The Grand Crossover RP - Pathway to Origin [IC/PG-13/Moved to NCM for Finale]

[Love of Ghibli]

Team Dorian: Hallway of Origin

 

“I fail to understand.

 

You… None of you grasp what is genuinely at stake here. Why are all of you such IMBECILES?!

 

Do you not understand the dangers that anyone would pose if they were to access the Door of Origin? Yes, it may be true that Isamy ended several million universes… Yet as terrible as that is, that means little compared to the rest of reality. It is a marginal number, a speck of dust compared to the grandness of the whole multiverse.

 

Returning home? ‘Fixing things’? Making them how they used to be? To think that their insignificant lives hold more importance than this, how much more selfish can the Counter Corps be? There’s no difference between them and the Divine!

 

Making sure that there is zero possibility of reality being threatened. That’s our job as Counter Guardians.

I cannot state enough how much of a danger the Door is to all of reality. That is why we must all spend the rest of our lives in this Hallway and perish, never to advance. It is time to carry out my assigned mission.

 

Hence, I will destroy you.

 

And in the process,

 

I WILL DESTROY THE KEY OF ORIGIN!”

 

As Arthuria's words rang in the Hallway Dorian was trying really hard to squash his natural inclination to start shouting out "I told you so" to all of the members of the Counter Corps. To be fair though it was pretty obvious that she was not on their side much to begin with. Butlerok looked around and saw that many members were getting ready to battle with the new common enemy. 

Dorian looked around and calmly told Butlerok When we kill him/her make sure we get his/her sword. It's going to look good on my wall. Also make sure to remind me to yell out "I told you so" when this all over. I thought I was going to be mature about this, but we are beyond that now.

 

Butlerok could only help but chuckle in response. Though there was this nagging karmic feeling that somewhere out there he had missed an opportunity to do something. Was it get revenge? Was it eat something? This was weird. He would have to revisit this sensation later. 

Dorian looked at Byakuya or this remnant of Byakuya and simply shouted. 

You got your answer Origin creature! We all ready to take him/her down, now just tell us where he/she is before he/she actually destroys the Key.

[The Warden]

|_)The Evangelist - Hapshiel(_|

|_)Hallway of Origin(_|

 

“I fail to understand.

 

You… None of you grasp what is genuinely at stake here. Why are all of you such IMBECILES?!

 

Do you not understand the dangers that anyone would pose if they were to access the Door of Origin? Yes, it may be true that Isamy ended several million universes… Yet as terrible as that is, that means little compared to the rest of reality. It is a marginal number, a speck of dust compared to the grandness of the whole multiverse.

 

Returning home? ‘Fixing things’? Making them how they used to be? To think that their insignificant lives hold more importance than this, how much more selfish can the Counter Corps be? There’s no difference between them and the Divine!

 

Making sure that there is zero possibility of reality being threatened. That’s our job as Counter Guardians.

I cannot state enough how much of a danger the Door is to all of reality. That is why we must all spend the rest of our lives in this Hallway and perish, never to advance. It is time to carry out my assigned mission.

 

Hence, I will destroy you.

 

And in the process,

 

I WILL DESTROY THE KEY OF ORIGIN!”

 

Well, that was upsetting now isn't it? Very, upsetting as a matter of fact. Quite upsetting you might even say. Inhaling deeply, Hapshiel closed his eyes and moved forward, his heavenly senses allowing him to avoid everyone as his boots soundlessly plodded the corridor. His usual swagger gone, the angel was unnerving (for different reasons this time) as he marched to where Arturia and Yukari had vanished. And upon that spot did he open his eyes, their maiden-like quality gone, replaced by the sharp, focused eyes of Hapshiel, Third Level Angel of Divine Punishment. Reaching out for sensations he had forgotten ages ago, the Evangelist could feel the lingering presence of something in God's domain: The reality marble. Though faint, it was still there. It just needed the right push to break in.

 

His saintly glow (and wings) growing outwards, the angel started casting copies of himself, all sharing his sharp glare at the space. One angel had become a small legion of 64, no doubt terrifying those that know what this angel was normally capable of (hello Tenshi). Inhaling as one, every single Hapshiel flexed as hard as they could, the combined force of their muscles creating a breach in space and time, shattering a hole into the Unlimited Blade Works. With their duty done the clones vanished, leaving Hapshiel standing before the hole. "Well then," Hapshiel began with deadly seriousness, "I think it's time I paid a visit to the woman who believes herself above God and his design. The woman who believes that each individual life and world do not matter. The woman who spits in the face of my beliefs. You may join me if you so desire, but I am going regardless of your own decisions" he stated plainly and entered the reality marble.

[Dad]

The Hallway

 

Byakuya slowly turned to face the thing formally known as Dorian von Schroeder.  He sheathed his blade as he answered to the curiosity that occurred to this 'man'.  "Do not be filled with dread, Dorian von Schroeder," Byakuya said in his normal, nonchalant monotone.  "What you believe to be the key is not in Arthuria's possession.  It is present, instead, here.  In the pathway.  It would be wise of you to defend that which means so much to you all."

 

Byakuya turned around sharply, feeling a break in the Hallway emerge suddenly, from seemingly nowhere.  It was much like Arthuria's own Reality Marble, but more acute, and devastating.  The angel known only as Hapshiel, had successfully shattered and destroyed a concentrated portion of space time within the Hallway, creating a forced connection between Arthuria's Reality Marble, and the Hallway of Origin.  He said nothing, as Hapshiel spoke of his intentions to defeat Arthuria.  Byakuya folded his arms, his expression blank as he watched Hapshiel disappear into the dimension created by Arthuria, at his own will.  "Will you heed the words of the angel, Dorian?  Or will you wait for Arthuria's inevitable end?"

 

---

 

Kenpachi was approached by someone he'd forgotten.  Since he was first killed and his memories were still rather blurry, Nero was unfamiliar to him.  He calmed himself down a bit, and lowered his weapon.  Kenpachi turned his large head and looked down at Nero.  He scratched his head, still bewildered at Nero's question.

 

"I know you've pretty much got your heart set on going toe-to-toe with Arturia...but is it possible to try the approach of words before swords?  We need to know where her heart truly lies at and what her motivations are." 

 

"Hmm."  Kenpachi continued to scratch his head, as he listened to the boy beside him.  ". . . who are you again?"

 

Kenpachi was then punched in the back of the head by Yachiru.  "Kenny!  That's Key Opening Doors Man!  'Member!?"

 

"Huh?  Nah, he ain't Sora.  His feet ain't big enough," Kenpachi replied, massaging his skull now.  

 

"But. . .I 'member him having something to do with lots of keys," Yachiru said, now confused as well.

 

"Hmm.  Maybe he's a locksmith?  Hey kid.  Are you the Counter Corps locksmith or somethin'?" Kenpachi pondered to Nero.  He proceeded to be punched by Yachiru once more.  

 

"No, Kenny!  He's a Counter Corps Hero!  But. . .I don't know his name.  My head is still fuzzy," she groaned.

 

Kenpachi shrugged, nearly knocking Yachiru off of his shoulder.  "Listen kid," Kenpachi began, catching Yachiru blindly before she could fall forwards onto the ground.  He placed her back on his shoulder.  "I've been lied to.  You have too.  We all have.  Because whatever Arthuria just said, ain't somethin' she would say to our faces.  When she took off with the Youkai girl whatsherface, I knew somethin' was up.  But this is a reality check.  Arthuria ain't in it for us.  Not for me, nor my world.  And she ain't in it for you either."  Kenpachi paused to let Nero take in the opinion of this giant of a man.  "If you wanna try and talk her down, you better do it quick."  Kenpachi then nodded over to Hapshiel, who was disappearing into the Reality Marble.  "If you ain't outta there soon, I'm comin' in to do some talkin' of my own."

[Maeriberii Haan]

 

Camelot

 

“Were truly an annoyance.”

 

Witnessing her own Excalibur approach, Arturia used a mana burst to blast herself out of the way in time, the overtaken beam continuing on its path of destructive behind her. Regardless of its failure in reaching its target, it had done its job - the field of blades had been wrecked beyond usage, the ground torn so much that it was beginning to break apart, soon to give way to the overlaid Camelot reality once more.

 

”Until when do you plan to hit me with the same attack over and over again, knowing full well that you can’t defeat me with it?

 

I suppose that is our difference now. You are only capable of seeing everything from one perspective. You only accept one method, one truth at a time, and you stubbornly go down on the single path you’ve decided on no matter what.”

 

Another sword manifested on Yukari’s hand, this time a ghastly-looking katana. The youkai-forged oriental long sword, one half of the swords wielded by the half-ghost gardener of the Netherworld. Roukanken, the blade that could cut anything, even spirits.

 

“Spirit cutting sword, pierce through! 200 Yojana in One Slash!”

 

With an unimaginable speed for Yukari as she utilized the skill of the owner of the sword, Yukari struck at Arturia with a single stroke as she reappeared forty meters behind the king, letting the sword disintegrate as cherry petals manifested on the path she traveled. An absurdly fast slash aimed to cut the core of a being, although it might not work as Yukari still had no idea on the nature of Arturia’s “gift”.

Unlimited Blades Work has disintegrated from Excalibur’s blast, but Satori’s and Yukari’s sheer will retained the few scraps of the memory of the place, extending the use they could have from the Recollection by a little bit, even in the oppressing ruins of Camelot.

 

Arturia observed her enemy’s approach, and prepared her blade - just as the slash came flying towards her, an apparent amused expression crossed the knight’s face.

 

“You assume I was trying to attack you? That is your mistake.”

 

A crimson energy enveloped Excalibur - abruptly and without prompt, it morphed within the instant it took the katana to close in. Whilst still golden, it was taking on an entirely different shape. Mighty and regal, and yet, inherently different in a manner, internally devoted to taking on powerful singular opponents as opposed to the gigantic fortresses that Excalibur could mow down. Royal patterns adorned the thinning sword and its weight seemed to lighten ever so slightly, yet its significance raised much higher. An ancient writing was engraved on its side - “Whosoe’er pulleth out this sword of this stone is rightwise king born of England”. This was another Holy Sword, associated with the legend of King Arthur and with this very knight’s past. The Sword in the Stone…

 

“CALIBURN!”

 

A smaller, yet sharper light smashed through Yukari’s attempt at an attack, vastly dawdling it in raw power. Somehow, there was a feeling that it wasn’t at its full power - as though Arturia’s own long-lost kingship was limiting it - and yet it still had far more than enough to destroy whatever it made contact with.

 

“I was attacking the Key, and thus far, you’ve been a detail in comparison… However,  persistently keeping it out of my range, you have really gotten on my nerves now.”

“Oh, the Key? I forgot that I had it. At least please consider me as an extension of it now, in that case.” As if to taunt Arturia, Yukari manifested the Key again on her side, before eating it with the gap again. “After all, no matter where I hide it, once I die, you would be able to find it and do anything to it.”

 

Arturia frowned, further observing the gap, but wasn’t too affected by this - if anything, this only furthered her conviction to emerge victorious. To attain that godforsaken artifact out of the possession of those who were not worthy, and annihilate every last trace of it with the holy light of the world. Or rather, of reality itself.

 

There was another reason Emiya and Arturia had been the Counter Guardians originally summoned to oppose Isamy, as opposed to the vast majority of other existing heroes out there. Both of them possessed the capacity to destroy the Key of Origin; capable of being destroyed not by any sort of conventional means, but only by conceptual means. To tear apart the rules of reality that let it exist.

 

“And so I shall. For now, I shall have to take my focus off it...and put killing you as my main priority!”

 

Arturia raised Caliburn high and, with a burst of wind behind her, she rocketed towards Yukari’s position yet again at incredulous speed. However, this time she kicked forth rubble from the castle as she did so - sending countless rocks and dust above so as to cover the air, as well as to obscure vision. Ensuring that Yukari would not be able to aim her gap manipulation with nearly as much precision this time, Arturia slashed downwards with more focus on speed than power - somehow, there was a feeling that letting that blade penetrate through any life form’s body would be immediately fatal. Unsurvivable, even if one were to have seven extra lives.

 

“Spear the Gungnir!”

 

Yukari had manifested another weapon in the meantime. A spear once belonging to the King of Gods, perhaps, though the one she summoned belonged to a certain eternally young vampire. The scarlet spear was held up into the air before being released, rocketing towards Arturia with the power of an ICBM, the force from the release throwing Yukari far back. The spear’s nature would always mean that it seeks out its target. Without divine intervention protecting anyone from it, perhaps it would not be a mistake to call it a fatal declaration of the gods, crystallized into a spear.

 

And yet… It was the worst weapon to use against Arturia Pendragon, wielding a ‘thing’ that was neither the true Excalibur nor the true Caliburn.

 

“Holy Spear - anchor!”

 

Whatever the weapon was, it morphed again as Arturia leaped backwards to distance herself away from Gungnir. It was still racing towards her, but this bought her the split second required for her to form-

 

“RHONGOMYNIAD!”

 

No longer a two-handed, nor a one-handed blade. Although it had taken the shape of one, it was barely even a lance. Could it even be considered a weapon at this point?! It had transformed into the faint glimmer of a pillar of spiraling light that pierced into the oncoming divine weapon and pinned it against the shattered ground, before rupturing it altogether in an explosion of light, sealing its purpose as an instrument of the King of Gods beyond any semblance of use. Arturia’s left eye twitched at this, clearly strained at its use, and it morphed into the slightly more familiar sword Caliburn directly afterwards.

 

It was only natural. After all, what had been used was the very anchor between two entirely different worlds; the device responsible for anchoring the fantastic unreality of magic and gods to the logic-based reality of her modern world. As the King of Britain, she’d had a secondary duty - ensuring that the mystic monsters of the past did not attempt to undo the progression of mankind - that only this spear had been able to ensure. It wasn’t like the other two. Without the physical object, even invoking the shape of its memory was difficult, as she was invoking the brilliance of the world. And yet, she could do it.

 

Now back to using the shining Caliburn, jets of wind burst at Arturia’s feet as she flew at Yukari. This unprecedented flexibility with regards to her weapon must’ve surely been putting a damper on things, especially since the king herself appeared to have no intention of explaining the origins of this strange technique.

 

Now on the defensive again, Yukari was forced to rematerialize the golden sword again as Arturia jet towards her direction. The surprising adaptability of the king’s weapon was something Yukari could not anticipate before, and now she’s forced to use anything she could figure out that might be able to give her any sort of advantage in such a hopeless situation. The divine construct made for the host of Heaven started to glow in a scarlet light. The image she created here was far from the original, same as with the other weapons, but Yukari instinctively understood that she would need to utilize an adaptive weapon on her own to stand a chance.

 

Pouring as much of her remaining energy as she could to reinforce what was left of her physique and letting Satori guide her movement according to what she saw, Yukari stood her ground and parried the king’s blade. She was only barely capable of doing so, but as the two blades locked, the Sword of Hisou had started to identify the nature of the weapon. Yukari, with the last vestiges of Unlimited Blade Works and the memories of Shirou leaving her, felt that she could only project one last weapon after this. She must maximize these remaining attempts as much as she could.

 

“Truly, at times you can be quite full of surprises too, King of Knights.”

 

The golden sword continued to analyze and feed the information to Yukari and Satori while it starts changing itself to adapt against Arturia’s mysterious weapon. Yukari thought that if this was successful, she could manifest it again and allow the weapon, by then would already made aware of the nature of the mystery weapon and of Arturia’s, and deliver a fatal strike by exploiting said nature. Of course, that would be the ideal scenario, but Yukari knew well enough that it wouldn’t be that smooth.

 

Unresponding, Arturia separated away from Yukari after the first attack was parried. She stared down at Caliburn, seeming to resonate after having made contact with the opponent’s weapon. Yukari may have been able to notice that there was a certain, unusual familiarity to the energy behind the weapon she wielded, at least whenever it glowed with that crimson aura. Not that Yukari had ever encountered its source herself, but by now, she must have seen traces on it on many of the people she’d encountered thus far.

 

“Sword of Hisou...huh?” She remarked, with a chilledness to her tone - the information having apparently gone both ways. As interesting as a weapon as it was, it happened to be not nearly notable enough to impress her. And, although the object within her hand indeed possessed some replication abilities, she was not Emiya. She would fight with the weapons that she was most familiar with, on her own terms.

 

On her sword arm, the Sword of Hisou copy had disintegrated, failing to perform its job to adapt and turn into a counter to the king’s mysterious weapon, although successful enough in analyzing the king and feeding the info to Satori and herself. With only one use left from Unlimited Blades Work and one last suicidal Spell Card, Yukari thus realized that it was the end, though she had been aware that it’s inevitable. Shaking her head as she formed a smile, she and Satori utilized what they could to form another weapon, from the final vestige of the disappearing Reality Marble, and from the recollection of everyone present. An European broadsword of immaculate design. A strikingly familiar form, something that Yukari meant purely as a way to honor this fight rather than for pushing any advantages for herself. In the meantime, a faint outline of a card formed on her side.

 

“It has been an honor fighting against you. Surely, you wouldn’t mind if I borrow this for a bit, just so...well, I simply was itching on actually wielding it. Such a holy weapon…I believe it would be a fitting end if you were to be struck down with this.”

 

Indeed, the weapon on her hand was Excalibur, the pinnacle of all holy swords. Or more accurately, an image of it - formed out of the people’s perception on the holy blade, rather than an understanding of its structure. It was the same weapon as the one used to be wielded by Arturia before, yet it’s fundamentally different. A fabrication made of people’s hopes, ideals, and expectations regarding a certain King. A fabrication made of those things that Arturia had disregarded, trampled on, and dismissed as she pursued her goal single-mindedly.

 

Yukari’s smile became wider. If this would be her end, then she was glad that she ended in a better state than Arturia, knowing full well that she would have gone on the same path as her had destiny was a little bit different - had her Gensokyo was not destroyed. As far as meaningless gestures were, utilizing the copy of your enemy's weapon to make a point felt like a good way to cap this off.

 

“This is it.

 

EX-”

 

Silence. No deafening blast of light could be heard or seen.

 

Nothing happened. The build up was existent, yet the blast never formed. Yukari had sensed another presence on the Reality Marble. That shouldn’t be possible. What kind of creature could just break into one? Perhaps Koishi could, but...the signature Yukari could feel was not hers. It was more...alarming. The holy sword disappeared from her hand as the concentration required to maintain it broke. Yukari couldn’t just follow through with her original plan like this. Not if that would mean risking the life of someone else. This shouldn’t do. She couldn’t accept this. She must do something.

 

There really was only one thing she could do now. She must salvage the situation as best as she could without risking to harm a bystander, although she's aware of why he came here. Her broadcast would have spread through the Hallway, spurring people. The angel here, Hapshiel, definitely seemed to come here to have an audience with Arturia, just like what Yukari did. Ah, it was nice. At least he also made a hole on his way here.

 

“Hapshiel, wasn’t it? Can’t you wait a bit until I die? That, at the very least, would make it easier for me.” As she said it, she manifested her true last Spell Card before herself and Arturia. “You are right, I am not alone here. And well, truthfully I should be sorry about something. I have lied to you, I am here to disappoint you. It seems that I have wasted your time and energy, mainly because…” The fake Key was ejected from her side, and from the gap it came from, a blast of laser pierced through the object, shattering it completely. A far cry from the supposedly conceptually-protected artifact.

 

“There is no reason why I would have the key on my protection when I would almost surely die like this.” She turned around to Hapshiel again, and gave him a smile of acknowledgement as gaps started to surround the two. “...Thank you for breaking in and coming here, Hapshiel. Please, do not resist. We’ll take this fight back to the Hallway.

 

Let's have her listen to the words of those she had betrayed.”

 

Using the hole Hapshiel made as he penetrated into the Reality Marble, Yukari pushed herself and Hapshiel out as her final spellcard activated. It was possible that he would refuse that, but Yukari really hoped that he would understand why she’s doing this. The nameless Spell Card she had left behind...it was the culmination of her ability to manipulate boudaries. Boundaries were what created order in the world - it defined it. The sea and sky must be separated, one place and another would need to be different, to have a distance between them, and without the boundaries of definition, it would be impossible to understand anything. A world without boundaries would simply collapse into a singularity of infinite mass. That was her final Spell - breaking her own power apart in an attempt to erase the concept of boundary from the enclosed space. A conceptual collapse, made only possible after Yukari fully analyzed the reality marble Camelot enough throughout her fight to systematically remove the concept of it with the last bit of her strength.

 

She knew that Arturia would survive even that. However, Yukari didn't care. She knew that she had won, and she entrusted the rest to be able to deal with Arturia now.

 

All dreams are fleeting...

 

Ran, Chen, Yuyuko, Reimu...everyone...Iet us have another tea party, shall we? It’s been too long. I am glad to see you all again here.

 

Emerging back on a corner of the Hallway with a victorious smile, Yukari then collapsed on the floor, having used what was left of her spiritual energy to activate her last spell and her soul was no longer capable of being bound on her withered husk now. Emerging from her body, Satori gave the ancient youkai’s lifeless, motionless body one final silent gaze before leaving her, not wanting to disturb her well-earned rest.

 

She had somewhere else to be, just as the ancient youkai would have wished.

 

[Merci]

Unlimited Blade Works > Elegy of Camelot

 

"It has been an honor fighting against you. Surely, you wouldn’t mind if I borrow this for a bit, just so...well, I simply was itching on actually wielding it. Such a holy weapon…I believe it would be a fitting end if you were to be struck down with this.” That line made the youkai's intentions all too obvious. Arturia readied herself for this scenario, more than confident in engaging an inferior copy of her own technique, if somewhat annoyed at her continued laughable copying. She stood firm, as if daring her to unleash it.

 

Suddenly, in the thick of battle, a new, holy presence tore through Arturia's reality marble to interrupt with a surprising amount of emotion. "Hapshiel?!" To say that Arturia was surprised would have been an understatement. Just as she'd been preparing to meet - and overcome - the replica of Excalibur that her opponent Yukari had no doubt been just about to summon, the erotic angel who'd joined the Counter Corps had abruptly appeared. Despite his at times ridiculous behaviour, the Counter Guardian had never once underestimated his capabilities, knowing too well that he was a Divine Spirit. For what purpose he'd come here she did not yet understand, but whether it was out of curiousity or concern at their disappearances, no matter. There were endless reasons to explain this battle as well as Yukari's current state, countless manners in which she could demonize the Border of Phantasm with plausible reasons that the others would believe. The change in situation could easily be spun and manipulated for her own purposes.

 

Yukari appeared to have halted her ultimate attack at the new presence, and started addressing the angel whilst manifesting what seemed to be another Spell Card - what had to be her last. “Hapshiel, wasn’t it? Can’t you wait a bit until I die? That, at the very least, would make it easier for me. You are right, I am not alone here. And well, truthfully I should be sorry about something. I have lied to you, I am here to disappoint you. It seems that I have wasted your time and energy, mainly because…" The knight listened in confusion, somehow having the feeling that she was missing some sort of context here due to the calmness of her voice. Although it was obvious that she'd eventually lose in this battle against the Counter Guardian, this resignation contrasted unnaturally with all the earlier-displayed bravado. What exactly was she talking about-

 

And then.

 

All of her senses froze.

 

“There is no reason why I would have the key on my protection when I would almost surely die like this.”

 

"...!"

 

Its meaning was obvious.

In other words, the Key of Origin WAS NOT WITH YUKARI. The one she'd been shown must've been a mere fake!

 

It made sense; such an object couldn't simply be teleported and transported about in tandem with Yukari's many erratic movements, yet Arturia had chosen to not pay attention to the facts, believing that there'd probably been spatial explanations.

 

This had been a horrible misstep in which she'd revealed her plan to the wrong individual...

 

How could she have made such a rash, CARELESS mistake? Had she been focusing so much on getting her duty over and done with that she had forgotten poise and rationality?

 

But again, it did not matter. Once Yukari was over and done with, she would move on, find it, and DESTROY IT BEFORE ANYONE KNEW ANY BETTER.

 

"...Thank you for breaking in and coming here, Hapshiel. Please, do not resist. We’ll take this fight back to the Hallway. Let's have her listen to the words of those she had betrayed." Assuming such a fight would even continue. Whatever reason Hapshiel had broken in here for, the words coming out of Yukari's mouth did not seem to be revealing the truth of her mission. Watching the energy fade from her weak form as she mustered what little strength she had left to leave, perhaps to reveal the truth to the others or something cliche along those lines, Arturia left even the gaps, knowing that they were pointless. Even if Yukari were to escape, the strain on her was evident. With this push, she would be dead immediately afterwards - surely she understood that? What was she trying to accomplish?

 

Arturia had been focusing so much on the Key and Yukari's strange actions that she had forgotten to pay heed to the last-ditch Spell Card left behind. "Oh, I see. That's why you left, taking along that angel with you. Your hope was to collapse my kingdom with me inside, dooming me in an inescapable trap. I must say, Yukari Yakumo, this is awfully obvious. You have been exceptional so far, so I actually expected a little more creativity for your last attempt..."

 

Calmly, assuredly, the magical knight stood in place at the centre of her own self-destructing reality marble. The Elegy of Camelot, blended with the remains of the falsely conjured Unlimited Blade Works, were being overcome by an empty whiteness that was expanding from every direction to consume everything in this reality. As the Border of Phantasm's final move, all of the surrounding the boundaries had been unravelled so that everything would fall inwards break apart. Even leaving her own world was no longer possible to the gateway, as well as the hole created by Hapshiel, both having been erased in this move. It was a straightforwardly unavoidable technique, reminiscent to how the Inner Periphery had been erased. In effect, this nameless phenomenon could be considered to be a conceptual collapse.

 

For almost any other individual, this would be certain death, unable to leave physically nor magically,  Yet the former King of Britain observed the approaching white of oblivion, ravaging what remained of her world with a starved crazeness for consuming everything in existence. Herself performing nary more than short, controlled breaths. A mere hour ago she may have been unnerved, if not horrified by this seemingly impossible display, but after having had the opportunity to explore the full extent of her newly-realized abilities in the last few battle, she knew too well that she had the perfect counter for this. That she was not danger. And that, regardless of what may happen, there was nothing that could stand in her way.

 

After all. As she was now, Arturia Pendragon had greatly surpassed her prime, being far more powerful than the King Arthur of old.

 

She reached out her free hand towards the racing oblivion, as if to command an even greater power. And spoke a word of power-

 

 

 

"A V A L O N!"

 

 

 

Temporarily withdrawing the source of immortality that her body had absorbed, a golden-adorned sheath materialized in front of her. The light radiating from it a pure white that overcame the void white, it defied the oncoming destruction with such little effort that it was almost laughable. An artifact unlike any other, the ultimate defense.

 

As she sheathed her blade - having taken the form of Excalibur again - into it, her whole being was taken in by an otherworldly barrier composed of gold rays. Transporting her to another reality entirely.

 

...

Just like that, Arturia found herself in a beautiful, peaceful, timeless land of greenery and open blue skies stretching on across the horizon, in which she was incapable of moving yet was eternally safe so long as she resided here. The war-torn former king with death on her hands and action in her heart, was so far out of place here that it seemed that if she were to touch a single blade of grass, it would wither and die - yet, she was wholly mesmerized by its beauty. It had been a particularly long time since her last visit, so the memory of it being refreshed by the sight before her eyes almost brought tears to them.

 

To stay in this incomprehensible location of bliss for too long would dissolve her hard resolve as Counter Guardian, that much she was certain of. Closing her eyes did not do much to help either; neglecting such a sight only made her heart yearn for it more.

 

If one had to describe what this was in one word, it would be 'peace'.

 

This was the physical manifestation of paradise, an ideal heaven given form.

 

That everdistant utopia that so many dream of, yet none may ever hope to reach. A v a l o n.

  

After ten seconds had passed, Arturia reluctantly unsheathed Excalibur, and the paradise vanished.

 

And thus,

 

she returned to the battlefield

 

that was the Origin War.

 

.

 

.

 

. 

 

---

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

Hallway of Origin

 

Now standing directly next to Hapshiel, Arturia materialized back within the Hallway of Origin. Unscathed and unphased in the slightest from the conceptual collapse - it was almost an insult to the very idea of resisting against her. In her left hand she was holding the same golden sheath, and after a few moments it was absorbed into her physical form again with a glowing hum. In her right hand was Caliburn - she swung it around a couple of times to ensure that it still functioned, before fixing her gaze upon a body lain a few feet away. That of a long-haired female youkai... Her name no longer needed to be uttered.

 

"You were a worthy opponent." She bowed her head in respect. Even if it ended up entirely in vain, that entity's determination had to be acknowledged.

 

From there, she turned to the angel with a confident, very leader-esque stance that vastly contrasted with her much earlier violent attitude. Whatever remorse she had for what she'd done to Yukari also evaporated in an instant, enshrouded once more by the cold exterior of King Arthur.

 

"Dear Hapshiel, I certainly appreciate your offer of support against the Border of Phantasm. It seems that she wore herself out in the end, but as I had been backed into a corner, your appearance would have made a big difference. Now, I am sure you have a lot of questions, particularly why we were just fighting, so I will be welcome to answer them in a moment..." Arturia spoke. Although, her voice faltered on a number of occasions. She was pretending to ignore it, but the normally joyous angel had an oddly serious look on his face right now, and it couldn't have been her imagination that a combat aura was surrounding him. Surely he hadn't been attached to the youkai, and was mad at the act of taking her life? He must be more mature than that... 

 

"But first. Before we progress onto the Door of Origin, I must ask of you all - who has the Key of Origin? I can clearly sense it is somewhere within this Hallway so don't bother denying it." Arturia continued to speak while gazing at Hapshiel's strange behaviour, now amplifying her voice with magic so that all were capable of listening to her words. "It's due time for us to end this overly-long Origin War once and for all, and make sure that no one else ever has to suffer the tragedies we have had to go. As leader of the Counter Corps, it is only appropriate that I do the honours."

 

The golden blade in her hand glistened, in accordance with her strong resolve at accomplishing the mission. 

 

"Therefore. Wielder of the Key of Origin, if it's no issue, I will need you to hand it over."

 

Although still a little bemused, she took a step backwards from Hapshiel and started to distance herself from the exit enshrouded in light, approaching the rest with an inspiring, yet fake warmth. Somehow, her words were undercut by a certain condescending tone - was it only there now, or had it been there since the beginning and they were only now noticing it?

 

"If you are Divine, I'm sure it doesn't need to be said that you will not live much longer if you opt to hide it away, be it for Protheus's sake or your own. Needless to say, your delusions of grandeur won't come true, so give up on them... Rather, if you were to provide it, I shall even forgive you of any prior commited crimes and consider letting you go free."  Her voice trailed off as she truly started to pay attention to the expressions of the various warriors she was addressing - from all sides. Idly, she glanced at the only one who knew, the protector of Origin; Byakuya was the only one who had the exact same expression, yet his eyes seemed to be judging her every word, watching what she intended on doing next. No - he was too passive. He couldn't have told them. "After all we've been through, I'm sure I don't need to stress the importance of the Key of Origin, do I? Time is of the essence, so I shall... need it as......"

 

 

".....as... soon as... possible...?" 

 

The former Counter Guardian's instincts were firing away, proclaiming that right now, she was somehow in a lot of danger. At first she assumed that an unknown enemy had to be somewhere nearby, but there was a feeling deep within her telling her that this was not the case, directing her attention to their expressions again. She raised Caliburn, not enough to make it appear as though she was assuming a combat stance, but just enough to be prepared for a fight.

 

Faced with unusually powerful hostility, she assured herself; there was no way they could know. She had in fact specifically tracked every single gap that the youkai had manifested, every single physical object that passed through them to ensure that none carrying a message would be sent outside of her reality marble. That youkai had been helplessly trapped within Camelot. Without a single opportunity to reveal the truth to the outside, undoubtedly dying as soon as she left.

 

That was her logic. Therefore, either she was imagining things or there was some other, realistic explanation for this. Had some horrible, out-of-the-blue tragedy occurred in her short absence? What could have possibly happened?

 

"Why..." She faltered weakly, and then regained her kingly composure. Whatever the case, Arturia Pendragon would power onwards to a better future. Projecting warmth, assurance, and a little playfulness in her tone to mask any tenseness, she asked them. 

 

"I must say, whatever did I miss? Why do you all have such expressions on your faces?"

[Super Chaos Sonic]

Nero - Keyblade War Master / The X-Blade's Wielder ~ Hallway to Origin

 

"Hmm. . . . who are you again?"

"Kenny!  That's Key Opening Doors Man!  'Member!?"

"Huh?  Nah, he ain't Sora.  His feet ain't big enough,"

"But. . .I 'member him having something to do with lots of keys,"

"Hmm.  Maybe he's a locksmith?  Hey kid.  Are you the Counter Corps locksmith or somethin'?" 

"No, Kenny!  He's a Counter Corps Hero!  But. . .I don't know his name.  My head is still fuzzy,"

 

Nero sighed heavily, seeing both Yachiru and Kenpachi reacting this way to him. He cleared his throat and nodded. "I'm not Sora, don't think I'll be as an impressive wielder he is at this point." he said, before nodding again. "But I am a Keyblade Master nonetheless...my name is Nero."

 

"Listen kid, I've been lied to.  You have too.  We all have.  Because whatever Arturia just said, ain't somethin' she would say to our faces.  When she took off with the Youkai girl whatsherface, I knew somethin' was up.  But this is a reality check.  Arthuria ain't in it for us.  Not for me, nor my world.  And she ain't in it for you either. If you wanna try and talk her down, you better do it quick. If you ain't outta there soon, I'm comin' in to do some talkin' of my own."

 

"You have my word, Kenny, is that correct?" he asked, before shaking his head. "If the answers aren't to my liking, then you will be able to strike."

 

Nero slowly turned, preparing to find a way to make it to Arturia...before...

 

"Before we progress onto the Door of Origin, I must ask of you all - who has the Key of Origin? I can clearly sense it is somewhere within this Hallway so don't bother denying it. It's due time for us to end this overly-long Origin War once and for all, and make sure that no one else ever has to suffer the tragedies we have had to go. As leader of the Counter Corps, it is only appropriate that I do the honours.

 

"Therefore. Wielder of the Key of Origin, if it's no issue, I will need you to hand it over.
"If you are Divine, I'm sure it doesn't need to be said that you will not live much longer if you opt to hide it away, be it for Protheus's sake or your own. Needless to say, your delusions of grandeur won't come true, so give up on them... Rather, if you were to provide it, I shall even forgive you of any prior committed crimes and consider letting you go free. After all we've been through, I'm sure I don't need to stress the importance of the Key of Origin, do I? Time is of the essence, so I shall... need it as...........as... soon as... possible...?"

 

He kept quiet for a moment, letting Arturia speak, before moving slightly. It was the time he needed to speak to her. "Arturia!" he spoke, exhaling slightly. "I have to ask...if you get the Key of Origin...are you truly going to destroy it?" Nero wanted to put more tact into this conversation, but he was pressed for time, namely with Kenpachi wanting to tear right into Arturia. But he just needed to know the facts right now...

 

"Are you really condemning us to oblivion after everything we've been through up to this point?" Nero continued, sighing slightly. "I want to know your intentions...I want to know what your heart is hiding...what it has been hiding from the very start."

[Love of Ghibli]

Team Dorian: Hallway of Origin

 

The team looked on as the silly king returned making demands. Their heads were tilted as she clearly had no idea what was going on in the minds of the people there. 

 

"I must say, whatever did I miss? Why do you all have such expressions on your faces?"

 

The team noticed how some lost Counter Corps. boy was actually trying to reason with Arthuria. This worked for Dorian. Maybe he would last long enough as a meat shield for the strong fighters to actually kill the King. Some casualties are to be expected.

 

Butlerok pointed upwards and a massive sphere of Black Blood had collected over his head and floated in the middle of the Pathways. A magical array briefly appeared for a split second then something played for Arthuria like a recording. 
 

“I fail to understand.

 

You… None of you grasp what is genuinely at stake here. Why are all of you such IMBECILES?!

 

Do you not understand the dangers that anyone would pose if they were to access the Door of Origin? Yes, it may be true that Isamy ended several million universes… Yet as terrible as that is, that means little compared to the rest of reality. It is a marginal number, a speck of dust compared to the grandness of the whole multiverse.

 

Returning home? ‘Fixing things’? Making them how they used to be? To think that their insignificant lives hold more importance than this, how much more selfish can the Counter Corps be? There’s no difference between them and the Divine!

 

Making sure that there is zero possibility of reality being threatened. That’s our job as Counter Guardians.

I cannot state enough how much of a danger the Door is to all of reality. That is why we must all spend the rest of our lives in this Hallway and perish, never to advance. It is time to carry out my assigned mission.

 

Hence, I will destroy you.

 

And in the process,

 

I WILL DESTROY THE KEY OF ORIGIN!”

 

After the recording was done Dorian and Butlerok would be seen standing over Yukari's lifeless body and Dorian stroking his chin. Butler can we do anything?

Unfortunately I do not think so. Even as her Rukh proceed to go...somewhere. I am not sure of the make-up of a Yokai. Perhaps if we take her body we can fix this all later. 

True. But it looks like she had some friends so maybe they want her body for whatever their customs are. 

You're being awfully charitable and selfless. This is new. Butlerok added somewhat shocked. 

I liked this one. Dorian said simply. I think this one was pretty interesting with all these goody two shoe types we have running around here. And you know I'm a sucker for a selfless act. Dorian shot a glare a Arthuria who should probably be combat ready by this point. There will be no mercy Butler, not this time. Unleash all restraints. He/She dies and I want it to be painful.

 

Butlerok gave a noncharacteristic sadistic grin of madness as the independent souls inside of him were somewhat elated at the chance to cut loose.

Good to here sir. Rhadamanthys seems to be ready as well.

As if on queue to hearing his named mentioned Rhadmanthys' slowly marched up to Arthuria. Each step his surplice slowly dissolves and when it is completely gone Rhadamanthys roars in a pillar of pure energy and raw power while he is not visible he is clearly audible.

YOU INSULT THE POSITION YOU WERE GIVEN! YOU DON'T DESERVE THE HONORABLE DEATH YOU ARE ABOUT TO RECEIVE!

When the pillar subsided he was fully equipped with new gear . The God Surplice itself was now dawned on him and has accepted him as the new Lord of the Dead.

Oh he actually put it on. Dorian said with a smirk. 

 

[Reinforce]

Darcy

Hallway of Origin

 

With her invisibility hiding her from the sight of a group that was mostly Counter Corps, Darcy took the chance to read the plate with her own name on it. It was interesting, albeit somewhat disconcerting to notice that so many details about her were available on command. Unfortunately her efforts to read any of the other plates were in vain, so she couldn't just look up information about the major players on this battlefield. Still, having satisfied her curiosity she backed away, choosing to stay and watch the events going down from a spot which gave her vision of just about everything. As such, she blinked in surprise when everyone had their finger stuck up their nose, herself included, and warily moved positions after finding herself in the same predicament, her invisibility seemingly meaning nothing to whatever pulled that particular prank off. Still, she'd settled into a good new spot to watch everyone when Yukari and Arturia started talking, with certain parts of the conversation in particular taking her interest.

Furthermore, you know that I have no reason to trust someone that had let all these people into this place with a lie.”

That was interesting, that the youkai at least believed the counter guardian was lying to everyone.

“At the very least, I doubt any sane individual ever trusted Protheus’ offer in the first place.”

A smile, hidden by the same spell that hid her presence, quirked it's way to her lips at that statement. It was rather true too, even she, one of the last remaining members of the Divine, hadn't really trusted Protheus. Choosing to follow him instead as he did seem like the stronger of the two options. It was a surprise to her though, when the both of them vanished into some area unknown, only for Arturia's voice to be projected out anyway. One monologue later, and Darcy figured she had a much more complete picture of what was going on, though the last words chilled her and reinforced her determination to avoid that fate. Arturia's confustion at the hostility everyone seemed to be directing at her was, at least, something she could only smirk at, even as she started thinking up spells that could be useful against such a foe, taking care to remain hidden behind her invisibility until she could take a good shot at the former king.

 

---

 

Ayame

Hallway of Origin

 

Landing and entering the portal, Ayame found herself in the hallway. Looking around, she spotted a familiar name on a couple of plates, her own in fact. She didn't have look to read through them however, as soon Arturia vanished with someone else, and shortly her voice was channeled to the entire group standing around. The revelations from such, were chilling to say the least, though at least with the knowledge associated, she wouldn't bother following the Counter Guardian any more. If it was true, and she did plan to consign everyone to oblivion and break the key, needless to say nothing Ayame wanted would succeed. With a glare towards the woman to seemed somewhat taken aback at the sudden hostility from the entire group, her body started to spark with lightning as she prepared for a fight.

 

---

 

Chandra Nalaar

Hallway of Origin

 

Having just made it into the hallway, Chandra was treated to the sight of everyone remaining standing around, and Arturia's monologue coming out of no-where she could spot. And listening in, all she felt was a steadily rising rage at the deception, as well as a touch of confusion about the talk of the key. Still, even she could tell that this wasn't something she should be interrupting, and so waited for the conversation and apparent battle going on with it to finish and the Counter Corps leader to return. Once she showed up again, and showed confusion at what was going on, Chandra simply chose to glare, her hair well and truly on fire by this point, and start flooding mana through her gauntlet, enhancing her mana ready for the fight she was anticipating.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"Lord, must this be another situation like what happened in the Yamanote Line? This is absurd, but it's not really unexpected. I suppose that I would need to topple down another legend now."

 

Kazuya had no reason to comply to what Arturia had said. It was simply not in his nature to do so. Submitting himself to an ending he didn't like, making it seem that he was in no way capable to reach the conclusion he seek, that simply won't do. The Leader of the Counter Corps reminded him greatly of the angels on the lockdown back then or those that chose to neutralize the potential of demonic threat by forcefully subjugating the human world. For the greater good, for the sake of many, at this point Kazuya was sick of hearing those kind of words. If you couldn't make people sympathize with your motive, then you didn't deserve that sympathy in the first place.

 

It's absurd of Arturia luring the member of the Counter Corps to follow her during the end of each of their world by promising that everything would be fixed if they follow her, then calling them selfish for not following her true goal and thinking just about their own world. Not like anyone even knew her goal before she slipped earlier. And by doing so, then Arturia must be someone that was very sure that she coul deal with the inevitable backlash on her own. In that case, why even had the Counter Corps in the first place? Kazuya had heard the phrase that said God worked in mysterious ways, but the Throne of Heroes and the Counter Guardians seemed to work in a nonsensical way.

 

Never mind that however. By slipping like she did, and even failing to get the Key until now, Arturia had caused her own mission to end in a complete failure. That was the foregone conclusion from this. No matter how absurdly strong she was...she could still die. And as part of the reason why he fought for the Counter Corps, Kazuya would make sure that was the case.

 

As someone played the recording of Arturia's slip, Kazuya decided to walk closer towards her direction with his COMP in tow.

 

"Pardon me Lady Arturia, may I ask something? I still don't get it, what do you even want to achieve by having us all here?" He wore his best confused look as he asked so, for one moment looking like he was genuinely have little idea on what was going on, before the expression broke as he continued his words in a more damning manner.

 

"If you're so sure that you would be able to handle both the Divines and the Counter Corps on your own, then why would you have the Counter Corps in the first place outside of being minor distraction against Protheus?

Maybe you decided that you need your goal to inevitably end in failure on a whim? You know that you would still find a lot of people willing to fight for your goal had you be honest with them in the first place, right?"

 

---

 

"So that hag was right. This was really Arturia's goal from the start."

 

"You're taking this better than I expect, Reimu."

 

As Arturia was looking at the people on the Hallway with confusion on her face, Reimu and her sword exchanged glance after they recovered from some earlier shock. Reimu for finding out the truth about Arturia, and the sword from seeing the traumatic sight of Hapshiel cloning himself to break through towards Arturia's hiding spot. Neither noticed where Arturia's supposed opponent went, but both silently acknowledged about what probably happened with her and simply decided to not talk about it.

 

"I simply gave up on justifying what she did, I just...can't do that anymore, not after she admitted it all herself. And what you said earlier helped too. I'm here because I'm fighting for what the Counter Corps stand for, not just because of my admiration to one person. However...shouldn't it be you that I'm worried about?

 

Last time I saw you with Arturia, you're looking at her like a teenager finding her first love or something. Where did all that admiration go?"

 

A brief pause was had after the question was asked, and a giggle soon followed from the sword. Reimu's expression changed into confusion, then a slight revolt as she had a bad feeling about what would be said next.

 

"They're all still here. Even with what she said, I still admire her as a person. I just accepted her as the person that she was, and acknowledged that even if she's as harsh as she is now, she's still fighting for a good reason.

 

And since I still admire her, I must show her my respect by standing in her way. I am not a blind fangirl of her, I respect her reason for what it is, but if I disagree with her, I will cut her down while showing how much she meant for me."

 

"...You really are weird. And creepy, I can't believe that you supposedly related to the garden-variety brat that was Tenshi.

 

Sigh...let's just get this over with and prepare ourselves for battle. Maybe now you can touch your idol for real."

 

"I'll wait warmly and anticipate that happening. If that happened, then I really would be able to communicate my feelings directly to her."

 

---

 

As everyone else on the hallway mobilized to confront Arturia, a red eyeball with tentacles slithered on the floor, trying to not draw any attention to itself.

 

The entire time the battle took place, Satori had always been sticking herself to Yukari. She had stuck with her ever since the Pathway of Truth in fact, and had heard everything inside of her since then. Silently she had formed a renewed opinion on the ancient Youkai, and as soon as Yukari realized her presence, the two had worked together closely. It was Satori that ended up telling Yukari of what Gemini did when she was still unsure of what to do about Arturia and her deception, and it was her too that tried to stop Yukari from going on her fatal run, fully knowing that even the ancient youkai had her fears  about it. It was her that tried to console Koishi as she found out about what Yukari was going to do, although seeing her curling and sobbing at the side of the Hallway now was a disheartening proof that it didn't quite worked.

 

It was her that snuck to Yukari as she disappeared into the Reality Marble, even after she was explicitly told not to follow her. She soon realized why as she saw that Yukari had planned to collapse the Reality Marble even since the moment she's transported there. That realization turned to guilt as Satori realized that Yukari delayed doing it several times because the possibility of Satori getting killed on the collapse made her resolve waver. And that resolve, deep inside, never recovered. In the end, what really convinced Yukari to follow through was Hapshiel breaking through the Reality Marble and creating a hole - something that allowed Yukari to get Satori out of the singularity. Perhaps Satori should tell the angel about the reason Yukari thanked him, but...maybe not now.

 

Right now what she wished was simply to be on her sister's side, to help her facing the fact that she had lost her sister again. But as pained as she was about not doing so, Satori bitterly admitted that she would not be able to do much regarding it, she was just terrible at doing so. She had to make herself useful in a different way, for Koishi and the others. She continued on her way, trying to figure out anyone she could lend any assist to. She still had the memories of what Arturia was capable of, and the raw analysis data of her and her weapon fed by the projected Sword of Hisou. Even if she's too weak for another Recollection right now, she must find a way for herself to be useful.

 

---

[Dad]

The Hallway

 

Yukari had returned at last.  There was a glimmer of hope as the Counter Corps noted her escape from Arthuria's Reality Marble.  But that glimmer of hope died.  It died when Yukari turned around, and gave them all a tiny, weak smile.  It was her way of saying goodbye.  That glimmer of hope died when Yukari collapsed, and there was no one there to catch her.  That glimmer of hope died.  It was crushed, strangled, choked, and stomped out of life by Arthuria.  And Yukari was the first to pay the price.

 

The first person to break, however, was Revy.  She did not know Yukari intimately.  Their relationship had never been really established.  But a friend of Reimu was a friend of Revy's.  When Yukari fell, Revy clasped a hand around her mouth.  She heard herself gasp for the first time since she and Kratos entered Prologous.  But she was now so overwhelmed, that she couldn't cry.  As Yukari faded into a lifeless husk, Revy dropped her hand from her face, staring on at the girl's body from afar.  And then, Arthuria returned.

 

"I must say, whatever did I miss? Why do you all have such expressions on your faces?"

 

Revy felt her eyebrows furrow, as she narrowed her eyes at Arthuria.  This long standing relationship that she had with the Counter Corps was just one big lie.  A long con in a game of cat and mouse, when you don't even realize you're the one being chased; when you don't even realize you're playing the game.  And the time for diplomacy should have ended the moment Yukari's limp body touched the floor of the Hallway to Origin.  Instead, the diplomats were only now standing up to make themselves heard.  Revy, knowing full well she was much more fragile than most of the people -- and things -- here, was hesitant to speak up.

 

"Are you really condemning us to oblivion after everything we've been through up to this point?  I want to know your intentions...I want to know what your heart is hiding...what it has been hiding from the very start."

 

"Pardon me Lady Arturia, may I ask something? I still don't get it, what do you even want to achieve by having us all here?  If you're so sure that you would be able to handle both the Divines and the Counter Corps on your own, then why would you have the Counter Corps in the first place outside of being minor distraction against Protheus?  Maybe you decided that you need your goal to inevitably end in failure on a whim? You know that you would still find a lot of people willing to fight for your goal had you be honest with them in the first place, right?"

 

Revy froze, not realizing she was biting her lip.  Her face was red with rage, and she had broken Kratos' grip, and was now brandishing her pistol, pointing it straight at Arthuria.

 

"Are you two funking kidding me?" she asked, walking past Nero and elbowing him out of the way.  "We just heard--God damn it," she said, trying to fight back tears.  "We just heard, first hand, that Arthuria wants to put us all in the funking ground.  She wants to bury us, break the key, and get on with her pathetic excuse for a life.  But you wanna know 'where her heart is'!?"  Revy stomped over to Yukari's body, and holstered her weapon.  She lifted her up.  She held Yukari as if she were cradling a child, and Revy carried Yukari to the center of the Hallway, placing her carefully at Nero's feet.  "That's where her funking heart is!"  Revy drew her gun again, holding it at her side.  Her free hand covered her face now, as she waved the gun at her side, careful not to aim at anyone besides Arthuria.

 

"What I don't get, is why the only ones to question Arthuria, have been the bastards we've been fightin' since day one."  Revy lifted her hand from her face and gestured towards Dorian and his team, turning to face them.  "No offense guys."  She turned back to the Counter Corps once more.  "They had more insight on our leader than we did.  And if you think I'm about to wait for the Council of Friendship to organize its funking self, play with their dicks, and jack off hoping Arthuria is suddenly gonna change her funking mind--!"

 

YOU INSULT THE POSITION YOU WERE GIVEN! YOU DON'T DESERVE THE HONORABLE DEATH YOU ARE ABOUT TO RECEIVE! 

 

Revy saw and heard Rhadamanthys over her shoulder.  He had the right idea.  She drew her second gun from her holster, and pointed them both at Arthuria as she turned around.  "Then you're outta your funking mind."

 

---

 

Things were heating up way too quickly.  While Nero and Kazuya attempted to change Arthuria's mind, Team Dorian and Revy already had theirs made up.  "Shoot," Killua said aloud.  And now, Revy was getting louder, and much more angry.  "Ooooooh, shoot," Killua said, now standing up.  Taking it one step further, Revy pointed both her guns at Arthuria, ready to fire.  "sheet!"

 

Killua put his best foot forward, and raced to intercept Revy.  Before he or she realized it, Killua had his arms spread wide, blocking Revy from firing.

 

"Revy--"

 

"Outta my way kid.  I don't wanna hurt you," she demanded of the boy.

 

"I'm stronger, faster, and more perceptive than you.  I can dismantle those guns before you can get a shot off.  And Arthuria could probably kill you from where she stands.  You're in danger here, not her."  Killua's statement was both accurate and annoying.  But Revy was still opposed.

 

"You think she gives a damn whether or not I'm pointin' these guns at her?  If I'm gonna die up here anyway, I might as well take this psycho-jabroni with me," Revy retorted.

 

"You don't have to do this, Revy!  You don't have to die!" Killua urged to her.

 

"Move aside, boy," said Kratos as he stepped forwards.

 

Killua slowly lowered his arms.  "Kratos.  Are you gonna risk her life?" he asked, pointing to Revy."

 

"No."  Kratos said quickly.  With a single chop to the back of her neck, Kratos caused Revy to fall unconscious.  He caught her as she fell, carrying her to the furthest end of the Hallway, where she could at least be out of the direct line of fire.  He lay her down beside the entryway, and turned back to the Hallway.  

 

BGM:  War

 

As he slowly marched back towards Arthuria, Kratos' surrounded himself in deep blue flame, and drew forth his weapons.  "The time for talk, is over," he called to those who could hear him.  Passively, as Kratos marched, undead Spartans arose from beside him, their numbers climbing as Kratos approached his foe.  "You have made a declaration of war, Arthuria!" he bellowed, as the flames surrounding him grew.  "And I," Kratos said, pointing his blade at Arthuria from afar.  "I am the god of war!  For your sins!  For your insolence!  You will suffer for this!"

 

As Kratos marched past Kenpachi now, he felt the large man's overwhelming power match his own.  Yachiru leaped from Kenpachi's shoulder, as he now walked with Kratos.

 

"Let's enjoy this," Kenpachi said, with a grin.

[Love of Ghibli]

Team Dorian: Hallway of Origin

 

 

"What I don't get, is why the only ones to question Arthuria, have been the bastards we've been fightin' since day one."  Revy lifted her hand from her face and gestured towards Dorian and his team, turning to face them.  "No offense guys."

 

None taken. Dorian said quickly as this woman was making an impassioned plea to her allies. Dorian could only smirk as she was pretty stealing his I-told-you-so moment. But that was okay. Her spirit was respectable. 

Dorian watched the interaction between Revy and this other boy. He bragged about his speed which made Dorian smirk just a little more as he wanted to test this boys speed. Maybe the madness from being so close to a slowly unhinging Butlerok was doing him in. It was then that the bald giant known as Kratos had proceeded to knock that woman out and bring her to the end of the Hallway. Dorian tilted his head and then he realized that this was some form of protection for her...fragility. 

Dorian tilted his head the opposite direction and then looked up at Butlerok. Butlerok only raised an eyebrow as he bore witness to Kratos summoning forth a legion of soldiers and proceeding to march towards Arthuria. 

That's not fair Butler. Dorian said kind of evilly. Everyone should be able participate in a battle of this importance. 

You just like her because she said nice things about us. Butlerok replied.

So...well yes, but my point still stands. Why not make her a clown? She would be pretty durable under those circumstances. 

Because she, for the most part, is a regular human. She seems to have strong feelings, but I am sure even if I held back she would get utterly consumed by madness. 

Not if we extract her Rukh and then put those Rukh back into her clown body. Gyokuen added inside Butlerok's head. To see a woman fight for her fate against a super power was somewhat moving for her in that moment. Butlerok could be seen looking somewhat confused as Gyokuen was talking inside his head, 

Well sir it looks like you will get you wish. Butlerok waved his hand and three droplets of black blood began to float in midair. That is if she wants this power that is. Butlerok flicked his finger and shot the three droplets pass the legion and all of the other combatants aimed directly at Revy's unconscious body. 

[Dad]

The Hallway to Origin

 

Yachiru scrambled away from Kenpachi and Kratos, shielding herself with a large, orange bubble.  She bounced excitedly, clapping her hands as the pressure exerted from Kenpachi and Kratos washed over herself and the Hallway.  She extended a hand, balled her fist, and gave Kenpachi a thumbs up, as she called out to him.  "Good luck, Kenny!  Kick her butt!" Yachiru cheered.  Over his shoulder, Kenpachi smiled back at Yachiru.  He returned her thumbs up, and directed his attention back at Arthuria.

 

---

 

Killua had backed off.  He knew he couldn't stop Kratos and Kenpachi.  Not alone.  And it would seem that most of the other Counter Corps and even the Divine were in agreement that Arthuria had to be stopped.  Killua just wasn't sure that this was the proper way to do things.  Clenching his fist, Killua stood aside as Kratos' army marched past him.  A legion of undead, faithful to a man with questionable ideals.  That alone was enough to make Killua worry.  His eyes flickered over to Revy's unconscious body.  Of all people, he didn't expect her to be so passionate over Yukari's death.

 

But then, he didn't know Revy very well.  "What the hell was she thinking?" Killua thought to himself.  "What is . . . ".  There was a strange series of droplets floating across the pathway, and they moved with such discretion and purpose that it was like someone was manipulating them.  And the droplets fell, right atop Revy's forehead.  For some reason, at the sight of this, Killua's hair stood on edge.

 

---

 

Revy stirred in her sleep.  She mumbled something about doughnuts and chocolate pudding in her unconscious state, drooling and licking her lips.  Come to think of it, she hadn't eaten much since she began fighting with the Counter Corps, had she?  Her rather pleasant dream of sweets and and pastries came to an abrupt end, when she could've sworn she was back in her old bed, tear drops streaming down her face.  Revy blinked awake, to find herself covered in what she thought was blood.

 

She shrieked, and scrambled to her feet.  She checked herself for wounds, but found none.  She wiped the "blood" from her face, but she couldn't get it all off.  "Ugh!  What is this!?" she demanded.  It looked more like oil to her, but it was much too sticky.  Something unexplainable was happening to Revy, and she had no idea what was coming.

[Tesability Black]

~??? - Gemini's POV~

“I fail to understand.

You… None of you grasp what is genuinely at stake here. Why are all of you such IMBECILES?!

Do you not understand the dangers that anyone would pose if they were to access the Door of Origin? Yes, it may be true that Isamy ended several million universes… Yet as terrible as that is, that means little compared to the rest of reality. It is a marginal number, a speck of dust compared to the grandness of the whole multiverse.

Returning home? ‘Fixing things’? Making them how they used to be? To think that their insignificant lives hold more importance than this, how much more selfish can the Counter Corps be? There’s no difference between them and the Divine!

Making sure that there is zero possibility of reality being threatened. That’s our job as Counter Guardians.

I cannot state enough how much of a danger the Door is to all of reality. That is why we must all spend the rest of our lives in this Hallway and perish, never to advance. It is time to carry out my assigned mission.

Hence, I will destroy you.

And in the process,

I WILL DESTROY THE KEY OF ORIGIN!”

Neos and Gemini looked at each other at this statement, then back towards where they had last seen Arturia, next to a head-in-hands Jace as he sat on his knees and a ready-to-strike Ravnica.

"Well, well, she and I do see eye-to-eye on something...but I would have at least been 'nice' enough to hit the undo button first," Gemini stated pointedly, crossing his arms in front of him. His mind had been admittedly more on that stranger he had seen, that messed with everyone before leaving. He had the feeling he had seen the figure before, but wasn't sure if it was the same one that 'helped' out with the NetMonster in Truth.

He was surprised he hadn't heard anything from the lighter counterpart next to him. That in mind, Gemini looked to his side...

...and noticed that Neos had run ahead towards the psychic, still holding onto his head with both hands and gripping his own hair tightly as he remained balled into himself. "...well, then. Something tells me he's seeing more of this picture than the rest of us." Uncrossing his arms, Gemini walked forward, watchful of anything that may try to do something unforseen by others, allowing his altered time sense to keep him on full alert in the back of his mind while keeping himself aware of the here and now.

"I just hope you getting knighted by Arturia on Remembrance doesn't bite us both in the ass," he muttered to only himself, not even bothering to put sound to his words as he walked on.

~Counter Corps - Jace's POV~

He had cautiously been watching both Arturia and the odd girl talking and exchanging tea with each other, taking care not to become flattened by suddenly-appearing furniture. He had been trying to listen in on the conversation, even starting to ready several counterspells at once under an invisibility illusion once it looked like things were going to go crazy while he was still in point-blank range.

However, while they disappeared from sight...they did not disappear from his mind. Whatever they were in, they couldn't physically leave, but their words, their thoughts...he could still hear them. Not clearly, he felt the interference, but the volume was thunderous in his head. Wincing in pain from the voices that were now flooding his head, Jace raised his hands to the sides of his head, feeling both the gloved and ungloved hands gripping at his hair as he tried to focus on what he was hearing enough to try and reduce the pain.

Then, suddenly, the pain faded as he felt...something...open in his mind and he barely felt himself fall to his knees as the flood of voices and images emerged with far more clarity.

He saw the fight between yokai and queen as it blazed on, destroying various parts of the castle he saw in the fight with only one part remaining relatively untouched.

You cannot keep this up forever. Although you may be a youkai, I am a human-dragon hybrid - possessing both the greatest magical and the greatest physical offense in my world. Soon, you shall tire - while I’ll still have plenty to spare.

To stand against a Counter Guardian...even for beings like yourself, none have ever truly succeeded. One way or another, I will emergevictorious.

If I don’t do anything, I’m putting endless lives at risk of the whims of the selfish and delusional!

I fail to understand.

You… None of you grasp what is genuinely at stake here. Why are all of you such IMBECILES?!

Do you not understand the dangers that anyone would pose if they were to access the Door of Origin? Yes, it may be true thatIsamy ended several million universes… Yet as terrible as that is, that means little compared to the rest of reality. It is a marginal number, a speck of dust compared to the grandness of the whole multiverse.

Returning home? ‘Fixing things’? Making them how they used to be? To think that their insignificant lives hold more importance than this, how much more selfish can the Counter Corps be? There’s no difference between them and the Divine!

Making sure that there is zero possibility ofrealitybeing threatened. That’s our job as Counter Guardians.

I cannot state enough how much of a danger the Door is to allofreality. That is why we must all spend the rest of our lives in this Hallway and perish, never to advance. It is time to carry out my assigned mission.

Hence, I will destroy you.

And in the process,

I WILL DESTROY THE KEY OF ORIGIN!

Jace wasn't capable of thinking, the last several statements filling his head not from the voice, but from every mind around him save for the supposedly psychic-immune Gemini. He didn't even register the arms around him that kept him from falling over onto his side from the overwhelming voices, didn't hear the one trying to call his attention next to him.

The only thought that Jace managed before collapsing mentally for a few moments was that Arturia was insane for not undoing the damage for the sake of preventing a possible multiversal collapse. His own Multiverse almost destroyed itself until the laws of his reality were rewritten due to how the Planeswalkers of old used to abuse their power, destabilizing his overall reality...

 

~Counter Corps? - Neos's POV~

Even as he tried to shake the Planeswalker back into awareness, wary of the large creature behind him as he did so, Neos found himself thinking on Arturia's words, gulping to himself as he picked up the unconscious psychic before turning towards the others.

I'm sorry, Arturia, but you must be stopped, he thought solely to himself.

"She has no idea what she's doing," he stated clearly, projecting his voice so that the others could hear him. "Arturia has no idea that what she is doing will doom the Omniverse to self-destruction." Letting loose a sigh, he looked up from the man in his arms to those around him willing to listen.

"I've seen at least one world that was in the middle of self-destruction because of distortions sourced from beyond those worlds, seeing it unweave itself from in front of my own eyes...even though there was no trace of this 'Isamy' figure arriving there. While losing several million universes may seem small to her, sometimes only a tiny crack is needed to destroy a colossal figure. Yes, the Key of Origin is a dangerous thing to exist, but to destroy it and practically guarantee the self-destruction of the Omniverse as a whole?"

Neos shook his head as the image of many seemingly unconnected worlds began to unravel one by one, or even many by many. "I'm no Counter Guardian nor attached to the Throne I keep hearing about, but even I'm not as blind as to not see such possibility."

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"I'm no Counter Guardian nor attached to the Throne I keep hearing about, but even I'm not as blind as to not see such possibility."

 

"He's right, you know?"
 

Reimu had went forward, speaking following Neos after he was done talking. Her resolve had been shaken, destroyed, rebuilt, only to be destroyed again later, yet she had managed to rebuild it again. It was perhaps because she never really fought for the Counter Corps or Arturia's sake - in the end Reimu just followed what she thought was right. Her instincts had guided her to choose the Counter Corps and Arturia so far, and now with the truth revealed, she simply chose a side that fits with her more. Neos had brought up a point she had overlooked before, and with her own experiences in her Gensokyo and what happened to it, she had decided to support the yellow man.

 

"Arturia, you are horribly misguided. I get that you're doing this for the best interest of the entirety of existence as you claimed. The Door is too dangerous to be trusted to anyone after all. As long as the holder of the Key held any desires, the possibility of it being misused and endanger existence at large would always exist.

 

But that said, it is also completely absurd to dismiss the cracks and distortions happening everywhere. Neos is right, even the smallest crack and distortion can spread out into something far bigger and concerning. I happen to know this from my own experience too." Reimu shifted her gaze towards Yukari's dead body for some moments, sending some prayers towards her for being a better Yukari than the one in her world watching her now, and she then brought her black sphere forward before her before continuing. She could feel some gaps staring at her as she stared speaking again, which made her somewhat uncomfortable.

 

"This distortions, that might or might not have been even started by Isamy, is pretty damn widespread and now every moron that tried to mess up with things would have a huge chance of tearing down the fabrics of the universe itself by accident. And it won't just end there. The distortion is still everywhere, despite the fact that we all know the primary culprit's gone now. So they wouldn't just disappear even if you destroy the key here and Protheus die of old age or something somewhere in the pathways. So congrats! The grand multiverse has been doomed because one of the very few ways of fixing what went wrong had been destroyed by overly-paranoid people.

 

If you're talking about how you're unwilling to risk the multiverse by using the Door, then I would find it an even less of a stretch of logic to say that it's still much less of a risk to do that than to let the distortions cause greater and greater damage because the only thing that could fix it had been destroyed. Do you understand that Arturia? Or does a Counter Guardian only know about destroying supposed sources of problem, rather than fixing the problem itself?"

Reimu shook her head as she stared at Arturia again, before pointing the Sword of Hisou at the king.

 

"The grand multiverse ill need a savior such as you, Arturia. Hereby, I believe that you shall cease being the leader of the Counter Corps from now on. We will save everything in our own way, not following the wishes of the king of tools following the orders of a piece of furniture in heavens above.

 

We'll be our own savior, thank you very much."

 

---

[Love of Ghibli]

Team Dorian: Hallway of Origin

 

Butlerok and Dorian both tilted their heads as the black blood safely landed on Revy. One would think with all of those people with quick reflexes would've done something but maybe this is what she truly wants and destiny is starting to manifest itself. Like a living parasite the black blood appeared sticky at first but it quickly sunk into her skin through her pores. Revy would normally experience immense pain, but thanks to Gyokuen's clever use of manipulating  the Rukh Revy's eyes went totally black and she was unconscious. Revy's skin turned completely black. Her hair retained its color, but gold lines started to pulsate where her veins were as if magic was her life blood. 

Her unconscious clown body stood to its own two feet like a black statue of Death. Meanwhile inside of Revy's conscious mind she would hear a series of voices talking.

HIIIIIIII NEEEWWWW FRIEND! Raganork said as Revy would just see a void with a giant face like the cheshire cat.

Calm down parasite. Gyokuen said as she walked out of the nothingness. She appeared to be floating on nothingness while she approached. Listen love we don't have much time, but your body is reconstructed to give you a set of...abilities so to speak. Now this is going to come with some challenges and I need know when I put your conscious mind into your new body you aren't going to snap and start shooting us. Are we clear? Gyoukuen dropped a lot of information on Revy, but she believed the woman would pull through this transition.

[Merci]

~ Arturia Pendragon ~

Hallway of Origin

 

 

~ Symphony of Fate: Disillusion ~

 

 

Having tricked all whom had followed her into the false illusion of happiness, the King of Britain stood firm at the exit of the Hallway of Origin. Once a shining beacon of morality, now the apparent final enemy. 

 

"Everyone...?"

 

Even if it was the mission the Throne of Heroes assigned to her, she was no longer connected to it. She was no longer required to fulfil the ultimate mission, and yet here she was before the warriors of the universe, doing exactly that. Blocking the Door of Origin. In truth, had Emiya been in her place... While he may have struggled with himself for some time, the Pathways would have ultimately convinced him to defy the hands of his controllers, and stand aside for what he truly believed was the right thing to do. As it happened, regardless of their many similarities, the core values of these two Counter Guardians differed.

 

One might ask, what was it that made her accept such a horrible decision? To simply let all those disappeared universes stay as they were?

 

The leader of the former Counter Corps faced the eyes of the warriors before her - some confused, some greatly angered. Although she'd had hopes that there was some other cause, their responses to her seemingly innocuous request proved otherwise. Even before the first word came out of their mouth, she understood.

 

"I see." Arturia said coldly.

 

The first to step forward was the Keyblade War Hero, Nero. The boy who fought against the darkness, was consumed by it to become Ivero, yet ultimately returned from oblivion, overcoming all the odds to renew the ideals that he had once lost. A warrior of light like few others - the look on his face was that of frustration and shock, as though unsure what to think. Seeking answers, he addressed her.

 

"Arturia!" he spoke, exhaling slightly. "I have to ask...if you get the Key of Origin...are you truly going to destroy it?" Nero wanted to put more tact into this conversation, but he was pressed for time, namely with Kenpachi wanting to tear right into Arturia. But he just needed to know the facts right now...

 

"Are you really condemning us to oblivion after everything we've been through up to this point?" Nero continued, sighing slightly. "I want to know your intentions...I want to know what your heart is hiding...what it has been hiding from the very start."

 

"Nero..." She began, hesitantly somewhat. Before clenching her hands around her blade, renewing her determination once more.

 

It was now apparent that, if he knew, everyone must've known. And how, when she thought about it, was obvious - sound waves. Even though Arturia had tracked every single object that had passed through Yukari's gaps, whilst ensuring a lack of any chance of speaking to the outside, she had failed to consider the possibility that her own voice would be transmitted outside via those gaps. It was such a novice mistake, and yet in the heat of the moment, she'd been so concerned with destroying the Key that she had not thoroughly thought things through.

 

"Yes. My intention is leave you, and everyone else, to die." Dropping her warmth entirely, she gazed at Nero with a cold, inhuman look devoid of any of the concern she'd shown earlier. Now accepting that there was no way around the truth, any further delays or pretending that things were alright would only be wasting time. The only mercy she had left, was the mercy of gracing him with an answer. "It isn't a matter of what's in my heart. This is merely my duty as Counter Guardian, finishing the mission that Emiya started. Still, if you wish to understand why I believe this is right... You will, very shortly."

 

Finishing on that ominous note, Arturia's gaze moved elsewhere.

 

Kazuya Minegishi was the next to approach, seemingly still confused about the matter, "Pardon me Lady Arturia, may I ask something? I still don't get it, what do you even want to achieve by having us all here?" His false confusion quickly broke through to show a scornful look. "If you're so sure that you would be able to handle both the Divines and the Counter Corps on your own, then why would you have the Counter Corps in the first place outside of being minor distraction against Protheus? Maybe you decided that you need your goal to inevitably end in failure on a whim?"

 

"I don't know what originally motivated Emiya to form the Counter Corps, but the answer to that should actually be rather simple... The Counter Corps are simply scouts." Arturia admitted, unfazed by his expression. "When the Corps were originally recruited for the Shadow Realm, your numbers meant that you could spread out and find Maximus's soul effectively. That was supposed to be the end of your use, and Emiya would have progressed onto the Desert Seth alone. However, Emiya had encountered something that corrupted him. Knowing that his time was limited, he brought you into the Desert Seth to speed up the process of finding the map. By the time I took over, your lot had proven its uses - not merely in being minor distractions, but in being legitimate enemies to the Divine."

 

Having explained this very coldly, Kazuya continued with, "You know that you would still find a lot of people willing to fight for your goal had you be honest with them in the first place, right?"

 

 

"A lot? No." Arturia shook her head. "Some, yes... But we had a limited amount of time due to the distortions. The story we presented meant that we could recruit everyone we encountered with minimal information. Well, almost everyo-" 

 

At that very moment, she was interrupted as Revy Two Hands charged past the two. 

 

"Are you two f***ing kidding me?" She burst out, walking past Nero and elbowing him out of the way. "We just heard--God damn it," she said, trying to fight back tears. "We just heard, first hand, that Arthuria wants to put us all in the f***ing ground. She wants to bury us, break the key, and get on with her pathetic excuse for a life. But you wanna know 'where her heart is'!?" 

 

Revy stomped over to Yukari's body, and holstered her weapon. She lifted her up. She held Yukari as if she were cradling a child, and Revy carried Yukari to the center of the Hallway, placing her carefully at Nero's feet. "That's where her f***ing heart is!" Revy drew her gun again, holding it at her side. Her free hand covered her face now, as she waved the gun at her side, careful not to aim at anyone besides Arturia, who had a frown on her face.

 

"What I don't get, is why the only ones to question Arthuria, have been the bastards we've been fightin' since day one." Revy lifted her hand from her face and gestured towards Dorian and his team, turning to face them. "No offense guys." She turned back to the Counter Corps once more. "They had more insight on our leader than we did. And if you think I'm about to wait for the Council of Friendship to organize its f***ing self, play with their dicks, and jack off hoping Arthuria is suddenly gonna change her f***ing mind--!"

 

Just then, a pillar of energy erupting with mass power thundered towards her. As it approached, it started to materialize into a form - that of a six-winged dark angel. Or rather, a god of death would be a far more accurate term, judging by the oozing mass amounts of destruction from his very presence, screaming out with incredible hatred. 

 

YOU INSULT THE POSITION YOU WERE GIVEN! YOU DON'T DESERVE THE HONORABLE DEATH YOU ARE ABOUT TO RECEIVE! 

 

It could be none other than Rhadamanthys himself, and as he charged forward, Arturia quickly wrapped herself in torrents of wind - refracting the light around her with Invisible Air, she instantly made herself invisible. Although, understanding that there was no point to being invisible due to the sheer volume of warriors, she released Invisible Air as soon as she was clear of his range again. The torrents of wind were unleashed out from her in all directions, pushing away anyone who came near.

 

Revy turned her attention back to Arturia and finished with "...then you're outta your f***ing mind."

 

"Rhadamanthys, I see that you are still around. You may claim to be the god of death, but you do not own death. If you seek to inflict an honorable death upon me, I shall respond in kind." The blonde superknight spoke, changing the position of her voice from the wind to not give herself away. She glanced at Yukari's body, moved with such disrespect - but considering the girl's personality, it was no surprise. "And Revy... At least I do it for a better purpose. Or was there a point to your long list of kills that I'm missing here?" 

 

Arturia jabbed at the gunslinger, a little annoyed but barely affected this emotional outburst. Particularly, considering the fact that the only weapons this person had to oppose her were silly little pellet shooters. It turned out that her teammates understood the same, as Kratos moved forward and knocked her out - for a moment, she felt a sense of intimacy between them. Had they bonded in the short period of time spent together? How sad, yet appropriate. It was only natural that the two most bloodthirsty members of the Counter Corps would be drawn to each other.

 

"The time for talk, is over," Kratos called to those who could hear him. Passively, as he marched, undead Spartans arose from beside him, their numbers climbing as Kratos approached his foe. "You have made a declaration of war, Arthuria!" he bellowed, as the flames surrounding him grew. "And I," Kratos said, pointing his blade at Arturia from afar. "I am the god of war! For your sins! For your insolence! You will suffer for this!"

 

The sight of the undead Spartans was a minor amusement to her; she observed the Spartan warrior approach with high anticipation. "God of war, eh? That's very interesting... As a matter of fact, my people used to call me the same. I wonder if we're similar in any way?" Looking at his blade, she readied her own. "As a warrior, I respect you. However, your decision is clear - you might just regret challenging the King of Knights."

 

As Kratos marched past Kenpachi now, the large man's overwhelming power rose to match his own. Yachiru leaped from Kenpachi's shoulder, as he now walked with Kratos.

 

With a grin, the Shinigami said, "Let's enjoy this."

 

"Good luck, Kenny! Kick her butt!" Yachiru cheered. Over his shoulder, Kenpachi smiled back at Yachiru. He returned her thumbs up, and directed his attention back at Arturia.

 

Somehow, those words, and watching those two made something click in Arturia's heart. She remembered a time, not long ago now on the Pathway to Truth, when she'd told her true feelings about the Counter Corps-

 

 

In that forest of cherry blossoms, she was questioned.

 

“S- s- so! Is there anyone you like?” A fairy asked innocently.

 

“In a way, I suppose you could say yes.”

 

“Oooooh~? Who, who?”

 

“Tell us, tell us!”

 

“We wanna know, we wanna know!”

 

“Hmm… Well, there are a few amongst the Counter Corps that I like..."

 

...first and foremost would perhaps have to be Captain Kenpachi. His level of skill is quite spectacular, even for me. His determination is very impressive. But of course, most of all, what I admire about him is his loyalty to Yachiru.”

 

"Captain Kenpachi." Arturia said, bowing her head slightly to show her genuine respect for the man regardless of these circumstances... It would be a shame to get rid of him, but it simply had to be done.

 

In another corner of the Hallway, Arturia noticed that a robed telepath had collapsed. It could only be Jace Beleren - and her heart warmed ever so slightly when she saw Neos, coming to his rescue. I see. So he found him after all... However, that meant nothing to her now, nor should it ever.

 

"She has no idea what she's doing," Neos stated clearly, projecting his voice so that the others could hear him, including the woman herself. Even as she kept her gaze from looking at him directly, she understood that it was worth hearing him out, if only to counter him. Oh, Neos. How typical and predictable was it that he continued to act on his own ideals. "Arturia has no idea that what she is doing will doom the Omniverse to self-destruction."Letting loose a sigh, he looked up from the man in his arms to those around him willing to listen.

 

"I've seen at least one world that was in the middle of self-destruction because of distortions sourced from beyond those worlds, seeing it unweave itself from in front of my own eyes...even though there was no trace of this 'Isamy' figure arriving there. While losing several million universes may seem small to her, sometimes only a tiny crack is needed to destroy a colossal figure. Yes, the Key of Origin is a dangerous thing to exist, but to destroy it and practically guarantee the self-destruction of the Omniverse as a whole?"

 

Neos shook his head as the image of many seemingly unconnected worlds began to unravel one by one, or even many by many. "I'm no Counter Guardian nor attached to the Throne I keep hearing about, but even I'm not as blind as to not see such possibility."

 

Arturia opened her mouth, to respond-

 

"He's right, you know?" Reimu had went forward, speaking following Neos after he was done talking, appearing internally conflicted on these events as well. "Arturia, you are horribly misguided. I get that you're doing this for the best interest of the entirety of existence as you claimed. The Door is too dangerous to be trusted to anyone after all. As long as the holder of the Key held any desires, the possibility of it being misused and endanger existence at large would always exist. But that said, it is also completely absurd to dismiss the cracks and distortions happening everywhere. Neos is right, even the smallest crack and distortion can spread out into something far bigger and concerning. I happen to know this from my own experience too." 

 

Reimu shifted her gaze towards Yukari's dead body for some moments, bringing her black sphere forward. The former leader of the Counter Corps eyed her - a human who came from a similar, if not the same universe Yukari did.

 

"This distortions, that might or might not have been even started by Isamy, is pretty damn widespread and now every moron that tried to mess up with things would have a huge chance of tearing down the fabrics of the universe itself by accident. And it won't just end there. The distortion is still everywhere, despite the fact that we all know the primary culprit's gone now. So they wouldn't just disappear even if you destroy the key here and Protheus die of old age or something somewhere in the pathways. So congrats! The grand multiverse has been doomed because one of the very few ways of fixing what went wrong had been destroyed by overly-paranoid people.

 

If you're talking about how you're unwilling to risk the multiverse by using the Door, then I would find it an even less of a stretch of logic to say that it's still much less of a risk to do that than to let the distortions cause greater and greater damage because the only thing that could fix it had been destroyed. Do you understand that Arturia? Or does a Counter Guardian only know about destroying supposed sources of problem, rather than fixing the problem itself?"

 

Reimu shook her head as she stared at Arturia again, before pointing her Sword of Hisou at the king.

 

"The grand multiverse ill need a savior such as you, Arturia. Hereby, I believe that you shall cease being the leader of the Counter Corps from now on. We will save everything in our own way, not following the wishes of the king of tools following the orders of a piece of furniture in heavens above.

 

We'll be our own savior, thank you very much."

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

 

"Then I shall take this as treason."

 

Arturia Pendragon took a step away from everyone - her blade lit up with brilliant golden energy as she did so. Against the exit of the Hallway,she manipulated the wind around her, she used Invisible Air to create a wind barrier between her and everyone else to ensure that no one would interfere.

 

"None of you have come forth to hand over the Key of Origin.

 

Counter Corps, much of you have made it very clear to me that you do not intend on cooperating. And the rest of you appear to have shown zero interest in my offer... I'm sure you understand, no mercy shall be shown?

 

While I did not intend on revealing the truth until after the completion of my mission, I did have hopes that, in the event this happened, at least some of you would understand. Yet it appears that is not the case. Very well. There is only one solution for this unprecedented mistake now.

 

Goodbye, fellow warriors. It was a pleasure knowing, well, some of you."

 

Charging up the golden blade she wielded with both hands, she raised it high above herself using all of her strength. As she did so, the air trembled, the light surrounding them intensified, and for everyone currently present, golden wisps seemed to exit out of their bodies - manifestations of their hopes and dreams, taken against their will.

 

Despite the extremely tense situation, the wisps seemed to take with them some of that stress, relaxing if not downright turning complacent some of the warriors. As if forcefully attempting to convince them that standing down to the upcoming might was the best thing to do. These wisps rapidly shot towards her, fuelling a powerful attack that it appeared she was going to unleash.

 

Even though her mana supply was running low, this was the single most effective and straightforward manner she believed would solve things.

 

For her, no detailed explanation for her motives was needed. There was only one word to be said.

 

"Ex..."

 

In her hands was the crystallization of all warrior's hopes and dreams, the desire to attain victory converted into physical energy. And she was about to unleash it in a hallway - intending to overcome it in its entirety, without anywhere for the others to dodge. As all of this light coalesced, her knees buckled as she struggled to wield the sheer weight of it above her. Now that she was using it in the presence of actual warriors as opposed to a desolate reality marble, some of whom had extraordinarily high energy levels, there was little doubt that this particular attack would be much stronger than the ones she'd used against Yukari. Now it could serve its actual purpose, as a Spirit Bomb in blade form - in the past, she would use it on the battlefield surrounded by armies with thousands of men, mowing the earth with an utter destruction that assured victory. It would take their greatest efforts merely to survive it.

 

Counter Corps. Divine. IT DIDN'T MATTER. If any one of them had the Key, she would obliterate it with them. There was no room for hesitation. Their paths were of no concern to her, nor were they ever. This would end right here, right now.

 

"...CAAALLLIIIBBBUUUR!!!"

 

And Arturia swung it forward, unleashing that unbelievably beam of judgement onto them.

 

As the radiannce of Excalibur approached, its light filled everyone's visions and a fragment of the woman's past entered their mind. The core of her ideals - the bottom of her heart, exposed.

 

 

Somewhere in old Britain, a girl finished her rite of passage. The name she was given - 'Arturia'.

 

It was a time of chaos and war, beginning with the demise of an empire. An empire believed to be indestructible was only awaiting its destruction at the hands of invading barbarians. To prepare for the war against these barbarians, the empire deprived this island country of any military forces. That was the beginning. Once that country lost the empire's protection, it could not escape becoming independent, almost immediately separating into smaller countries.

 

From there, tragedy followed. Endless barbarian invasions. Self-destructive strife between clans. A long period of war, that would later be called 'the Dark Ages'.

 

It was a long period of chaos, and despite the current king's best efforts, seemed irredeemable beyond a shadow of a doubt. A mysterious magus who served him saw into the future, and foretold of a prophecy of a saviour - believing it, the king yearned for the birth of his appointed successor with renewed hope in his heart. However, the child that was born was not the one the king desired - for the child was not a boy. Even if the child was fated to become a king, he could not make a child that was not a boy his successor.

 

The female baby was entrusted to the king's vassals, to be raised as a child of a mere knight. The king fell into despair as a result of this, yet on the other hand, the magus was delighted. The sex of the one who would become king had never mattered. He was confident that the fact of the girl being separated from the castle until the day of the prophecy was proof that she would indeed become king.

 

The girl grew up as the successor under the simple and wise old knight. The old knight, despite knowing of the prophecy, cared little for it - all he knew was that he felt the same air from the girl as he did from the king, meaning that he simply had to raise her as a knight. Even if Britain would not accept a woman. But as it happened, the old knight did not even have to wish for such a thing. 

 

The girl trained day after day, however she could, to become stronger than anyone. Tales from passersby, - the powerlessness and weakness she experienced turned into frustration against the rules of the world.

 

If only there was a king who could save a ruined country headed for death... The girl swore to bear a sword for that reason alone, without ever being told to do so.

 

...and thus, the day of prophecy arrived. Knights and lords from around the country gathered to be selected as the king. Every single one of them expected the selection to be through jousting if the most superior one was to become a king.

 

But the only thing prepared at the place of selection was a naked sword, struck into a stone.

 

On its hilt was a golden inscription.

 

"Whosoe'er pulleth out this sword of this stone is rightwise King born of England"

Many knights grabbed the sword, following that command. However, no one was able to pull the sword out; because of the failure of this method, the knights ignored the words of the royal magus and resorted back to the expected method of selection by jousting.

 

As the girl was only an apprentice, she was not qualified to joust, yet she was not about to let this stop her. With her father and brother both occupied attending the joust, she instead neared the deserted, long-since-forgotten stone of selection. Under the impression that there was no one in her way, she reached out for the sword without hesitation.

 

"No, no, no. You ought to think things through before you take that."

 

When she turned around, before her was the most feared and renowned magus in all the world. Merlin. Surprisingly youthful despite his legendary age and surrounded by flowers, he addressed her with the familiarity of a close friend.

 

He told her, "Once you take hold of that sword, you won't be human anymore."

 

The girl only responded with a nod. After all, it made sense. Becoming a king meant to no longer be human. Somehow, she had the feeling that she'd been prepared for this moment ever since her birth. A monumental responsibility that few could ever hope to live up to, let alone a teenage woman who had yet to experience any of the fineries of life. She had occupied so much of her life in pursuit of that, in the process, she had ignored most of the fundamentals of being human. Joy. Passion. Love.

 

In short, a king was someone who had to kill everything to protect everyone.

 

Convinced by the magus to head back home, the young girl was haunted by the prospect every night and shuddered until morning came. Everything that she had neglected in favour of pursuing a greater good was rushing back to her, all of the hobbies she had set aside and all of the friends that she had driven away. To choose the sword would mean abandoning all of that for the rest of her life. Her humanity would dwindle away, until she was merely a robot dedicated only to the people- no day passed that she did not fear that fact.

 

Finally, the girl woke up and said that, without a doubt, it would end this day. She made her way over to the land where the stone awaited. The old magus looking on not with anticipation, but with expectation.

 

 

 

The sword was pulled out as if it were only natural to do so. In that instant, the land was filled with light, and she transformed into something no longer human.

 

The king's gender would not matter. No one would even care about or notice the king's appearance so long as the king acted like a king. Even if anybody noticed that the king was female, there would be no problem should she be a good king. Perhaps because of the sword's magic, her growth stopped at that time as well; although many knights feared it as ominous, most of them praised their master's immortality as divine, a sign that she had descended from the heavens to save them all.

 

And thus, the glorious reign of King Arthur began.

 

The battles of the new king were indeed the acts of a goddess of the battlefield. Always leading from the frontlines. Never an enemy to stand in her way. There was no defeat for a body admired as a dragon in human form. Arturia came to be known as the King of War. For ten years and twelve battles, Arturia knew nothing but victory. She never turned back and was never disgraced in those times, even as her knights disobeyed her, fought her, and in the end betrayed her.

 

She grew up as the king and fulfilled her obligations as the king.

 

Until her dying day.

 

Until her ghost wore out, unwilling to let Britain perish.

 

Until her existence was torn away, to serve an even greater purpose.

 

It wasn't that the king did not feel the pain, or the doubt, or from her actions. It was that she considered her personal feelings to be nonexistent. Choosing to subject herself to the will of the ideal King... Those who knew her life would know her will to be iron.

 

Already in those times had she faced arguments against her kind of rule, her sacrificing of smaller towns to pave the way for advantages in battle and ensure overall peace. In a way, she was the worst of tyrants, the kind that would eliminate anything that had the potential to threaten the prosperity of Britain. Even if the country ushered in a golden age, the ground surrounding it was stained with the blood of all her enemies. It all came down to a simple concept - killing the minority so that the majority could live in harmony.

 

In other words... Talking to her was useless. She had heard it all before. A nation compared to a few villages, the omniverse compared to a few universes. To her, they were precisely the same - and those who had never had to hold such burden on top of their shoulders could never hope to understand her feelings.

 

 

And thus, with such resolute determination had she fired her ultimate attack, fuelled by their very own desire for victory. The blazing light of Excalibur expanded from the sword to encompass the entire area of the Hallway. A wall of utmost destructiveness emitted from the end of the Hallway, threatening to raze everything in its path all the way to the entrance - which had an inconveniently one-way portal. The approaching force was such that none of the warriors could hope to take on the brunt of its force with their own powers alone.

 

In other words, if they hoped to survive this, they would have no choice but to take it on directly.

 

Together.

[Tesability Black]

Two men rushed in front of everyone as the beam zipped towards all of them, the pair nodding once to each other in silent understanding before raising their hands in front of themselves. Light bluish energy surrounded the hands of one and dark reddish energy surrounded the hands of the other before they spread around and into each other to form a wall of vivid purple energy that only seemed to strengthen before the beam of gold connected to the wall.

The two men, one yellow and one purple, were momentarily pushed back a few millimeters from impact, but they both held firm otherwise.

And the man in purple grinned, fangs exposed by the twisted nature of the smile.

"You know, in regards to the Key, you and I actually see eye-to-eye on the fact that the Key should be destroyed, even if it is for different reasons," the man in purple began to say. "Arceus-damn, if it wasn't for the fact that this very place was used to create my counterpart's world, I would even say to raze the entire Pathway to the ground, but I don't feel like inflicting self-destruction by doing that...that and I would have at least been nice enough to hit the 'undo' first."

"Kind of says something when a supposed 'villain' is kinder than the one that's supposed to be the hero..."

~??? - Gemini's POV~

Gemini's eyes began to glow red from behind the wall of purple aura that Neos and himself had interwoven into existence, light and dark forming into one unit to stop a common enemy. A glance back saw that the man in blue that Neos was carrying was near the back of the pack, far away from the beam. Within the beam of gold from the mighty Excalibur, some of the energy within had changed color from gold to blackish-red before beginning to spread throughout the beam.

"You don't know the extent of my corrosion, do you, m'dear?" Gemini taunted as the blackish-red color consumed the entire beam...before the beam began to fade tiny bit by tiny bit. The parts of the wall that were directly hit by the beam were connected colored more red than purple, more to prevent the wall from collapsing upon itself by being in contact with the increasingly-corrosive attack.

You've weakened your attack just by taking something that was considered a part of me...maybe even destroyed it.

 

~??? - Neos's POV~

 

"I'm sorry," Neos said, a saddened look on his face aimed towards Arturia, even a tear escaping his eyes. "I feel horrible that it's come down to this...maybe it's because you are incapable of seeing how things are connected to one another, but what you are doing...you run the risk of not only self-destruction of the Omniverse, but also of the Throne of Heroes, and several other places and concepts you may think untouchable by the events that happen here." Shaking his head from behind the wall, he took a deep breath before looked up towards her, neon-green meeting blue through a wall of purple. "To think, in a different timeline and reality, we could have been great allies...or even friends."

 

"Focus on the task at hand, not on trying to convince this monster," Gemini stated clearly. "Even I see there's nothing human left about her...even emotion."

[Super Chaos Sonic]

Nero - Keyblade War Master / The X-Blade's Wielder ~ Hallway to Origin

 

"Nero...Yes. My intention is leave you, and everyone else, to die. It isn't a matter of what's in my heart. This is merely my duty as Counter Guardian, finishing the mission that Emiya started. Still, if you wish to understand why I believe this is right... You will, very shortly."

 

Nero's eyes widened, his fists clenching. To be truthful, he was really hoping that what he heard wasn't Arturia's true feelings. But now...hearing it from her...he just knew. Soon Kazyua spoke and Arturia continued.

 

"I don't know what originally motivated Emiya to form the Counter Corps, but the answer to that should actually be rather simple... The Counter Corps are simply scouts. When the Corps were originally recruited for the Shadow Realm, your numbers meant that you could spread out and find Maximus's soul effectively. That was supposed to be the end of your use, and Emiya would have progressed onto the Desert Seth alone. However, Emiya had encountered something that corrupted him. Knowing that his time was limited, he brought you into the Desert Seth to speed up the process of finding the map. By the time I took over, your lot had proven its uses - not merely in being minor distractions, but in being legitimate enemies to the Divine."

 

He listened to Arturia's words, only looking away before noticing Kenpachi and the others beginning to mobilize now. It was clear now...he had to fight. But maybe...maybe there was still a way to-

 

"Then I shall take this as treason."

 

Nero's gaze snapped back to Arturia, watching her prepare a strike. D-Damnit...barely any time to react! he thought, preparing to cast Reflega to protect himself from this...but as he did...a vision entered his mind. Nero now was watching the fragment of Arturia's past...he was learning her ideals from the bottom of her heart.

 

Such a thought of a king...to think that was all a king was. One who killed everything in its path to protect the ones they cared for. When Nero regained his composure, it brought a tear to his eye. Not of just sadness...but of anger. Yes...anger.

 

"Y-You...you idiot..." Nero managed to mumble out, his fists clenching tightly. "Is that what you think a "king" does? If so...then you have no clue what a king is." he said, looking directly towards Arturia. There was a fierce determination in his eyes, as tears streamed down his face. "A true king...doesn't just kill to protect those they care for! They rule justly...they put the needs of their people first...and they put their own life on the line just to make sure their people are protected!"

 

Nero closed his eyes for a moment, recalling one king in particular...the king of Radiant Gardens, Yenna's father: King Zeid. There was a peace that Radiant Gardens endured and flourished with for the longest time under him. And what he saw in the Pathway to Death...he saw that Yenna continued as the Queen of Radiant Gardens and continued to keep the peace that her father strove for. Neither one of them would resort to the image of royalty that Arturia had in her mind and heart...he knew this for a damned fact.

 

-BGM-

 

"Your image of a king....your image of royalty..." Nero said, opening his eyes to stare down Arturia, as he held out his right hand, watching Divine Remnant appear within his grip. He spun it around, before lifting up his left hand. "It's an image of anything else BUT a king!!" he shouted, as the X-Blade appeared and entered his grasp, before he began to spin it around as well.

 

"AEROGA!!!" he shouted, before casting Aeroga on not just himself, but on quite a few of his allies surrounding him. "We've come this far...not to fall into the oblivion that you've condemned us to!"

[The Warden]

"AAAARRRRGGGHHHHH!!!"

 

A tall column of flame erupted from Red's maw high into the hallway, surprising Team Lombax somewhat. "Red, are you oka-"

 

"That vile, insignificant whelp!" the dragon seethed with unrestrained fury. "To be so nonchalant. To think what she said was- GRRRAAAAAHHHH!! While I was joking before, her actions are INEXCUSABLE!"

 

Thundering past the team, Red's staff clattered to the ground, discarded as he carried the Light Gem until he stood next to Gemini and Neos. Uttering to himself, Red's yellow eyes were overcome with light, the very same that crisscrossed his fingers and the Light Gem that floated between them. His feverish uttering increased in tempo as a layer of rainbow energy joined with the Ditto Twin's wall, strengthening it further and slowing the attack down. "I will NEVER bow to a king with no loyalty for their subjects" the dragon spat venomously between his chanting, despite Arturia clearly not being able to hear it. If anything, it was for him.

 

--------

 

Well, this was how it was meant to be, huh? Well, it was never proclaimed that even angels were never to be tested from time to time. Leaping into the fray beyond the three casters, Hapshiel planted his meaty hands to the wall, Arturia's EXCAAAAAALLLLLIIIIBBBBUUUURRRR utterly thwarted by his sheer might. And with his meaty calves clenching as they dug in, the angel took a step forward, forcing the fallen guardian's attack back. And then he took another as well, the wall moving with him.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"I understand now."

 

Reimu took in the memories flashed before her, acknowledging Arturia's reasoning. It was far from enough to convince her to join her side or to agree with her, but it was enough for her to understand that behind all that, she was still someone worthy of admiration. Was she the person Reimu once hoped to be? A force of nature rather than a human being, an embodiment of order and a system rather than a woman. Pursuing order no matter what, creating a perfect utopia of peace. There was a time when she thought it was the path for her as the Hakurei Shrine Maiden. But...that has passed. She could not create a paradise for humans and youkai alike if she could not understand them, what they wanted. And even here, a savior that could not understand those that she was trying to protect was ill-fitted to be one.

 

"Lady Arturia. Even if it was not from the real you, a vision of you in the pathway had taught me that you should never expect others to understand you if you didn't even try to understand them first beforehand. I've treasured those words the other you have said...and now I would see if those words could reach out to the real you too."

 

"You have confused pragmatism with irrational paranoia, your determination to reach your goal is more like a blindness to other methods. The needs of many? What do you think they need?"

 

As the Excalibur beam continued, Gemini and Neos went on to form a barrier before everyone else, protecting them from the blast for the time being. Reimu could notice that the beam had slowly been changing in color - Gemini's color. At first Reimu was unsure whether she could take on the beam head-on, but with Gemini and Neos there taking it over slowly, she gained more confidence, something that was soon helped by the appearance of Hapshiel tanking the beam along the way. Though...that could create some-

 

"...I am fine. Just this once, I will be strong. Let's fight on his side, Reimu."

 

"If that is what you wished then."

 

With the sword's approval, Reimu shifted away from reality for a moment to reappear on Hapshiel's side. Scarlet temperaments, formed by the leaking emotions from everyone on the pathway had been gathered on the sword she was holding. Floating slightly, she let go of the sword from her hand, which started to spin before her.

 

"Hapshiel, right? I'll assist you now."

 

"Yes...we shall assist you. Revolution: Change Air Blade!"

 

A beam of scarlet light shot out from the sword, building off from the efforts done by Hapshiel, Gemini and Neos. The temperaments went on to analyze the Excalibur beam, and as if it was a virus, used the information it gained to eat up the golden light, turning it crimson as the force continued to push it back at Arturia.

 

"I've promised this to the other you before, Lady Arturia. I will forge my own path, and create a better future for everyone here even if you were to stand in my way. I will fulfill my promise now, if you don't mind it. After all, you're still my idol even now. It hurts to not be able to fight on your side, but there is something even more important than that for me now."

 

---

 

So she lied just out of convenience? That response irked Kazuya more than it should. That felt like what Naoya would say. No, he's convinced that it's pretty much what Naoya did back then to some of them. With the beams being handled by the people before him, Kazuya decided to start up his COMP and quickly went through his compendium and fusion program, before invoking the name of demon he summoned.

"Come forth, Hero Jeanne D'arc!"
 

From the magic circle before him, a blonde-haired maiden rose up. Decked in white and greyish attire and armor and with a peculiar headress on her head, she was holding a large banner on her hand. It seemed that once again, being close to Origin had changed the result of his summoning. Kazuya nevertheless smiled, and after going through her available skills, he ordered the Saint to use one of them.

"Here's the work of the Lord. My flag, defend our brethrens!
 

Luminosité Eternelle!"

 

It was, for the most part, as if God had given his protection to everyone. Jeanne raised her banner and a golden light swept across everyone fighting Arturia, granting them temporary protection and healing factor. As the case with the demons Kazuya summoned using this new COMP, Jeanne disappeared into light after she used the skill.

 

"If you're convinced that you are in the right Arturia, then prove your conviction here by facing all of us. Whoever is left standing is the one worthy to decide the fate of the Key, right?"

 

---

[Reinforce]

Noticing Arturia's step backwards, Darcy followed suit, moving to the end of the hallway so she could avoid whatever it was Arturia was about to unleash. It was only moments after she'd finished moving that the wind barrier started up and separated Arturia from the combined group of warriors fighting against her, with Darcy thankfully on the other side of the barrier to the group. As the Counter Guardian charged up and swung her blade, Darcy took aim at the stationery target, waiting for her to be right in the middle of concentrating on the massive blast of light to shoot. With her invisibility breaking as she focused on attacking, a line of fire jetted out from her hand, magic resistant flames aiming directly for Arturia's head. Anticipating a counterattack, she vanished again an instant later, leaving an illusory copy in her place as she quickly moved up to the ceiling of the room, readying a short-ranged teleport for behind the barrier thrown up by the group in case her initial deception didn't work.

 

---

 

Cursing her lack of barrier magic, Ayame flung herself forwards to the front of the group, calling on the fragments of knowledge and power she'd retained from her ordeals with the Shadow Realm. Slipping past the barrier as a bolt of lightning, she reformed herself on the other side and thrust a hand forward, calling a wave of shadows to rush forward from her hand to devour the beam of light where it touched. Ayame wasn't the only one cursing a lack of helpful barrier magic either, with Chandra annoyed at the huge beam of light taking up the whole corridor in front of them. Waving her hand, she funneled magic out of her lands to cast some enchantments, deciding to at least make use of the wait time to boost her damage output. In turn, Pyromancer Ascension and Harness the Storm formed around her, seeming increasing the level of fire radiating around her body before adding a crackling of lightning to the forming aura.

[Love of Ghibli]

Team Dorian: Hallway of Origin

 

At last the wench had revealed her true colors and launched a massive blast of energy at the united forces of Anti-Arthuria. The attack of Excalibur was definitely to be feared but it seemed like everyone was about that life. They noticed how one boy put up a wind barrier on some of the participants and Red Dragon aura shielded some others. However none was more noticeable than the angel with the help of the shrine maidens were able to bounce Arthuria's attack back. 

 

Butlerok waved his hand and made a scooping motion and a tentacle of black blood shot from his back and proceeded to arc over the the battlefield before scattering into a series of floating droplets in the air. With this Butlerok now had eyes literally over the battlefield. If she was the type to hide she wouldn't be able to hide from his eyes. Dorian looked on as how Arthuria was buckling under the weight of her own attack. She must've used up a portion of her energy in her battle with the Yokai. How many attacks of this degree can she throw out. 

Dorian looked at Butlerok who returned with a smirk. From his feet Black Blood started to flow like a pool and paint the floors of the Hallways black. The eyes of the Kishin started to open and everywhere along the floor turning this once pristine place into quite the occult theatre. 

[Kingdom Xathers]

Bearing witness to Red’s own determination and ferocity, Alister took his turn to take action. “Alexander,” the General barked in a tone that was second nature to him, “you, Atsuko and Gabriel set up whatever defenses you can, then I need you to join Red and the others in their counterattack.”

“Ah--right,” Alexander nodded, urgency now driving him as he pulled out a card binder from his satchel. “Gabe! Can I trust you to--?”

Before Alexander have even begun his question, Gabriel transmuted the lion plushie in his hand into a Duel Disk, quickly strapping it to his left arm. “Way ahead of you, Alex,” he said as he pulled out his own cards, with Atsuko doing the same.

“Good, then you’re gonna need these. Good luck, and keep Atsuko safe,” Alex replied, tossing a few select cards towards Gabriel for the Luchador Alchemist to use before going off to join his fellow Counter Corps in their counter assault.

“Bayonetta. Jeanne. Ratchet. I need you three to hold your ground,” Alister continued issuing commands. “You’ll need to be prepared in case Arturia’s attack either breaks through our offense, or falls to it.”

“You got it, Al,” Ratchet nodded as he and Clank prepared themselves alongside the Umbra Witches for whatever may come next. “What about you, though?”

Alister’s furrowed brow creased further, determination blazing in his own eyes. “I’ll be joining the frontline in their attack, as well.”

“Wha-wait, but how’re you--?!”

“I’ve got my own methods, Ratchet. Don’t worry about me… too much, at least,” Alister interrupted, adding the last bit with some admittance before turning to join the other Counter Corps, this being Ratchet’s cue to cease his protests. As the General approached the frontline, he spun the Z-Wrench above his head with a dramatic, almost regal flourish, stopping to hold his weapon in both hands, parallel to the ground. “Bergentrückung!” he declared in a deep, booming voice, which was answered by a resounding THOOM! as the Z-Wrench was forcibly changed into a dual-ended OmniWrench/Trident combo--Aligore Azimurr’s weapon.

“It was not we who have abandoned you, Arturia,” Alister called out over the sound of the clashing attacks, his voice resonating with an astonishingly royal baritone. If one were to pay close attention to him at this time, one could see a larger, horned silhouette loom over the General, with a pair of heterochromic eyes--one blue, one orange--leering in Arturia’s direction. “Nay, the moment you had voiced your intent to betray your own troops and the Multiverse we swore to protect and restore was the moment you had marked yourself a treasonous despot!” As he was speaking, Alister had been preparing an attack within his Praetorian OmniTrident, which radiated with a vibrant fervor. “We would have followed you to the ends of the Multiverse if it meant saving it from destruction… but now, as you’ve proven yourself a threat to existence itself, you shall face the full might of our Revolution!!” A spiraling inferno streamed out of both ends of the OmniTrident, joining the other attacks of the Counter Corps as it struck against Arturia’s own assault.

“We, who walk alongside Daemons,” Alexander recited alongside Umbris, both giving a rather flashy performance as they conjured their own attack, “herein call upon the highest Fallen One to grant to us his original power!”

(“Wait, are they invoking who I think they’re--?!!” Bayonetta gasped, a rare expression of disbelief flashing across her face.)

(“If they are, they’ve got major balls,” Jeanne replied. “That, and/or a death wish.”)

Granted, the invocation was mostly for show, but nonetheless the Lombax and Neo-Spacian now had an attack to commit to: “Now, by thy rising light, we become the beacon from which your might shines forth!” Clasping each other’s hands above their heads, Alexander and Umbris drew upon numerous energies from all around them within their clasped grasp, the various lights encircling them and streaking like stars shooting through the morning sky.

“MORNINGSTAR!!!”

The pair put their combined powers into a blinding, holy radiance which burst out like a cannon from their raised hands, impacting against Arturia’s attack with a thunderous crash.

[Merci]

~ Arturia Pendragon ~
Hallway of Origin


Her sword shone - the embodiment of a dream that all warriors scattered in battle, past, present, and future, held and mournfully exalted as their final moments approached. Her duty was to carry their will as her pride, bidding them to remain steadfast in their loyalty. And yet here it was, shattering their very dreams.
 
Following through with an enormous beam of blazing light, the undefeated king sung aloud the name of the miracle she held in her hand. Its name - Excalibur. The Sword of Promised Victory. A sword who knew no survivors.
 

~ Excalibur (Absolute Slash Mix) ~

 

And yet, the greatest of warriors held true to their dreams, even as it was physically turned into a weapon of destruction against them, with enough strength to annihilate their lives tenfold. With a mixture of disbelief and amazement, Arturia bore witness to a greater miracle unfolding before her very eyes.
 
"You know, in regards to the Key, you and I actually see eye-to-eye on the fact that the Key should be destroyed, even if it is for different reasons... Arceus-damn, if it wasn't for the fact that this very place was used to create my counterpart's world, I would even say to raze the entire Pathway to the ground, but I don't feel like inflicting self-destruction by doing that...that and I would have at least been nice enough to hit the 'undo' first. Kind of says something when a supposed 'villain' is kinder than the one that's supposed to be the hero... You don't know the extent of my corrison, do you, m'dear?" 
 
That would've been nice to know, demon... And yet, you still chose to defy me? Clearly, your morals shapeshift as often as your body!

Being the first to react, the shapeshifters Neos and Gemini combined their energies to weave a wall of purple aura, light and dark turning into a corrosive force. It latched onto the the beam of gold from the mighty Excalibur, attempting to overcome its bright gold shine with a parasitic dark red and purple, concentrated red at the edges to prevent damaging the walls. it was a genuinely effective attempt, corroding much of the holy energy that it was composed of. Yet the sheer scale of it was driving back the corrosiveness, and it was pushing on with too much strength to stop even if it was fully corroded, the purple itself driven out by a purer white-

"I'm sorry. I feel horrible that it's come down to this...maybe it's because you are incapable of seeing how things are connected to one another, but what you are doing...you run the risk of not only self-destruction of the Omniverse, but also of the Throne of Heroes, and several other places and concepts you may think untouchable by the events that happen here."
 
As Neos spoke, his neon-green eyes met her blue eyes through a wall of purple. The fierce determination of a true knight in his eyes, along with tears. Even though she couldn't see him, she could picture those eyes with clarity, in fact far more clarity that she would like. The image of a redheaded boy, that of Emiya Shirou, briefly crossed her mind, but it was shoved away just as quickly. Damn that Ditto. If only she'd succeeded in killing him during their prior battle!
 
"To think, in a different timeline and reality, we could have been great allies...or even friends."

Shut up. You... You're too late!
 
Nero stepped forward, as if to follow through with Neos's words. "Y-You...you idiot... Is that what you think a "king" does? If so...then you have no clue what a king is. A true king...doesn't just kill to protect those they care for! They rule justly...they put the needs of their people first...and they put their own life on the line just to make sure their people are protected! Your image of a king....your image of royalty... It's an image of anything else BUT a king! AEROGA!!!" 

 
The Divine Remnant was replaced with... the X-Blade? How on earth did the Keyblade Warrior receive that? The legendary weapon appeared and entered his grasp. As he spun it around, dense barriers of wind manifested around both him as well as many of the others, not limiting itself to the Counter Corps alone.
 
"We've come this far...not to fall into the oblivion that you've condemned us to!"
 
Nero, you...should know war! You should KNOW the sacrifices that have to be made!

Moving to position himself next to the aura duo, the dragonoid sorcerer Red threw his staff away in favour of what appeared to be the Light Gem, uttering a magic chant that generated a layer of rainbow energy. It joined the purple wall, further attempting to wear away the ferocity of the oncoming blast. Recognizing him from the data gathered in the Sphere Forest. How ironic it was, that an unconventional dragon would oppose another - due to Arturia's enhanced hearing and control over air, she barely caught the words he spat venomously under his breath.
 
"I will NEVER bow to a king with no loyalty for their subjects."
 
How hypocritical of you, you sham of an Elder-

This thought was interrupted when, to her shock, the angelic entity Hapshiel jumped straight at the destructive wall of light. His strength, his endurance and his - purity?! - grabbed hold of the oncoming storm. And then as he took a step forward, he actually pushed it back. Yet the fact that he was capable of this at all was unthinkable. With his body alone, he was greatly slowing down the giant beam - even for a Divine Spirit, his tenacity was ridiculous on another level altogether. For a second, a tinge of fear passed across Arturia as he continued to push it back... However, it wasn't enough. Even as he took steps forward, the sheer amount of power it was emitting was apparent, causing his feet to slide back. Very soon, it would push everyone to the very edges of the Hallway and overwhelm them. No matter how strong he was, or even if he himself could survive this blast of light, the most he could do for the others was was buy them a little time!
 
Hapshiel... You are an angel of the highest caliber. However, it was your misfortune that you should meet me! As Arturia thought this, she pictured the spear Rhongomyniad - the godkiller that her sword could transform into. Even if he were to survive this when none of the others could, she had a method to end his long life.
 
Just as she thought so, the Shrine Maiden Reimu materialized next to the angel's side, at the very point blank of the ultimate blast. Wielding the Sword of Hisou, the lingering emotions of the people present gathered together the energy present like a far inferior version of Excalibur's own ability.
 
"Lady Arturia. Even if it was not from the real you, a vision of you in the pathway had taught me that you should never expect others to understand you if you didn't even try to understand them first beforehand. I've treasured those words the other you have said...and now I would see if those words could reach out to the real you too."

 

Oh, the sword was talking? There was a hint of familiarity from it, as if she should know who it was, but being in the middle of unleashing one's ultimate attack meant that she couldn't spent much time in figuring out an answer to it.

 

"You have confused pragmatism with irrational paranoia, your determination to reach your goal is more like a blindness to other methods. The needs of many? What do you think they need?"

 

In the face of both of these comments, the king thought back to a certain discussion with a king of conquerors long ago, which made her drive the idea of it away. She wasn't blind; if anything, she saw clearer than they did!

 "Revolution: Change Air Blade!"

Floating slightly, Reimu let go of the sword from her hand, which started to spin before her. From there, she fired a beam of scarlet light, it appeared to be similarly corrosive as Neos's and Gemini's attack was, consuming the radiant light from the purpler-gold beam and forcing it to turn even more crimson. For a moment, it pushed the attack back, but Excalibur soon regained its momentum and continued to force back its many oppressors as an unstoppable wall, even physically driving Hapshiel and the Blade of Hisou backwards who ought to be yet resisted obliteration.

"I've promised this to the other you before, Lady Arturia. I will forge my own path, and create a better future for everyone here even if you were to stand in my way. I will fulfill my promise now, if you don't mind it. After all, you're still my idol even now. It hurts to not be able to fight on your side, but there is something even more important than that for me now."
 
Whatever you two are talking about... Arturia bit her lip, continuing to maintain her own hold of Excalibur even as it threatened to dissipate in the face of so many interferences. This effort will make you accomplish nothing in the end!
 
"Come forth, Hero Jeanne D'arc!"

Kazuya joined in next, using a magic circle to bring an armoured maiden wielding a large banner.

"Here's the work of the Lord. My flag, defend our brethrens! Luminosité Eternelle!"

Another act of divine providence, the summoned pseudo-Divine Spirit emitted a light that scattered across the battlefield, further enhancing the defenses that Nero's wind barrier had set up, before the woman herself disappeared.

"If you're convinced that you are in the right Arturia, then prove your conviction here by facing all of us. Whoever is left standing is the one worthy to decide the fate of the Key, right?"

 

Arturia clenched her hands around the blade Excalibur at that. Don't be ridiculous. NO ONE is worthy of such a right!

 

The traitor Ayame lashed out with a wave of shadows, negating the pure light of Excalibur's blast, joining in with the rest of the attempts to push it further backwards as well as wear it out - it seemed that she was still capable of drawing on energy from the Shadow Realm. This was joined by a lightning strike from Chandra, which finally made the oncoming wall come to a halt.

 

You don't know when to give up, do you lot?

 

As the golden blast was closing to a halt, the Butler-Ragnarok entity scattered droplets of Black Blood across the air, ensuring that Arturia's Invisible Air would have little effect from that point onwards. Not only that, but more Black Blood washed over the floor of the Hallway until its pure colour had been layered over by an unsightly occult black. The battlefield was now their turf, and her knowledge of Dorian's companion - deriving from Emiya's former memory of battling them - kept her onguard. Who knew how much more powerful that creature had become?

 

What a disgusting pair-

 

“Bergentrückung!” ...wait, what? She was surprised as Alister suddenly lunged forward, his weapon transforming into a trident hybrid that, in fact, resembled the weapon of a far-away mountain king. Over the roaring sound of Excalibur and the various attacks clashing against it, he yelled, “It was not we who have abandoned you, Arturia. Nay, the moment you had voiced your intent to betray your own troops and the Multiverse we swore to protect and restore was the moment you had marked yourself a treasonous despot!"

 

Why... He'd only been a temporary general, so why did his voice possess an elegant royalty to it that the others lacked?  Somehow, even though she defied his words in all its entirety, she found herself unable to hate this former - even if it were not his own, the kingship in his heart allowed her to acknowledge his words.

 

"We would have followed you to the ends of the Multiverse if it meant saving it from destruction… but now, as you’ve proven yourself a threat to existence itself, you shall face the full might of our Revolution!!”

 

A spiraling inferno streamed out of both ends of the unusual weapon Alister wielded, striking against the kingly assault next to the various attempts of the others, pushing it back even further. And this time, even as the huge beam's momentum recovered to push it forward - it found that it was no longer able to advance.

 

"Tough words, General!" Arturia screamed out from the other side of the beam. "I've crushed revolutions before, and I SHALL DO SO AGAIN!"

 

However, even as she pushed onwards, the combined efforts of Neos, Gemini, Red, Reimu, Hapshiel, Ayame, Chandra, and Alister were finally beginning to actually wear the beam out, as its light started to dwindle, although they had to maintain using all of their energy just to keep it at bay. It seemed that not a single one of her now-enemies had chosen to stand down, even after witnessing the might of Excalibur in all its shining glory. Had the Pathways trained them to fully maximize their determination to survive, or had they always possessed such conviction, which she'd been blind to as the leader?

 

No matter. Right now, all she cared about was holding on. Her body was shaking from the utter duress that she was placing upon it, and it would have long since collapsed by now if Avalon wasn't constantly at work healing her snapping muscles. If she could hold out until fatigue overcame them, then they would be immediately overwhelmed, barrier or no barrier. Yes, she was almost certain that she could hold on. In fact, she was confident that she could maintain this level of intensity for many minutes to come-

 

“We, who walk alongside Daemons, herein call upon the highest Fallen One to grant to us his original power!” Then Alister and Umbris rushed forth, invoking what appeared to be an attack as they clasped their hands together and gathered around all the surrounding energies with effectiveness that was equal to if not surpassing the Sword of Hisou. “Now, by thy rising light, we become the beacon from which your might shines forth!” Surrounded by lights, as if emulating Excalibur, they yelled out,  

 

“MORNINGSTAR!!!”

 

A holy cannon of demonic light blasted towards Excalibur's own heroic light, violently crashing into it above the various warriors who were pushing it back on the floor. The air was filled with the extremely high noise of thunderous crashing, and the attack itself was such that Arturia's beam was not only being pushed back, but stayed being pushed back.

 

Further,

 

and further,

 

and further,

 

Arturia was forced to take steps backwards to prevent stumbling over or being overcome by her own attack, still maintaining the attack despite the fact that it was now moving in her direction.

 

As she struggled with all of her concentration centered on the matter, that was when the dark fairy of the Divine opted to strike. Having been invisible since the start, Darcy had stayed close to the King of Knight's side, and ultimately chose this opportunity to fire a line of magic-resistant flames directly at Arturia's head. It had been such a straightforward move, yet brilliant in its simplicity. Having not even remotely considered this possibility, the former Counter Guardian was caught off-guard as the dark inferno blazed her from point blank range. 

 

"G- g- gaaAAAAAaaaaaaahhhHHHHH---!!!"

 

It set alight her hair and spread immediately to her skin, and eyes and mouth and ears and burned through that and it was hot and her mind was going fuzzy and her head would have immediately melted were it not for the fact that she was part-dragon, granting her some inherent immunity to flames of all kind, as well as her natural heritage that provided her with resistance against magic. Yet even her Dragon Factor and Magic Resistance wasn't about to stop the fact that she was genuinely burning alive by her head.

 

The scream that barely escaped her mouth was cut off as she regained her composure, even amidst the extremely boiling temperature that threatened to shut down her brain. Taking control of the wind around her with what little remained of her consciousness, she created a vacuum around her head that doused the fire in an instant - however, it had left a very clear, gory impact. 

 

Parts of her head where she'd been assaulted had melted off, as had a majority of her hair and nearly all her skin, the peeled off bits showing an fleshy bloodshot redness mixed with wholly charred black, with a section of her left side even showing whiteness. It was her skull, apparently dense enough to keep flames from entering all by itself. Her left eye did not share that trait however, completely blind with darkened sclera, and her right eye was a bloodshot red. No one saw this sight except for Darcy, who was on the other side of the wall of light. And even she only saw it for a matter of seconds - she witnessed flesh regenerating from bone, and skin regenerating from flesh, growing outwards akin to a flower exploding into bloom.

 

In five seconds the damage that she had left was gone. In its place a fully fleshed out human...with a horribly scary glare on her face.

 

"Have we met before...?"

 

This was the speed at which Avalon could heal her injuries.

 

"Ah, yes... Did you honestly believe you of all people would have a chance against me?" Arturia spoke sharply, making no attempt to conceal her utter fury at this overly underhanded move, at almost being defeated, and in a manner that would have been utterly humiliating at that! While maintaining her control over the ginormous of light, even as it edged closer towards her, her body started emitting large amounts of wind that covered her half of the Hallway, the Invisible Air sweeping past everything nearby. She visibly locked her eyes onto the illusory copy of Darcy, seething with immense rage.

 

There was actually something rather karmic about this. How long ago now had it been? The very first thing she had done when summoned by the Throne of Heroes was use Invisible Air to take that Divine member off-guard, snatching it from her hands before she could put up any form of resistance. And now, it seemed as though she had come back to return the favour... What a terrible mistake that would be.

 

Moving her head towards the fairy, she opened her mouth wide and used her Dragon Breath to unleash a ball of flames packing a significant amount of strength that hurtled at her target, seemingly with the intent of incinerating Darcy.

 

 

 

 

"You shall pay the price."

 

However, as it turned out, that was only a diversion.

 

Having figured out where the invisible Darcy was from the air that had been blowing across her side of the barrier, her eyes looked up at the ceiling, releasing one of her armoured hands off from Excalibur. Then, the air tightened, using Invisible Air, the wind magic under her complete control, to form a vacuum that promptly sucked the enemy downwards. Darcy was smashed onto the ground, and then yanked up by her head with a heavy metal gauntlet. From there, Invisible Air blew onto the sorceress from all directions, exerting tremendous pressure that not only prevented her limbs from moving, but also threatened to crush her physically frail body by the pressure alone.

 

Whether they were human or not, Arturia had far too much experience with casters, as well as their lack of physical strength. As she knew too well, there was one simple way around their incantations and castings - inflict so much pain on them that they wouldn't be able to focus. She grasped onto Darcy's own skull, karmically digged her fingers in until blood seeped out, and smashed her head against the floor a few more times solely to ensure that she wouldn't be able to focus on a teleportation spell. And then, a gripping feeling invaded Darcy's mind, something that the being ought to be dreadfully familiar with at this point. 

 

I t w a s a m i n d r a p e.

 

On the same strength as LERNA's had some time ago, although instead of despair, it was light-attributed. A violent, traitorous light whose purpose was supposed to gently take a little to represent a greater good, yet was here salvaging every last scrap it could reach at. An intimate bond had been established between her and the blade, which overflowed her existence with a merciless, blinding light. It crashed through the defenses of her mind without remorse, rummaging through her feelings and memories to suck out her emotions... No. Her very soul.

 

Before her eyes, golden wisps were shooting out of her chest to fuel Arturia's golden blade, draining all of her emotions and energy as it did so. Every dream she'd had, every hope of victory, and every little glimpse of happiness was fading away. To compare to another series, it was akin to being targeted by a Dementor.

 

Keeping her on her knees, the former King of Britain held the Divine's head against Excalibur's boiling hot hilt, as if she didn't even consider it a living being, or worthy of any of the compassion she'd at least shown the Counter Corps. Any sign of physical resistance or regaining full consciousness, she would return by thrusting her head into the hilt to inflict even more pain and possible concussions, uncaring of whether she may break any part of the woman, crack her skull, wreck her brain, or anything of the sort. This was the cruel treatment of a prisoner.

 

Excalibur was supposed to be a weapon that drew on small amounts of emotion from everyone. Even so, there was theoretically nothing stopping it from drawing all of its energy from a single entity. Everything that defined Darcy was being sucked dry in a distorted mana ritual to fuel the ultimate holy attack.

 

...

 

Apart from those at the forefront, who may have been able to glimpse through the sheer golden light, most of the warriors on the other side would not have witnessed this occur. However, those who saw past the immense energy being emitted by the golden blade and detected an energy signature on the other side that wasn't Arturia's, would recognize Darcy - and her rapidly depleting aura.

 

Excalibur's glow, which had formerly dimmed, had reignited. Although the method was so much against her normal morals, and perhaps even something the Throne of Heroes may have been repulsed by, she'd been backed into a corner. Satisfied with this convenient new supply, she regained her footing, and pushed back.

 

"HAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

 

As the Excalibur blast had almost neared Arturia's position, having turned a magenta colour from the combined purple-crimson corruption, it suddenly started to resist with an almost surprising superior force, pushing back at everyone with rejuvenated momentum. Clearing away most of the foreign corruption from Neos, Gemini, and Reimu with newly-radiant gold light, the wall of armageddon started moving forward again, throwing back Hapshiel's body as well as the various combined attacks of the others -  Red, Ayame, Chandra, Alister, as well as Alexander & Umbris - who may have been taken off-guard by the sudden intensity.

 

Even though Darcy may not even last a minute before expiration, everyone would be overwhelmed by the destructive light of Excalibur in the next ten seconds if no one else stepped in to help-

 

...

 

As it did so, the Excaliblast temporarily lost its form before solidifying - smaller beams of light broke off, escaping the clashing attacks and scattering across the battlefield. It threatened to hit several people - including Byakuya, Bayonetta, Neos, Yachiru, Dorian, Revy, and Jace. The barriers of wind and light, cast by Nero and Kazuya, were just powerful enough to prevent immediate obliteration, but each stray blast still had more than enough energy to seriously injure their target...!

[Love of Ghibli]

Team Dorian: Hallway of Origin

Amazed at the Kings vigor and the minor success of the other remaining Divine member, Dorian looked on as Arthuria's attack broke off into smaller portions. Dorian noticed immediately that these beams would take out combatants weaker than himself and probably himself included but he did not look too worried. He once again looked up at Butlerok and the Kishin immediately sprung into action. The frantic eyes that now become the floor of the Hallways of Origin started to frantically look around. Within seconds all of the combatants bar Hapshiel, Rhadamanthys, Kratos, Butlerok and Kenpachi were covered in a super thick Borg that would shield them from harm.

 

While that in and of itself was a quick fix to the situation. Below the Counter Guardians feet a couple of the eyes lined up to make a smile. These eyes then opened themselves like mouth in a complete display of madness and depravity. Of course like any mouth they would start to speak. 

BAN...KAI.was all they said which would be barely audible with all of the noise of the battle going on but behind Arthuria the king would see pillars of fire arise from behind her. Zanka No Tachi, Minami: Kaka Jumanokushi Daisojin. From the creeping ooze that was the Black Blood, black corpses arose died in black blood and the same eyes that were on the floor. They then caught fire and proceeded to make a slow march upon the kings flank! The stopped for a second and parted and walking through them was Butlerok...or a second Butlerok so to speak. If Arthuria look back to where Dorian was she would see that tall figure next to Dorian melt in more liquid that would paint the Hallways.

What a powerful magic you have at your disposal. Butlerok added as he looked on at the King with the Alpha Stigma in two of his five eyes. Its regenerative properties are almost instantaneous. We can see why you were chosen in position of leadership. I fought the other Counter Guardian before. Did you know that? I don't think I could've won at the time, but I have picked up a lot of new skills since then. Please, would you so kindly...fall into madness. Butlerok raised his hand like a general signalling to attack. The zombie horde charged at Arthuria who unbeknownst to her were already primed with Rukh ready to explode like claymore mines once they made contact with her. 

Dorian on the other hand chose to wait for his time to strike. With his use of Cosmos he could see what was going on with the other member of the Divine so while the King was busy dealing with Butlerok he would attempt to fly and save Darcy before it was too late.

Rhadamanthys was annoyed with the thought of all these other powerful entities coming in and trying to take his glory. But this was not the time to be selfish. It was time to press the attack. Rhadamanthys took flight directly at Arthuria smacking away the stray Excalibur beams with his sword. When got within swinging range he took a swing of his sword and launched an attack on Arthuria similar to her initial attack on the group.

 

PEERRRRRIIISSSHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

The fact that Butlerok and his horde would get his too...meh oversights happen.