Balmung, the sword of Siegfried. It was a crystalized legend, a Noble Phantasm that slays dragons, and would show increasing effectiveness against any of their kin.
In this case, the red dragon flew away on tattered wings after only the first slash that had yet to realize Balmung's true power as the name wasn't invoked.
Perhaps it was the feeling that the sword in his hands gave off, but more than anything, Shirou was just felt relieved as he crumpled into an exhausted heap on the ground. He was just barely able to use Balmung as a crutch in his exhaustion. His veins were popped over his skin, and his breathing was hoarse.
He was a failure as a magus since for the longest time, he'd never properly utilized his Magic Circuits. They were the conductors of magecraft and would allow a magus to actualize their mysteries, and in his case, years of unuse had left them performing at less-than-optimal capacity.
Sure, his current state revealed the toll he'd paid, but a majority of the injuries actually came from when he charged right into the Dragon's breath attack earlier to save a group of people he saw residing in the trees.
Noble Phantasms like Balmung required a certain level of energy that he ordinarily would have trouble meeting. However, it felt different this time. Rather than transporting the weapons of his reality marble into reality through Tracing, it felt more like they were already there and just waiting to be called.
It was likely that there must be some sort of effect behind this phenomenon, and he was willing to bet that it had something to do with the mysterious Gate that had suddenly appeared in his reality marble.
Through the Gate, the two worlds were connected which altered some aspects of his craft.
To reiterate, the act of Tracing itself was different. He'd tried to Trace Balmung into his hands, but what happened instead was that it appeared rushing over the horizon to present itself to him.
Unknown to him in the spur of the moment, but when he'd Traced Balmung, the weapon itself had shot through the Gate in order to reach him, baffling many magi that saw it zip by.
It was just another mystery, and one that he didn't feel like thinking about as pain caused him to grit his teeth.
His forearms were burned, parts of his skin blackened, yet if one looked closely enough, they'd see that he was already healing. In any case, Lord Elmelloi arrived near him as he was catching his breath.
"You know, I didn't think you'd actually manage this on your own," Waver said flatly while holding a cigarette between his lips which he soon lit. He inhaled, then let out a puff. "Admittedly, I'd never imagined that Ms. Tohsaka's tag-along would be this capable… or reckless."
Waver was glaring, yet there wasn't much heat in his stare, rather there was a hint of nostalgia.
Shirou had noticed it before, but at times, Waver looked at him as if Waver was remembering certain memories of a time long ago.
"Impulsive, refusal to comply to orders, dragging me along to problems not of my own making, perhaps he would have liked you," Waver mumbled before he grew stern.
Shirou could guess the reason for Waver's abrupt change. If they were alone before where Shirou had landed after attacking the red dragon, now they had several visitors. Each of them wore green garments fashioned from what looked to be leaves. Their hair was almost platinum in colour, long and reaching down to their waists.
Several men and women were carrying bows hung around their shoulders, a majority of which were either badly charred or broken entirely.
Just looking at the people, everyone was in a sorry state appearing just as bad as Shirou. However, this wasn't the aspect Shirou and Waver focused on, rather, it was the pointed ears of every stranger in front of them.
"Phantasmals," Waver increased his weariness. Unlike Shirou, he knew that phantasmal species generally outclassed most humans in regards to magical affinity. The people around were clearly Elves, and if there was one thing that was clear, Elves and the Fae of Arthurian folklore shared similar legends.
These elves may not be the elves Waver was imagining, but caution was a prudent trait to have. He hummed in thought while readying his magecraft in the case of an emergency. This excursion has already run its course. It should be time to be heading back now to decide on a plan of action.
Meanwhile, Shirou blinked back the dizziness he was feeling and focused on the people in front of him. They were speaking to him in words that he couldn't understand; however, the relief and gratitude they were displaying was universal.
One elf along with her father bowed their head lowly while speaking out to him.
"I don't understand," he said hoarsely. He'd breathed in too much smoke prior, so his voice sounded nasally.
The Elves furrowed their brows at his language, but Waver was already moving to solve the problem.
Waver knelt on a knee while transcribing patterns of glowing magic circles on the ground. He wasn't as talented as certain natural geniuses who could utilize their craft with a snap of their fingers, but he was well versed in all textbook mysteries.
Funneling his magic energy into his drawn magic array, a film of translucent energy enveloped him and Shirou.
"Do you understand me?" Waver spoke directly to the Elves who stared back in astonishment.
"Y-You're a human sorcerer- no, more than that, please let us thank you for helping us!" An elderly looking elf stepped forward. "We have several men and women putting out the fires in the forest, but we welcome you to please stay as guests."
The elderly elf directed his words more towards Shirou, but Shirou deferred to Waver for his judgement.
All things considered, this elven village was the closest to the Gate they'd come from, meaning that there was relevance in investigation. More importantly, if he couldn't find anything beneficial from the Elves to place importance on them, he detested the thought of what may happen.
Elves were rare in their original world, and if there was one thing common among magi, it was their ruthlessness for the sake of research… and the elves were prime research material.
Waver inwardly grimaced, but in the end, he slowly nodded to accept the elder's offer.
The scent of blood lingered in the air as one fortunate solider with a missing left arm scrambled into a forest away from the sight of a massacre. He was the only one who lived. With the presence of an army here, it was likely that a human civilization was nearby, not that it would be of much interest at this point. Their weapons were primitive, and their understanding of magecraft and magic, more so.
Standing in the midst of the massacre was a woman seemingly made out of steel wearing a maid uniform with black and white motifs.
Blood was splattered over her face, several droplets trickling down her fingers to join with the pile of corpses beneath her feet.
She swung her arms to either side, flicking the blood off while simultaneously retracting several thin threads of liquid metal that suspended numerous bodies in the air through puncture holes.
The clang of swords and armours crashing in to the ground resounded as the steel woman looked impassively at her work.
"Trimmao," a voice called.
The steel doll, Trimmao inclined her head at the voice before closing her eyes and melting into a pool of liquid that once more returned to its place hidden beneath a certain woman's clothing.
Said woman with piercing emerald-like eyes carefully wiped the spittle she could still feel on her face from when Marcus had been threatening her. "What a boar of a man," she scorned.
Her name was Lady Reines El-Melloi Archisorte, the 'true' power behind one Waver Velvet. One may think that Waver with the title of Lord El-Melloi was the one in a greater position, but Lady Reines would beg to differ. She treated him as a servant if anything, a rather entertaining one at that.
A contract. Everything was based on a contract, one enforced as she was in possession of the Velvet family Magic Crest.
Now, what was she to do when she'd heard that her dear 'brother' was assigned to investigate a mysterious Gate without even a trusted assistant like Ms. Gray around? Naturally, she had to check for herself… it had nothing to do with the fact that she felt Waver had gotten himself involved in something interesting.
She glanced deeply at the 'new world' around her.
Interesting indeed, and certainly something that would garner the attention of many magi including herself. The possibilities for further research in this new environment were uncountable.
As her dear 'brother' was a Lord of the Clock Tower, it would be most prudent that House El-Melloi take advantage of the fact that they were here first. She'd sooner see herself die than share any spoils with the Sophia-Ri family.
At the moment, Reines knew that the Gate was currently designated with a caution label as no one knew what was on the other side. The initial magi who went through including Waver and Shirou Emiya hadn't volunteered for no reason. There was likely no choice to begin with.
See it like this: Why would Waver be put in charge of the investigation? He carried the position of a Lord and shouldn't be putting himself in danger, yet he was sent without any sort of protest. This was silent acknowledgment by the other Lords that felt contempt for House El-Melloi ever since Kayneth's death.
They weren't treating Waver's position as anything important, especially the Sophia-Ri family who she was on bad terms with.
With the discovery of what was truly on the other side of the Gate, this was a chance for opportunity rather than risk death from such weak inhabitants. It can only be delayed for so long, but the more time she had to monopolize the area, the greater house El-Melloi's advantage can be.
"Hmmm," she hummed in thought, eying the other magi standing guard by the Gate's entrance. Most were Waver's lecture students who respected Waver to an extent and would listen to him. By extension, they can be considered to be tied with house El-Melloi.
"You," she pointed to a jittery magus who looked like she'd rather by anywhere else than being stared down by a direct member of the El-Melloi family.
"Y-Yes?" The magus stuttered, vividly recalling the scene of Trimmao slaughtering an army.
"Go back through the Gate and tell our peers that Lord El-Melloi has requested a week's extension in his investigation on the other side of the Gate. Oh, and call for Ms. Gray and a few trusted members of my family. They could prove to be of use to Lord El-Melloi." Reines smiled darkly. "The 'dangers' here have proven far greater than expected. Please emphasize on this point."
"Did you mean the Dragon?" The magus asked, prompting Reines to blink in astonishment. She was referring to the Dragon that had been roused early due to the Gate's appearance.
"Dragon?" Reines felt like she'd heard wrong and furrowed her brows.
"Yeah, the one Lord El-Melloi and Shirou Emiya chased after," the magus explained what happened the moment they'd first arrived.
Reines opened then closed her mouth, her heart flipping in her chest from the ramifications her mind presented to her. "Very well. Now go and report what I've said," she ordered the magus back through the Gate before she fell into a contemplative silence.
This world really could be a treasure trove, and now that the existence of phantasmal species was verified, one thing became clear.
In this world, perhaps the Age of the Gods had yet to end?
The abundance of mana in the air was readily apparent, but she wouldn't be so quick to just assume. She'd focus on other aspects for now, namely, the discovery she'd made in regards to magecraft.
Everything felt stronger here, granted this was easily explained by a lack of adequate magi in this new world. With less people knowing proper thaumaturgy, those that did would see an increase in the effectiveness of their craft.
This was all the more reason to delay the discovery of this world from other magi beyond the Gate. "For House El-Melloi."
House El-Melloi will make the most of being the first pioneers to the other side. In which case, they'd need to have a good grasp of the world around them to procure the most resources for research and development over the other families. Information was going to be key.
As a certain thought came to her at this moment, Reines grinned.
What a grand idea.
"He certainly won't like it, but he won't be having a choice," a grin of amusement played over Reines' lips.
Suddenly, she had a new job for her brother.
Meanwhile, an army from the Empire marched towards the second Gate on Alnus Hill.
Thanks for reading!
For those that asked what it means when I have 2 stories in the 'next update' section, it mean that I'm going to update both stories back to back with smaller updates rather than a large single update to get more chapters out for the newer stories. In this case, Beyond the Gate is for today, and Birth of a Legend Rewrite is for tomorrow.
P a treon. com (slash) Parcasious
Fiction Press: Survivor's Log: Reflections (New novel coming out near end of December)
Book link: Fatedlegacydark. ca