, more. Give me more! Let's get even more serious!!" Beatrice's voice rang out as the beam grew in size and power and began to overpower Illya.

She won't last much longer. Hopefully, this works. As soon as Illya's beams gave out, I hopped up right in front of the floating Illya.

"Shinji-san?" I heard her say in confusion, but I ignored her as I had more important matters to deal with.

Once it was close enough, I began praying that this stupid stunt would actually work as I raised my left arm up and swung it. "Reflect!"

[****]

~3rd Person POV~

"Did you truly think you were a match for me?" Angelica asked Gilgamesh emotionlessly, who was tied up in the air by Enkidu. "I have most of your treasures; this was the inevitable outcome. And I've just got word that those three who were with you were just caught as well. It was all too easy, to be frank."

"....Heh, ha ha." Despite the slight injuries and the situation she found herself in, Gilgamesh, despite all that was stacked against her, started to laugh.

"...Why do you laugh?" Angelica asked in confusion.

"Haha, of course I laugh…" Gilgamesh said amusement, lacing every word. "I'm in the middle of something entertaining. At times like this, people laugh, get angry, and cry." Slowly, she looked up at Angelica, her red eyes glowing under the shadow of her hair. "Isn't that what being human means?"

As Gilgamesh spoke, the chains began to move slowly at first before they began to resemble a living snake.

"What is this?" Angelica said in confusion as the length of the chain in her hand was violently yanked away.

As for Gilgamesh, she was slowly lowered to the ground by the chains. "But you know, even I laugh and get angry. So stop using my friend without permission, you mongrel!" She said with a murderous tone as she glared at Angelica. She then swung her arm, causing the chains to go out like a whip toward Angelica, who jumped back to dodge it.

But before she could go far, her path was blocked by a wall of chains. With a face full of glee, Gilgamesh shot the chains out and wrapped them around Angelica into a ball that left no room for escape. "Hahaha!" From behind Gilgamesh, several portals opened up and shot swords into the sphere of chains.

As soon as Gilgamesh looked up, she saw the sphere being dispersed as several swords floated around the now-injured Angelica.

"Really, even though she's just a fake replacement, yet you still go easy on her huh?" Gilgamesh said, looking at the chain wrapped around her wrist. "You really aren't flexible at all, friend."

"Don't get full of yourself just because you've stolen the right to that chain. That doesn't change a thing." Angelica said with a glare. "In terms of assets and caliber of my gate, you're no match for me, bastard."

"Yeah, so?" Gilgamesh asked with a giggle.

Angelica threw both her arms wide as hundreds of gates opened in an instant. "Throw open the gate!"

But all Gilgamesh did was smirk as she thrust her hand forward, and the chains went inside the gate itself. "Angelica, did you know... In this country, there's apparently a saying here: 'wasted treasure.' It's almost sad, really… how much that saying seems to be meant for you!" With a swing of her arms, she pulled the blades out of Angelica's gate and used them to attack Angelica herself.

"Do… not… underestimate me!" Angelica yelled as she opened a singular massive gate that launched an equally large sword toward Gilgamesh, who's only response was a simple 'oh' as she hopped over the blade, letting it collide with the wall behind her.

"The mountain felling sword, huh? It's hard to say that using it in such a small area is very elegant." Gilgamesh said as she landed softly on the sword itself.

"Don't get cocky, brat! And don't think you'll find another weakness."

"That look is really unbecoming. Spare me your fake anger fake replacement." Gilgamesh said as she began pacing back and forth as several gates manifested behind her. "Come on… finish what you started. I only have 264 weapons. Someone with the king's treasury shouldn't be losing to a fool soldier." She said mockingly.

Angelica was silent as she slowly stood up straight before speaking. "You understand that, even if you are one of the strongest heroic spirits. The worst possible matchup is facing someone who knows all your tricks."

"You seriously lack manners. That isn't something someone who's going to surrender should behave."

"I said you shouldn't underestimate me, little king."

"Oh, and why is that?" Gilgamesh asked with a tilt of her head.

"Because you're taking on the Ainsworths!" With a wave of her hand, several class cards manifested in front of Angelica from this air.

"What!" Gilgamesh said in confusion. Before smirking. "... You're certainly working hard. Just how many cards did you make?" Gilgamesh asked, but her thoughts were way different. 'Not good. I don't know what those cards are, but if the noble phantasm is released via card instead of being installed, I won't be able to deal with it with Enkidu. Thus… he who strikes first wins.' With a thought, Gilgamesh sent the bladed end of the chain at Angelica.

Angelica didn't move as the chain grew closer, and as it was about to hit her, the end of the chain disappeared and appeared behind her, going in the opposite direction, causing Gilgamesh's eyes to widen in shock.

"I told you, little king, not to think you could use the same weakness twice."

'She's warping the surrounding space. No. Is she just randomly replacing the linkage?!' Gilgamesh gained a serious expression before commanding more of the chain's end to attack Angelica. "In that case..." Before he could finish speaking, he was cut off by Angelica.

"You need but attack me from every direction." But despite the onslaught of chains, they were all made to go in a different direction. "However, it is too late."

"Shit!" Gilgamesh cursed as she jumped back to gain some distance from Angelica.

"Inclu-!" Before Angelica could finish speaking, she was interrupted by a pillar of lightning that tore through the room.

"Looks like it's about time, huh?" Gilgamesh said while looking down at the hole below her before she sent her chains down, pulling up three figures. One was Tanaka, the second was Illya, and the third was Shinji. And while they all had injuries, Shinj had the worst, as the entire left side of his chest was gone.

[****]

~Shinji Matou POV~

Damn, that hurt like a bitch. Slowly, I felt the chains unwrap around me, allowing me to stand up, which was a challenge in itself as it felt awkward without my left arm. At least it's healing up just fine, just slower, and I'm lucky to get off with just an arm.

"Sorry about the rough landing." Gilgamesh said with a shrug. "As you can see, that large hole just opened up in the ceiling, so we're going to make our retreat through there for the time being."

"Retreat?! But we can't; they still have Miyu!" Illya said.

"Are you really going to keep fighting with Shinji in that state? Maybe you're the type who believes in a heroic death?"

"You're not getting away!!" Angelica and Beatrice yelled out, and they both charged at us.

"We're out of here." Gilgamesh said as she threw a necklace at the ground, creating a huge explosion.

Jumping up out of the hole, I released mist just in case to get us a bit of cover aside from the dust.

We all ran through the estate and out of the barrier, bringing us back to the crater.

"Where's the cloth, Shinji?" Gilgamesh asked as we ran side by side.

"I had to drop it during my fight with Beatrice, sorry." I said with a small smile. Gilgamesh looked at me with an unreadable expression before sighing. "Oh, we'll have to do without it for the last 1 kilometer then."

"This!!" The voice of Beatrice yelled from behind us. Turning around, I saw the spinning form of Mjolnir coming straight at us.

"You barbarian God!" Gilgamesh said as she used Enkidu to make a shield that she used to deflect the hammer away from us, but it simply flew back to Beatrice.

"You can't escape." Beatrice said with a smirk, her voice accompanied by the rumbling of thunder. "Sorry about earlier, ya, know? Since we were indoors, I had to attack without a full lightning strike. But this time!! You'll get a full smackdown!"

Gods really are bullshit existences. I couldn't help but chuckle in amusement at the sheer absurdity of the situation.

"Now destroy them all, Mjolnir–!" Beatrice swung her hammer, but before it could release anything, a sword passed by my ear from behind and collided with the hammer, creating a huge explosion.

So you finally made it, Kuro, Bazett. Now we just have to get out of here alive.

Angelica and Beatrice began talking to each other as they dodged the swords aimed to take their lives, before suddenly Beatrice screamed out in rage. "I'll erase that motherfucker!!" She lifted her hammer up, and despite everything, the lightning surrounding it became even stronger, despite me dividing her power every ten seconds. "Now get wrecked!!"

Before she could swing the hammer down, a clear male voice cut through the battle field, despite all the noise going on around me. "Fall back, Beatrice!!"

Beatrice stood there for several seconds before the lightning died down, and Beatrice casually let the hammer rest on her shoulder.

"You mustn't interfere with their return home."

"That voice, where is it coming?" Illya asked, looking around frantically.

"It's no use Illya; the voice is being magically projected." Ruby said with a rare, serious tone.

"Remember this voice well, Illya; after all, he is..." Gilgamesh said.

"I haven't introduced myself, have I? I am…"

"Your true enemy."

"Darius Ainsworth, head of the Ainsworth family." Darius said before his tone grew apologetic. "I apologize for my servants; they intended no harm. Please forgive them." As Darius spoke, Angelica and Beatrice turned around and walked back through the bounded field.

"I'll crush you the next time we meet." Beatrice said with a smirk as she disappeared behind the bounded field.

"Farewell for now, Illyasviel-kun and Shinji-kun." Darius said, causing me to shiver at the tone.

"Come on, Shinji, Illya-san, let's go if we stick around here." Gilgamesh said as she walked away with hands in her pockets.

Sorry, Gilgamesh, but I have something to say to the big bad himself. Turning back to where I knew the estate was, I walked right up to the bounded field, and looking to my side, I saw Illya with a serious expression. She looked at me before giving me a nod.

"Darius, we may not have won now. But we swear, we'll save her! Because Miyu isn't your tool, Darius!!" Me and Illya said together.