His story has long since reached its conclusion, and the Counter Guardian has already come to terms with his fate. Yet for the former hero, adventure seems to plague him wherever he goes- or wherever he's forced to go.
-
The site has now migrated to Xenforo 2. If you see any issues with the forum operation, please post them in the feedback thread.
-
An addendum to Rule 3 regarding fan-translated works of things such as Web Novels has been made. Please see here for details.
-
RIP @Silver Swallow
-
Due to issues with external spam filters, QQ is currently unable to send any mail to Microsoft E-mail addresses. This includes any account at live.com, hotmail.com or msn.com. Signing up to the forum with one of these addresses will result in your verification E-mail never arriving. For best results, please use a different E-mail provider for your QQ address.
-
The rules regarding NSFW links have been updated. See here for details.
At the Foot of the Mountain (Wuthering Waves/Fate)
- Thread starter Dagaz
- Start date
- Created
- Status
- Incomplete
- Watchers
- 33
- Recent readers
- 76
- Threadmarks
- 2
-
Statistics (2 threadmarks, 3.3k words)
User Total Dagaz 2 Threadmarks Reader mode
Prologue
Dagaz
Making the rounds.
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2024
- Messages
- 31
- Likes received
- 343
He's lost count of how many times he's seen this exact view. He lost track of how long he's been staring at this exact view. The barren sandy hills that spanned towards the horizon. The dusty clouds above the large floating gears. Hundreds, if not, thousands of swords stuck within the sand, covering the hills like a graveyard. His graveyard. His home, his soul, his grave. All three are true of this hill of swords.
Once he had attempted to release himself from this eternal hell by killing his younger self. He had hoped that the paradox of having killed his past self would completely wipe out his existence. He was no longer able to cope with his existence and so he looked for a way out.
Perhaps he always wanted some closure. Perhaps he just wanted to see himself break before he could ever fall into Alaya's clutches again. Yet at the end of that journey, instead of erasing himself, a spark lit in his heart– one that he had long forgotten.
If there was a reality where Shirou Emiya didn't take that contract, if he can be a hero without falling down this hellish path, he decided that that would be enough for him.
His own fate had been sealed the moment he accepted Alaya's terms, and he had finally truly accepted that.
Like a man rolling a boulder up a mountain he had been sent to kill again and again. From the moment he gave up his life to his ideals, he continued to live under Alaya. Even death didn't give him solace, as he woke up back on this hill of swords. "All for the greater good" he had once told himself, but that excuse didn't hold up for long.
He rolled the boulder up the mountain, summoned across time and space in order to kill.
The boulder would fall, he would return to this hill of swords after his duty is complete.
He walked back down the mountain, he would wait for his next task.
Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat.
At this point he had long forgotten the events of that time, but the spark that remained afterward continued to persist. Even as he continued to fight, even as he continued to kill, that memory never left. That spark left a reminder and it is the sole reason his actions as a counter guardian have not broken him.
That immature dream he once had was not wrong. He was not wrong.
Yet it's far too late for him to fulfill that dream. Now he is merely just a tool, a sword made to be swung and discarded.
So here he stood, waiting for Alaya's imminent call. A young man with tanned skin and white hair, coated in red. A breeze carried through Unlimited Blade Works. He glanced at the gears that scattered across the sky, blocking most of the horizon.
At that moment, a sublime presence made itself known. At first the man believed that it was Alaya.
Yet as he closed his eyes expecting to wake up in another place, something else happened. The presence grew stronger, and the Counter Guardian was finally able to get a better grasp.
It was definitely not Alaya, the presence had some foreign divinity behind it. Yet the man could not call the presence "godly". It did not belong to this planet, nor was it anything he had felt before. The presence finally arrived completely, revealing itself right behind him. He opened his eyes and turned around, not knowing what to expect.
He was met with a beautiful young woman in silver. She looked around, observing the gears in the sky and the swords in the ground. Her ruby red eyes glanced at the counter guardian curiously, before she gave a solemn look.
"Who are you?" EMIYA asked without any subtlety. His usual snark isn't present.
You two really are similar.
She observed him, yet he felt as if her gaze was moving through him.
You must have suffered through so much.
Whispers left her lips yet they echoed like regular spoken words. Her frown deepened.
I apologize for forcing this upon you.
"What are you—" The strange woman cut him off mid sentence. Before the man could even notice, she had moved closer to him and gently grasped his hand.
His lifetime of experience should have said to step back, but her melancholic expression combined with the lack of any malevolence or intent to harm left him confused.
Still, it only took him a second to gather himself, and he made to pull away. Once again he was stopped, this time by a loud ringing resonating into his ear.
Please.
"Wait!" He thinks he yelled, the ringing drowned out all other sound— he couldn't even hear his own heartbeat. Despite the discomfort he did not feel any pain, and even so he still couldn't move.
Protect my dearest Rover.
The ringing stopped along with his vision. His body fell into unconsciousness. The last thing he saw before the world went black was the saddened visage of the foreign goddess.
(A/N) Finally got around to crossposting this here. As 2.0 inches closer I have to get off my ass and make do on my promise. I have so many ideas for this story but currently so little to actually work with. Hopefully I have my mind made up by the time 2.0 rolls around.
Once he had attempted to release himself from this eternal hell by killing his younger self. He had hoped that the paradox of having killed his past self would completely wipe out his existence. He was no longer able to cope with his existence and so he looked for a way out.
Perhaps he always wanted some closure. Perhaps he just wanted to see himself break before he could ever fall into Alaya's clutches again. Yet at the end of that journey, instead of erasing himself, a spark lit in his heart– one that he had long forgotten.
If there was a reality where Shirou Emiya didn't take that contract, if he can be a hero without falling down this hellish path, he decided that that would be enough for him.
His own fate had been sealed the moment he accepted Alaya's terms, and he had finally truly accepted that.
Like a man rolling a boulder up a mountain he had been sent to kill again and again. From the moment he gave up his life to his ideals, he continued to live under Alaya. Even death didn't give him solace, as he woke up back on this hill of swords. "All for the greater good" he had once told himself, but that excuse didn't hold up for long.
He rolled the boulder up the mountain, summoned across time and space in order to kill.
The boulder would fall, he would return to this hill of swords after his duty is complete.
He walked back down the mountain, he would wait for his next task.
Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat.
At this point he had long forgotten the events of that time, but the spark that remained afterward continued to persist. Even as he continued to fight, even as he continued to kill, that memory never left. That spark left a reminder and it is the sole reason his actions as a counter guardian have not broken him.
That immature dream he once had was not wrong. He was not wrong.
Yet it's far too late for him to fulfill that dream. Now he is merely just a tool, a sword made to be swung and discarded.
So here he stood, waiting for Alaya's imminent call. A young man with tanned skin and white hair, coated in red. A breeze carried through Unlimited Blade Works. He glanced at the gears that scattered across the sky, blocking most of the horizon.
At that moment, a sublime presence made itself known. At first the man believed that it was Alaya.
Yet as he closed his eyes expecting to wake up in another place, something else happened. The presence grew stronger, and the Counter Guardian was finally able to get a better grasp.
It was definitely not Alaya, the presence had some foreign divinity behind it. Yet the man could not call the presence "godly". It did not belong to this planet, nor was it anything he had felt before. The presence finally arrived completely, revealing itself right behind him. He opened his eyes and turned around, not knowing what to expect.
He was met with a beautiful young woman in silver. She looked around, observing the gears in the sky and the swords in the ground. Her ruby red eyes glanced at the counter guardian curiously, before she gave a solemn look.
"Who are you?" EMIYA asked without any subtlety. His usual snark isn't present.
You two really are similar.
She observed him, yet he felt as if her gaze was moving through him.
You must have suffered through so much.
Whispers left her lips yet they echoed like regular spoken words. Her frown deepened.
I apologize for forcing this upon you.
"What are you—" The strange woman cut him off mid sentence. Before the man could even notice, she had moved closer to him and gently grasped his hand.
His lifetime of experience should have said to step back, but her melancholic expression combined with the lack of any malevolence or intent to harm left him confused.
Still, it only took him a second to gather himself, and he made to pull away. Once again he was stopped, this time by a loud ringing resonating into his ear.
Please.
"Wait!" He thinks he yelled, the ringing drowned out all other sound— he couldn't even hear his own heartbeat. Despite the discomfort he did not feel any pain, and even so he still couldn't move.
Protect my dearest Rover.
The ringing stopped along with his vision. His body fell into unconsciousness. The last thing he saw before the world went black was the saddened visage of the foreign goddess.
(A/N) Finally got around to crossposting this here. As 2.0 inches closer I have to get off my ass and make do on my promise. I have so many ideas for this story but currently so little to actually work with. Hopefully I have my mind made up by the time 2.0 rolls around.
Chapter 1: Solaris III
New
Dagaz
Making the rounds.
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2024
- Messages
- 31
- Likes received
- 343
Counter Guardian Emiya awoke with a groan. He covered his eyes with his hand from the sun glaring down from above. Taking a second to orientate himself, a groan left his lips as he stood up from his supine position. A single blink removed the blur from his vision.
Vast amounts of green and gray welcomed his eyes, grass danced in the wind. He looked up to a sky covered by darkened clouds. He gazed down at himself, there were no physical anomalies and he still wore his signature red and black garb.
He felt a strange hum reverb through his circuits. A strange taste in his mouth, a strange smell in the air. With narrowed eyes, he crossed his arms and attempted to dematerialize, nothing occurred.
Strange. He felt like a spirit yet he was clearly in his human body. He looked back to the ground he woke up from, no sign of any summoning system. Only grass and dirt. He absentmindedly rubbed the front of his neck. Perhaps it was a sort of lag between his soul and body? He never bothered to track how many years it's been since his death (not like he could anyways). He shook his head. No, that doesn't make any sense, his body worked perfectly fine. Either way, that wasn't too important at the moment.
No, the most important thing was—
"Where the hell am I?" He muttered.
He looked around, looking for any clue that could hint at where he is. From his time as a Counter Guardian he is at least familiar with the basics of many cultures. Despite his foggy memory he could always tell that he was at least somewhere that he's once heard about.
Yet all that greeted his sight was nature. He turned back around, shifting his gaze over to the hill next to him. Might as well get a look from higher ground.
He only took a few steps forward before something stopped him. A strange noise emanating from the tree to his right. No, it wasn't from the tree. Emiya narrowed his eyes.
A small creature walked out from behind the tree. Around the size of a small child, the creature's head was shaped like a yellow flower. It wobbled out with glee before its eyes (Emiya assumed the two circles in its "face" were eyes) met his. Whatever noise it was making stopped as it simply stood and stared at him.
He stared back.
A squeal left the creature as it held up its arms. The two tendrils that extended from the side of its flower "head" like bangs aimed upwards. A ball of light formed above its flower head, and with another squeak it aimed its arms forward. The ball flew towards Emiya, who simply stepped to the side. The orb of light shattered upon making contact with the ground, leaving a hole in the dirt.
He's seen creatures of multiple different sizes, but he's never seen one quite like this. He also highly doubted that it was a familiar.
Another ball of light formed above its head and flew towards the Counter Guardian. This time, instead of dodging, he formed a simple steel sword in his hand and swiped at the orb. It shattered upon impact, but a strange feeling had entered Emiya's hand.
It was just for a moment, no longer than a blink of an eye, but Emiya felt his swing slow down the moment his sword connected with the ball of light– despite the fact that he felt no physical resistance.
He narrowed his eyes.
"What are you?"
In response the creature held up its hands and prepared another attack. The counter guardian sighed, it was worth a shot he supposed.
With a quick swipe he tossed the sword into the creature, the speed behind his throw allowed the blade to cleave right through the creature's neck. It vanished the moment its head separated from its torso, and in its place a strange yellow outline appeared. It looked like a hologram and it took the exact form of the creature.
With a curious glance he walked up towards the "hologram" and observed it. As he got closer, the ringing in his ears grew louder. The same ringing he felt when he met with that strange silver woman.
Out of curiosity he held out his hand towards the transparent figure. The ringing grew to the point that it became akin to a screech— yet he could not feel any pain from it.
It kept growing louder by the second until he pulled his hand away from the remnant of the creature.
He had an assumption when he first felt the creature's presence, but now he had confirmation.
Whatever it was, whatever it did, whatever it is now–
None of it was formed from magecraft or any form of Mystery.
Was he… even on Earth anymore?
He looked back up the hill and proceeded to walk. His footsteps were quick. The ringing he felt did not vanish but it quickly faded off. A strange and soft white noise replaced the previously high-pitched ringing.
It took a few seconds before he reached the top of the hill, and as he looked down he realized he wasn't on just a hill, but rather a mountain.
His eyes widened slightly as he gazed upon the land. In the distance in front of him he could see a city that stood right next to a large mountain. If he narrowed his eyes he could see the form of a large dragon in the distance. Was that a mountain?
His gaze moved to the side, and his eyes widened fully upon seeing the remains of a destroyed city. Remnants of a skyscraper floated above the center of the land covered in flames, defying gravity. A long monorail orbited around the floating broken skyscraper like the moon of a planet. Yet what surprised him the most wasn't the broken building defying gravity, but the black hole that lingered above it, covered by clouds.
If the creature before wasn't proof enough, then this was the nail in the coffin.
He was no longer on Earth.
"Just my luck." He grumbled with a sigh.
A noise echoed from a distance behind him. He looked to the side, listening in closely. Besides the everpresent white noise in the back of his mind, the distant noise began to clear up as he focused. Eventually it cleared up to the point that he was able to hear the causes of the noise. Something familiar to him.
The sound of blades clashing, of bullets flying. Steel cleaving against steel, and iron piercing through iron. A battle.
An opportunity for him to get some answers.
With a heavy breath and a determined glance, he walked towards the conflict.
A young woman stood with bated breath. Her blue eyes, with light-grey pupils, scanned over the enemies in front of her. Her black and blue dress was covered in a few tears. A short breeze flowed through her long black hair, which had feather-shaped white streaks.
She kneeled slightly, both of her hands grasping her sword.
"Don't even think about it missy."
A gruff voice from one of the men she was facing spoke as soon as he saw her stance change.
Surrounding her stood eight men dressed in blood red clothing and devilish gas masks– members of the Fractsidus. Two of them had an extra pair of arms which looked like the arms of Tacet Discords– Executioners. These two men held two hostages with sharp knives against their necks.
"Big sis!" One of the hostages—a young girl—cried, her mouth was quickly covered by one of the man's extra hands.
"Make your next move carefully, Ranger." The Executioner hissed as he inched a knife closer to the young girl's neck. "Or both of these brats will be seeing the afterlife."
A snicker left the mouth of the man who held the other hostage. Despite being called a "brat", the other hostage was a relatively calm looking young man. He did not look any older than the girl who was attempting to save him.
Unlike the young girl, who squirmed against her captor, the young man looked oddly apathetic to the entire situation. His black eyes deadpanned beneath his shoulder-length raven black hair. His life held in the hands of malice, yet he simply stood as if he held no regard for his life.
He did not flinch when his captor inched the knife closer to his neck, to the point that it drew just the tiniest drop of blood. He still stood bored.
His eyes met the eyes of the young woman, his only chance of survival. He opened his mouth to speak, and one would expect a desperate attempt at a plea to live.
Instead he simply asked, "what will you do now, Yangyang?"
She glared at him, but after observing closely she realized that the question was genuine. From his body language to his face to his eyes, there was no sign of a taunt.
He asked the question as if he wasn't the one in mortal danger.
He winced as his captor moved the knife to the side, drawing more blood.
"Shut up kid, don't you know where you stand at this moment?"
"Apologies."
He did not sound sorry.
Both sides stood at a standstill. No one made a move as tension filled the air. Yangyang's eyes frantically moved between the girl and the young man.
In a different scenario she would have dealt with this quickly, but the eight members of the Fractsidus had spread out. Should she go for a small handful then the rest will retaliate. If she attempted to go for all of them at once she wasn't sure if she could confidently avoid the girl and the young man. The young man's apathy regarding the entire situation certainly did not help her.
After a few seconds of hesitation, the Fractsidus Executioner who held the young man called out, "you know what, we're feeling nice today."
"We are?" A Fractsidus grunt from the side asked, earning a shoulder to the stomach from his comrade.
"I notice those colors on your outfit, you're a Midnight Ranger aren't you? Give us your head and we'll let these two brats go." The Executioner chuckled, a rough and venomous sound reverberating from behind its masked face. "Your life for these two."
With her guard still up, her eyes moved towards the rest of the Fractsidus. She obviously wasn't going to fall for the bait, she knew these types, they were not true to their word. However, that doesn't mean she couldn't let them think she fell for it.
As they are now she couldn't confidently fight off one without another taking action, she needed a way to get them closer to each other. She looked towards the young man, his curious gaze focused on her. She then looked towards the younger girl, who stared back at her with wide , pleading eyes.
"Fine." She said, standing up straight, and slowly moving her hands to sheath her blade. Her gaze locked on the Executioner who threw the "bait". After a few agonizingly long seconds, she fully sheathed her blade.
"Let go of them first."
The Executioner holding the young man smiled. "No can do."
His grip on the young man tightened, signaling for the men behind Yangyang to step forward. Meanwhile, the young man's head perked up slightly. He turned his head towards the left, looking off in the distance.
"First, your head."
Two more grunts took a step forward, preparing to lunge towards the girl.
Yet before they could act, a sound echoed. A small object soared through the wind, longing itself directly into the head of the Executioner who held the young man hostage. Within a moment, life left the man.
Silence reigned in the area.
"Huh?" One of the Fractsidus members uttered.
With a blink, the young man shrugged the dead body off, letting it fall to the ground behind him. He turned around to see the arrow dissipating before turning back towards the direction he had previously been looking in.
Something else soared through the wind– another arrow longed itself into the head of the Executioner who held the girl hostage.
"Ambush!" Someone yelled.
Within a few seconds, two other Fractsidus members fell from an arrow. The remaining four looked around in a panic, attempting to find the source of the arrows.
"Sister!" The young girl ran up to Yangyang, engulfing her in a hug. Tears started to fall down her face. Yangyang reciprocated the hug with one arm and held her blade in the other arm, guarding both herself and the girl.
In quick succession, the remaining four Fractsidus grunts fell to an arrow. One struck in the heart, another struck in the head, and two struck in the stomach.
The only sound remaining in the area was of the young girl's soft sobs.
Yangyang looked at the dead bodies. "Is it over?" She asked before looking towards the young man.
"It's over." He said, his eyes fixated off towards the distance, no rather fixated on someone in the distance. With a breath he said, "You can come out now."
Yangyang looked in the same direction as the young man before turning back to him with a raised eyebrow, "Wugang what are you–"
He stopped her with a raised hand, and after a few minutes something responded. Walking into view was a man cloaked in red. His skin tan, his hair a solid white, and his eyes a steely grey.
"And there's our savior." Wugang muttered. His gaze focused solely on the newcomer, observing the man.
"I apologize if I frightened you." The man said, raising his hands in the air to show that he meant no harm.
"I just have a few questions I want to ask."
(A/N)
I feel as though maybe this story might get too ambitious and the average fanfiction reader may as well just say "fuck this". But YKnow what? I'm still going to try. Even if it's beyond my current capabilities, I'll keep trying.
One must imagine a shitty author happy.
Reviews and comments are appreciated.
Thank you for reading!
Vast amounts of green and gray welcomed his eyes, grass danced in the wind. He looked up to a sky covered by darkened clouds. He gazed down at himself, there were no physical anomalies and he still wore his signature red and black garb.
He felt a strange hum reverb through his circuits. A strange taste in his mouth, a strange smell in the air. With narrowed eyes, he crossed his arms and attempted to dematerialize, nothing occurred.
Strange. He felt like a spirit yet he was clearly in his human body. He looked back to the ground he woke up from, no sign of any summoning system. Only grass and dirt. He absentmindedly rubbed the front of his neck. Perhaps it was a sort of lag between his soul and body? He never bothered to track how many years it's been since his death (not like he could anyways). He shook his head. No, that doesn't make any sense, his body worked perfectly fine. Either way, that wasn't too important at the moment.
No, the most important thing was—
"Where the hell am I?" He muttered.
He looked around, looking for any clue that could hint at where he is. From his time as a Counter Guardian he is at least familiar with the basics of many cultures. Despite his foggy memory he could always tell that he was at least somewhere that he's once heard about.
Yet all that greeted his sight was nature. He turned back around, shifting his gaze over to the hill next to him. Might as well get a look from higher ground.
He only took a few steps forward before something stopped him. A strange noise emanating from the tree to his right. No, it wasn't from the tree. Emiya narrowed his eyes.
A small creature walked out from behind the tree. Around the size of a small child, the creature's head was shaped like a yellow flower. It wobbled out with glee before its eyes (Emiya assumed the two circles in its "face" were eyes) met his. Whatever noise it was making stopped as it simply stood and stared at him.
He stared back.
A squeal left the creature as it held up its arms. The two tendrils that extended from the side of its flower "head" like bangs aimed upwards. A ball of light formed above its flower head, and with another squeak it aimed its arms forward. The ball flew towards Emiya, who simply stepped to the side. The orb of light shattered upon making contact with the ground, leaving a hole in the dirt.
He's seen creatures of multiple different sizes, but he's never seen one quite like this. He also highly doubted that it was a familiar.
Another ball of light formed above its head and flew towards the Counter Guardian. This time, instead of dodging, he formed a simple steel sword in his hand and swiped at the orb. It shattered upon impact, but a strange feeling had entered Emiya's hand.
It was just for a moment, no longer than a blink of an eye, but Emiya felt his swing slow down the moment his sword connected with the ball of light– despite the fact that he felt no physical resistance.
He narrowed his eyes.
"What are you?"
In response the creature held up its hands and prepared another attack. The counter guardian sighed, it was worth a shot he supposed.
With a quick swipe he tossed the sword into the creature, the speed behind his throw allowed the blade to cleave right through the creature's neck. It vanished the moment its head separated from its torso, and in its place a strange yellow outline appeared. It looked like a hologram and it took the exact form of the creature.
With a curious glance he walked up towards the "hologram" and observed it. As he got closer, the ringing in his ears grew louder. The same ringing he felt when he met with that strange silver woman.
Out of curiosity he held out his hand towards the transparent figure. The ringing grew to the point that it became akin to a screech— yet he could not feel any pain from it.
It kept growing louder by the second until he pulled his hand away from the remnant of the creature.
He had an assumption when he first felt the creature's presence, but now he had confirmation.
Whatever it was, whatever it did, whatever it is now–
None of it was formed from magecraft or any form of Mystery.
Was he… even on Earth anymore?
He looked back up the hill and proceeded to walk. His footsteps were quick. The ringing he felt did not vanish but it quickly faded off. A strange and soft white noise replaced the previously high-pitched ringing.
It took a few seconds before he reached the top of the hill, and as he looked down he realized he wasn't on just a hill, but rather a mountain.
His eyes widened slightly as he gazed upon the land. In the distance in front of him he could see a city that stood right next to a large mountain. If he narrowed his eyes he could see the form of a large dragon in the distance. Was that a mountain?
His gaze moved to the side, and his eyes widened fully upon seeing the remains of a destroyed city. Remnants of a skyscraper floated above the center of the land covered in flames, defying gravity. A long monorail orbited around the floating broken skyscraper like the moon of a planet. Yet what surprised him the most wasn't the broken building defying gravity, but the black hole that lingered above it, covered by clouds.
If the creature before wasn't proof enough, then this was the nail in the coffin.
He was no longer on Earth.
"Just my luck." He grumbled with a sigh.
A noise echoed from a distance behind him. He looked to the side, listening in closely. Besides the everpresent white noise in the back of his mind, the distant noise began to clear up as he focused. Eventually it cleared up to the point that he was able to hear the causes of the noise. Something familiar to him.
The sound of blades clashing, of bullets flying. Steel cleaving against steel, and iron piercing through iron. A battle.
An opportunity for him to get some answers.
With a heavy breath and a determined glance, he walked towards the conflict.
A young woman stood with bated breath. Her blue eyes, with light-grey pupils, scanned over the enemies in front of her. Her black and blue dress was covered in a few tears. A short breeze flowed through her long black hair, which had feather-shaped white streaks.
She kneeled slightly, both of her hands grasping her sword.
"Don't even think about it missy."
A gruff voice from one of the men she was facing spoke as soon as he saw her stance change.
Surrounding her stood eight men dressed in blood red clothing and devilish gas masks– members of the Fractsidus. Two of them had an extra pair of arms which looked like the arms of Tacet Discords– Executioners. These two men held two hostages with sharp knives against their necks.
"Big sis!" One of the hostages—a young girl—cried, her mouth was quickly covered by one of the man's extra hands.
"Make your next move carefully, Ranger." The Executioner hissed as he inched a knife closer to the young girl's neck. "Or both of these brats will be seeing the afterlife."
A snicker left the mouth of the man who held the other hostage. Despite being called a "brat", the other hostage was a relatively calm looking young man. He did not look any older than the girl who was attempting to save him.
Unlike the young girl, who squirmed against her captor, the young man looked oddly apathetic to the entire situation. His black eyes deadpanned beneath his shoulder-length raven black hair. His life held in the hands of malice, yet he simply stood as if he held no regard for his life.
He did not flinch when his captor inched the knife closer to his neck, to the point that it drew just the tiniest drop of blood. He still stood bored.
His eyes met the eyes of the young woman, his only chance of survival. He opened his mouth to speak, and one would expect a desperate attempt at a plea to live.
Instead he simply asked, "what will you do now, Yangyang?"
She glared at him, but after observing closely she realized that the question was genuine. From his body language to his face to his eyes, there was no sign of a taunt.
He asked the question as if he wasn't the one in mortal danger.
He winced as his captor moved the knife to the side, drawing more blood.
"Shut up kid, don't you know where you stand at this moment?"
"Apologies."
He did not sound sorry.
Both sides stood at a standstill. No one made a move as tension filled the air. Yangyang's eyes frantically moved between the girl and the young man.
In a different scenario she would have dealt with this quickly, but the eight members of the Fractsidus had spread out. Should she go for a small handful then the rest will retaliate. If she attempted to go for all of them at once she wasn't sure if she could confidently avoid the girl and the young man. The young man's apathy regarding the entire situation certainly did not help her.
After a few seconds of hesitation, the Fractsidus Executioner who held the young man called out, "you know what, we're feeling nice today."
"We are?" A Fractsidus grunt from the side asked, earning a shoulder to the stomach from his comrade.
"I notice those colors on your outfit, you're a Midnight Ranger aren't you? Give us your head and we'll let these two brats go." The Executioner chuckled, a rough and venomous sound reverberating from behind its masked face. "Your life for these two."
With her guard still up, her eyes moved towards the rest of the Fractsidus. She obviously wasn't going to fall for the bait, she knew these types, they were not true to their word. However, that doesn't mean she couldn't let them think she fell for it.
As they are now she couldn't confidently fight off one without another taking action, she needed a way to get them closer to each other. She looked towards the young man, his curious gaze focused on her. She then looked towards the younger girl, who stared back at her with wide , pleading eyes.
"Fine." She said, standing up straight, and slowly moving her hands to sheath her blade. Her gaze locked on the Executioner who threw the "bait". After a few agonizingly long seconds, she fully sheathed her blade.
"Let go of them first."
The Executioner holding the young man smiled. "No can do."
His grip on the young man tightened, signaling for the men behind Yangyang to step forward. Meanwhile, the young man's head perked up slightly. He turned his head towards the left, looking off in the distance.
"First, your head."
Two more grunts took a step forward, preparing to lunge towards the girl.
Yet before they could act, a sound echoed. A small object soared through the wind, longing itself directly into the head of the Executioner who held the young man hostage. Within a moment, life left the man.
Silence reigned in the area.
"Huh?" One of the Fractsidus members uttered.
With a blink, the young man shrugged the dead body off, letting it fall to the ground behind him. He turned around to see the arrow dissipating before turning back towards the direction he had previously been looking in.
Something else soared through the wind– another arrow longed itself into the head of the Executioner who held the girl hostage.
"Ambush!" Someone yelled.
Within a few seconds, two other Fractsidus members fell from an arrow. The remaining four looked around in a panic, attempting to find the source of the arrows.
"Sister!" The young girl ran up to Yangyang, engulfing her in a hug. Tears started to fall down her face. Yangyang reciprocated the hug with one arm and held her blade in the other arm, guarding both herself and the girl.
In quick succession, the remaining four Fractsidus grunts fell to an arrow. One struck in the heart, another struck in the head, and two struck in the stomach.
The only sound remaining in the area was of the young girl's soft sobs.
Yangyang looked at the dead bodies. "Is it over?" She asked before looking towards the young man.
"It's over." He said, his eyes fixated off towards the distance, no rather fixated on someone in the distance. With a breath he said, "You can come out now."
Yangyang looked in the same direction as the young man before turning back to him with a raised eyebrow, "Wugang what are you–"
He stopped her with a raised hand, and after a few minutes something responded. Walking into view was a man cloaked in red. His skin tan, his hair a solid white, and his eyes a steely grey.
"And there's our savior." Wugang muttered. His gaze focused solely on the newcomer, observing the man.
"I apologize if I frightened you." The man said, raising his hands in the air to show that he meant no harm.
"I just have a few questions I want to ask."
(A/N)
I feel as though maybe this story might get too ambitious and the average fanfiction reader may as well just say "fuck this". But YKnow what? I'm still going to try. Even if it's beyond my current capabilities, I'll keep trying.
One must imagine a shitty author happy.
Reviews and comments are appreciated.
Thank you for reading!
trashtaker
THE GLORY OF MANKIND MUST COME TRUE
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2023
- Messages
- 2,790
- Likes received
- 42,852
Hey author good shit ngl.
Just one question.
Would this be like the beta scenes in WuWa before the changes?
I really want crownless to be HIM.
Just one question.
Would this be like the beta scenes in WuWa before the changes?
I really want crownless to be HIM.
Dagaz
Making the rounds.
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2024
- Messages
- 31
- Likes received
- 343
Thank you for the comment! I won't be pulling scenes from the beta; however, the Jinzhou story here won't play out like it does in the current canon (with a few exceptions).
But don't you worry, I'm definitely giving the GOAT Crownless the attention he deserves.
trashtaker
THE GLORY OF MANKIND MUST COME TRUE
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2023
- Messages
- 2,790
- Likes received
- 42,852
HELL YEAH. MY GOAT CROWNLESS