Beta read and Cowritten by GamerCrusher55 and Shigiya
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-Fullstar-
In the dark and decrepit cesspool of rotten flesh, fresh cadavers and dust-coated bones were not a rarity for him, not even in the past before death claimed him. Death lurked in every corner of those who walk in life, and finding it in any shape or form always carried a meaning and understanding of what could happen in the future.
Even now...
'Doesn't take a genius to find out what happened here.'
With a slight push, Archer opened one of the many doors leading to a cell within the heavy dungeon and was greeted by a wave of foul air that hit him like a physical blow to his being. "Urgh!?"
He immediately covered his nose with the back of his hand. The stench was a coiling cocktail of decay, old blood, and something sickeningly sweet, like rotting fruit — though it was nothing compared to the stench exuding from a strange white and gray sticky gum-like substance sticking to everything in strands.
"I'll take a guess and say this is not a place anyone has ever cleaned before…period."
The dungeon no longer held any prisoners, but it was far from empty. Strange, glistening webs splattered across every corner of the stone walls. Dried pockets of mucus were piled on the ground into several small, sickly yellow hills. There was defecation never cleaned, and fluids never touched, leaving a rancid smell that only made him sicker upon seeing the maggots crawling within.
'The air itself feels greasy… and doesn't seem like a poison or something toxic, so we should be safe; at least not immediately. The hygiene of this place is more than enough to make someone fatally ill.'
Rather than a dungeon where prisoners were kept, this place reminded him of a meat pit where scraps were thrown and consumed by scavengers. The final nail in that coffin was that the remains of several dozen human skeletons could be seen filling the rusted cages across the basement, their bones picked clean and draped in more of the sticky, web-like substance. In some cases, it was as if they were bindings to prevent captors from escaping.
The creeping sounds in the distance hadn't stopped, but nothing had come to eat them just yet, so they explored. Behind him were the three other ladies who wandered the dungeons' depths as well, each taking in the sights with their own emotions. Evelyn, who had been unceremoniously dragged down the stairs, finally stumbled from behind him into the cell. She took just one breath before her face contorted in pure disgust. "It stinks down here!" she gagged, her voice strained as if she was about to vomit at any moment.
The gagging did not help.
"G-Get me out of here! This is not a place for a queen like me to be in!" Her face, usually flushed with arrogance, was now a sickly pale green, and she looked like she might collapse at any moment.
Archer gave her, but a moment's glance before stating what he thought, "The people you locked up in here had to live in this condition for days or from the looks of things longer," Archer stated, his voice flat as he surveyed the grim scene. "Looks like they weren't even treated as actual prisoners, but as waste. I take it, based on your reaction, you were never made aware of this matter, right?"
Though it sounded like an accusation, it wasn't really, as he had a somewhat overall grasp on this bratty queen's personality already. Calling her evil would be wrong compared to some of the other personalities roaming the kingdoms. No, not evil, but her inexperience and emotional personality were problems in their own right.
'Now that I think about it, she is a queen, but I haven't seen or heard about any other member of the royal family… even the castle halls held not a single portrait of any members of the royal family or kings and queens of the past. Even Alicia had such things in Feoh. That's strange, still it's not the main concern at the moment, so I'll table it for later.'
Evelyn tried to argue back at his statement, but a stutter betrayed her uncertainty. "Th-that must have been because... those people were the kind of criminals that could never be forgiven for going against the crown! W-Why would someone going against the crown ever be released again!?"
"You must do better than that, especially since you need to believe it yourself," he countered, turning to face her as she averted his gaze. "You don't sound like you believe your own words. Clearly, there is more going on here under your nose that you are only just now realizing, but even still, you refuse to acknowledge it."
Backed into a corner, her bravado returned in a flash of anger. The blonde elf stomped her foot, the sound echoing loudly and damply in the cavernous room. "That is not the case! I am the ruler, and all subjects follow my order! I am the queen, and what I say goes! Why would I care about the people here?" she shrieked, her voice rising to a fever pitch. "Why would you, of all people, care?!"
To her complete shock, Archer sighed. "I agree, I have no reason to care nor the right to stand on a higher pedestal."
Evelyn did a double-take, her angry expression melting into one of pure bewilderment. "Wh-what? You...you agree with me?"
"You were expecting me to keep arguing with you? I've done so enough times against the other Princess Knights that it has become tiresome. I really have no reason to care about this place, and I've got other shit to do," Archer continued, looking down at her while crossing his arms. "It is not my place to look further into this matter. Unfortunately, I'm forced to do so now, because a place like this just invites more trouble for me in the long run. I wouldn't need to do this had you and the others been better rulers and solved this yourselves…"
"Archer…" He heard Celestine call him out weakly from behind, but he ignored it.
"Honestly, I wish someone more capable were in charge," he said. "You probably won't get this, but sometimes it's easier to just let the people decide."
"What do you mean?"
He paused, then shook his head. "Hah, nothing. Just speaking out of frustration, to bring such a system here wouldn't work. Too many different kingdoms, too many problems already. Dropping something like that on you would just confuse things."
Even if it did catch on, it wouldn't fix everything. Corruption would still exist, just as anywhere else. At best, it would give people a clearer way to deal with it.
"And right now," he added, "that's not even the main issue. I've got bigger problems to deal with than trying to rebuild how this world runs from incompetent rulers."
This made Evelyn's face flush with renewed fury. "You're wrong! I am a good ruler!" she screamed. "Look around at Fullstar! See the kind of difference there is when compared to the seven kingdoms under Celestine Lucross's rule, along with those other six Princess Knights! I'm not like them! At least my people live prosperously! Unlike the absolute mess found in the seven kingdoms, where only humanity can barely thrive and even then is still later pushed into chaos by their own kind!"
A moment did pass where he thought to bring up matters related to the dark elves' oppression and how both were elves at the end of the day. Though it was understandable, as that was always the case in war, in the end, it was no different with the humans' own internal wars… But his goal was not to enter an argument spree against this little brat. He just wanted her to understand. He watched as she pointed a trembling finger at the silent high elf. "If you want to call someone a failure, then call this woman that!"
Surprisingly, he agreed again. "She is. I have been with the Princess Knights and observed her actions both from close by and afar from the beginning. Back when I first arrived, most of them did not possess the means to rule a kingdom properly. They were fools giving power to a bunch of mercenaries and corrupt officials who were no different from kings at the end."
Celestine flinched visibly, her expression saddening at the blunt agreement.
The last member of their group, Astrid Flannel, grew nervous and attempted to moderate. "U-um Archer? Maybe you shouldn't be insulting such high-value figures…"
But he wasn't finished. "But you," he said, his gaze shifting back to Evelyn, "will eventually follow her footsteps. In fact, you already are. I haven't been here long, so I may be too quick to judge, but your immature attitude, your cavalier dismissal, and lastly the fact that you apparently were unaware of the state of your own castle's underground show me that you haven't fully come in as a proper ruler. Right now, it seems you're merely living on the success of your predecessors and nothing more. It's the same formula, just with a different Kuroinu, and considering what we know, it's under the name of the Insect God Cult. It's all the same in the end."
"You…!"
That pushed her anger to the extreme. Her face morphed into extreme mortification and rage, but just as her mouth opened to continue the argument, she was stopped by Archer raising a hand. "Insult me all you want later; we can continue this conversation another time. Right now, we have to take care of the worms inside here. I'd suggest that you not move much if you want to live."
As soon as he said that, he projected a sword in his hand, and the colour from Evelyn's face drained, in shocked fear at what could be her final moments in this world. "No!" With a swift motion, he thrust it directly towards her face. "Kyaaaa!" The queen's eyes widened in shocked horror, and she squeezed them shut, bracing for an impact that never came as her body froze and her heart went still. It never came, though, as instead, she heard a loud, piercing screech, like metal tearing through wet leather, and felt something warm and viscous splash against her cheek and neck.
"E-Eh?"
She slowly opened her eyes and looked behind her. The sword that she had initially imagined to be aimed at her had pinned a giant, cockroach-like insect the size of a small child to the wall just inches from her head. Its multi-faceted eyes were glazed over in death, and its sharp, chitinous legs twitched in its final moments. "Careful there, it was about to lunge at your face," Archer said, never having aimed at her, it seems. She hadn't even noticed, and as reality came down on her, her heart, which was still in panic, started to beat again.
"AHHHHH! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF ME!" A blood-curdling scream ripped from her throat. The girl frantically tried to wipe the sticky, green ooze from her face with her sleeve, her entire body trembling with terror.
Archer nonchalantly dismissed the projected sword, letting the bug corpse fall to the floor with a wet thud. "It's already off, just stay alert."
"What?" "What do you mean?"
Both Astrid and Celestine watched in confusion, only for him to point to a particular spot in the dungeon. "Something's there."
"—!"
Then they heard it. A soft, skittering sound, like a thousand tiny claws on stone. It came from the darkness at the far end of the dungeon. The sound grew louder, multiplying until it was a deafening cascade of crawling.
"IYAAAAHHHH! More of these creepy crawlies! Get me out of here. Stop doing nothing and get me out of here!" Evelyn was in full panic mode.
"Archer!" Astrid shouted, her voice trembling as she realized the situation pointing behind them. "It's coming from everywhere!"
"I know," he said, his eyes scanning the blackness. "This is a trap."
"My guards will be here soon!" Evelyn yelled, her voice still shaky. "Guards! To me! Why haven't you all come to my rescue yet when this guy just kidnapped your queen!? You saw him take me to the dungeon, right? RIGHT? "
Aside from the serious sense of deja vu he kept getting from Evelyn, the former Servant of the Bow doubted things were going any better up there, it seems. Listening closely under the sounds of insects around them, they could hear faint sounds coming from above that steadily grew. At first, Evelyn was happy her call was answered, but that soon went away as the sound wasn't by her men coming to rescue her, it seems. "Aaaaa!" But by a chorus of screams echoing from the stairwell above, followed by sudden, sickening squelches, and then periods of silence before resuming.
"..."
Celestine's face paled. "They're trying to kill us right here, right now! Why did I not have a vision of this instead of that dream?! What about the others? Radomira? Maia?"
"Don't worry," Archer said, his gaze fixed on the darkness, growing tense. While killing these insects was not an issue, the problem came with his being inside a rather restricted space where any sort of explosive could literally bury them under an entire castle. If he was fast enough, then his own safety could be guaranteed — but the same did not extend towards the others. And if he tried to send any attack to the surface to aid the others, he could risk a cave-in. This wouldn't be like his other fights. He would be restricted. "They can take care of themselves. Maia may have woken up just now, but she is not that hopeless, and Radomira will know what to do to keep the others safe."
His worries extended towards Kaguya as well. Due to the prior attack on both sides, the woman had already exhausted herself, but that would have to come later. "Considering how fast this started the moment we came down here, it's clear the person behind this is more focused on us and stopping us from going further."
As if on cue, shapes began to emerge from the gloom. At first, it was just one large caterpillar, its bulbous body and long antennae silhouetted against the faint light from the stairs. Then a handful of other different types appeared, their carapaces gleaming wetly. Evelyn recoiled in disgust, letting out another small scream of horror.
"Th-they're bigger than before," Astrid noted, trying to keep her voice stable but failing from the fear creeping in. "But at least there are fewer compared to what happened on the surface. S-So we should be okay… right?"
She was immediately proven wrong. Even in the confined space, one by one, more and more of the creatures appeared, pouring from the cracks in the walls, from the ceiling, until the very stonework seemed to writhe with them. The walls to their sides and the ceiling above were crawling with a carpet of chittering, clicking insects.
As Evelyn started to foam at the mouth, Archer reacted instantly. "You just had to jinx it!"
"I'm sorry!"
Multiple swords appeared in the air around him, shooting forward and impaling dozens of the creatures, killing them instantly. But their dead bodies were instantly replaced by the nearly indistinguishable number of insects that kept crawling from the darkness.
With a thought, the light around his hand shifted as another weapon was called from his inner world. A bright blue and white sword with intricate designs and a black line through its center was summoned. Using Joyeuse's power, he immediately transformed it into another one of the Twelve Paladins of Charlemagne's swords, a simple silver and white broadsword with a thin blue decorated hilt and a simple design. The blade created an almost indescribable amount of cold air. With a throw, he plunged the Noble Phantasm into the ground as it radiated a bone-chilling cold before erupting in ice, instantly freezing the first wave of insects while also creating a wall.
"You have magic swords that can use advanced water magic to produce ice! And you even have swords that can transform into other swords!" Astrid marveled at the sword's transformations and abilities with her eyes sparkling like stars. "Does it freeze moisture or does it control the temperature?"
"Not now!"
Yet the moment of ease barely lasted a second, for those things proved to be more relentless than he anticipated. Actually gnawing through the glacier's ice and even others of their frozen kind. Devouring them with a never-ending show of pure hunger.
"This is tricky," he muttered, finally having a drop of sweat go down his brow. These things have become practically identical copies of the worms and familiars used by the Matou head. Though not yet at a level where they could even devour Servants, most likely, he was not willing to test it out. Especially when he was no longer a Servant.
"These are different from the ones we faced earlier on! W-What even are they?" Astrid asked, her eyes wide with fear.
"Perhaps their king gave them more magical energy infused within them, making them closer to familiars. Regardless, there are way too many of them to take on at once here, better to change our approach," he explained.
"And we're in an enclosed space. I can't have some of the swords explode or use their abilities without hurting the rest of us. Nor do I have the space to trace that many." He decided they needed to hear this, as the others shouldn't overly rely on him.
This made everyone nervous, as his eyes then turned to look at Evelyn. "I remember hearing about your magical expertise from several members of your inner circle and even Kaguya. Don't you know some spells that can kill several of them at once? Or anything else that can be useful for that matter?
"I-I can!" she snapped, panicked. "B-But the incantation will take a few seconds, and without my staff to focus it, it will be no different from a giant explosion!"
Some powerful ruler she was. Those words just screamed of her admitting having no control over her powers!
"Hey, what's with that look!? Are you thinking that I'm useless? I am of the royal bloodline that has been carefully maintained and nurtured since the founding of our kind. Thousands of years have been put into ensuring my natural magical abilities are untainted and have only grown over time. My magical output is far higher than any of the other elves, which is why it requires more control and time to master! A-And as the queen, I never had the need to use my powers that way in the first place…"
So basically, this world's version of someone with Blue Blood? That's actually incredibly useful, but still, unlike a certain vice director of the Clocktower, this one just never trained a day in her life. "Is there anything you can do in any capacity to help us!?"
"I-I…!"
"Sorry, forget I asked anything."
Archer's moving on from the subject only served to make Evelyn panic even more as she started panting from it rather than exhaustion, her eyes darting around wildly. "N-No…I don't want to die! I WON'T DIE HERE!" she shrieked, turning around and running away, as she tried to scramble back up the stairs. She only managed a few steps before she screamed again, stumbling backwards, and making a beeline straight back for them as hundreds of insects began pouring down the stairs towards them like a flood. One of them, a stag-beetle, leaped, its pincer-like jaws snapping, and latched onto her ankle.
"HIYAAA!"
She shrieked in pure panic, flailing her leg, but before the creature could bite down, an arrow shot forward and pierced it through its head, killing it instantly.
"SKREEEE!"
"Oof!" Evelyn fell backwards, landing hard on the stone floor, but was caught before she could hit her head by Archer. He immediately projected the largest swords that could fit here and formed a second wall. The impromptu barrier only served to hinder them as they squeezed in between the blades.
"What should we do now!?" Astrid cried out, watching him with confusion as he placed his hand upon the walls of the dungeon and concentrated. A faint pulse spread across the entire space, unknown to anyone but him, as several important details rushed to his mind. A few seconds later, he stood up.
"Simple. Run."
"What?!" Celestine and Astrid exclaimed in unison.
"Now!" he shouted. He grabbed the dazed Evelyn with an open arm while the other grabbed Celestine. He projected a chain that wrapped around Astrid's waist tightly without obstructing her limbs, the other chain locking around his right arm and shoulder — he rushed towards one side of the hallway, pulling everyone with him. Facing the incoming tide of insects from all sides, he knew they had to take another passage…rather than make one, "Try out your spell! Aim it for that wall over there!"
"B-But what about what you said about a cave-in!"
"I checked, this wall should be safe, now hurry."
Astrid, panicking but trying to maintain control, began her incantation. "Ig-Ig… voug-no! Ig-Ignis ventus! Incendium vastatoris!" A powerful blast of fire erupted from a red magic circle in her hands and instantly shattered the brick walls with ease, showcasing a path behind the cell.
The sound of chains being moved around echoed from behind as Astrid handled them with confusion. Only to freeze in place the next second and grow pale with her face slowly turning towards him. "A-Archer? B-By any chance, is this chain for…"
"I know it's not ideal, but I can only hold two in my hands, and you seem the most physically capable. Plus, you can defend yourself, so hold on tight."
"Bu-But that's..I-I thought you were supposed to be MY BODYGUARD! L-Let me get on your back!"
"Still am, and I won't be able to move well if you keep falling off! Just doing it a different way, trust me!"
"No waaaa—guh!" The Counter Guardian used the opening, pushing all his effort into reinforcing his body. Grabbing both Celestine and Evelyn with his free arms and shooting through the gap at an enormous speed, the screams of the insects echoed behind them, along with Astrid, pulled along by the chain.
"Waaaaaah!" Rushing through the hole in the wall, Evelyn's scream continued to assault his ears, the jagged bricks scraping past his body. The passage opened into a larger clearing, a forgotten tunnel that branched into a path leading deeper into the castle's foundations. The air here was even more stagnant, thick with the smell of damp earth and even stronger decay.
"Another room?" Celestine grew confused, most likely having expected him to rush through a pile of rubble to freedom, while Evelyn, still slung over his arm, finally found her voice.
"What the hell is this place!? Since when was this here in my palace!?" she shrieked, her voice a mixture of terror and indignant fury as she looked around the catacombs.
"Humph," Archer grunted, the sound strained as he pumped magical energy into his legs. "An excellent question for a later time. You should be more worried about us escaping those insects first rather than this."
"Archer, they're gaining on us!" Astrid yelled from behind, her voice tight with panic. The sound of hundreds of buzzing, clicking legs echoed from the tunnel behind them, a relentless tide of chittering death.
He clicked his tongue. The burden of carrying the weight of three people at once was a significant hindrance. Regardless of how much reinforcement he pumped into his muscles, his speed was compromised. "What are you doing? Fire at them!" he barked at Astrid. "And then, if you can in this scenario, use that spell for yours to locate the main one that is controlling this bunch. If these things work on a hive mind, that could be our ticket out."
She complied, her hands glowing as she launched another fireball. It struck the lead insects, but instead of incinerating them, the flames merely sputtered against their thick carapaces. The creatures stumbled, their shells blackened and smoking, but they continued their charge, their multifaceted eyes glowing with mindless hunger.
"What the… I-I can't kill them instantly!" Astrid exclaimed, her voice cracking with shock. "My spells aren't strong enough without my staff, and I left that back in the guest room!"
"Raise your hand!" Archer commanded.
She did so without thinking, her arm trembling. A moment later, a staff materialized in her grasp, its wood dark and with a gem embedded at the top, a crystal that pulsed with latent power, which was used by a certain Dark Queen. "Whoa, what is—?"
"Try it again! Quickly!"
Astrid's eyes widened in understanding. She pointed her staff towards the swarm, the incantation forming on her lips without hesitation. "Fulgur tempestas!" The purple crystal glowed instantly, a crackling bolt of lightning, far more potent than her previous spells, erupted from the crystal. It arced through the narrow tunnel, striking twenty large insects all at once. The creatures convulsed, their bodies seizing as electricity coursed through them before they exploded in showers of ichor and chitin. The spell cleared a significant path behind, but the gaps were immediately filled by more of the swarm.
"This is amazing! Such amazing quality staff… I-it must cost several times my tuition fees! Can I keep it?"
"No! Since attacking them is a waste of time, just focus on finding the hivemind."
She began to prepare the spell, the lightning bolts, which would not buy them time, and it was hard to make a judgment on how many of these insects were around. Best to take out the source controlling all of it. The dark tunnel began to glow a faint light as Astrid began to cast the detection spell again. "Deep orange… almost red, we're getting close! Just keep going further ahead!"
Just as he was about to rush ahead faster and push through his limit, "Hm?" A new horror emerged from the ground in front of them.
"▄▄▄▄▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅!"
The stone floor cracked and bulged upwards before shattering as a colossal centipede, the size of a school bus, burst forth. Its countless legs scrabbled for purchase as it lunged, its mandibles clicking open to reveal rows of needle-like teeth.
"Shit. Hold on!" Archer exclaimed, reinforcing himself to the limit of what his human body could hold as he reeled Astrid's chain closer to him.
With Celestine still clinging tightly to his back, Evelyn, who had fainted with foam at her mouth over one shoulder, and Astrid now held under his other arm, he became a whirlwind of motion. He kicked off the wall, his body parallel to the ground as he slid under the centipede's gaping maw. The creature's head slammed into the wall behind him, sending dust and rock fragments flying. Mid-slide, the man twisted his body, using his momentum to hurl Evelyn and Astrid upwards. "I just need to free my hands a bit! Grab onto each other as tight as you can! " He yelled as they soared through the air. Astrid did as he asked and grabbed the foaming Evelyn as tightly as she could.
For a split second, his hands were freed and quickly projecting his bow, followed by tracing two arrows, notching and firing them together. The projectiles shot forward with powerful force, embedding themselves in the softer underbelly of the giant, beetle-like creature that had dropped from the ground.
Crash!
The projectiles did not immediately pierce through as he would have hoped, the outer shell providing a stronger defence than he expected. But still, the force behind each arrow proved to be enough to push their bodies downwards with enough force to crack the ground. The beast fell with a deafening crash, with Archer soon coming down upon it, holding Kanshou and Bakuya and piercing its head. The centipedes' thick legs twitched in their final moments, as the ground slowly broke away under it as they fell a floor deeper.
"Archer!"
"Oh, what's going on… I think I saw Fullstar's fonde—waaaah!"
Evelyn and Astrid were about to come crashing down, but he was already moving. He slid across the grimy floor, his position perfectly timed to catch them both, one landing securely in each arm. Celestine tightened her grip on his back, her face pressed against his shoulder.
"Eugh!" Catching both women while making sure not to accidentally crush Celestine on his back turned out to be a bigger task than he expected, especially when Astrid was not exactly the lightest.
"Hah… hah… I-Is it finally over?" Evelyn asked, taking several deep gulps of air with a face that had now gone completely pale. "I can't take any more of this…"
"You… hah, you'll have to wait just a bit longer for that. It looks like we finally reached it." He said while bringing the attention of all three women to the front. There was barely any light around. Tracing several light tubes that dropped to the ground proved to be more than enough to barely make out their surroundings, and that was enough to make each one of them turn completely cold with fear at what emerged before them. "Damn it."
Running while carrying three people was not a small feat. Doing so while dodging most dangers thrown at them and using every means at his disposal to not get overwhelmed by the swarm started to take a toll on his body. Aching muscles, the creeping sense of fatigue that crawled across his body like a cold blanketed and his reserves were also taking a hit.
"Archer," Evelyn noticed his condition, "Are you okay?"
"Nothing… nothing to worry about," still, he made sure to keep a composed face without betraying any emotions. "I just needed a moment."
The queen of Fullstar, on the other hand, was more distracted with something else entirely. "A-Are those… eggs?"
Around them, whether it be on the ground or upon the walls, could only be described as thousands of eggs, if not more than that. Their greenish outer membranes were thin enough to showcase the pulsating living creature within, about to emerge at any moment — the same kind of creatures that were chasing them. "Watch out!"
The same swarm descended from above, managing to catch up, but strangely enough, instead of trying to consume them, they all gathered around them, blocking any path of retreat, their numbers practically endless until even the hole in the ceiling was closed off by the swarm.
As soon as every avenue of escape was sealed off, that was when they made their move.
"I'll help too!" Celestine acted first. A shimmering, golden barrier of light materialized around them, deflecting a spray of acidic spittle from a moth-like creature clinging to the tunnel wall.
"You were able to create shields like this, this entire time? I would have appreciated it if you had done so earlier on!" Archer exclaimed, turning his attention to a cluster of pulsating egg sacs that clung to the floor like grotesque tumors. Further ahead, several of these were stacked one on top of each other, creating a little mountain of eggs, where at the centre of it all, a single insect perched.
Just like its creations, it shared multiple aspects from different insects, but the most prominent trade being the enormous abdomen attached to its lower half, filled with the same eggs plastered across the walls and still giving birth as they descended upon its lair. Glancing at the spell Astrid had created, it had turned a deep red; enough proof to tell him what they were confronting.
"Looks like we found you after all."
"▄▄▄▄▄▄▄…" It practically hissed at them, though its multiple eyes were fully focused on him alone.
That thing exuded enough hatred against him for even the others to notice it.
"I see, angry that I killed your children from before." Unlike the rest of the insects they dealt with now, this one possessed a surprising amount of intelligence. "From the looks of it, it doesn't seem like I'll be able to find Shamuhaza here as well… will I?"
Whether this was the plan of that man or this thing alone in order to enact vengeance, it was hard to tell. But one thing was clear enough: this thing would not let them walk away alive.
"H-How… beneath my palace… all of this?" Evelyn was still in full shock mode. Despite all the running they did, the group still was beneath the palace itself, and it was clear that these insects had established a home right beneath her nose. She'd gone through countless emotional states and had even passed out multiple times. Sadly, the circumstances hadn't let her stay like that for long, so as much as she wished this was a nightmare, she had no choice but to acknowledge she wasn't dreaming.
"You can have a thorough cleanup of your place after we manage to get out of here alive." He said, looking around and seeing if there was anything he could use as a possible getaway path, but clearly, this thing had become familiar with his magecraft and further reinforced the hole in the ceiling with those same centipedes with stronger shells. Not that it would offer much of a resistance against his more powerful noble phantasms, but still, it was enough to chip away at his reserves by forcefully having him use more powerful attacks. Battling all this, and also keeping watch on the three girls, would be taxing on anyone.
As he was going through several possible outcomes and paths he could take to get everyone out of the scenario, his eyes then glanced over to Celestine. 'I should still be able to trace that weapon and use its abilities. It would require dangerously drying up what I have left, but… It's risky; the conditions aren't perfect. I don't have much of a choice here, though.'
If this worked, then not only would they be able to get out of this, but he could get done with this matter involving the insect God Cult today and finally be able to go back to Feoh. "Hah, how strong is that shield of yours?" He asked the goddess Reborn, getting a look of confusion on her face, but she still answered.
"It's a magic enchantment I possess that holds a standard spell period. Its strength is mostly dependent on how much mana I can pour into it, which has diminished in general since I founded the Princess Knights. It's similar to the one I used back in Feoh when we were about to be overcome by the brainwashed population."
Back then? He hardly remembered what was going on with Celestine's group, given his attention was mostly on Radomira and getting things under control. "I heard you watched my battle with the Kuroinu back in Feoh. Do you remember the attack I used against the Kuroinu when they invaded Olga's castle? Can you block something of that magnitude? Something similar?"
The look of uncertainty on her face was all the answer that he needed to make him curse silently.
"W-Wait, if it's just a shield, then I can create my own as well!" Evelyn interjected, pointing her finger at Archer angrily. "Don't rule me out just because I cannot use any offensive spells! I am still a high elf and can use far more other spells better than even this fake goddess!"
"I know a few barrier spells as well, but I doubt they will be as powerful compared to these two…" Astrid said with a quiet tone, sounding almost ashamed of herself. Ignoring that, he pondered on their words and the chances of success. However, he saw that the queen insect was getting more and more restless and about to attack them at any moment. Looks like he had no other choice but to trust them.
"Fine, just use everything you can and cast your strongest shields up around the three of you." He said, preparing to face the monster and prepare a sure-fire Noble Phantasm. He would just have to hope this didn't cause a collapse and bring forth a cave-in. However, he was stopped by Celestine, who had held out her hand and grabbed his wrist. "Hm?"
"I can do more than this!" She insisted, her voice rising with urgency. "I can help you far more. It's clear you've used up a lot of your stamina and magical energy. You're showing a tough front, but I know your current state is having a tough time."
'Busted, huh'
"I can replenish them. Please, trust me. Olga and my sister were able to help you and even healed you when it should have been me. I promised to aid you so many times in the past, but in the end, I couldn't do it even once… I failed to uphold it. Please, give me an opportunity to help you as they did. Right here, right now!"
"But that's just the thing, I do not trust you enough for something like that just yet." He said bluntly, not hiding his true thoughts whatsoever. He had far more reason to distrust this woman than the opposite; even Mistiora, whom he had just met, was someone he did not feel as guarded compared to Celestine. Her invasion of his past, soul, and general obsession with a version of him from the past has only increased his hesitance in ever forming a magical pathway with her. At least with Mistiora, he knew where she stood.
"I… would never do anything to hurt you, Arc—S-Shirou."
"I see, you've been behaving strangely lately, more so than usual. Can't really put my finger on whether this is an attempt at showing me you listened or in showing yourself, or something else, but you're not exactly selling your case." The light in her eyes darkened as a clear presence of disappointment and sadness started to envelope her face. Did he feel bad for his somewhat harsh words? Not at all, after trying to get through her so many times, it wasn't an unexpected outcome given how stubborn she remained living in this delusion that only she could help him…that she even knew what she needed to do to help him. "I know you won't kill me or harm me. But for me to trust you, it is a different story; I can't trust a person who does not accept me."
"I do acknowledge yo—"
"—No, you don't." He cut her off before she could finish her sentence. "I told you before, you are never looking at me but instead at a picture conjured up from a personality of the past. What you're looking for is something I can't give you. Despite us knowing each other as long as other princess knights, I am no different from a stranger to you. A stranger that you lie to yourself about knowing who he truly is. That's why I cannot accept your help, for you are not trying to help me but instead the Shirou Emiya you picture."
Bang!
In the middle of their conversation, a barrier formed around them thanks to Astrid as another centipede descended past the insect wall, its large body impacting the thin layer before it went back above. Clearly taunting them.
"Can you two stop talking and just hurry up! We might die here!" In a rare moment, a trace of anger surged within the young mage's voice as the stress of everything was finally starting to get to her. Gone was the nervous intellectual, and in her place was a no-nonsense mage who would even chastise her teacher, one of the most famous characters in history. Her emotions were so intense that she did not even notice him saying his name earlier on. Evelyn, on the other hand, seemed to be in the middle of a mental breakdown.
Meanwhile, Celestine looked to the ground, the blonde strands of her hair hiding her eyes, making it hard for him to see what was going through her mind. She mumbled to herself. "I…can't just do it…I can't just abandon who you were in the past…because to me that boy was…" But the silence only lasted a few seconds before he huffed, "That's what I thought. I'll be able to handle this. Just focus on maintaining the barrier."
He walked out without any resistance or anyone holding him back. Evelyn, finally gathering her wits, also created her own barrier without really worrying about his own survival, given her following words were, "Kill that thing quickly, even if it costs your life!"
At least she was honest with her words.
Celestine thankfully followed and created her own barrier a few seconds later, but she was still unable to look at him, though he could occasionally feel her glance lingering on his back.
A large, dome-shaped barrier of golden light materialized around the three, this one formed by the hands of the goddess Reborn. Then another white one from Evelyn, and finally a red one from Astrid. All three barriers were layered one on top of each other, almost resembling a certain noble phantasm of his.
Hopefully, its strength would somewhat match his own if they were to survive.
The moment they were clear, Archer leaped with all his strength and landed closer to the centre where the insect queen awaited him. "Since communicating with you is impossible, I won't bother trying to ask where to find Shamuhaza. But destroying you will still cripple that man and make it harder for him to attack others for a short period of time."
"▄▄▄▄▄▄!"
Even if he did not understand it, he could tell that this thing was most likely telling him that he would die here or be devoured for killing all those insects. This monarch's killing intent and bloodlust radiating from its eyes made that intention quite clear.
"...!"
Instantly, he propelled himself forward, just as the ground where he had been standing erupted. A monstrous worm, its skin a pale, glistening white, burst from the earth — attempting to devour him where he stood and blocking off his path from the others. Not that it mattered as he kept marching ahead, while within his world, a particular sword came to his attention. The moment he was airborne, from every direction, the walls, the ceiling, the floor… the insects swarmed him as if that was the signal for swarming him. "Hn!"
No different from a living tide, a wave of chitin and venom as they unleashed their fury, poised to bury him. He had one shot, and that sword should suffice.
'Trace on,'
The process of materialization from his inner world to the outside occurred, then accelerated as energy began to take shape. A massive greatsword materialized in his hands, its blade glowing with an intense light, the sister sword to the one carried by the King of Knights, its heat capable of incinerating anything in its path.
"▄▄▄▄▄▄▄!"
Sensing something terribly wrong, the insect queen acted first, sending every single member of her hive mind towards him to the point they formed around him like a vast ocean. "Excalibur…" He tossed it high above his head, the blade's heat making it unable to touch anyone who tried to grab it. Once it reached its highest point, what emerged from it was a pseudo-sun, causing the air around him to shimmer and distort from the immense heat. The blade fell down, and the moment he grabbed it, he unleashed it.
"Galatine!"
When brought down, it wasn't at any single target, but at the air itself. The blade didn't strike anything physical. Instead, it released its stored energy from its link to the pseudo-sun above. A circular wall of flame exploded outwards from him with the force of a bomb.
It was a searing, incandescent wave of destruction that expanded in every direction, filling the entire room. "Ah!" The light blinded the girls as the shield got hit by the waves of searing heat, the ocean of fire engulfing everything in its path and burning all matter within the vicinity of the sword. The first barrier was shattered instantly, with Astrid falling unconscious from the drain, blood trickling down her nose, and her new staff unable to properly sync with her as it evaporated into particles, leaving just the two elves to power through the rest of the brunt.
Evelyn strained as she felt a drain to her reserves she had never felt before, as if her own life was fueling it. She knew that death lay beyond this barrier.
The sound was a deafening roar, a hurricane of fire that consumed everything. The insects didn't even have time to screech as they were instantly vaporized, their bodies turning to ash and cinder. The intense heat melted the stone walls, turning them into glowing, molten slag.
The very air burned as the underground space started to shake and crumble apart right before his eyes, while the torrent of flames continued their path downwards until they reached the insect's main body, burning it. Thousands of insects and even the unborn within their eggs screeched as the fire's heat bypassed the thickness of their chitin exoskeletons, cooking them from the inside.
"▄▄▄▄▄▄▄!"
It resisted with all it had as it coped with countless of its kin being burned to cinders. Its thrashing combined with the consequences of the flames caused a powerful rumble that shook both the cavern and the land all across the underground, even spreading itself to the surface.
{Break}
(A few hours later)
While the fire-fueled earthquakes caused all of the kingdom to panic, a particular hideout remained serene.
A cavernous space that felt both ancient and tainted. The air was thick with the cloying scent of incense and something earthy, like soil after a rain. Carved from the living rock of a deep chasm, the chamber was a testament to obsession. Countless insect idols, each one unique and grotesque, lined the walls, their stone eyes seeming to follow anyone who entered.
They were rendered in great detail: beetles with pincer-like mandibles, moths with wingspans that seemed too large for their bodies, centipedes that coiled around each other in an eternal struggle. At the far end of the chamber, a colossal statue dominated the space. It was not one creature, but a horrifying amalgamation, an insect made out of several different types merged into one. It had the segmented body of a centipede, the multifaceted eyes of a fly, the powerful forelegs of a praying mantis, and the membranous wings of a dragonfly, all folded against a chitinous back. The cultists knelt on rough stone cushions before it, their heads bowed in silent reverence, their chanting a low hum that vibrated through the floor.
"Hugh!"
Shamuhaza fell to his knees before the carved image of this monstrosity, his own head bowed. Blood drifts from his nose onto the ground. His mind was throbbing as if it would melt at any moment. "D-Damn you…"
The death of his familiar and vast army, worth of insects that easily amounted to decades worth of breeding gone in a second. Initial pain alone easily rendered him unconscious, and trying to establish a connection afterwards became impossible, which proved that she did not survive.
"All of this just to bring down a single person… I'll get them back and create an even better army…"
The grief of such a big loss boiled his blood, but he had to remain calm, for at least a major hurdle had been removed. Taking a moment to regain his composure, his fingers traced the carved patterns on the statue's base. The sound of approaching footsteps broke the chanting, but he did not move until the subordinate was directly behind him.
"My lord," the man said, his voice hushed. "The trap was successful."
"I know," Shamuhaza let out a low chuckle, a sound that was devoid of any real mirth. He shook his head slowly. "It is a shame that this kingdom has lost a valuable queen. A replacement will soon arrive regardless." He turned, his robes rustling in the still air. "What happened to the mage, Astrid?"
"We found her unconscious body, my lord. She was surrounded by rubble," the subordinate reported. "Should we have the youngest hatchlings feast on her?"
Feasting upon a target like her was not a new thing, for mages like her always proved to be a delicacy for the swarm. "Mages in general have a faint presence of magic within their flesh and blood — ready to be devoured. Though she is not an arch mage, it's still better than a dozen nameless individuals plucked from the streets. She may even be more valuable than those taken from the academy itself." Shamuhaza stroked his chin, his gaze drifting towards the dark ceiling. "Despite what I said… No. That will not be necessary."
"Sir?" the subordinate asked, confusion evident in his tone.
"Had she remained alongside the enemy, killing her would have been a necessary step," he explained, turning to face the man fully, his hands clasped behind his back. He began to walk down a set of stone steps carved into the side of the chamber. "But her talents are too useful to just kill now that we have our hands on her."
His voice echoed slightly in the vast space. "Astrid has been working on the Philosopher's Stone for quite some time. Though she is still just a beginner mage, if given the right incentive, she will manage to accomplish her goal. The Philosopher's Stone is a valuable relic that could be of great use to us. I am hesitant to break her mind if it means she cannot produce it for us, but if we can succeed in finding a way to obtain dominance of her mind, we won't have to worry about that course of action. If she willingly gives birth to our brood, all the better." He thought back to their failure to get their hands on Elemia, the woman proving to be more difficult to locate, much less capture. "What is the overall situation in the kingdom?"
"There has been some mild panic, given that the unexpected earthquake that spread through Fullstar, my lord," the subordinate said, following him down the steps. "But our affiliates managed to keep things under control. Any doubts or stubborn souls curious about the events were persuaded by having it explained as just a moment of uncontrolled magic practiced by her majesty that went out of control during her practice session. It wouldn't be the first time."
Shamuhaza chuckled again. "The failures of this queen do help us in more ways than one." He reached the bottom of the steps and stopped. "Throw Astrid amongst the other priestesses. You have my permission to leave."
The subordinate bowed and began to turn away, but soon a particular thought crossed the man whose face was covered in layers of bandages. "What about the Goddess Reborn? Where is she?"
The man trembled, immediately bowing again, a hint of fear in his tone. "W-we weren't able to find her corpse, my lord. She should still be buried somewhere within that rubble, but we couldn't find any trace. We... we left."
Shamuhaza's tone changed, losing its detached quality and becoming something hard and unforgiving. "You left?"
The subordinate's fear intensified, his tone becoming more broken as he stammered, "It was a false move on my side, my lord, I see that now! I will fix my errors at once! I will return and make sure to find her!"
"Celestine, while not similar to Kaguya, is still a vessel that houses a great amount of divinity," Shamuhaza said, his voice dangerously quiet. "Getting her to incubate the body of our God would create the ultimate being. And you actually had the audacity to stop searching for her because you did not deem her important?"
The subordinate fell to his knees. "Forgive me, my lord! I will find her by tonight! I swear, I will!"
"Heh." The scoff was a soft, dismissive sound. "I have heard enough." Shamuhaza walked past the groveling man, his footsteps echoing in the distance.
The subordinate, thinking he was safe, slowly began to get up. "I will do my duties accordingly," he started to say, but his words caught in his throat. He noticed several shapes detaching themselves from the shadows in the corners of the room. They were insects, but larger than any natural creature, their carapaces glistening with a wet sheen. They moved towards him with purpose.
"Oh?!! Oh, N-Nooooooo!!!" he whispered, a big stutter ruining his attempt at a defiant tone. "My Lord, please! I will get her back before tonight! I will repent!"
Shamuhaza did not even acknowledge him, continuing his steady walk away.
The subordinate tried to beg for his life. "Give me a second chance! Please, my lord, I—" His words were cut off as the first insect, a beetle-like creature the size of a dog, lunged and sank its mandibles into his shoulder. He screamed, a high-pitched, agonized sound that was immediately swallowed by the chittering of the swarm. More insects swarmed over him, their sharp legs tearing at his robes and flesh. He was overrun, his body disappearing beneath a tide of chitinous bodies and probing appendages. His screams became wet gurgles, then fell silent. The insects fed, their movements frenzied, and within moments, all that was left was a bloody skeleton picked clean, the bones gleaming white in the dim torchlight.
Shamuhaza made his way towards another dark room, this one illuminated by the flickering light of several torches. More followers of the Insect God were inside, praying towards another, smaller statue. He passed them without a glance and entered an adjoining chamber. The air here was thick with the smell of fear and unwashed bodies. Several dozen women were captured and chained to the ground, their wrists and ankles bound by iron links. They were unable to escape. Several of them were crying, others were wounded but still alive, and all of them wore the same tattered outfit of priestesses.
Shamuhaza smiled, opening his arms wide in a gesture of welcome. "Welcome, followers of the fake insect God," he said, his voice booming in the confined space. "I warmly welcome you to my humble abode, to present you to my one true God."
Many of them trembled, but their eyes held a burning murder's intent. He noticed this. "Your feud has been going on for hundreds of years," he said, his tone almost conversational. "So long that even the oldest recorded history has no idea when the specific conflict started." He began to walk slowly amongst them, his robes brushing against the dirty floor. "I am certain that you are also tired of it. To fight this endless battle, to see so many of your kin killed by Kaguya." He stopped before one young woman whose glare was particularly intense. "I will be the one to put an end to this senseless killing."
"You will not get away with this," the girl spat, her voice filled with a venom that matched her gaze.
Shamuhaza's smile remained fixed as the priestess glared up at him, her defiance burning in her eyes despite the chains biting into her wrists. "Sooner or later, you will face divine retribution," she said, her voice steady and clear.
The cult leader's smile faltered for a fraction of a second. "Divine retribution?" he repeated, the words tasting strange on his tongue. He approached her, his fingers tracing the rough bandages that covered a significant portion of his face and body.
"I haven't heard that for a while. The last one who told me this was none other than Kaguya herself." He leaned closer, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "The day she burned my face, saying it was the will of their god to see me die and be erased. Yet here I stand, still alive. So, I ask you... Where is this divine retribution?"
The question was accompanied by a sinister grin as he grabbed a fistful of the girl's hair, pulling her harshly towards him until their faces were almost touching. She let out a pained gasp, her features contorting in agony.
He gazed at her with an unwavering stare. "I have been walking around for years since that incident, and their god has been clearly powerless to do anything. I walk, thanks to the grace of the Insect God. The true Insect God." He traced a finger across the soft skin of her cheek, his touch leaving a cold trail. "Perhaps you would change your mind if I were to give a similar sort of divine retribution?"
The girl went quiet, her defiance melting into pure terror. Tears began to well up in her eyes, spilling down her cheeks in silent tracks. "Ka-Kaguya will never come here willingly; she will never betray our faith!"
"Willingly? Now, do you really think I will give her that choice?" Shamuhaza sneered and shoved her away, sending her sprawling onto the stone floor. "You are all nothing but talk and no action. But it doesn't matter. I am not interested in you. You are merely an incentive for our guest of the night to come visit us."
The middle-aged man continued walking past the rows of captive women until he reached the edge of a precipice. It was a balcony carved from the rock, overlooking a lower level of the chasm. He placed a hand on the crude iron railing, looking down as his subordinates dragged a certain someone into view.
His smile couldn't help but grow even wider. "Welcome, Kaguya," he said, his voice echoing in the vast space. He then proceeded to laugh, a loud, booming sound that filled the chamber. "It has been a while since we have seen each other, hasn't it?"
The Princess Knight stood tall, her face a mask of neutrality. "Half a decade," she stated, her voice devoid of any emotion. "And you look just as repulsive as ever."
The man was not taunted by her words. Instead, he asked, "How did you like my little present? I had hoped to kill the mage as well with it back then, but that failed. But at the end of the day, capturing you might as well be victory." He leaned forward slightly. "And I must admit, I honestly did not expect it would have worked this much."
Kaguya's glare intensified. "How did you and your people manage to break the seals around my temple without me realizing it?"
He sneered. "The answer is quite obvious, is it not? It is only through the grace of our god that we managed to bypass what you are so proud of. From now on, none of your barriers will ever work against us. And none of your allies will be able to save you this time."
Kaguya's jaw tightened. "Let them go."
Shamuhaza went silent. He began to descend the stairs, his steps slow and loud within the quiet space. "Hoh? Here I was waiting for you to start questioning how my insects managed to get a hold of you inside the palace, or for you to start threatening me. It's no fun if you show no curiosity," he conceded. "Also, aren't you curious why I wanted you in the first place?"
"Stop playing games," Kaguya continued with a stoic face. "Your goal has always been clear from the beginning. I would rather die than be used as a vessel to give birth to your Insect God. And even if you tried, it would only result in your death."
A smirk played on his lips. "The look in your eyes is quite dangerous. But you are correct. In the past, I would have been interested. That was my lifelong goal. But now, something else has come up. Rather than using you just to give birth, I will use you for something else entirely." He raised his hand, his palm hovering just above her neck. He leaned in and whispered, "The birth of a new chaotic being. A being from beyond our world. A being that would not abandon those who have granted it access to their humble world. One that pays its favor rather than completely tossing them to the side at the moment it fancies."
Kaguya's eyes widened in horror as she realized what he was implying. She took a sharp step back. "Another one!? You are crazy!" she shouted for the first time, retrieving several talismans from her robes. She held them out, and a shimmering barrier of light materialized around her body. "Do you have any idea what that thing is?! What kind of danger will it bring to this world?!"
Shamuhaza looked amused by her reaction. "At the end of the day, it is a Beast, a strange foreign God even. Her powers speak for themselves. And we have the means to summon them. If words and our offerings do not suffice, then we will use force if necessary. We have been experimenting with quite some interesting ideas."
"You are a madman," Kaguya seethed. "You have no idea what you're talking about! Those things cannot be controlled! The one here is in a weakened state, and look at all the chaos it has caused!"
"Who told you that?" He countered smoothly. "Was it the god you serve? The same god that was wrong before when it failed to kill me? What gives you so much confidence to think it can't be wrong again?" He shook his head slowly. "Regardless, a new age is upon us, and you, Kaguya, will be the perfect offering to start this new era."
"I won't let you achieve it. Even if it costs me my life."
He raised an eyebrow. "Have you forgotten about another important matter?" He snapped his fingers as he slowly put distance between them. Several of his men dragged the priestesses from earlier, presenting them in a row behind him.
"Kaguya-sama!"
Each one is trying desperately to break free, their struggles futile. Many of them shouted Kaguya's name, their voices filled with desperate hope.
"What a beautiful sight this is," he commented, his gaze sweeping over the captured women. "You have a talent to select talented individuals, after all."
"Don't touch them!" The head priestess commanded, her voice filled with fury.
"You are not in any position to say otherwise."
The raspy laugh that came out of his mouth was enough to make anyone shiver. "Let's make a deal. I will allow them to walk away without harm if you willingly give yourself to us rather than making us use force," Shamuhaza said, his tone mockingly sincere. "But..." He snapped his fingers again. His men swooped in, casting a dark spell upon the girls. They immediately slumped to the ground, each one breathing heavily. From the walls and pillars, giant insects began to crawl downwards, their chittering filling the air.
"Or else, we will just use our old ways as usual."
Kaguya panicked, watching the insects approach her priestesses. "Do you honestly expect me to believe you? Not a single word that comes out of your mouth has ever been the truth," she said calmly after taking a deep breath. "You are wasting your time."
The leader ignored her. "Stubborn as usual. You have two choices. You can either walk out of there on your own and put down the barrier and trust my words that I will let them go, or we will do so forcefully while you watch your priestesses give birth to the next army."
Kaguya's face was a mask of pure hatred. "You festering maggot," she hissed, her sophisticated language cracking under the weight of her desperation. "You soulless parasite. I should have killed you back then! I should have made sure you died a thousand painful deaths!"
"If these priestesses that you care about so much are not enough," Shamuhaza continued, oblivious to her insults, "then maybe this will suffice." He waved his hand, and another woman was brought inside, thrown to the floor at his feet. Kaguya looked at her, her expression turning to one of utter shock upon discovering it was none other than Astrid, who was in a rough shape, her clothes torn and her face smudged with dirt.
"What the hell is she doing here?" She demanded.
"Kaguya, you are really naive," Shamuhaza chuckled. "Not being aware of the commotion going on downstairs when we got to you. But soon, my men will also find the Goddess Reborn and perhaps the queen herself, if she lives. Not just you, Kaguya, our cult will soon have the perfect-grade vessels to give birth to not just our God, but also otherworldly weapons!"
"Celestine? Don't you dare!"
Shamuhaza ignored her, walking towards Astrid. He crouched down and caressed her face, just as he had done with Kaguya. Astrid stirred, just starting to wake up. "She is very lucky," Shamuhaza mused. "Her fate was practically guaranteed to become food for my children. But after killing the brood mare, we are in need of another queen to guide the insects. And she will do."
With that, he grabbed her pink dress and, in one motion, tore it away, exposing her naked body. Her pale skin and large breasts lay there on the cold stone floor as he loomed over. But as he did so, he was surprised to find a thin ornament upon her forearm, as if it had been made from a black and white blade twisted around her forearm. "Strange," An insect scuttled forward, its intent to breed with her clear. Astrid struggled at first, her eyes wide with fear, but Kaguya gritted her teeth, her barrier flickering.
"Are you really just going to stand there and watch as your priestesses suffer?" He turned his attention back to the black-haired woman as all the other priestesses got pinned to the ground by both members of the cult and a new variant of insects.
"..."
She stood there, hands clenched as the cries of her shrine maidens reached her ears.
"It is fascinating how none of them have even attempted to beg you to save them. You have managed to instill in them the same kind of stubbornness as yourself, I see." Even though he said that, many still kept looking at her, crying, attempting to break free, but unable to do so. "Perhaps after they give me the army that I lost because of that detestable man, their bodies would serve as proper nutrition for the newborns as well. Don't you think so too?"
The sounds grew, their clothes long since torn away, and the ritual about to begin. And finally, Kaguya had had enough and raised her voice.
"You really are going to stay there till the end, aren't you? Then what? Are you waiting for that god to come down to your rescue? Or perhaps, you really believe that this Archer fellow will come back from the dead and rescue you just like he has done with the other Princess Knights? How far you've fallen, Kaguya."
"..."
That was the last line that snapped with little patience and restraint the woman had within her.
"Wait," Kaguya said, her voice hoarse but still somehow managing to showcase a somewhat calm disposition. "I will hand myself to you, in exchange for their lives as you mentioned before. But I do not trust your words, so a soul-bound contract will be required."
"No, don't! Kaguya-sama!"
"You mustn't give in!" Many tried to stop her, begging her not to do so. But their shouts were received by deaf ears.
With a sound of profound amusement, he raised his hand, and both the insects and his subordinates stopped their actions. "I knew we could reach a mutual agreement, eventually. A contract with an added clause of you not harming me as well, just for certainty."
Soon, Kaguya lowered her arms. The golden barrier of light surrounding her dissolved into motes of dust that were swallowed by the oppressive darkness of the chamber. Her movements were stiff, yet she still seemed to hold some confidence rather than be surrounded by an aura of defeat. She reached for the clasps of her own ceremonial robes, her fingers not fumbling with the intricate metalwork. The white and red fabric, a symbol of her station and her faith, pooled at her feet, leaving her as vulnerable as the priestesses scattered around her.
Shamuhaza's smile was triumphant, a grotesque stretching of his bandaged face. "Despite our animosity, I have to admit you are indeed a gem," he purred, his voice slick with satisfaction. He gestured to two of his hulking subordinates. "Bring her to the altar."
Rough hands seized Kaguya and Astrid, dragging them across the cold, grimy stone floor. They were hauled towards a raised platform at the center of the lower level. The altar was a single, massive block of black, unpolished rock, its surface stained with the dark residue of past rituals. They were forced onto its surface, the chill of the stone seeping into their bare skin. Their wrists and ankles were shackled to iron rings set into the altar, holding them spread-eagled and immobile.
From the shadows, a new insect emerged. It was larger than the others, its carapace a glistening, oily black, and its abdomen swollen and distended. It moved with a horrifying purpose, its many legs clicking on the stone as it climbed onto the altar, looming over Astrid. Its antennae twitched, tasting the air, and a low, guttural hum emanated from its thorax. Kaguya squeezed her eyes open and stared back with a cold gaze filled with murderous intent.
"Quite confident, I suppose you are putting your faith into this."
"—!"
A cold sensation reached her when he pressed against the talisman covering her lower region. "I was told about the curse. The divine protection granted to you by the fake one, right? Along with this little paper protection."
"You…hn-ah!" A painful jolt suddenly took her by surprise, as Shamuhaza pressed the talisman and for the first time… a sense of panic showed in her eyes. "N-No!"
"I prepared for this moment for years, don't believe for a second I know nothing about you. Your curse may kill me, but it won't have much of an effect on one of the Insect God's children infused by the essence of the remnant we kept of the beast."
With a passing moment, the confidence in her eyes vanished. The insect already pressing itself at the entrance further made the woman go pale. A sudden, violent screech of tearing metal echoed through the chamber, followed by the explosive crash of shattering stone.
"What!?"
Everyone froze. The insect above Astrid paused, its head cocked in confusion. Shamuhaza's triumphant smirk evaporated, replaced by a snarl of irritation as he looked up towards the high ceiling of the chasm.
A black blade cleaved through the solid rock directly above them. It was the same weapon the man had been seen using several times. The sword didn't stop, twirling in the air, it began to descend, carving a perfect circle through the ceiling as if it were butter.
A loud screech echoed as it cut through the insect on the young mage and landed right beside her forearm. Right in the area where Astrid was held.
A man appeared with several wounds and burns on his body, breathing heavily and looking paler than usual; he straightened up, his red coat settling around him, and looked down at her with an expression of genuine confusion.
"Kaguya?" Archer asked, his brow furrowed. "What are you doing here? Didn't I drop you off in your room at the Palace?"
At first, embarrassment showed on her face, followed by frustration and then acceptance. The smallest hint of a smile appeared. "I suppose I overestimated myself and may trouble you for some help."
He chuckled, "Not the first time, and I doubt it will be the last time."
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The next 5 chapters of Snafu, and my other Fate fics (Fate Coiling Sword with 3 chapters, A Fake Familiar Reborn with 3 chapters, Steel Eyed Faker soon to be 3 chapters, Taimanin with 3, Hound having 3 and To love a sword having 4 chapters) are already available on my P@treon. With 4 more Broly chapters at /NimtheWriter. Also, I post commissioned arts on each story, already posted a few on an Archer's Promise, Broly and Snafu.