Fate: A Dragon's Journey

Chapter 45: Another Chance

It was a room endlessly surrounded by darkness. A room the light forgot to bless for days. In one such room, a woman sat against the wall. Her hollow magenta eyes peered at the ceiling. If not for her thumping heart, anyone would have deemed her a corpse with how pale she looked.

Her vision was blurry, her brain even more.

How long has it been since she came here?

She, who used to riddle her limbs in runic sorcery, couldn't feel the left side of her body. Everything was hollow. Her nerves, her senses, her pain receptors had stopped responding. If it weren't for her superb life force, she would have long died from blood loss.

After all, her left arm was cleanly chopped. Her Command Spells were stolen. Her life was like a candle fire flickering in the moonlit night.

'Why?'

She mustered a thought. A question directed at the priest who betrayed her at the peak of her happiness. As the cold embrace of death slowly wrapped her, the faint memories of her life played before her eyes.

Bazett Fraga McRemitz.

She was born in an ancient magus family that had cut ties with the Mage's Association for being peculiar among the magus families. Where other families passed down their Sorcery Trait through the magic crests, Fraga's Sorcery Trait 'God's Holder' was passed through bloodlines. Through a blood ritual, the possessor of God's Holder could create Fragarach. A Noble Phantasm wielded as a Mystic Code.

Taking the Mystic Code, she chose to depart the coastal village and joined Mage's Association. She was sent on missions. One of the missions led to an encounter with Kirei Kotomine, an executor of the Holy Church.

They fought together on numerous occasions, tackling the schemes of vampires and many heretics.

As a martial arts expert and a devoted fan of Cu Chulainn, she preferred to build bonds in the old, traditional way. Kirei was the right candidate to be her friend.

So she trusted Kirei and told her story.

A few months later, Kirei invited her to Fuyuki City to participate in the 5th Holy Grail War. It was her chance to become a master and summon Cu Chulainn as her servant. She wished for nothing more than a happy ending to the hero she adored in the fairy tales.

She entrusted her back to Kirei and did the summoning ritual.

It was the worst decision of her life.

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The moment the command spells burned into her hand, and the moment the wild visage of Cu Chulainn graced her eyes, Kirei cleanly sliced her hand with his Black Key.

A confused Cu Chulainn rushed to help her, but a command from Kirei stopped him. Kirei forced Lancer into a contract with him and left her to die.

As she closed her eyes to accept her fate, a gentle wind blew and caressed her hair. A blurry figure appeared before her, their hand reaching out.

"Do you want to live?"

A voice called out to her. A voice that was soft as the whisper of an angel. A voice that could also be mistaken for a devil's temptation. The Irish woman's instincts honed through numerous life and death came to life.

"Answer me."

The figure's voice distorted, sounding far away and close at the same time.

Bazett opened her mouth and squeezed out a word through her dry throat.

"Ye s."

If given another chance, she wanted to sever Kirei's hand and take back Lancer. Could the figure standing before her fulfill her 'wish'?

***

(Haruki)

Haruki's breath was held in his chest as the gacha wheel spun. Each moment shaved his mental health. It was his last premium coupon, and he had no goals noble enough to net him another one.

'I hate gacha.'

The addiction was deadly.

Perhaps the god above heard him or his E-Rank Luck helped him. The wheel stopped at purple!

'Another epic!'

[Congratulations! You have acquired 1 x 'Noble Phantasm: Trap of Argalia.]

The name rang a bell. He read the description to see what kind of miraculous item it was.

Noble Phantasm: Trap of Argalia

Description: The ornate golden lance that once belonged to Argalia, the Prince of Cathay. The lance famed to bring down anyone with its golden tip during the jousting tournaments.

Rank: Epic

Skills:

-Down with a Touch! [A]

Info: The Lance forces the lower half of any spiritual body into their spiritual form. The result depends on the target's luck.

His eyes were as dead as they could get. This Noble Phantasm belonged to none other than the most popular trap throughout the world.

Astolfo. Even his Noble Phantasm included the 'trap' word in it.

He had used it against a crazy servant in Fate Apocrypha.

'It's so so.'

Unless the enemy servant was a braindead berserker like Spartacus, this lance had no way of hitting a target.

His frustration was seen by Medea, who couldn't help but frown.

"Haruki-sama?"

"Nothing" he sighed and got up. "Let's go."

He lost the mood to continue after losing his chance. He wore his clothes quickly before watching Medea clean her body with a water spell. The sorceress blushed for a reason unknown when she noticed his gaze. They already fucked like beasts, what was there to be embarrassed about now?

'Arch, give me the key.'

A crimson key, almost fading into black, appeared in his hands. He instinctively knew what to do with the key. He pushed the key forward and twisted it into an imaginary door.

Medea opened her eyes wide as she saw the space twist on Haruki's command. Her spatial teleportation spell 'Trofa' was an imitation of the True Magic governing teleportation, which couldn't bring half the result of this phenomenon.

Medea came forward and shielded him, holding her staff at bay.

A scarlet mist flowed out of the gap in the space and wove the door that went through the roof. It was more appropriate to be described as an arch created into the space with a dark whirlpool inside.

The door was there in the physical world, at the same time it wasn't there.

'Creepy. Arch, can you store things for me?'

"No," denied the goddess. "I'm not your servant."

'Booo.'

He took his spear and patted Medea's shoulder. "It's not dangerous. We're going inside."

Medea stopped him from entering. "Haruki-sama, please tell me what this is about."

Haruki sighed and explained the existence of the key that was given by 'the goddess that came to his dreams.'

"It's a key to let you grow stronger through battles?" she asked, frowning. "I understand why you asked for Dragon Tooth Soldiers"

Her hood fell down to hide her face, and her lips curved into a smile that was anything but evil. "This goddess you speak of. She seems rather fond of you to meet you on a daily basis. Could she be...?"

Her smile was anything but beautiful at this moment. Her 'Jealous wife' mode sent chills down his spine.

"Hey, I'm not in love with you," Arch retorted. "Correct it. Now!"

'Silence for a second.'

He put his hands on Medea's shoulder and looked straight into her eyes. "Are you still doubting me? I feel betrayed."

Medea saw his sincere look, and her heart melted. The sorceress squashed her dangerous thoughts and threw herself in his arms. "Sorry, Haruki-sama. My paranoia is acting up again..."

Haruki patted her back as a grin crossed his face. He'd do anything to stop his women from becoming the creatures known to men as yanderes.

***

This chapter might be a bit confusing to most readers since Cu Chulainn's original master only showed up in Fate/Hollow VN. Well, she will play a major role in this story.