~Shinji Matou POV~
Slowly, I opened my eyes and was greeted by a blue-tiled ceilings. Right, I passed out when we met up with Kuro and Bazett. So we must be at Homurahara.
Sitting up, I pulled the sheet off my body and looked at the left side of my body, where my arm was back. I really did get lucky back there against Beatrice.
When she used that noble phantasm, I used Albion's Reflect technique in turn. It's a conceptual ability similar to noble phantasms, but I didn't have nearly enough training to use it effectively, so while I got most of it, my entire left side was atomized on the spot before it was reflected, and I expect a similar result would happen if I used Ddraig's Penetrate ability.
Looking to the side, I saw Illya, who was also lying on a bed, knocked out as well, and sitting between us both was Bazett, who was asleep.
I guess I should go see her. Judging by the flow of magical energy, she should be on the roof. Swinging my legs off the bed, I then stood up and made my way out of the nurse's office.
As I walked through the halls, I reached up and pulled off my tattered shirt and burned it to a crisp. I then made myself a loose purple T-shirt and put it on.
After walking for about ten minutes through the school, I finally arrived at the rooftop door. Reaching forward, I opened the door to the rooftop, and standing right in the middle of it was Kuro.
She was wearing a heavy white coat with black fur around the hood. She also wore a polka-dot skirt and a pair of white leg warmers.
"The stars are pretty tonight, huh?" I said, looking up at the sky as I slowly walked up to her.
Kuro, however, didn't say anything, even when I stood right behind her.
"Hey, I get it, you're mad, but can you at least look and talk to me?"
Her only response was to hmph and take a step away from me.
"Hey, come, I get it. I was reckless in my fight with both Gilgamesh and Beatrice, but I did what I needed to secure victory." I said while reaching for her shoulder, but she shrugged it off before turning to look at me with a glare.
"Is that all you have to say Shinji?"
"What do you expect me to say? I'm sorry. Because I'm not, I did what I did with no regrets." I said it with a glare of my own.
"So everyone else's feelings don't matter so long as you win? Do my feelings even matter to you?" She yelled while grabbing the collar of my shirt.
"Come on, Kuro, don't say something so stupid. I obviously care about your feelings. What happened in those fights was that I was fighting an enemy way above my weight class and trying to win by any means necessary. So you can rest assured that I won't be getting seriously injured like that often."
"...Often. That doesn't exactly reassure me, Shinji; that means you're going to get injured like that again."
"Well, I'm working for Zelretch. I knew what I was getting into, and our world isn't exactly the safest place to live, especially as I am now." Seeing Kuro's face beginning to darken, I quickly went into my ring and pulled out a purple knight piece.
"Well, if you really want to make sure I'm always safe and protect me, then use this and join my peerage."
"Wait what?" Kuro said it in confusion.
"Well, remember that king piece I made? Well, these chess pieces are directly linked to it, and you'll get a boost in parameters with it."
"...I'll do it; if I can get even a little bit stronger, then I'll take it. You're reckless, and as your servant it's my duty to take care of you and protect you Shinji."
Raising my hand, I pressed the piece into her chest and stepped back. A purple magic circle appeared below her feet, and—dodge!
Leaning my head to the side, I dodged the purple blur that sped out of Kuro's chest. Turning around, I saw that sticking out of the wall was my knight piece.
Did her saint graph reject it? I guess I'll have to use one of these.
Raising my hand toward Kuro, I then sent my magical energy into my command seals, causing them to glow.
"Kuro, don't fight against this. By my command seal, I order you, Kuro von Einzbern, to allow your saint graph to absorb this evil piece."
One of the bands glowed before disappearing, allowing a wave of red magical energy to be released.
Alright, it should work now. Walking over to the chess piece, I dislodged the chess piece from the wall and walked back to Kuro.
"Now, Kuro, I appoint you my servant as my knight." Once again, I pressed the knight piece into her chest.
This time the magic circle manifested under her without issue before slowly rising up until it had gone over her entire body before disappearing.
Kuro slowly opened her eyes and while they were the same color as before her pupils were slitted now.
*Badump*
I couldn't help but be lost in those beautiful yellow and orange gem-like eyes.
Yes, I could stare at them forever. As I push her down and have my way with her for hours until–.
"Ahem, are you two done with your little session, Shinji, Kuro-san?" Gilgamesh's voice took me out of my trance.
In the few seconds I was distracted, me and Kuro had closed the distance between each other and were barely an inch apart from each other.
Turning away from Kuro I felt my cheeks burn with an obvious blush.
What the hell is wrong with me? I know damn well I didn't move on my own. With a sigh, I calmed down and turned toward Gilgamesh.
"Wipe that cheeky expression off your face Gilgamesh." I said it in annoyance before pointing to the bag in her hand. "And what is that?"
"Well, our Tanaka friend wouldn't accept anything besides these gym clothes. Really, she should be grateful that I even thought to give her something from my gate. But shopping for myself was a novel experience in itself I suppose."
"Good to see you're having fun Gilgamesh." I said sarcastically as I walked past her, grabbing her by the scruff of her blue jacket and dragging her down the steps.
"Oh, Shinji, I didn't think you were into this kind of play, though we'll have to switch roles in the future."
"Please, Shinji wouldn't do anything like that." Kuro said with a huff while walking beside me. "And Shinji, I still haven't forgiven your reckless actions."
"Well, talking to me is better than nothing." I said with a shrug as I continued to drag Gilgamesh through the school until we arrived back at the infirmary.
Opening the door, I couldn't help but deadpan at the scene before me.
Seriously, I know the future is one big eroge, but this is definitely pushing the lines of realism for me.
In front of me was Tanaka, who was straddling Illya, wearing only a bra and panties.
With a sigh, I turned around. "Come to the classroom over here when you get her properly dressed."
A couple minutes later, we were all in the classroom, with me standing at the front.
Alright no more holding back on information we need to win before the pithos can spread its mud around the world.
"Now to explain our situation, we are in a parallel world that Miyu is originally from. For simplicity's sake, we'll call it Miyu's world and the world we just came from, Illya's world."
"Wait, why are you naming the world after me, Shinji-san?" Illya asked in confusion.
"You had a pivotal role in the events that took place there makes it the obvious choice. And I have my own home and my own world."
"Wait, what?" Illya said it with even more confusion.
"Right, you're the only one not in the know, Illya; I'm from another world as well." I said it with a smile.
"Ehhhhhhhh!"
"Anyway, we all traveled between the worlds at different rates, with Bazett, Kuro, Rin, and Luvia getting here first."
"Wait, where have you seen Luvia and Rin?" Bazett asked in confusion.
"I have a familiar in there that I have well hidden. They got unlucky, though, as they are under Ainsworth's control and working as maids. While they haven't been killed yet, there is no telling when that kindness will end, so we'll have to attack eventually."
"I see. We'll have to come up with a plan immediately." Bazett said it with a thoughtful expression.
"Anyway, aside from those two, we have two pressing issues. The first is saving Miyu, and the second is killing Darius before he can finish his plan."
"Wait…Kill?" Illya asked in confusion.
"Illya, this isn't some enemy; we can just talk down like Bazett here. Darius is too far gone in his plan, and if we don't stop him, this entire world is going to die."
"And what is his plan, Shinji?" Gilgamesh asked with a rare, serious expression.
"He wishes to open Pandora's box, which was never opened in the Age of Gods."
Gilgamesh's eyes widened before he began to laugh. "Is that so? Is he trying to make that grail his crux? Then… hahaha, what a pitiful dead end that man created!" Gilgamesh stood up from her seat and walked out of the classroom, laughing. "It seems I'll be thoroughly entertained until the end!"
"Hey wait–." Before Illya could say anything, I cut her off.
"Let her go; she dances to the beat of her own drum. To try and stop her would be suicide," I said with a shrug before continuing. "Pandora's box, just like the legend, contains the evils of humanity, but it is also known as a box full of possibilities, both good and bad. But that box was never opened in this world, so the possibilities of this world in the box are so far removed from it that it would be more accurate to say it is another world entirely. Darius plans to replace this dying world with the one inside the box, becoming a god in the new world in the process."
They all stared at me in shock, not saying a word, not that I blamed them, as this was way beyond dealing with sealing designations like Bazett or the normal life Illya and Kuro were used to.
"Anyway, we have six enemies to deal with. The first is the head himself, Darius; he specializes in Ainsworth's unique flash-air magecraft that he created himself. Really, while I say it's magecraft, it's borderline magic with how widespread the simple magecraft can be used. Soul manipulation, displacing space around our attacks or his own to redirect attacks, having his limbs appear just about anywhere by displacing the space between the locations, becoming intangible, displacing light and sound to become invisible, creating illusionary copies of himself and making them tangible. That's not even getting into the fact that he used the fact that Pandora's box is essentially the same as the imaginary number space to store several hundred years of his life in his prime, meaning he is immortal so long as the box is closed as a backup is created."
Geez guys don't look so downtrodden with the first enemy I bring up, even if he is the final boss.
"Anyway, we also have to worry about Julian Ainsworth, which is the host body of Darius, as he was able to conceptualize his existence through Ainsworth's magic crest. He can use the same spells as Darius, but to a weaker degree, although that doesn't really matter considering how strong Flash Air is.
Next is Erika Ainsworth, aka Pandora. Now before you say anything, Bazett, let me finish." I said this to Bazett, who was about to stand up from the chair that clearly wasn't made for her, causing her to sit back down. "Yes, she is the same Pandora from the legend, and her death is tied to her opening the box with it unopened. She has lived for 6,000 years. Right now she's as innocent as a child due to Darius cleaning her soul from her suicidal thoughts, but once she regains herself as Pandora, she can spawn shadow servants like the ones we fought back in Illya's world, and they all will use their noble phantasms without mercy. And as her legend suggests, she can open Pandora's box.
Now onto the final three, two of whom we met already. The first is Angelica and her archer Gilgamesh card, and the second is Beatrice, and the spirit inside her class card is Magni, son of Thor.
Angelica is not like Gilgamesh and will readily use flash air to enhance her strikes by increasing the velocity of the blades, while Beatrice, like you saw, is a berserker in combat.
And finally, their last piece is... Sakura Matou, she uses the berserker Lancelot class card. Lancelot's noble phantasm as a berserker only has one noble phantasm Knight of Owner that allows her to take ownership of any weapon, even noble phantasms of other servants. Aside from that, she has a high affinity for the imaginary numbers, space, and cursed bounded fields, making her the natural enemy of mages and familiars as she can absorb the magical energy of spells with ease. Now you guys have anything you want to say?"
"How are we going to win this?" Illya spoke up first. "I want to save Miyu... But Beatrice was already so strong, and those other guys seem just as strong, if not stronger. So how are we even supposed to stand a chance?"
"Don't worry, Illya; I have a surefire plan that will secure our victory."
Sorry, you guys, but that's a lie. There is no such thing as a surefire plan in this situation, where we have an overwhelming disadvantage like this. All we can do is hope and pray as we prepare.
"That's why I'm giving you guys this." With a wave of my hand and using the Arc of Embodiment, three adventurer cards appeared in my hand. "This is our plan to win!"