The Fake Player

Chapter 9 - These Ceaseless Changing Times III

Shirou swung Kanshou and Bakuya in a sweeping motion, cutting down the Dragon Tooth Warrior around him, his body already on the move, dodging an attack from Kuzuki. Leaping away as he struck the ground, kicking up dirt.

He retreated, the boss quickly on his tail as out of the corner of his eyes he spied more Dragon Tooth Warrior encircling him. Indispersed with beams courtesy of Caster.

The magus watched it all with weary eyes.

Attack, defend, run, and repeat. His body and form simply going through the motions.

How long has he been fighting again, since his last conversation with Momonga? He mused.

Five minutes? Ten perhaps? Twenty, thirty, an hour? He couldn't say. Time itself was all but lost on him, blurring together, and muddled. However long it was, the fatigue was slowly sapping his strength away after constant battling.

Shirou raced, reaching a small precipice from the edge of the woods, the tree's receded and pumping as much prana as he could, he jumped off without a moment's hesitation. Revealing the mountain's side rolling hills below him in the air. Kuzuki was hot on his heel and jumped after him. Even in the air, the two still battled. Gaining a brief advantage, the boss struck with a devastating kick that he managed to block with the married blades, which knocked him downwards.

Hitting the ground with a heavy thud, lingering Dragon Tooth Warriors rushed him but Shirou dispatched them quickly as his former sensei landed as well. Kuzuki rushed forward, a sweep of serpentine strikes barreling towards him as fought to parry his attack. Cracks began appearing on the married blades, forcing him to disengage and from the corner of his eyes he saw a flash of purple, but the exhaustion had finally caught up to him, dulling his reaction time. He was only able to bring up the blades at the last second.

Shirou numbly watched in slow motion as his last projections broke against one of Caster's beams, protecting him from the full blunt of the attack as the force sent him reeling back before his body tumbled against the unforgiven dirt, coming to a harsh stop against a broken tree trunk.

His vision blurred. Exhaustion eating away at his body. He was only able to garner enough strength to stand, a feeble attempt to get away only for Caster to point her staff at him.

A magic circle appeared under him as the air around him stilled, his body frozen in place as if some unknown force was pressing against him from all sides. A muted noise rang through his ears within the frozen space. Another blast from the past.

Frozen, Shirou's fight was all but concluded but surprisingly neither Kuzuki nor any of the Dragon Tooth Warrior decided to attack and finish him off.

Though, to call it a fight was putting it generously. It was more accurate to call it a game of cat and mouse as there was little fighting on his part, save for the hit and run strategies he employed as he contended with the three bosses and hordes of mobs all at once.

The Dragon Tooth Warriors, while low level and weak, served as a persistent distraction especially since there seemingly was no limit to the amount of them out on the field, compared to the 5th Holy Grail War. Even getting distracted by them for even a fraction of a second left him dangerously open to either Caster or Kuzuki. The two of them together controlled the skies and ground, making it impossible for Shirou to focus on one without being vigilant for the other. Relentlessly pursuing him at every turn. Not to mention the Colchis Dragon which just served as a boss beatstick thrown in there for good measure.

Several times was he able to inflict grievous damage onto the bosses at separate intervals during their battle, but ultimately, was unable to deal a finishing blow or follow up due to interference in one form or another.