White Ink

31

Shirou clicked his fingers and a wave of water rushed towards his red cloaked adversary that had engaged him specifically. The man expertly dodged to the side as the wave froze everything it touched in its path. A pair of those white and black swords rushed towards him. He had found out the hard way that that those pair attracted naturally attracted each other when he had been struck in the back by one of them. The strike of the sword caused a long scratch that healed in less than ten seconds thanks to Nolava II but it did teach him to maintain awareness.
L

orelei had already taken Achilles and due to his quick muttering of his nature had quickly honed onto the heel of the great hero. Countless blades of wind converged on the fighter as Lorelei used strange vectors and quick spells to hold against the physically superior servant.
As for Lorelei's servant he had taken on the ancestor. Shirou quite frankly had lost track of his battle after he pulled out a fucking tree and attacked him. So he decided to leave him with the belief that he's probably fine.
Swords suddenly appeared overhead and he darted backwards in response avoiding them. Unfortunately while [Ryuujin's Perfect Body] gave him great resistance from blunt attacks due to the inherent density of his blood and other body fluids, it's effectiveness against sharp sources was reduced. Not eliminated by any means but it meant that these swords would make him bleed if they cut him. Turning to face the servant he spat at him aiming for the centre of his chest. The powerful bullet of water was deflected causing his sword to crack but they immediately dissipated and reformed in front of him.
The servant rushed forward leaping over Shirou's wave and deflecting the water jumps that made to drill holes through him while in mid-air. Sprinting towards Shirou he leapt to the side to avoid the explosive rune that was laid down by Shirou mid-fight using his boots. Entering Shirou's range he found himself engulfed in acidic steam enough to reduce a human to bones in an instant but the red-cloaked man powered through only to be forced to retreat once again by a mass of metal spikes that pierced the ground at his location. He jumped back and fired sword after sword at Shirou who deflected them all with jets of water. He summoned a bow and a spiral shaped sword but Shirou didn't let him fire it summoning all the water around him, freezing it and launching the iceberg at the servant all in less than two seconds.
There was a massive explosion and the two men stared at each other for a moment. Shirou took that moment to slot a new cartridge in his desert eagle and eye the servant in front of him. By this point he had got the measure of him. He was either Saber or Archer, although Shirou would place good money on Saber and he fought by the use of projections. He also had quite good magic resistance and a lot of mana. The majority of the swords that he used were weak and could be easily deflected but whenever he pulled out a unique one it should be immediately destroyed. In addition his survival instincts were surprisingly good. Shirou had made multiple deadly attacks and each attack had led to the man avoiding it by the narrowest of margins.
Annoyed at the stalemate that had continued for the past five minutes Shirou resolved to finish it within the next bout. Sending a mental message to his servant to strike when the time was ready he stepped forward and started advancing towards the servant. Once again two blades were flung at him and he used icicles that materialised to pin them to the ground. He drew his sword Nolava II showing his intention to join in a swordfight as he strode towards the servant. The servant responded in kind that pair of black and white swords once more appearing in his hands as he darted towards the Magician.
At the last possible moment before the clash Shirou dropped his sword letting the blade sink a foot into the ground. Bringing up his hand he looked at the momentarily surprised form of the swordsman before he incanted his ultimate spell.
"[Amessunu Istenis]," he said and thrust his hand directly at his opponent.
The white haired man had stopped advancing as soon as Shirou had started casting the spell quickly raising his hand and causing a seven petalled shield to appear in front of him. The shield showed it's exceptional ability when only the first petal broke upon receiving the initial pressure of the attack.
Shirou had however trained and studied over the years since he first created his ultimate ability. Initially the attack was omnidirectional and enough to kill all humans in the area as they were crushed by the sudden pressure. By the time he had confronted the demon he had learned to aim it and compress and direct the area of effect. After he had fought the dragon last year he believed he had fully understood and mastered the attack.
He was proven wrong just six months ago by an amused Gilgamesh. The spell did more than mimic the pressure at the ocean floor. It was conceptual in nature as no amount of water that Shirou could summon would ever do that. Water was incredibly bad at being compressed and once he figured that out he was able to properly understand the true nature of [Amessunu Istenis]. The spell did not turn the air into water; it merely summoned the Abyss to crush Shirou's opponents. Materialising the hell that was at the bottom of the ocean that the ancestors of humans had left behind eons ago and had subsequently lost the ability to resist or survive it.
Shirou reached out with his hand and crushed the six petals that lay before him like glass. He then summoned the abyss and used it to kill the white haired man before him. The invisible waves distorted the air causing the entire world like it was convulsing in an attempt to rid itself of the red cloaked man obscuring him from vision.
Shirou watched intensely to see the resulting damage from the attack. The mist from the water droplets faded and Shirou's jaw dropped. The man stood there in his fucking red trenchcoat bleeding intensely and his left arm was mangled but otherwise still standing. In his one remaining good arm he clutched a staff that resembled a snake. Shirou ignoring everything else analysed the sword breaking down all the knowledge contained within and devouring its concepts.
"The fucking staff of Moses," he exclaimed clenching his fists. "Why do you have the gods be damned staff of Moses?"
"It's part of the job unfortunately," the man said and there was the barest hint of bitterness in his tone. He adopted a fighting stance holding the staff in front of him and Shirou did the same pulling the water around him in a state of readiness.
Suddenly the spot where the white-haired man was standing exploded. The man flew backwards his other arm a pulped mess from trying to block the sudden beam of light that was fired at him from the direction of Shirou's servant. The staff had disintegrated but Shirou had no illusions that was the last of it he would see. Immediately turning intangible he disappeared swiftly from the battlefield. Shirou then turned and waved in the direction of Rider giving her a wave of acknowledgement then he headed to properly make use of their numerical advantage.
Running his eyes over the battle he quickly came to the conclusion that Lorelei's servant was winning against Strout his tree seeming to held up well against the cursed sword of Strout, while Lorelei was losing if marginally against Achilles due to her inability to harm the hero. Stepping forward her swiftly reloaded his Desert Eagle and took multiple shots at his ankle causing him to abandon his defence and dodge backwards disengaging.
Shirou followed up that attack by bombarding the area that the servant was in with multiple jets of water cutting off his mobility. The hero charged at Shirou with unbelievable speed nearly reaching him in under a second when he was suddenly forced to jump over another blade of wind that was aimed at his ankles. Shirou took advantage of the fact that he couldn't move and bombarded him with multiple attacks. Poisonous acidic mist covered his location and he fired multiple bullets and icicles at speed far surpassing the speed of sound at the location of Achilles; the fog doing nothing to mask the location of the hero from the water Magician.
When the fog cleared Shirou and Lorelei both stared at the servant. Achilles was still standing his armour and clothes mostly intact but there was a gash on the side of his head that leaked blood into his eye. The servant smiled a toothy grin and then looked at Shirou.
"You…" he began to say and then was silenced as his body was launched back at a speed due to the impact of another beam of light against his chest. He coughed blood and his chest looked like it was partially caved in but stood back up again readying his spear. Shirou blinked impressed once again at his servants shooting ability. He might have to actually start paying her if she keeps on being so useful.
"It's time to retreat," Strout said as he suddenly arrived at Achille's side. Despite all the fighting done the man looked immaculate. Lorelei's servant suddenly approached as well.
"Apologies Master," he spoke. "While I wounded him multiple times, he swiftly recovered."
Lorelei merely nodded at him and turned back to look at the retreating ancestor. "Face your death with dignity abomination," she said. "You're not leaving here alive today."
"I'm going to have to disagree," the vampire said. Pulling out a strange device that looked like a detonator complete with a red button and all he pressed the button on top of it; Achilles defending him from the sudden blasts of wind and water that accompanied the reveal of the device.
Nothing happened for a few seconds and the trio backed off prepared for whatever the device activated and remained in a state of readiness letting the vampire leave. After a moment Lorelei's servant spoke. "Master I should inform you that the device when activated produced a high frequency noise. I didn't believe you would hear it."
"I noticed it," his master replied to him still scanning the surrounding area. "It sounded like a dog whistle."
Shirou and Lorelei froze; both seemed to come to the realisation at the same time. Their faces were stricken with shock and they backed off even further looking wildly around. It was Shirou who first saw it and the sight immediately stole all breath from his lungs. The thing approached swiftly as if it was simply a mass of moving muscle. It stood thirty feet tall but was graceful in its advance and gave out the singular feel of potent dread. As the humongous white wolf bore down on them Shirou was shocked to realise that even the thrumming sense of power in his blood that he usually experienced before a battle was silenced in the face of that monstrosity.
"This is no longer a battle we can win," he heard Lorelei say from beside him and he was unsurprised to note that her voice contained poorly hidden pure primal fear. "Lancer, stall it; use everything."
The buff Lancer materialised in front of the pair and he immediately thrust his tree-spear into the ground. "Magna Voluisse Magnum," he yelled out and then an enormous amount of power was released. The charging beast was lifted off the ground by the sudden appearance of an enormous tree that sprouted from the sidewalk and carried the beast to the heavens. Countless branches sprouted and attempted to pierce the hide of the creature, as the beast was pounded on all sides by branches as thick as whole trees.
But still it was not enough. The beast descended down the tree as if a salmon swimming down the tide of a river smashing the nearly infinite branches as it descended with astonishing amounts of grace for what was essentially a nine metre beast of destruction. The growth matched the beast's descent for a few moments before the beast suddenly roared and the surrounding greenery was obliterated. Shirou felt his eardrums burst before they were replaced by metal mesh.
The monster landed on the ground and was immediately at the centre of an enormous eruption. Countless beams of light impacted against the spot in a barrage that would have reduced any normal creature to atoms. Suddenly ripples shot outward from the smoke and the upper half of the skyscraper that Rider was on disintegrated.
The smoke that engulfed the beast cleared revealing a crater with the centre of the crater containing a pillar of stone on which stood the unscathed Primate Murder. The creature shook himself of the dust and debris that covered him from the various attempts to hurt him. And then the beast turned and glared at them. It was such a human act and the amount of hatred surprised Shirou.
Shirou met his eyes and started analysing the creature digging deep into its concepts and nature. The beast seemed to notice his analysis and it bent it's legs and in the next instant it flew towards Shirou. Branches started sprouting again in an omnidirectional attack that worked well before. It didn't work as well the second time. Every single branch started to rot and smoke before it even came near the White Beast of Gaia, and by the time they reached its hide they disintegrated on contact. Effectively Lorelei's servant's Noble Phantasm was reduced to the power of a spider web.
The servant strode forward. "You are no wolf," he said darkly, his audacity impressing the small amount of Shirou's mind that wasn't focusing on analysing the creature. "Whatever kind of abomination you are you will pay for emulating the visage of a wolf while hunting down mankind."
The servant suddenly charged at unbelievable speed swinging his tree spear towards the White Wolf. The ground cratered as the spear was dodged by the nimble wolf its massive size belying it's terrifying speed. Again the servant swung the sword at the wolf moving at impossible speeds and again the wolf dodged it.
"It's playing with him," he heard Lorelei exclaim in incredulity; whether it was due to the ultimate killer of mankind having a playful side or its dominance over the heroic spirit he couldn't tell.
"He can't kill it," Shirou said to himself having finished analysing the absurd monster. "It is utterly impossible for him to kill it," he said trying to figure out a way to put down the monster.
Suddenly the creature reared back clutching its right eye with its paws in a surprisingly humanlike fashion. For the first time in the entire fight the creature growled, a deep rolling thunder that caressed the intestines in a wholly threatening manner and was able to overcome the sheer terror of its roar by a large margin. It's muscles bulged and it slammed it's front paws into the ground causing a shockwave of air that pushed Shirou and Lorelei back a dozen feet.
Stabilising himself Shirou was able to witness the rapidly healing hole in the beast's eye before Primate Murder was upon Lancer and with one snap of his jaws had reduced him to a state of nothingness.
Then Shirou was rushing forward even as the beast with murder in its eyes charged him down. He stretched out his hand towards the stunned figure of the vice-director grasping her as his magic flared and the both of them faded into non-existence mere moments before the jaws of the Beast closed down around them.
Author Note: The other half of the long chapter I had originally envisioned and a fitting place to say, "This is the end of the prologue." I'm probably going to take a bit of a break but I will likely be back soon. If I don't ever come back, I'm dead.
Celestial Brush Don't think it's limited to females. Sumire is actually out of the house by the way. She wouldn't hate Arcueid. Both of them regularly kill Dead Apostles.
Holywhat Did you mean my fic cannot get worse? :P JK. Shirou's luck is B+ but that doesn't mean everything is going to go his way. The + mainly kicks in when he's specifically looking for trouble.
DPSS I never said he was an archer. I also never specifically said that he wants to kill Shirou. Not weighing in on the Shiki v Shirou thing.
silverbringer1 Yes it is Ishtar. No it isn't Gilgamesh.