Another continuation of America (173) (Patreon)

Angrboda didn't even need to move to defend herself against the attacks of Berserker, Beowulf. Why should she?

Like Cainabel, Ainz, or even Baal, Angrboda was a being of a different nature, a different concept, a different level of existence entirely. Something that Beowulf could understand and feel better than other Servants.

"Strength is everything."

Without strength, one perishes. The good, the evil, even the temperate, only those with power can allow themselves to exist. Angrboda was a creature born of these principles, the principles of power as some constant, some all-defining value, the dividing threshold of possibility, the right to exist.

He who does not possess power cannot exist.

Angrboda existence arose from this very concept, and Beowulf could not help but appreciate it. To feel that in front of him, standing against him, stood not another Servant, but something greater, something as ancient as the very foundation of the Earth. A product of the ancient, unspoken truth on which the world was first founded.

He knows that he’s wildly outmatched.

But what choice did Beowulf have? Surrender, retreat, flee, to accept defeat and die?

No, Beowulf was not willing to even entertain the idea. Beowulf was what he was, a Berserker, always fighting to the very end.

And to the very end he chose to fight.

And even when both of Beowulf's blades slammed into Angrboda, and when it did not even cause her to change her somewhat mocking but more contemptuous gaze, he struck yet again. Then once more. And again. Each and every blow was as ineffectual as the last, and yet he kept swinging his hands.

Each of Beowulf's attacks slammed into Angrboda's body fully, each causing her no discomfort, but Beowulf didn't, couldn’t stop. When he realized that Angrboda wasn't even trying to defend herself, to dodge, not even willing to raise her hand in defense, Beowulf just kept punching, punching, and punching again.

Instead of being wary, defensive, or even thinking of running away, Beowulf put his every being into his fists, standing his ground, to strike the mountain in front of him. Even when his blades cracked, and was destroyed in a pitiful groan, he did not stop, continuing only to furiously strike again and again. When Beowulf suddenly realized that his weapon was literally crumbling in his hands, he did not stop.

Grendel Buster was Beowulf's third and final Noble Phantasm. The quintessence of all of Beowulf's primitive and ferocious power as a Berserker and a Heroic Spirit. A Noble Phantasm that he could only use after losing his weapons, the ability to achieve his legendary power that had crushed Grendel, his Mother, and the dragon at the end of his life with his bare hands.

An ability that reshaped all of Beowulf, an ability that perverted the understanding of ‘weapons in my hands’, replacing it with ‘my hands are weapons’. An ability that awakened the primal power lurking within every living being, the unleashing of all the beastly fury and power of Beowulf as Berserker, as Hero, as Man.

Fully unleashed, his full strength in hand, a moment later, Beowulf's fists crashed into Angrboda…

And the sound of crunching bones could be heard

The pain was so surprising that even Beowulf himself grit his teeth as he heard the crunch and saw the bloody glow of blood pouring from his broken hands. He could see bone jutting out, its broken ends piercing his body from within, leaking out even more of his blood.

Beowulf using his full strength to hit Angrboda was like an ordinary man trying to break a wall of stone with their fists. Uncaring of pain and the limitation of his body, Beowulf had shattered his bones, and the strain of his muscles breaking his joints.

Beowulf didn't care.

Like a wild animal, smelling blood, even if his own, he had fully delved into his Madness. He struck again, and again, even when he grounded out his bones, he could not stop, continuing to strike and strike.

The realization that his blows were futile did manage to get through even to Beowulf's maddened mind, but the thought of futile resistance didn't even cross his mind. When his hands could no longer even form fists, he did not stop.

Grasping Angrboda's arms with his hands, as if trying to hold his victim in place, Beowulf stooped to the most bestial of ways to fight. He started biting.

With his wide mouth open, he lunged at Angrboda, striving to dig into her neck and rip it out with his teeth, fighting like a rabid dog.

When his teeth touched Angrboda's neck and he tried to clench them, instead of tearing flesh, his teeth began to crumble instead.

“A mad dog till the end, now you’re resorting to your bite? I’ve entertained this farce for long enough.” Angrboda's words, the first words she spoke in the almost endlessly long moments of Beowulf's battle, if you could call it that, were intensely mocking, yet with a sense of finality to them.

With languid yet with hidden strength, Beowulf felt Angrboda's hands begin to shift, and he began straining to hold it back down, only to fail. Beowulf’s effort to stop Angrboda’s hands, seemed as if he were trying to hold on with his feeble human hands to two inexorably shifting machines that playfully ignored his resistance.

With finality, he felt one of Angrboda's hands begin to dig into his head. He didn’t have to wonder what Angrboda was trying to do for long, with one swift movement, Angrboda’s hand forcibly tore Beowulf’s head from her neck, pulling his head back until Beowulf could stare into Angrboda’s face.

And Angrboda also looked into Beowulf's face.

Angrboda, contrary to her presence as a strong Servant, had only one Noble Phantasm. Or rather, since her Noble Phantasm was a Noble Phantasm that, once activated, continued its effect for virtually perpetuity, constantly changing, it was a stretch to call it only ‘one’ Noble Phantasm. It was like calling the Gate of Babylon as a Noble Phantasm for storing things, ridiculous.

At the time of her summoning, however, Angrboda had made a small pact. She was not supposed to ‘use’ her Noble Phantasm.

Like Baal, and Cainabel before her, it was, in fact, impossible to summon her normally. Like the two Servants of YGGDRASIL before her, Angrboda did not ‘exist’ in the Throne of Heroes and had no original connection to either the Grail or even the world entirely. Unlike the other two, Angrboda was too ‘heavy’ for the world to allow her to exist, the Counter Force would not allow someone so antithetical to the concept of Humanity to be summoned.

Her summoning was only possible thanks to other conditions entirely, therefore, the Counter Force could not prevent her summoning.

But they could at least try to deal with the consequences of her summoning.

And so when Angrboda was summoned, what happens when Humanity senses a threat to Humanity’s existence, happened.

The Counter Force's answer out of all its capabilities and abilities. And yet, rather than sending out a Counter Guardian in a vain hope of killing the threat before what left of Humanity’s power wanes entirely and dooming it, it chose another path instead.

Instead of its usual sledgehammer response, the Counter Force, at the moment of Angrboda's summoning, reached out to her with a single question.

"Will you try to destroy the world?"

To which Angrboda replied simply. "Not until Ainz orders it."

And so, seeing that the world’s salvation was already entirely in Ainz’s hand anyway, the world agreed to her summoning. Under one condition.

Her Noble Phantasm would remain sealed and would not be used, under any circumstances.

This did not mean that Angrboda could not use her Noble Phantasm in any way. After all, it was not sealed by any supernatural superpowered seals, the world deeming it as useless in the first place.

Rather, Angrboda had simply made an agreement with the world, that she would not use her Noble Phantasm and begin destroying the world, for which the Counter Force would not go to war with her.

And so Angrboda could not use her Noble Phantasm against Beowulf.

But…

She didn't need it.

Shaking Beowulf in her hands as if he were a rag doll, she smiled, then opened her mouth.

Stretching her mouth to the limit of a normal span, however, Angrboda's mouth did not stop. It gradually continued to widen further and further, going from the corner to her cheekbones, then to her ears, and then, as if in a surreal nightmare dream, it went further. Her mouth stretches up to her neck and then down to her chest and to her stomach, it was as if all of Angrboda was nothing more than one giant jaw.

And then when her jaw reached the bottom of her belly, turning Angrboda upper body into one enormous jaw, it finally stopped. The nightmare however was only beginning, inside the jaw gaped an exceptionally bottomless throat seemingly leading into the darkness of an empty void.

“You're just a snack," Angrboda said in her usual voice, so out of tune with her now monstrous form, "But, I'm very hungry.”

A moment later, the great jaw closed around Beowulf’s entire body, devouring him.

***

Scáthach was the keeper of the Gate of Skye, she was the ever-present guardian of the gate that divides the world of the living and the dead, the Land of Men and the Land of Shadows. She had battled the creatures of darkness that dwelled within it for thousands of years, guarding humanity from their encroachment.

It was quite usual that it was these gates, the guardianship of which Scáthach served, that became her Noble Phantasm.

The Gates of Skye were the gate between the world of the living, and the world of the dead, the dividing line between the world of ‘what is’ and the world of the ‘other’.

Anyone who passed through these gates would find themselves in the world of the ‘other’, where there was no other fate than death and darkness. Even Scáthach herself could not change this, even having lived for thousands of years in the Lands of Shadows.

Anyone beyond the gates is instantly dead. Once in the Lands of Shadows, there is no choice but death.

That's why Scáthach planned to destroy Nobunaga this way.

Immateriality or even her overwhelming firepower, none of that mattered in the Lands Beyond.

However, when her gate began to appear behind Nobunaga's back…

“World Faith Domination!" Edison's loud voice reached her, and, a moment later, Scáthach’s Noble Phantasm… failed to manifest.

Scáthach did not allow herself a moment's panic, immediately she began dodging Nobunaga's blows and shots. Even her sure-kill technique failing could not shake her martial skills.

“You're not bad," Nobunaga smiled, giving a perfectly sincere compliment, as she summoned even more muskets. "You're just unlucky.”

***

Rama's Brahmastra fell a measly centimeter short of Tesla's neck, losing all its power in an instant. The Thunderer's lightning don't strike from above, and the blow of the blade did not cause destruction all around. Instead, Rama's blade, which should have dealt with Tesla, froze in the air, picked up by Tesla's power. It was as if all the blade's mystical power were nothing more than a dream. As if it were just an iron tool that could be picked up by a magnet and thrown away like a useless piece of scrap metal.

But Tesla didn't stop there, a second later the Noble Phantasm rushed toward Cu Chulainn Alter.

Gáe Bolg, Cu Chulainn Alter’s spear, in his hands its murderous aura were instantly extinguished, never realizing the potential of its killing power. The legendary killing implement was now as if an ordinary sharp stick, the most primitive weapon available to mankind.

Following behind Rama’s inert Brahmastra, an enormous charge of electricity, Tesla's Noble Phantasm, rushed toward Cu Chulainn Alter, the most dangerous opponent.

The two Noble Phantasm would spell death to anyone less skilled, as rare as that qualifier could be applied to a Servant, a debilitating wounding at the very least.

However, Cu Chulainn was not shocked or horrified by what had happened. Like Scáthach, and even more, like a machine noting an error, he merely noted the changed conditions, then giving what order he could to fix the problem. “Curruid Coinchenn”.

***

"Cut!" The flick of a black plate with the director's name, scene title, and take number. That was how you could describe Thomas Edison's Noble Phantasm.

Thomas Edison was not liked by people, not really undeservedly, but his name, in one way or another, was associated with technological progress. The light bulb, the camera, the microphone, three of Edison's greatest inventions that immortalized his name and turned him into a legend.

And a Servant always needs a legend.

Edison's three greatest inventions became the parts of his Noble Phantasm.

The light bulb that disperses darkness by its light. The microphone that records spoken words in detail. And a camera that captures moments that would otherwise be lost to the flow of time. Three pillars of Edison's achievement, and three pillars on which modern civilization itself has rested.

The pillars by which Mysteries were crucified.

The World Faith as understood by a Noble Phantasm was not something religious in nature, it was instead a different world faith altogether, of a different order. The world faith of mankind in its own civilization and not in the mists and fogs of mysteries.

"If humanity has been able to provide cameras and microphones and light, can there be anything left in the world hidden from us?"

Thomas Edison's Perfect Noble Phantasm, it was in essence one simple question.

"Do you have any proof of this?"

The Noble Phantasms of all the great Heroes of antiquity rested on their unmistakable magical mystery. Secret, hidden, occult and magical, it was mysteries empowered words and gestures, blades and spears, monsters and gods. They were all things beyond the understanding of the normal human world, as some mysterious ‘things’ that man could not understand.

Things like ‘legends’, some ancient mysterious stories of the past, something that cannot be verified or seen, something that remains shrouded in the mystery of past history.

From the moment Thomas Edison invented his greatest creations, legends are no longer relevant.

Nowadays, if anyone can shoot footage on camera, it is far more authentic than any legend.

So, what's the point of legends? If a man can film a huge lizard crushing a city, all fake of course, what's the point of believing the old legends? Aren’t they also nothing more than fakes, creations of a creative human mind?

It was an anti-Noble Phantasm Noble Phantasm, it was like acid eating away any remnants of the magical and mystical with a simple question. "If we can fake a video, why can't we fake something that doesn't even have a video proof?"

The Noble Phantasm only has one purpose, a wedge sharpened to destroy, to block anything mystical. It was a Phantasm that not only blocked the action of all other Noble Phantasms associated with ancient mystery and magic, but deprived other Servants of the ability to use them at all.

Unfortunately, this Noble Phantasm had one glaring problem, it has a very short duration.

Effectively, it was only capable of blocking Noble Phantasms that were activated at the same time it did.

But Thomas Edison didn't think of that as a concern. What kind of Servants has more than one Noble Phantasm, after all!? Even the great Edison only has one!

That was, at least until the moment when Cu Chulainn Alter uttered the name of his second Noble Phantasm.

A moment later, a bolt of lightning struck Cu Chulainn’s body in a way that would have destroyed even the likes of powerful Servants. But instead of disappearing particles, all Edison could see was a flicker of black and red mess of bone and flesh behind the flicker of heavenly thunder before the impact even took place.

The glow of the lightning seemed to engulf everything in the world, before a sharp and loud sound echoed, confirming that Tesla's attack had reached its destination.

However, after the glow of Tesla's Noble Phantasm lightning disappeared a moment later, what could be seen in its aftermath was something unfamiliar. It was so strange that Edison had to blink a few times before he could find what could only be Cu Chulainn Alter.

Or, more accurately… what was left of him, after exposure to a Noble Phantasm.

Sadly, it wasn't Tesla's Noble Phantasm that had caused such a change.

Curruid Coinchenn. As Cu Chulainn unleashed his Noble Phantasm, a bone-like substance began covering his body like a kind of armor. The substance covered his arms and legs in the manner of boots and gloves, and then continued behind his back in the form of a tail. In that moment between Tesla's lightning traveling towards Cu Chulainn, and the lightning striking, the bone-like substance seemed to come alive, turning into a glistening black and purple mess, covering his arms, legs, and even his face.

Tesla's blow did its damage, but to the now armored Cu Chulainn, it was not enough.

Curruid was the name of a great monster of the sea, from whose bones Cu Chulainn’s legendary spear was made, his Gáe Bolg. But for Cu Chulainn Alter, the legendary spear was only a small part of his abilities. Far more important to Cu Chulainn Alter was Curruid itself.

The bone-like armor on Cuchulain's arms and legs were truly the bones of the monster themselves. The remaining bones of Curruid, literally fused with Cu Chulainn Alter's own body, the monster-like facade reflecting his essence as a ‘twisted Hero’.

In other words, the legendary monster hunter himself became a monster at the end of his hunt.

And his Noble Phantasm was exactly that, a skeleton-like monster that was part of him.

Cu Chulainn Alter was only a primitive machine without human emotion or independent thoughts, but still, he was a Berserker, and not undeservedly so. His second Noble Phantasm was precisely encapsulating that concept of the ‘monster hunter’ eventually becoming a ‘monster’ themselves. It was a Noble Phantasm that allowed Cu Chulainn Alter to temporarily replace his very personality, his very nature as a Hero, with that of a Monster.

It was as if, through Cu Chulainn Alter, the legendary Curruid was alive once again.

And so a moment later, Edison saw not the outline of a mere human coming out of the smoke, but a monster instead appearing before him.

Cu Chulainn’s body was now covered in a multitude of black bones, pulsing with red veins like blood vessels. His legs looked unnaturally elongated, while his arms ended in disproportionately huge claw-like vambraces, and it was hard to see that this was armor on his arms, so blended were his body and his armor.

The creature's head was covered with a massive black bone helmet, with a huge red horn jutting above with massive shoulder pads on his shoulders, while a massive spiky tail protruded from the creature's back.

Still, Cu Chulainn was not in great shape, the activation of his Noble Phantasm was not a tactical move, but an attempt to defend from Tesla's fatal interference, and it had not defended him fully from Tesla’s full powered attack.

And the damage showed.

Cu Chulainn’s tail ended much shorter than it should have, as if it had been clipped, and some areas of the vambraces displayed scorch marks, much blacker and devoid of the blood-red streaks.

Cu Chulainn Alter's own body took a few steps before he stopped, swaying.

His activation of his Noble Phantasm had spared him from death, though it had taken a great toll. However, it was too early to consider him defeated.

Edison realized this fact quite starkly the moment the claw-like vambraces blew his head off.

***

Sita fired shot after earth shaking shot, but the walls of Camelot continued to hold up, undeterred.

Sita was not the most powerful Servant, only being one through Rama's intervention that she could become a Servant at all, and though Rama was a powerful Servant, even he could not make her too strong. She could not win a protracted battle using her Noble Phantasm, even if she decided to give it all without rest, till she finally disappears. One or two more shots, and she simply could not physically maintain her Noble Phantasm anymore.

Even if she performed another miracle, she would have had to spend all her mana on the second and third shots, then simply collapse in the process, ceasing to exist as a Servant.

Which is a grave problem.

Until she saw her Rama, she could not afford to die. But she could not win this confrontation either.

Whoever the girl holding the shield was, and for whatever reason she continued to resist, it dawned on Sita that she couldn’t break through the shield facing her. It didn't matter what the reason was, it mattered that Sita just couldn't do it.

But she couldn't just sit still either!

She lowered her bow and whirled her head around, as if looking for any opportunity to advance, any chance to defeat her opponent.

Suddenly, her gaze was locked on the army of automatons rumbling in the distance.

Ordinary automatic puppets, designed by Edison and Tesla. According to the ‘plan’, they were to be used to draw most of the combat capabilities of the enemy Servants for as long as the army could last. The actions of Angrboda however, forced Edison to reconsider his plans and instead rush forward into battle himself.

And so, the army that Edison had originally counted on, were just… there, languishing in the distance as they plodded along. The army of mechanical puppets could not move at the speed of the Servants, and so, most likely, most of them were not going to arrive at the battle site until the very end.

But Edison brought an extra, ‘just in case’ surprise within the army, on the off chance that neither his forces nor his army were sufficient to destroy the enemy.

And if Sita could not destroy her adversary with her Noble Phantasm’s power, and mysticism?

She was willing to destroy them with science.

***

Bunyan, though essentially a child, naive as she was, was not stupid. Servants in general understood the essence of both battle and death, or more specifically for her, destruction quite well. But well, try telling a child, while in Angrboda’s hearing range, to go fight a battle and potentially be lethally injured and see how far that takes you.

And so, rather than a ‘fight’, Bunyan was instead playing a ‘game’. However, Bunyan was still a child, and doubly so, a Berserker, therefore, no one could say that she did not enjoy the process!

Bunyan was physically just too big to fight in the usual Servants' ways. With her axe proportionally sized to her huge stature, instead, while having fun, she just kicked and stomped all the smaller Servants around her, as if she were kicking sandcastles around.

And while Cu Chulainn remembered not to say all the words that in front of the child should not be uttered while dodging Bunyan’s attack, it was still not fun! Cu Chulainn did not share Bunyan's joy, for all his magical skills, he found it difficult to restrain someone of Bunyan's size. At least, without Angrboda needing to have a ‘talk’ with him.

However, the activation of the three Noble Phantasms at once seemed to give Cu Chulainn the go-ahead to begin his plans.

Before Nightingale's Noble Phantasm was taken out of play, it was reckless to use his powers to the fullest. What was the point of wasting all the trump cards now, when Nightingale could use her trump card at any time, which would undo everyone else's work and return everything to the starting, original positions? When none of the Servants were injured, but most of them had already used up their Noble Phantasm?

Now, however, with Nightingale out of the picture, many of the Servants who had held back their trump cards had new opportunities.

Cu Chulainn glanced at Medb, then said the expected words. "Wicker Man”.

A moment later, a huge, flaming wicker man rose as if from nowhere, it was a huge thing, approaching the size of Bunyan herself.

Bunyan only had time to notice his appearance, before her bewilderment was replaced by amusement.

She certainly enjoyed kicking the little Servants around with her feet, but that didn't mean she didn't want to wave her huge ax!

The wicker man's bulky hands swung around, striking toward Bunyan, though the main function of this Noble Phantasm lies elsewhere, right now Cu Chulainn was planning to use it specifically to fight the two giant figures.

Blavatsky on Banyan's shoulders, however, could only helplessly sway like a loose kite as Bunyan raised her axe to strike, but she didn't have time to say anything to her giant ride as something else occupied her attention.

“Chariot My Love!” Medb's voice came especially close to Blavatsky, as a huge chariot slammed into her face, knocking her off of her perch. A huge flying chariot pulled by bulls… which Medb possessed somehow.

However, given the peculiarities of Medb's legend, who died because a head of cheese was thrown at her,  it wasn't the strangest of abilities she could demonstrate.

That didn't make it any easier for Blavatsky, though.

Blavatsky, knocked off her perch by the distracted Bunyan and the almost terminal case of chariot to the face, knew a flying spell, of course. But, when she saw Medb's chariot coming into a second run into her face, she realized that flying is just going to make her a bigger target.

Nothing to it, Blavatsky made the willful decision. “Sanat Kumara!”

How to distract the Blavatsky seeking chariot? Increase the number of Unidentified Flying Objects in the air by one, of course!