001 - What Makes it Hard to Go Home ?

Heya it's me again, thank you so much for the feedback during yesterday question!

I'm gonna try to slow down the pace and actually doing slice of life and more character interaction after Nasuverse arc.

Because they in holy grail war i can't really do much slice of life except for during the day but im gonna try writing it.

But because of that the schedule probably not gonna be every 2 days anymore, because thinking about what they gonna do during slice of life is harder than i thought.

So yea i don't know what the schedule gonna be but don't forget to give me your feedback on this chapter.

Thank you.

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While Rei was facing off against Gilgamesh, Saber and Lancer were battling in the graveyard beside the church.

Several parts of the graveyard were already destroyed due to their fierce fight.

Saber continued to press Lancer with her Excalibur. Lancer looked overwhelmed, sensing that Saber was much stronger than she had been before.

Finally, their weapons clashed once more. "Heh, looks like your appearance isn't the only thing that changed."

"You could say I'm full of good-quality mana now, unlike before." Saber replied, putting more force into her attack.

*Baaaam!* Overpowered by Saber's Excalibur, Lancer was quickly thrown back, crashing into several tombstones.

He managed to stop himself, but he suddenly sensed danger and tried to dodge as Saber appeared and swung at him.

Saber's strike landed on Lancer, being too fast for him to evade. "Haaaaahhhh!!!" Saber shouted as she flung Lancer away.

*Boooom!* Lancer hit the ground hard, his body battered and wounded.

"Tch, she's way stronger than during our first fight." he muttered. But then he sensed a massive amount of mana gathering in front of him.

Saber was gripping her Excalibur with both hands. "It's been fun, Lancer. But I need to fight Archer, so I'm ending this now."

Quickly, her Excalibur was enveloped in a black aura that shot up to the sky.

"Vortigern, Hammer of the Vile King, reverse the rising sun. Swallow the light." The aura surrounding her Excalibur grew stronger, swirling violently.

"This night suddenly became so much fun~!" they both heard a girl's voice suddenly chime in.

"Who's there!?" Saber, without dismissing her aura, turned toward the source of the voice.

"Oh great, it's Berserker..." Lancer groaned as he saw a small girl. Behind her was a massive, muscular creature wielding an enormous sword.

"Go, Berserker! Kill Onii-chan's Servant!" the little girl commanded, pointing toward Saber, who was still gathering her magical energy.

"*Roaaaaarrr!*" Berserker roared and rushed toward Saber before she could unleash her Noble Phantasm.

"Shit!" Saber had to cancel her attack to dodge Berserker's massive sword swing aimed directly at her.

Despite Saber's attack being interrupted, her Excalibur was still surrounded by a dark aura, potent enough to kill an enemy Servant in a single strike.

While dodging, she counterattacked, channeling all the magical energy she had gathered toward Berserker.

'Got you!' Saber thought, believing her strike would land. But suddenly, Berserker moved with incredible agility and speed, managing to dodge her counterattack.

"What!?" Saber exclaimed, but she didn't have time to be shocked as Berserker launched a counterattack of his own, sending her flying with a powerful punch.

*BAM!* Saber was thrown far past the graves, crashing into a tree and destroying the surrounding area.

"You think an attack like that can hit Berserker? Berserker is the strongest in the world! He won't be taken down so easily!" the little girl shouted proudly at the thrown Saber.

"Hey, she's my opponent! What are you doing, Berserker!?" Lancer, struggling to stand with his wounded body, called out.

Berserker glanced at Lancer but didn't move, waiting for orders from his Master.

"Heh, you're just too weak to fight Saber. So don't get in my way." the girl replied, dismissing Lancer's words.

But then, they suddenly saw blackened magical energy surging from where Saber had been thrown, speeding toward Berserker.

"!?" Berserker, unable to dodge in time due to its speed, took the full brunt of the attack.

*Booooooom!* A deafening explosion echoed, and strong winds swept across the area as the attack hit Berserker.

Despite her Servant being struck by such a powerful attack, the little girl showed no concern, confident that Berserker wouldn't be defeated by something like that.

Soon, the dark light surrounding Berserker dissipated, revealing him still standing there, heavily wounded but completely still.

"Did she do it...?" Lancer muttered as he looked at the motionless Berserker.

Moments later, Saber emerged from where she had been thrown, blood trickling from the side of her forehead.

Seeing that Berserker's attention was on Lancer, she quickly fired her Excalibur Morgan at him, even though she hadn't finished gathering her magical energy.

It was her only chance to kill Berserker while he was distracted.

But then, Saber and Lancer suddenly noticed Berserker's body starting to glow red, and his wounds slowly began to heal.

"Regeneration!? No, it's like time is being reversed!!" Saber and Lancer instantly recognized what was happening to Berserker.

"*Roaaaaarrr!!*" Berserker roared again.

"Not enough, huh? Then what about this?" Lancer said as he readied his stance, and his spear began to emit a crimson aura.

"*Cough!*" He suddenly coughed up blood due to his injuries. "Heh, this kind of wound is not enough to kill me."

Lancer quickly leapt high into the air, gripping his spear tightly, and gathered his magical energy into it.

"Gae Bolg!" Lancer threw his spear toward Berserker, who had already healed his wounds.

The spear swiftly flew toward Berserker before he could move again, and it struck him with ease, causing another explosion.

The entire graveyard where they were fighting was instantly reduced to rubble due to the two Noble Phantasms they unleashed.

The trees around them were also uprooted and thrown aside by the powerful winds created by the impact.

"Two Noble Phantasms? Do you think that's enough to kill Berserker!?" the girl shouted at them.

And indeed, what the small girl said was true. When the explosion finally dissipated, Berserker was still standing there, his wounds healed once again.

"Even that still isn't enough." Lancer muttered as he caught his spear that returned to him after he threw it.

After Berserker's wounds finished regenerating, the girl gave him another command, "Now Berserker, go kill onii-chan's Servant. And after that, kill this one too."

"*ROOAAAAARRRRR!*" Berserker roared, preparing to attack Saber after hearing her command.

Saber gripped Excalibur tightly and stared down Berserker with a serious expression.

But before Berserker could launch his attack, they suddenly saw a bright red light appear, drawing everyone's attention toward it.

"That's—!" Saber immediately recognized it when she saw the lines that ruptured in the air.

"That's Archer's Noble Phantasm!" Saber said, staring in that direction.

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"Gate of Babylon!"

"Wall of Babylon!"

Gilgamesh unleashed a barrage of hundreds of weapons from the golden portals that appeared behind him. The sheer number of them made the entire area around them glow with a brilliant golden light.

But Rei effortlessly deflected every single weapon that Gilgamesh hurled at him, standing firm without moving from his spot.

"Chain of Heaven!"

"Chain of Temptation!"

Gilgamesh then used Enkidu, the Chains of Heaven, to bind Rei. However, they were intercepted by chains emerging from Rei's side.

When the two chains met, they began to pull against each other. But as soon as they collided, the Chains of Heaven started to tremble.

Gilgamesh, sensing something was wrong with his friend, quickly attempted to retract them.

Rei noticed this and smiled, pleased to see that his Chain of Temptation was affecting Gilgamesh's Chains of Heaven.

Rei's pink-colored Chain of Temptation began to radiate with a pink aura, starting to enveloping the Chains of Heaven.

"What are you doing, you bastard!?" Gilgamesh yelled, panic evident in his voice, as he watched his precious friend lose their thinking and fall under the influence of Rei's chains.

Soon after, the Chains of Heaven changed color, turning a deep pink.

"Now, come here..." Rei commanded, and the Chains of Heaven obeyed, breaking away from Gilgamesh and moving toward the spot where Rei's Chain of Temptation emerged.

Both chains vanished as they entered the spot where Rei's Chain of Temptation emerged.

"YOU BASTARD!!! HOW DARE YOU—!?!" Gilgamesh roared in fury, his eyes blazing with anger as he saw his precious friend disappear. Without hesitation, he summoned something to his hand.

"Oh? Finally..." Rei muttered, a smile forming on his lips.

"Bab-ilu!" Gilgamesh shouted. Soon, a crimson light engulfed the area, and in the sky, lines ruptured the air, radiating outwards like cracks on the surface of reality.

The lines converged toward Gilgamesh's hand until he was seen holding something.

The moment Rei saw this, his eyes changed from blue to a deep purple, brimming with curiosity and desire.

"It is time. Awaken, Ea!" Gilgamesh declared as he firmly grasped the weapon he had summoned.

It took the form of a cylindrical, drill-like pillar composed of three independently rotating segments, each engraved with crimson letters that pulsed with power.

"A weapon that separates earth and heaven. How fascinating..." Rei remarked, his gaze locked onto the weapon in Gilgamesh's hand, utterly captivated by its presence and the power it exuded.

Ea began to activate, with the middle segment spinning clockwise while the top and bottom segments spun counterclockwise. Crimson lightning and fierce, red winds erupted around it, tearing apart the ground and surroundings.

Gilgamesh slowly ascended into the sky, his presence becoming even more overwhelming as the weapon continued to spin.

"Know the law of Heaven." His voice echoed through the area.

The red light from Ea illuminated the sky, its rotating segments spinning faster and faster, creating an ever-growing storm of energy.

"Code name 001: Celestial Weapon Number 5, Gateway-Star Sword!" Rei suddenly spoke, his eyes still fixed on Gilgamesh, who was floating higher and higher.

Meanwhile, back in the DxD world, Lyria, who had been playing with Koneko, suddenly stopped. Koneko, who noticed, looked confused since Lyria would never stop chasing her until she caught her.

"What's wrong, Lyria?" Koneko approached, her face showing concern.

"Accepted. Administrative authentication complete. Granting access to Celestial Weapon with code 001." Lyria said as she touched her chest. From within, a bright blue light emerged and then disappeared from the dimension.

"Worship me and die." Gilgamesh aimed the full power of Ea at Rei, still standing silently before him.

Rei raised his right hand into the air. A moment later, an intensely bright blue light, even more blinding than the crimson glow of Ea, appeared in the sky above.

"What!?" Gilgamesh looked astonished as he glanced upward.

The sky above them was enveloped in a sea of blue light filled with countless beautiful stars. The brilliance stretched so far and wide that they couldn't even see the full expanse from where they stood, covering the entire city in a radiant canopy of celestial lights.

Rei moved his fingers, summoning the stars from the sky. They responded instantly, quickly gathering and converging toward Rei's outstretched hand.

The blue light and stars that adorned the sky began to be drawn into Rei's palm, coalescing into the shape of a sword. As the sword took form, every creature in the world could sense an ominous feeling in the air.

Animals instinctively fled the area, and people sleeping in their homes awoke, gripped by an inexplicable dread.

Gaia and Alaya began to panic as they felt the presence of a weapon beyond their comprehension, unable to predict what might happen if it was to be swung.

But amidst all this panic, Rei's sword fully manifested in his hand, and he grasped it firmly. A strong wind erupted around him the moment he gripped the weapon.

[IMAGE]

The church behind him remained untouched, shielded by the *Atheism* barrier Rei had set up earlier to protect it, along with Kirei, whom he had pulled back using the Chain of Depravity.

"Now, let's see which one is stronger." Rei said, taking his stance, preparing to wield the celestial weapon.

"Tch! Don't think that weapon is enough for me! Enuma Elish!" Gilgamesh unleashed Ea, the Sword of Rupture, its overwhelming force tearing through the space between them.

"Turn your gaze to the sky! And find seven stars everyone knows and loves, and watch closely! Espada Galaxia!!" Rei called out. The celestial sword in his hand glowed brightly, filled with an immense amount of energy.

With a swift motion, he swung the sword toward the oncoming Enuma Elish.

The two forces clashed, and the very fabric of reality seemed to tremble under the sheer pressure of the impact.