A few moments before,
Blood showered as the golden brilliance dimmed, Jeanne's arm, wielding the flagstaff, flying up.
Before the second attack could land on her, though, hundreds of chains rained down, tearing through the space with booms.
Gritting her teeth, the Holy Maiden blurred out of existence as well, grabbing her hand midair.
Not only did the Chains of Heaven let her go untouched, but they also changed directions at impossible angles, thrusting themselves toward Sakura.
With so many of them, even the strongest Servant didn't stand a chance to block all.
Not when the Heroic Spirits present here were still under the effect of Enkidu's Command Seals.
However, what happened next made both Ruler-level Servants narrow their eyes, Jeanne's gaze finally landing on her attacker.
It was a mass of red mist.
It carried two curved longswords, one white and the other black.
Its speed was such that perhaps only Jeanne and Enkidu could truly see it.
Tink-Tanks rang out, deafening the ears, as the red blur parried all the Chains of Heaven, circling the girl.
Then, as if someone had cast a time stasis spell on the entire scene, the red mist also came to stop in front of Sakura, letting out a pulsating breath.
It was Black — wielding the Heroic Item!
…
[
Item: Kanshou and Bakuya Overedge
Grade: Heroic
Sub-Grade: Low
Specification: Empowered by his ideals of Hero's Justice, Shirou utilized his innate Projection and Reinforcement to completely transform the regular Kanshou and Bakuya into longswords
Requirement:
— A Sword-related Ability
— Shirou's Approval
— 3rd Threshold
— Strength > 125
— Stamina > 100
— Worth >200
Attributes:
— Measurement: 125 cm
— Material: Unknown
— Base Damage: 1000 HP
Skill: ?
Quality: 100%
]
…
Black looked at the Requirement, stunned.
Even if he ignored the Chocolate Frog Card, Pumpkin Juice Bottle, and Daily Prophet, the three Heroic Items given to him by Harry Potter's Timeline, he still had two more Heroic Items.
The Tales of Beedle the Bard had gone through many complications, though.
First, it had been tampered by Soul King, a Half-Deep One, making Glitch a requirement. Then, Julius Novachrono had turned it into a Grimoire, changing its Requirements again.
So, Black could accept it, having Requirements tailored for him.
However, The Philosopher's Stone, the only other Heroic Item — Named Top-level Heroic Item — also had Requirements that suited him.
After getting The Philosopher's Stone, Kai had remained puzzled for a very long time because any decent 3rd Set Contestant, at least one with a good amount of Worth, could wield it.
There were seven Grades of an Item — Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Heroic, Legendary, and Mythical, each roughly corresponding to a Set's power level in increasing order.
It wasn't that Systems exclusively mentioned it.
It was the Contestants who had figured out which Item Grade corresponded to which Set after seeing their Requirements over millions of years.
Kai's Main Mission had a C+ Overall Grade.
Combined with the fact that he was a 3rd Set Contestant, he could only meet the Requirements of Rare Graded Items. Even if one accounted for the oddity he was, he could only equip Epic Graded ones, excluding some special higher Graded Items that didn't need such Requirements.
After mulling over it for months, Kai had guessed that it must be Timeline who had tampered with The Philosopher's Stone's Requirements.
And, seeing Kanshou and Bakuya Overedge's Requirements, Black finally confirmed that guess.
This was a proper Heroic Item.
This was how a Heroic Item should look.
This was how it must feel — wielding Heroic Swords.
Like two hunks of steel…
Yes.
As Black wielded these weapons, all he could feel was their weight.
He couldn't even channel his Mana or Breath or Life into them. He couldn't even see the Skill these swords held. Everything was locked from his senses — at least until he met the Requirements.
But, for now, these were the exact Items he needed for just one reason —
— Kanshou and Bakuya Overedge was the strongest Item in his arsenal… against Heroic Spirits!
But the notifications hadn't ended there.
…
[
Congratulations Contestant Kai D. Stormborn
You have achieved a Milestone
…
Milestone: Make Shirou Emiya create custom Items for the Contestant
Rewards:
— Strength +5
— Agility +5
— Stamina +5
— Correspondence +5
…
Congratulations Contestant Kai D. Stormborn
Your Title status has updated
…
Title: Hero
Specification: Have loyal followers across timelines that unconditionally believe in you as their timeline's Savior
Status: (4/7)
Effect:
— Skill: A Hero Never Turns His Back
— Skill: A Hero's Will Is Unmatched
— Skill: A Hero Lives On
]
…
The massive amounts of Attribute Points were more than welcome.
But Black still had no idea who these loyal followers were. Logic stated that this Title was some form of upgrade of his Dimensional Leader Title. However, when Titles upgraded, they carried the Status Points with them.
When Black had unlocked the Hero Title, he already had 2 of the 7 required loyal followers, Sakura Matou being the 3rd.
Which meant the first two couldn't be Shinobu Kocho and Arya Stark.
Now, with another loyal follower joining the ranks, it became even more complex because Black, for once, knew it wasn't Shirou Emiya.
It felt like someone was bent on making him a Hero.
Suddenly, the moment Black concluded this statement, the Ad Infinitum blocked it. [Strengthening temporary Unsynchronization…]
Black's pupils shook, and he let out a breath, standing firm.
Jeanne's hold on Shirou, Saber, and Rider had vanished, making them fall to the ground. Now, along with Medea, Rin, Assassin, and Archer, they were looking at Black, gobsmacked.
It was even more so for Archer, who kept looking at the two swords in Black's hands.
"No one…" Black said, looking up where Enkidu was reattaching Jeanne's arm. "No one touches…"
Squelch!
A red-black strip of cloth tore through Black's chest.
"BLACK!!!" Shirou screamed, Medea already casting the most destructive spell.
But, before either of the two or any other Servant could act, the strip of cloth flung Black to the side, the swords slipping out of his grip. With a hiss, hundreds of strips of cloth returned, covering the scorched and mutilated girl, becoming The Shadow.
Then, with a final flicker, it vanished.
And as the two longswords struck the ground, they disappeared, too.
In the very next moment, they reappeared in a world with a gray sky and a bloody ground, in the hands of Berserker.
Lancer, who had just heard Berserker saying that he was waiting for Swords, opened his mouth, dumbfounded.
Not even a moment had passed that Berserker smiled and… let them go, both swords melting inside the blood ocean.
"Devour…" Kai said, unleashing his Shikai. "… Ayin!"
*****************
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