An Archer's Promise

Beta read by n1ch, Shigiya, Solitary heart and 8kagi

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Beta read by n1ch, Shigiya, Solitary heart and 8kagi.

Ha! Told ya that there would be 2 chapters release this week!

More details and corrections will be added later on.

Also, as mentioned before, chapter 3 will be released to Fanfiction when chapter 6 is done.

The image is for those who don't know or don't remember what Maia looks like.

Edit 1: Beta read.

Edit 2: Added a lot more.

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-Grünes Bergdorf-

The battle had already started.

Perched on top of the guard's tower, Archer watched the fight unfold from the beginning. From the hundreds of approaching demons, there were only five Knights in total, with Brynn being one of them—making this an already hopeless fight from the get-go.

'Fools, they should have worked together with the local forces to fight the army and to evacuate everyone from the premises as soon as possible.' At least then there was a chance of survival. He didn't think these beasts knew terrain as much as the locals. Not to mention, it would have bought them enough time for reinforcement to arrive.

The knights combat stance was good, their feet were firmly planted to the ground with their sword stance having little to no openings.

But he couldn't say the same for the archers in the back, as they stared in fear at the oncoming army.

'They are shaking and haven't even drawn their bows yet.'

Yeah, the more he looked, the less likely their survival seemed plausible. He was even contemplating going back and informing Alice to escape the village right now.

"Raaaaaa!" He was cut from his musing when the first monsters appeared. Looking like human-sized goblins with warts that seem to cover every inch of their body and their blatant display of their genitalia.

'Ew.'

Archer analyzed how the Knights efficiently cut down those monsters. He was able to hear one of the knights refer to them as trolls. Brynn took the initiative and cut through them one by one with her fellow Knights following her example.

"Well would you look at that, there is something weird about the way those trolls fight." Indeed, normally the demonic beasts, monsters, and the humanoid chimeras he faced in the past would always fight ruthlessly with the intent to kill. Trying to cut him to pieces or crush him, any way for them to take his life, but these creatures were different. "None of their attacks are truly lethal, most of them are trying to capture the girls instead of killing them."

Speaking of the Knights.

From their fighting style, they would wait for the trolls to attack and show off their unprotected front, this would either make the trolls avoid hitting them or reduce the strength behind the attack. For those whose attacks weren't diverted, the Knights followed up using their armored arms as shields, blocking them and going for the kill.

"Are these trolls avoiding injuring these girls because of their bodies?" That would make sense, it would explain the aroused state they fought in, and the stupid lack of regard of their life. "I rephrase my previous statement, this world is weird and idioctic."

Were these demons even driven by the will to kill, eat and conquer the human race?

"Captain, Imps!"

The second wave came, a horde of flying Imps whose hands were filled with small sacks of bombs. The girls dodged them successfully and asked the archers for support. But just like Emiya suspected, barely any of the arrows hit their target.

Some of the imps bypassed the defenses without anyone noticing and entered the village.

"Hmm…"

Archer used his [Projection] ability to trace a bow created from an undiscovered alloy, just like his armor. It was a matte black, western-style straight bow, with a simple design that was constructed to be resistant enough to fire Noble Phantasms. Being his only original weapon, a projection whose structure and composition were not directly taken from another hero's bow. And true to Archer's style, it didn't have any name—it was Nameless.

He didn't need it to fire a Noble Phantasm, especially against a few imps.

Creak…

Pulling the string required a considerable amount of force that was impossible for a non-enhanced human to pull off; so he used [Reinforcement].

Psht

Psht

Using regular arrows, the first show landed on the head of the Imp killing it immediately, while the second one caught the falling net filled with bombs and pinned it against a wall.

"Weaker than I thought them to be." They didn't even sense his attack like he expected them to. "Am I overestimating these creatures?"

More Imps came through but all of them got shot down in a matter of seconds. Nobody noticed his actions as the guards' attention was too focused on the female Knight's battle.

Crash!

To Archer's surprise, a large boulder was thrown from within the forest, taller than himself and wide enough for two men to stand side by side, destroying every tree in its way till it completely crushed the guards below.

"What strength!" He was in shock at the display of power, to throw such a large object would require tremendous force and whatever it was… it put him on the edge.

What followed was the hundreds of Orcs he had sensed before, all following a giant variant Orc whose height rivaled Hercules himself!

Archer witnessed how the Knights–who were doing fine till now–got completely pushed back and beaten one by one.

"Captain, help me!"

He should save them, was the first thought that popped into his head before he squashed it down. Saving them was foolish and suicidal. Archer still wasn't sure what other change Alaya did to him, and he wasn't going to risk going against an entire army of Orcs—along with their commander—who could potentially match the strength of a weak servant!

'I am no longer that foolish idiot who ran after a flawed ideal!' He thought to himself, trying to ignore the pleas for a savior.

"NO!!! Keep that away from me!"

In his mind, the words that Rin told him kept bouncing back. 'I'll make sure he learns to appreciate himself. And I hope you do too!' This was for himself, for his own good! He was respecting her words by not putting his life in danger!

With each of their cries for help, his anger just kept rising the longer he heard.

He could easily leave this place. His target was Vault and the Kuroinu. He could leave this place without taking unnecessary risks and by not being a hopeless fool who tried to save everyone he came across.

Yet why…

"Let me go! Noooo!"

His own words came back to haunt him…, 'Don't worry about me. I have my answer already.'

They had no meaning, they were nothing but empty words!

'I'll try my best from now on too.' An empty promise he made just to relieve her worry about him, knowing that he would break it later. Counter Guardian EMIYA was a lost cause, he couldn't save everyone, holding anything more but a broken ideal that left behind a broken life—Archer knew that his promise was worthless!

'I'll try my best from now on too.'

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'I'll try my best from now on too.'

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"Anyone…. Please… SAVE US!!" The desperate cry for help reaching his core.

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"DAMN IT RIN!!"

Hollering in anger at no one but himself, he dismissed his cloak, standing tall in his red and black combat gear on top of the tower.

'Why am I doing this!?'

"Humph, how troublesome you are, tilt your head to the right first!" He used his bow to shoot a single arrow full force at the Orc commander's eyes.

Psht!

That girl moved just in time to avoid it and with the amount of force he put in it, his arrow surprisingly took the entire head off. Honestly, Archer didn't expect for it to die so easily with the previously shown strength.

He shot more arrows at the remaining Orcs who were about to rape those other Knights. Each headshot ripped their heads off, leaving the girls both confused and terrified from the ordeal and what just happened.

"Trace... on."

He needed to stall the Orc army.

"I am the bone of my sword."

Judging the concept of creation.

A sword he had seen a long time ago in his own life while also coming across it many times through different realities. A sword possessed by the King of Heroes himself, Gilgamesh. One that he used like nearly every weapon in his treasury—recklessly shooting them at his opponents.

Just like every weapon inside [Gate of Babylon], this sword was a prototype and thus lacked a proper name.

Hypothesizing the basic structure.

Made of human hands and natural resources from the freezing tundra of the northern mountains.

Duplicating the composition material.

Contains no amount of alien or divine elements, making it possible for Archer to trace it.

Imitating the skill of its making.

A sword forged from the cold rather than the heat of a forge. An ancient process that has long since been forgotten by time.

Sympathizing with the experience of its growth.

Hardly used in any field of combat or war as it was immediately taken by the King.

Reproducing the accumulated years.

Used on rare occasions by Gilgamesh whenever he activated his Noble Phantasm.

Excelling every manufacturing process

He concentrated on its existence, its presence, and its weight in reality. But he knew that no matter how hard he tried, his weapons could never match up to the original. Nonetheless, it was the perfect weapon for this occasion.

"Sword of ice," A beautiful blade that took the form of a short sword hovered over his hand. Just calling it a blade would be confusing as the steel looked like clear ice in the shape of a sword.

"Steel is my body and fire is my blood"

The surrounding air shimmered in ethereal blue light, looking like flowing water around him. A larger concentration of prana gathered around him, as another Sword of Ice was pulled from his reality marble. And another one.

Soon a single sword turned to two then to three before stopping at ten, and that is when Archer made a surprising discovery of his circuits.

'I feel little to no strain or exhaustion from projecting all of these Noble Phantasms…' Being born with 27 poor quality magic circuits, Archer in his younger days always struggled to use his magecraft to its absolute limit. Even casting [Unlimited Blade Works] was impossible without a secondary higher source of prana. The Counter Force made it easier for him to do it, but that was when he was a Counter Guardian… but now he was human. 'Have some changes done to me, remained even as a human?'

At least it reaffirmed to him that Alaya hadn't let him completely off the hook, he still had an invisible collar around his neck.

In a move that would have angered the King of Heroes, Archer fired the sword at high speed toward the Orcs.

Boom!

"▅▅▅■■■■!?"

The knights screamed in shock while the army stumbled back in fear. Multiple swords impacted the ground in a straight line and suddenly had a large wall of ice separating them from the Knights.

All of this happened before the hordes' leader's body even hit the ground.

Using his reinforced limbs once again, Archer dashed towards the girls catching Brynn in his arms. The other girls who were dragged away joined the main area once again. Their armor had long since been stripped away but their purity still intact—for some though it was a very close call.

"I-it's you! That traveler from last week!" The captain immediately recognized Archer, especially with his rather unique look. "What are you doing here!?" She and the other Knights watched in shock at his sudden arrival and the wall of ice. The slight trace of scowl and disdain returned to their face as they looked at his features, though it wasn't as intense as the first time they met.

"He is a magician?" They muttered. "But I've never seen such a spell, even the famously known Spellcaster, Kin never showed to wield Ice magic." The possibility of it being dark magic came to their mind and their disdain turned slightly hostile.

While Archer wanted to correct their assumption of him being a Magus instead of a magician, he didn't have the time. 'And what's with the sudden hostility? Have they truly not gotten over my looks?'

Bang!

Bang!

The wall of ice had already begun showing signs of breaking for the relentless attacks. A feat that should have been impressive if it was a human army but for strength enhanced creatures, it was only a matter of time.

This brought back the Knights to the severity of their current situation.

"Save your words for another time!" He needed them to be as far away from the area. "You should retreat to the village, don't look back unless you want to die! I'll take care of them to give you the chance."

The girls were too much in a state of shock and numbness to deny his words—even forgetting that they were still naked in front of him. They all ran back to the gates with already a good chunk of the ice wall already broken!

Archer threw Brynn at one of the girls, shocking the former with his actions.

"H-Hey, what are you doing!? You can't hold back these monsters all by yourself!" She exclaimed while her subordinate tried to carefully lay her down. "By the will of the Goddess Reborn, I order you to return this instance! We'll try to barricade the main gates and hold them off until the reinforcement arrives!" She tried to move but it proved to be impossible, the poison from those Imps were already in her system.

Ignoring her words, Archer jumped on top of the wall, further shocking knights at his display of strength.

Taking a deep breath, he resummoned his bow.

The time was now.

"I have created over a thousand blades"

Just like before, the air began to shimmer and dance around him, a higher concentration of prana gathering around him. The blueprint of the weapon was tracing formed above his palms.

The girls down below watched the scene in fascination and awe, "What… what kind of magic is that?" There was no long chanting, no glyphs, symbols, or any sort of magic circle showing up anywhere.

"Pagan magic!" Brynn shouted in anger and disdain. No matter what it was, pagan magic or dark magic, these were considered heresy to the belief established by the Church. Anyone wielding such magic would be considered an enemy and ally to the Dark Queen. Thus hunted down to be imprisoned or killed on the spot.

'But he just saved us…' Brynn's thoughts conflicted, as a proud and honorable Knight, she could not deny the help this man brought to them. He saved their lives and she was forever grateful for that. "Maybe I can confirm with the Church of such magic… it might not be dark by nature."

…

Archer concentrated deeply.

This attack would be enough, his inner armory stirred from his command, with a single spiral sword—also known as the rainbow sword—ready to be called forth. Being the prototype of many magic and holy swords of later ages, including Excalibur Galatine

The sword—if it could even be called as such—came into life from the numerous motes of light merging in the blueprint above his plan, floating mid-air. The wind grew in strength as the many eyes from below watched what to their eyes could only be described as an act of divine magic from their Goddess coming from a man in red.

Described as a "no-questions-asked great attack that breaks the earth", the Heaven and Earth Sky Great Rotation. Possessing great power when in the hands of Fergus mac Róich; a man who could once paint a rainbow across the vast sky whenever he fought on the battlefield. Showing both the beauty and might of his strength to his enemies, the man was truly deserving of the title of Heroic Spirit; dreamed to be given a place in the Throne of Heroes.

But Archer would never reach that man's level of might in his life, no matter how much time and effort he puts into it. That was the beauty of Heroic Spirits, only they could use their Noble Phantasms at a level no one other than them can reach—a realm beyond perfection.

He was nothing more than a copycat, a man trying to imitate a giant. A faker he was, one that carried the title with neither shame or pride.

But Archer was not the former king of Ulster, so wielding his Noble Phantasm to its best ability was impossible… unless he added his changes to fit his needs. No matter the beauty of the weapon, it was still just that; a tool to be used. Sullying the Noble Phantasms image and form was of no concern to Emiya.

"[Alteration]" The once beautiful sword began twisting and stretching, creating a horrifying screech of scraping iron. Using the intermediary spell, [Alteration] along with [Reinforcement] and [Projection], Archer was able to change the sword into a single arrow.

Caladbolg II - The fake spiral arrow.

But he didn't just stop there, prana was pumped into the weapon. Going way beyond what the modified weapon itself could manage, leading to miniature cracks appearing on the blade itself. The red magical energy coming out of the weapon billowed his clothes and the sand below leading the girls to cover their eyes.

It felt as if a storm was incoming.

'It seems that I have retained some aspects as a former Counter Guardian. There is no way my past self could have done all of this without feeling drained.'

A broken phantasm, one of Emiya's specialties.

As he cocked his bow, the metal was experiencing a huge amount of strain on both the weapon and himself. He made it look easy to the eyes of others, but the strength required to draw the bow was not something even the strongest of humans could achieve without reinforcing themselves. Now in the body of a 'human', he once again remembered the long training he had gone through in the past to use this bow. Even now his muscles felt like they would be pulled apart at any moment, so he adjusted the amount of prana accordingly across his limbs; granting him more strength.

Archer didn't worry about the bow breaking, as he made this bow to especially fire Noble Phantasms. A true one-of-a-kind and terrifying weapon.

Centering his aim, he took a single deep breath and uttered

"Fly, Caladbolg II!"

With a large sonic boom, the arrow was blasted off of where he stood, flying beyond the speed of sound, beyond anything humanly comprehensible. Surpassing the power of anything the mage of the seven kingdoms could ever hope to achieve, a feat of power that resembled more the might of a god in their eyes.

'My core is twisted in madness...'

It was as if the world changed completely for the Knights. In their eyes, the once blue sky turned hellish red, the closer the arrow went to its target the more space began bending to its will.

As the Orcs screamed victoriously from having broken down the wall of ice impeding their way— before they were faced with the red death itself.

'Caladbolg.'

The gods roared from the heavens.

▅▅▅■—Boom!

A sphere of fire covered his vision. The explosion that ensued covered the entire forest area and engulfed the once fearsome army of demons. Far away trees were uprooted, the clouds parted ways and the entire landscape was flattened beyond recognition. A shockwave intense enough to break down the walls reached the village's front gates and broke the gates.

"Kyaaa!" Some of the girls were thrown back by the enormous force, some of them crashing into the houses.

Call him an asshole if you wanted but Archer didn't worry about the girls, at most they would have a broken arm or leg and mild bleeding—which was much better than the fate awaiting them if they were captured and he hadn't come to their rescue. And he had already revealed too much, showing off Rho Aias wouldn't have helped his case.

The overwhelming energy of the explosion spread all around the region with the tremor being felt from miles away.

After a few seconds, the dust settled and the demon raid that was about to wipe the village out of existence was gone, not even leaving the slightest trace—they disintegrated to ashes.

"It's over…"

Archer sighed.

He checked to see if the Knights were still in one piece below. If only he was capable of hypnosis then he would have worried about the aftermath.

But strangely… he didn't regret his decision to save the village and the girls.

'Just look at what you have done to me, Rin.'

He walked next to Brynn, whose body was still poisoned by those Imps' bomb. The shockwave had thrown her inside the village stable, where she and most of the Knights got cushioned by the plentiful hay bales.

If looks could kill then he would have already burned to a crisp from how Brynn and the rest were glaring at him. A few even backed away from him, looking at him as if he was a monster in human skin.

"I believe this is the part where I get a thank you or get showered with praise," Archer said sarcastically, intensifying the Knights' collective glares.

Curse his luck!

{Break}

A few miles away from Grünes Bergdorf, on a dirt road leading to the village, was a large cavalry of men and women wearing leather and steel armor. They weren't Knights, but rather mercenaries from all around the land, some used to be independent adventures while others were members of the Kuroinu mercenary group.

They galloped at high speed, following their leader at the front.

"Come on! We don't have much time, since the distress signal, so you slowpokes better hurry up!" A feminine voice shouted out to the troop.

A young woman with red hair that reached her neck. Her voluptuous figure was hidden behind a matching red shirt which had a V-shaped hole on the front that showed her side breasts and part of her stomach. Wearing blue pants—just like her shirt—barely hid anything on her backside. This attracted the attention of many of her followers and Kuroinu allies, whose eyes could barely hide the hidden lust and desire to have a taste of her one day.

Her red eyes surveyed the surroundings, searching for any signs of the demon army, traces of broken trees and footprints littered the field and she knew that they were getting close.

This was Maia, a former member of the Kuroinu, Queen of Mercenaries, and one of the seven Princess Knights who ruled over the Kingdom of Ken.

Her confident voice carried the aspects of a leader, shouted out once more. "Men! We are getting close! So be prepar—Boom!"

"—!?"

A bright flash of red-colored their sight and for a slight moment, everything vanished.

Crash!

"What the hell!?" Some of the men who were blinded by the sudden light crashed into one another.

The earth shook with a great magnitude as everyone lost control of their horses—with the frightened animal retreating backward.

"Hold!"

Maia used her years of expertise to regain control of her mount, she shielded her eyes from the light. Her ears vibrated by the incoming shockwave. "What the hell just happened!?" After her eyes were no longer assaulted by the intense flash, she removed her hands only to witness a large mushroom cloud of smoke and debris in the distance.

"Fuck!" Fearing the worst, that somehow the Dark Queen's army had already destroyed everything and burned the village to the ground; she decided to head on ahead. "Get your shit together and join me as soon as you can!" The men were still incapacitated, some rubbing their eyes while others tried to calm their horse.

She was the Queen of Mercenaries and Princess Knight, it was her duty to make sure her people were safe and she would never back away from any threat whatsoever.

Even if she came to face the entire demon army by herself!

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The next 5 chapters of An archer's promise are already available on my Patreon. With 4 more Broly and 5 Snafu chapters at /NimtheWriter.