Chapter 24: Battle Of La Charite
"Ho! And why are you all the way up there?" It was Vlad III who spoke. His initial thoughts about Mars were meager right now.
"I never thought a worm was possible of speech. Even if you're a famous figure in history, your time has passed. As such, I will make sure you stay dead, not even the Throne Of Heroes will want to summon you in our presence."
"Tch-"
"You heard the Master, let's strike them down!" Atalanta was the one to back up Mars. She was also getting tired of the stillness that presented itself.
"I'll handle the Berserker and Dragon Witch! Jeanne. This is also your fight. I'll need your help," Mars began as everyone went to attack one another.
"Of course!"
Jeanne Alter stood there with her brows twitching. Her eyes were solely on Mars, who stared back. It is like a blood moon meeting the yellow horizon. Jeanne Alter was absolutely furious, so much so she didn't care about her other self.
Just Mars.
"That's a lot of hate in those eyes…should I call you Faker?" Mars's voice flew in the air like a speeding bullet, striking Jeanne Alter unexpectedly.
"...Faker? Heh…you're one to talk. Do you think you're the only one who wasn't peeping through visions?" She retorted with her furious demeanor subsiding.
"Huh?"
"Master?" Jeanne asked curiously as she turned her attention to Mars, her violet eyes told unspoken words.
"I see. So those visions were a two-way street," Mars understood the situation and how much Jeanne Alter knew. It was possible she was aware of Chaldea from the start.
"Exactly. Why do you think I summoned Berserker? I was not stupid enough not to find a counter for you. Although I couldn't summon them in their human body, this would still suffice. As much as I want to fight you, I wish to know something about my…pathetic self."
Mars's golden runes never disappeared. He could tell Jeanne Alter was serious about everything. It was the only possible way for…Enkidu to be summoned, it couldn't have been a simple coincidence.
Jeanne shook her head. She was strong, and her Master believed in her. She may be a fresh Servant, but she needed to know what Jeanne Alter was doing. What was her reason for so much chaos and anarchy? Jeanne would never do such a thing.
"Are you truly Jeanne D'Arc?"
Jeanne Alter blinked stupidly, with Enkidu behind her, waiting for a command. "I can't believe it. I'm appalled. I am Jeanne D'Arc. Who else can I be?"
Jeanne swallowed her saliva as her violet eyes gazed at Mars, who was waiting patiently for this conversation to end. The sound of battle in the distance filled the emptiness in the air.
"I don't understand why you'd do all this. If you're truly Jeanne D'Arc, you wouldn't think about harming France. Not in such a manner like this!"
"Tch, how repulsive. You claim to be Jeanne D'Arc, the very same as me, yet still love the country that sold us off, spat on us, and put us at the stake. How disgusting. I see now. You're leftover residue. You're limited, right? You can't even use any of your skills."
Mars hummed. "You're right. She's weak."
"Oh…"
"However, as far as I can tell, if she wasn't held back. You'd stand no chance, Jalter....I can call you that, right?"
Jalter furrowed her brows. Her anger was beginning to boil, like a cauldron top ready to keel over and spill its toxic contents.
"No matter. Mars, I won't be dealing with you. I doubt you'll survive the battle with your friend here," Jalter turned her head to the beastly Enkidu. Her shining amber eyes stared at it briefly before she closed them.
"Thanks to you, I learned of its name, Enkidu, the Chain Of Heaven. How ironic it was summoned by someone who scorns God…perhaps Enkidu scorns them too. It could explain this appearance," Jalter's tone remained malicious, with a hint of mirth.
"I see. Very well," Mars turned his head to Jeanne. "Can you hold off Jalter?"
"To give her a name…"
"Even if she is…you, I can't also call her Jeanne. That belongs to you."
"I…"
"There is no guarantee I can defeat Enkidu. After all, I'm not Gilgamesh. In essence, I'm also a faker, but a faker worthy of using the original power. My confidence is all I need. Jeanne, can you say the same?"
Jeanne remained quiet. Everything around her went mute as she tried to come up with an answer. Jeanne's eyes locked with Jalter, and a chord struck within her. Jeanne could see that her other self was…vengeful, but beyond that veil was a country girl.
<i>Like her.</i>
"I can do it! If I can save her, then that means I save myself, right?"
"Of course!"
"Ugh, honestly, I might puke. You knew me longer than her, yet treat her with such care. It's sickening."
Mars blinked. "Are you…jealous?"
"Tch! Alright, Berserker, you can finally accomplish your mission and kill this bastard!"
Berserker opened its jaw and bellowed, shaking the ground with the ferociousness of a raging herd of buffaloes and a shout as loud as thunder.
Berserker leaped forward, Its towering size with its frightening speed was a deadly combo to have, and with Mars being a Caster, he needed to be two steps ahead to avoid any serious damage. However, this was Enkidu, a creation of the Gods! How could he win?
"Master! Stop worrying. If that is truly Gilgamesh's friend, then you can save him! And I'll save Jalter!"
Mars shook his head frantically as he regained his resolve. Berserker was closing in, but thanks to Mars's Red Carpet, he could fly around the large hands that would squash him. Berserker crashed into the ground, kicking up dust as it quickly recovered and brought its hands back with a mighty resounding shout. Mars looked around him, Golden ripples opened, and chains shot out of them.
These chains looked brown and rustic, as if they decayed. Mars felt deep disappointment from within. It was clear these chains represented Enkidu's tainted state. There was no way they could've been summoned like that, perhaps Jalter pulled some strings, but even she sounded surprised when she talked about how he was summoned.
With no words said, the Red Carpet began to dodge the chains. Some of them grazed his body, while others completely missed. He could only wear a strained face as he could feel his body grow heavy when these chains touched his body like a 500-ton weight just dropped on his back.
Mars dodged for another minute before waving his left hand from side to side. A brilliant ripple of gold appeared beside him just as the beastly Enkidu leaped after him with incredible speed. A sword came out of it, but it wasn't purely a sword made of traditional steel, but of pure magic, and as such, it wouldn't affect Mars's own mana pool.
The sword had a vibrant green color. It wasn't anything worth noting except for its properties. A looming shadow covered Mars. Enkidu made a massive leap, which was predictable in this case. The sword shot from the golden ripple, piercing through Enkidu's outstretched hand.
Suddenly, a burst of light flared, blocking Mars's vision, followed by a heavy thud. Mars looked down to see that the sword disappeared, but it left a mark or rune on Enkidu's large hand. His body was being affected by some time dilation or gravity shift.
Mars would have to thank Morgan Le Fae for such an ability.
.
.
.
The sound of metal echoed, the chorus of a battle of swords or, in this case, flags. One swung with grace and elegance, while the other abandoned all of that for hatred and power. It was two sides of a coin.
"You're better than I initially thought," Jalter couldn't help but admit to her pure self. It gave her stomach a wretched feeling to compliment her old self.
"I don't know If I would like to take that as a compliment from you," Jeanne responded, having learned how Jalter is a rather sarcastic individual.
Jalter's flag pushed Jeanne to the side, allowing her to remove one hand to grab a black blade from her waist. Jeanne seeing this new action, brought up her silver gauntlet and blocked the black blade from stabbing into her chest, rearing it off course to allow Jeanne to kick Jalter in her stomach.
The two Jeannes continued their fight before a golden ripple appeared below Jalter.
"What?"
Jeanne remained unperturbed by this mysterious green light, but Jalter wasn't so lucky. She looked back to see a similar action happening to Enkidu, yet Mars wasn't paying them any attention. He was still worried about her safety despite fighting against someone else.
Despite the situation, her heart fluttered a bit.
"That damn bastard. Does he think he can fight someone else and meddle in our fight? I'll burn him!"
Jeanne noticed something from her other self, especially when it came to Mars. It sounded like she was speaking with betrayal and, most of all, pain. Jeanne knew very little, but Mars had told her of the visions he received from Jalter as if they had a spiritual link to one another.
And Jalter could also see visions of Mars. Perhaps Jalter, deep down, thought that Mars understood her and would help her destroy France.
"You need to stop! Obviously, Master doesn't want us to fight longer than we should! Can't we just-"
"Don't you fucking say it. You want to talk, I don't! I want to get rid of you!"
Jeanne felt her instincts kick into high gear and moved her head. A black stake appeared from the ground, the tip of it grazing her cheek, leaving a cut that caused blood to leak out.
Jalter's teeth were clenched, her frustration reaching a new level of potency she didn't even know she had within her. This spell was using a gravity field from what she could decipher, but what caught her eyes was the mark on the gauntlet. She was being affected by this field because Enkidu was.
<i>"Tch, what a bother. He managed to set up a link rune between me and Berserker, and when Berserker was hit by it, I was too…no, perhaps he placed it before…when we were talking. Power is silence, it seems."</i>
Despite the gravity of the situation, Jalter managed to break through the dense shift by burning the pestering rune that had her graveling in front of her other self. She was going to skewer Mars for that.
.
.
.
Enkidu also managed to escape the spell with its sheer power. It would take a lot more than a gravity spell to hold it down. Soon after, more ripples opened, and chains flew at unprecedented speeds. Thankfully, Mars could keep up, his Red Carpet making swoosh sounds, and his spiky hair began to moisten with sweat, causing it to fall down to his shoulders.
Enkidu, despite being under <i>[Madness Enchantment]</i>, was able to strategize, It took Mars a while to notice, but the chains weren't there to attack him, but to keep him from moving freely on Red Carpet. Enkidu wanted a battle on the ground. It seems he possessed some strategic thinking. Perhaps a small part of the Chain Of Heaven was there.
Mars jumped off the Red Carpet, with it floating beside him. It was more sentient than Mars thought.
Enkidu and Mars stared each other down. Crimson met a dull shade of violet. Despite its angered state, its eyes never reflected such burning rage. In fact, it seemed like it was filled with such sadness that tears would spill any moment.
Perhaps Enkidu was in there, just like with Gilgamesh.
<i>"The sword of Morgan Le Fae has more attributes. The three sigils are Mark Of Mind, Body, and Soul. I already used Mark Of Body, which was equal to a gravity field. Soul would make a clone of myself, which I believe would help me here, and Mind would…would work!"</i>
Mars quickly opened up more ripples, Enkidu taking this as an attack, rushed forward. Mars could feel his<i> [Minds Wisdom] </i>activate, allowing for abnormal brainstorming to ensue.
Green light flashed again, halting Enkidu's bull charge, but it would only be a small annoyance. One more sword pointed at Enkidu before it shot out, piercing the halted Enkidu in the abdomen. No blood came from the impaled sword because Enkidu was clay.
"Now, activate!"
The sword turned into a haunting purple as it began to set course in Enkidu, It was a given that they still possessed a mind, and if so, he was capable of experiencing fear. Morgan Le Fae was a crafty individual, the three Sigils on her ordinary sword made up for its lack of uniqueness compared to Caliburn and Excalibur.
.
.
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"I don't understand. What is wrong with this little girl?"
Mash and Percival were fighting against Carmilla and Vlad III. They proved stronger than the norm due to their Madness Enchantment, but thanks to Mash and Percival's training, they could hold their own.
"I believe that annoying man is similar to this one. They're not normal Servants," Vlad III responded, his silver spear twirling in hand.
"So young…and tainted, I see," Carmilla thought distantly. "Perhaps the Saint's blood will suffice."
"Mash, I'll be releasing the seals! Remember the strategy?" Percival muttered to the young lady, who answered with a firm nod, her eyes radiated with determination.
"Good! Let's go!"
Percival's spear made a shattering sound before a red shining light erupted. This caught the two opposing Servants off guard as they felt the immense pressure from the two seals of the spear release.
"Longinus, release! Zero Count!" Percival spun Longinus, the holy spear. Its beguiling red light gave the same amount of color and radiance as a Blood Moon.
"He's activating his Noble Phantasm so early? Impressive," Vlad III couldn't help but admire the sight of the Holy Spear. As a Lancer himself, he was quite enthralled with this Noble Phantasm.
"Unlike you, I rather not experience the full force of it! He's still charging, let's finish it."
Vlad III chuckled. "You're usually the one to play around, but it seems your brain can tell when it's in danger. Fine!"
However, none of them were able to realize that Percival was gone. Only Mash remained, but what shocked them next was that she reared it back before throwing it at them with the expertise of a spearman throwing their weapon.
"Foolish! We can easily dodge that!"
As the shield was avoided, they couldn't help but wonder why she threw it. It was until they heard the sounds of a stampede, no, it was the heavy sound of a rushing stallion. They quickly turned their heads only to see an incoming golden light. It was shaped like a large lance, with the strokes of it being a blood-red color. The pressure was enough to cause Vlad III and Carmilla to stand in their spot, unmoving. They only felt the need to move after the attack struck them.
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<i>AN: Okay, I decided to make this chapter longer, about 2.5k+, so that all the chapters for this week are done. Decided to do a more grounded and strategic fight for Mars and Enkidu, which is not done yet. </i>
<i>So, if you guys don't know, Mars is using SMITE Mages powerset, so in the game, Morgan Le Fae's first ability summons a sword with three properties, I briefly explained them, but the Mark Of Mind causes them to fear. Mark of Body causes a gravity shift, making them slow. And last, Mark Of Soul creates clones. </i>
<i>[Minds Wisdom] is a replacement for Caster Gil's [King's Return]. It causes Mars to strategize at a Supercomputer level. I'm still filling out the stats and abilities as we go. I already finished his Archer stats, need to get his Caster stats down, and then we're done. </i>
<i>I want to say thanks for the Power Stones this week, Thank you all for the support! </i>
<i>Since we're about 24 chapters in the story, here's the Harem so far since I completely forgot to put this down.</i>
- Jeanne D'Arc
- Jalter
- Atalanta
- Nero
- Morgan Le Fae
- Artoria (Lancer Alter)
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SaurianMp4 Thanks for reading! Have a great weekend! :]
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