Land of the Blades

52. A Shield

—Ah, don't worry about it —I said, her words had raised my suspicious, but it was just a misunderstanding.

—B-but as I said, all of my analysis indicate that you should be able to do it.

I took a look at my hands, and the rest of my body. I have been trying to keep my body as solid as possible, as I feared that I would lose the sense of self if I tried to alter my form too much. I ended up twisting and turning every time I lost control, so there was a chance the reverse could be true too. But we were in a dire situation, if we were able to avoid a fight and capture the queen, we could get end this whole grail war.

—I can't promise anything, but I'll give it a try. Show us the way.

Mantis smiled and nodded. We had sought refuge on a building that had been abandoned, just like every other one we had come across. It made sense, as everyone would be acting as a guard/soldier at the moment. We got out of there and moved through the alleyways, but it looked like even the main streets were empty. Finally we arrived at the Ziggurat, a massive, pyramid-like building. Using one of the entrances at its sides, we came to a maze full of corridors and rooms. Its architecture was still like something that could be inhabited, and not a literal labyrinth, so we could navigate through it until we arrived to a big door. I felt an incredible prescience coming from the other side of it.

—Is this... —I attempted to ask, but I couldn't finish my question.

—Yes. On the other side is where Saber lays. We don't have any chance to win against her, but we don't have to even attempt to do it —Mantis said, and pointed towards a ventilation duct hidden behind a case.

—Won't she realize we are going through? —Ondyne asked.

—Saber can't do anything aside from what Franny tells her, and can't do anything complex either. She must have told her to guard the door behind her, and that's all she would do.

—Alright, I will go first —the Admirabilis said—, if something happens and she does go against me, I'll keep her busy for a moment. Phos, you have to go through and get to Franny, no matter what happen, got it?

—... eh? Ah! Y-yeah, I got you covered —I replied.

She threw me a recriminatory glare, let out a sight, and entered the tunnel. I had been obviously distracted, and I was sorry about it, but something was not right.

Didn't the shadow servants said something about them being able to change? Even Berserker became an ally to us because she had lost her anger, and Assassin had allied to the Lunarians due to her responsibilities as the god of the dead. The second Assassin had said something similar. Huh? When did I meet up with her?

In any case, there was something suspicious happening there, but I had been too slow and Ondyne had already advanced quite some distance into the ventilation duct. I couldn't yell to her to come back, but the alternative was...

I heard a noise, something that I had heard a long time ago. A dark wind. I forced the open to open and jumped inside of the room. Just as I had feared, Saber was standing with her glare fixated on the ventilation duct, her sword covered by a dark miasma. She looked at me from the corner of her eyes and... smirked.

I could never get to her on time, so instead I jumped in front of the attack, using my alloy and the Lunarian's sword to attempt to block some of the force of the impact. I wanted to believe that Andersen was already casting something to reinforce my body. It will not be enough, not matter what, but it didn't matter if I blew to pieces, I could always be repaired. Ondyne was a living being, that kind of attack would definitively kill her. I needed to protect her; I needed to become a shield. I needed to become THAT shield.