Songs in the Void: A Multiversal Score

TYPE-MOON Universe, Earth, Japan, Fuyuki.

"Looks like he snapped out of it." Elicia said with a smile as she watched Tatsuo raise his hand and flare his [Energy].

"That's amazing." Sakura said with a happy smile on her face.

"Yeah, but how is he supposed to win in that state?' Rin asked with a shrug. "It looks like Saber is gonna take the win for this one."

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch, Rin." Elicia said with a grin. "Assassin has a knack for flipping people's expectations on their heads, after all."

And just as Elicia finished speaking, the three ladies saw a seven layered flower shield appear between Tatsuo and Saber's attack. However, that was not all. There was also a large shield that caused Saber's eyes to widen the moment it appeared.

"Lord Camelot." Saber muttered as a powerful golden energy cannon was fired along the path of her sword swing.

*Boom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*

A moment later, the energy cannon slammed into the [Rho Aias Projection]. And while the seven layered flower shield clearly weakened the attack, all seven layers were eventually broken through. However, when the attack met the shield, Lord Camelot, as it had already been weakened, it was stopped in its tracks.

Meanwhile, during the struggle between the two [Noble Phantasms], Tatsuo did his best to create a magic circle around him with his [Energy]. At the same time, he began speaking a chant aloud. However, no one was able to hear the chant thanks to the rumbling caused by Saber's attack.

"[Plenary Blessing]." Tatsuo said, naming his spell after his incantation.

In the next instant, a second golden ray, though this one much less violent, fell from above and engulfed Tatsuo. Then, after a moment, Elicia, Sakura, and Rin could see a silhouette standing from the ground inside of the second golden light.

"Seriously?" Rin asked incredulously while throwing her hands up in defeat. "He can heal, too?"

"Yup." Elicia replied while popping the "p."

Sakura was already aware of Tatsuo's healing abilities, however. He had healed her from the injuries Shinji inflicted on her earlier in the evening when he saved her, after all. On top of that, all of the bruises and scars that were left behind by Shinji's brutality had been healed during the time she lived in the suite with them, as well.

Not long later, both the golden lights of Saber's attack and Tatsuo's healing spell dissipated. And when they did, both combatants stood across from each other, just like they did when this fight started. However, there was a difference. Tatsuo was now covered from head to toe in midnight purple dragon scales with wings and a tail on his back.

"It would seem you've regained your senses." Saber said solemnly, though there was a slight smile on her face as she said so. "Good, I was rather disappointed to see you degenerate into a beast, even if said beast was something of a dragon."

"Yeah... Sorry about that..." Tatsuo said sheepishly as he used the claws on his right hand to scratch the back of his head. "I had a little internal conflict that I'd never experienced before."

"I would imagine it was because you've never been pushed so hard before." Saber replied with a nod.

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing." Tatsuo replied while flexing his fingers. "Just gimme a second to get used to the changes. Then, we can get back to trying to kill each other."

Saber gave a brief nod in response. Then, Tatsuo started flexing his muscles and joints to check out the abilities of his new form. However, that was not the only reason he wanted a moment to himself, as he had received several [Notifications] while he was arguing with his Dragon Aspect. And now seemed as good a time as any to check them out.

{[Notifications]

[Skill], [Weapon Mastery], has increased from Rank A+ to S-.

Learned new [Skill], Mana Burst: A+

[Ability], Half-Dragon Transformation] has evolved into [Ability], [Humanoid Dragon Transformation].}

Then, after reading the [Notifications], Tatsuo decided to take a look at his [Status], something he had not done in quite some time.

{[Status]

[Personal Information]

Name: Soramoto Tatsuo

Age: 15

Race: Human/Void Dragon

Title: Prince of the Void

Coins: 464,443

[Physical Attributes]

Comprehensive Physical Evaluation: B+ (A+)

Strength: B (A)

Agility: B+ (A+)

Dexterity: B+ (A+)

Endurance: B (A)

Intelligence: B (A)

Perception: B+ (A+)

Energy: A- (S-)

Charm: A (S)

[Passive Skills]

Language: E+

Pianist: B-

Singing: C

Martial Arts – B+

Weapon Mastery: S-

Firearms Mastery: B-

Cooking: B+

First Aid: D

Hacking: D

Blacksmithing: C+

Leatherworking: C

Tailoring: C

Programming: E+

Acting: C-

[Active Skills]

Stealth: B+

Back Stab: C

Enchanting: C+

Movement Skills: B+

Alchemy: B+

Lightning Clad: B-

Air Claw: C+

Mana Burst: A+

Wind Magic: D

Fire Magic: C+

Healing Magic: B+

Purification Magic: B

Metal Magic: B+

Electromagnetism Magic: A-

Thread Magic: B+

Lightning Magic: B+

Requip Magic: The Knight: B

Projection Magecraft (Trace): S-

Jewel Magecraft: B

Senbonzakura: B-

Spatial Manipulation: A+

Water Manipulation: B

Ice Manipulation: B

Power of Destruction: A-

Plant Manipulation: B-

Dragon of the Darkness Flame: B-

Senjutsu: B

[Abilities]

Mana Reactor: A+

Dragon Fear: S+

The End: SS+

Humanoid Dragon Transformation: S-

[Affinities]

Space – S (SS)

Lightning - B

Fire – A+

[Resistances]

Space – S (SS)

Time – C+

Light – C+

Dark – C+

Earth – C+

Wind – C+

Fire – A+

Water – C-

Lightning – B-

Physical – B+ (A+)

Petrification – B- (A-)

Poison – B- (A-)

Paralysis – B- (A-)

[Note: The average values of an average adult are F+. Trained Athletes have values of E-. Those at the peak of their field have values of E. Those at the peak of humanity have values of E+. Anything D- or higher is considered supernatural, usually requiring the infusion of mana or an equivalent energy to achieve.]

[Note: All values in parentheses refer to changes brought on by the [Humanoid Dragon Transformation], and will revert to normal once the transformation ends.}

'Damn... A whole rank..." Tatsuo muttered internally while looking over his stats. 'Plus, fighting Saber and seeing how she handled her weapon has increased my [Weapon Mastery] even further than integrating the histories of all those weapons in Archer's [Reality Marble]. And then there's [Mana Burst]... I'm not even sure how much that will increase my [Stats] for the short time it's active. But I don't think I'll use it in this fight. For one, I don't need it... I think... And two, I don't want Saber to know that I learned it, just in case I actually do need it. It would be a trump card in that case.'

"Alright, let's go." Tatsuo said as he summoned his trench knives. A moment later, however, he frowned as his fingers, enlarged from his scales, were unable to fit through the finger holes in the weapon. "Uh... On second thought, gimme a second. I wasn't expecting that... It seems I can't fit into the holes."

Immediately after Tatsuo finished speaking, Elicia's laughter rang out over the clearing near the lake, causing everyone to look in her direction.

"Sorry... Sorry..." Elicia said while waving off everyone's weirded out stares. "Don't mind me... I just thought of something funny."

["*Sigh* Fonzie is finally starting to rub off on you."] Scylla said from Elicia's inner world.

'No, no, that's not it.' Elicia replied while getting her laughter under control. 'It's just after he said that, I couldn't help but imagine Fonzie's face, the way his eyes would have lit up, just before he said something totally inappropriate for the situation.'

["Yeah... As much as I wanna deny the fact that Fonzie would do something like that, I don't lie that obviously."] Scylla replied while shaking her head.

Meanwhile, as Elicia only got a bit stranger in Sakura's, Rin's, and Saber's eyes, Tatsuo was having a thought similar to the initial thought Scylla had. Though, his had a little more added to it.

'Alfonzo is finally rubbing off on her.' Tatsuo thought to himself as he turned away from Elicia. 'Great, now there's gonna be three of them. Because I know Alfonzo and James would have had something to say, too. Oh, and if we were in James' world, I'm pretty sure Leona would have joined in, too. *Sigh* Should I actually start watching what I say for double entendres?'

Deciding to put the thoughts of more of those kinds of people out of his mind for the moment, Tatsuo mentally shook his head. Then, he dismissed his trench knives and took his usual fighting stance. However, instead of balling his hands into fists, he left his fingers loosely outstretched in order to take advantage of his natural weapons, his claws. A moment later, Saber turned her attention away from Elicia and focused on Tatsuo with her sword at the ready.

"Well then, are you ready?" Saber asked solemnly.

In response, Tatsuo only nodded his head.

*Swish!*

Then, Tatsuo tilted his body to the right, narrowly dodging the edge of Saber's blade after she used [Mana Burst] to close the distance. He then spread his palm wide open and pushed against the flat of Saber's blade with is left hand, stepped towards Saber with is right foot, and slammed his right elbow into her abdomen.

*Clang!*

"Gah!" Saber groaned in pain from the impact that reverberated through her core.

*Bang!*

Saber was then forced to straighten up when Tatsuo whipped the back of his right hand up, his knuckles slamming into her chin. She then staggered backwards slightly from the blow. However, she was able to tilt her head to the right just in time to avoid a left-handed, spear hand thrust aimed at her eyes.

'What was that?' Saber thought to herself as she slashed her sword upwards to force Tatsuo to take some distance. 'Why were the tips of his claws glowing purple?'

Unfortunate for Saber, instead of dodging out of the way of her slash, Tatsuo used [Maiestas Divina] to make himself intangible temporarily. And once her sword passed through him, which caught her off guard, he dispelled the effect of his [Noble Phantasm], stepped in and wrapped his arms around Saber's upper arms and head, and trapping her arms above her head.

*Bang!*

However, before Tatsuo had the time to make his next move, Saber quickly raised her knee into his abdomen, powering the strike with as much mana as she could channel into her [Mana Burst].

"*Cough*" Tatsuo coughed up a mouthful of blood as his grip loosened slightly.

Not missing the opportunity, with her [Mana Burst] still active, Saber wrenched her arms free of Tatsuo's grasp. She then hopped backwards to create a bit of distance before bounding forward once again.

'There's too much mana saturating her sword.' Tatsuo thought to himself as he watched Saber approach. '[Maiestas Divina] only works on attacks up to a certain point, and this is clearly gonna be too much for it.'

*Swish!* *Swish!* *Swish!* *Swish!*

With that thought, Tatsuo side-stepped to his left to avoid Saber's sharp, overhead slash before he was forced to duck to dodge the follow up upwards slash. He then swept up wards at Saber's chest with his claws, [Exacuere Vade Inanis] shining on their tips, which she stepped backwards to dodge, in turn. Saber then hopped back even further to avoid Tatsuo's tail, which whipped at her knees.

*Clang!*

Tatsuo then stepped towards Saber, turning his back as he did so. Then, he whipped his tail in the opposite direction, this time aiming at her torso. However, Saber lowered her sword into the long appendage's path, blocking the blow. Yet, because of the strength behind the blow, she was sent sliding to her left.

Saber was not given much time to breathe, however. Because as soon as she took her stance again, Tatsuo was already upon her with his right claw thrusting towards her throat.

*Clang!*

In response, Saber used her sword to direct Tatsuo's thrust to her left. Unfortunately, she did not react quite fast enough, as a shallow cut was left on the side of her neck. Though, it was not deep enough to cause any significant harm or cut any vital arteries, this was the first time she had been cut during this fight.

*Bang!*

Lowering her sword, Saber swung from her left to her right in a horizontal slash, forcing Tatsuo to back off a step. Yet, as soon as the blade passed, he lunged forward with a superman punch. And while Saber was able to avoid being stuck in the head, her eyes bulged as she spat out a mouthful of blood thanks to the heavy body blow Tatsuo threw at the same time.

Tatsuo then pressed his left hand against Saber's abdomen. However, before he could do what he was thinking initially, he leapt backwards.

'I almost forgot.' Tatsu thought to himself. 'She's got absurdly high magical resistance. So, that spell wouldn't have worked. Still, I need to raise the pace. This [Transformation] is running through my stamina stupidly fast.'

"Why did he back up?" Sakura asked curiously after seeing Tatsuo jump away.

"Because he was about to cast a spell." Elicia replied casually.

"But why would he stop?" Sakura asked, not completely understanding the issue.

"Because a Saber-Servant has magical resistance." Rin replied while continuing to watch the battle, which now consisted of Tatsuo and Saber exchanging strikes at high speed. Though, neither side seemed to be taking any damage.

Hearing that, Sakura momentarily shifted her gaze away from Tatsuo and Saber's fight to glance at her sister. Then, while continuing to listen to Rin's explanation, she turned back to watch the fight.

"More than likely, Assassin weighed the cost of casting Magecraft against the effect it would have on Saber." Rin continued, smiling slightly at having her sister's attention. "And when he realized that it wouldn't be worth it, he jumped away because he had lost his chance to attack."

"Rin's right." Elicia added. "Although assassin is an accomplished Magus, I doubt he has any spells that could do a significant amount of damage to Saber."

'Well, no spells that wouldn't completely destroy the landscape, anyway.' Elicia thought to herself. 'If he used Fonzie's [Electromagnetism Magic], he could create some kind of gamma explosion that would probably kill her. But it would destroy the entire ecosystem in the process.'

As time passed, the size of the battlefield expanded. Though, neither Tatsuo nor Saber got too close to the three ladies. However, while Tatsuo was definitely looking to make distance, Saber was doing the exact opposite, following Tatsuo closely as he moved around the battlefield while taking shots whenever the opportunity presented itself.

Unfortunately for Saber, the one thing she was hoping to avoid finally happened. After slashing at Tatsuo, who had made his way towards the outskirts of the clearing around the lake, he dodged behind a tree, causing her to lose track of him for a moment. And what made things even worse, instead of popping out on the other side of the tree, Tatsuo just seemed to disappear behind it.

"Presence Concealment." Saber muttered as she scanned the area for signs of Tatsuo. "This is the one thing I was trying to avoid."

*Ting!*

Almost as soon as Saber's words ended, she swung her sword to deflect a needle aimed between her eyes. Yet, when she looked in the direction from which the projectile came from, she found nothing.

*Ting!* *Ting!* *Ting!* *Ting!* *Ting!*

Still not finding anything after a few moments, Saber slowly began to distance herself from the trees. However, before she could get too far away, she was forced to deflect another needle. Then, another, and another, and another. Eventually, Saber was swinging her sword so quickly that her arms and blade only looked to be blue and silver blurs.

'It's almost as if he is everywhere at once.' Saber thought to herself while she continued to deflect the incoming projectiles. A moment later, however, her eyes flicked towards her blind spot. 'No, not everywhere. There's one place he has yet to attack from. But when he does, I'm certain that will be my chance to end this duel.'

*Ting!* *Ting!* *Ting!* *Ting!* *Ting!*

Among those thoughts, Saber continued to deflect needles coming from almost every direction. However, after an indeterminate amount of time, Saber felt the air stirring in her blind spot. And when she did, her eyes narrowed in concentration.

'Now!' Saber shouted internally as she tightened her grip on her sword.

*Swish!*

In the next instant, while ignoring the needles that were still flying at her from all directions, Saber spun around, her [Mana Burst] enhancing her body to the limit of the skill, and slashed through the spot where she felt the disturbance in the air.

"Huh?" Saber intoned dumbly as her sword met nothing but air.

*Splatter!*

Before she could get her wits about her, however, Saber's body froze as she saw a pair of blood fountains gushing from her chest, pieces of shattered armor, fabric, bone, and internal organs flying along with the blood. She then looked down, a morbid curiosity to know what had pierced through her. And when she finally caught sight of forearms and hands covered in midnight purple scales, she understood what happened. Though, she was still unclear on the how of the situation.

"How... did you... get behind...?' Saber rasped out.

"You're not the only one who can use [[Mana Burst], you know." Tatsuo replied solemnly.

And with that, Saber's fading consciousness was able to connect the dots.

Just as she thought, Tatsuo was creating an illusion that he would attack from the only place where there were no attacks. He had been trying to create muscle memory for Saber, so to speak. Making her think that she would not have to defend from that particular direction.

But both he and Saber knew that Saber was too experienced for such a trick to work. So, Tatsuo took advantage of that fact. He, while using his impressive speed, threw a final volley of needles, all of which had been created with [Metal Magic], before appearing where Saber expected him to attack from.

Then, just as Saber prepared to take damage from the needles and spun around to attack Tatsuo, Tatsuo dispelled the projectiles and activated his own [Mana Burst] before flashing behind Saber and launching his attack.

And thanks to the fact that Saber had already committed to the strike she sent at Tatsuo, she could not correct her posture to defend. As a result, Tatsuo, with [Exacuere Vade Inanis] coating his claws, was able to drive his arms through Saber's back before they exited through her chest, destroying her chest plate in the process.

"I... See..." Saber said as the strength left her body and her arms, which had been raised in the ending pose of her last slash, fell. "Well... played..."

It should be noted, though Saber's arms fell as her strength failed her, and despite the fact that her body was beginning to become transparent after her core was destroyed, the grip she had on her sword's hilt never loosened.

"That was the most intense battle I've ever been in." Tatsuo said, his tone softening as Saber's body began breaking down into motes of mana. "For the first time in a long time, I was truly pushed to my limits... Almost losing myself along the way. And for that, I must thank you, King of Knights."

Hearing that, Saber smiled weakly as she closed her eyes. Though, there was more than just a hint of melancholy in her smile. Because… Once again, the wish she had strove to attain had slipped through her fingers.