Part 26: Update XXIV - The Strongest Enemy

Update XXIV - The Strongest Enemy

Music: Breach




Alice and... Alice(?) leave.



Oh god his hands are bigger than my head.



I'm sure he can't be that strong. I got The List, after all.

Music: Duel - Unauthorized Battle




Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

There's no move preview.

And his health isn't listed.

And there's no timer.



How outmatched are we?



About this much.



But wait!



I have savestates, I can just brute force it!



He opened with a Guard, so I can just use Break and see what comes next.



He... he's reading my inputs.



Well read these inputs!



Ah.



Yeah, this fight is unwinnable. Your choices are 'die now' or 'die when your MP runs out'.

Music: Stops


I don't have what I need to beat it... With power that overwhelming, I must be facing a...Berserker? I only have moments to process my mistake before my consciousness melts away into darkness—



Music: Breach


Alright, let's not be an idiot this time.

Run away.

This is no joke. No way could I emerge from a fight with that thing in one piece. For now, the wisest course of action is retreat.



Retreat when it's time to retreat! Your ability to grasp the obvious is incredible, Master! No need to worry about me! Running from danger is what foxes do best!

Our course of action is decided. I put all of my efforts into escaping with my Servant. Then, I hear Alice's voice calling out from behind.



Aww, boring... Well, he'll be here until the magic we gave him runs out, so come play again!

This is a disaster. The cipher key is on the other side of that monster.



There are two Alices?! What in the hell is going on? And also, the malevolent monster the girls called forth... Could that have been their Servant?





Berserker— A class that exchanges a Heroic Spirit's sanity and original personality for unbridled power. If that monster is a Berserker-class Servant, going near it without a plan would be dangerous.



The Alice in white is always refered to with blue text, while the Alice in black gets red text. This will help tremendously on cutting down confusion on between them. On my end, white Alice will be written normally and black Alice will be bolded.



Maybe this particular Holy Grail War allows that... Let's investigate it later, Master!

Music: First Chimeric Lunar Sea - First Floor


The cutscene kicks us back to the healing fountain.



While Alice's level 1 just gets us a possible class.



The big guy himself is just strolling around the Trigger chest.



Let's go back to campus and devise a plan of attack.

Although approaching him has Caster stop you, so I can't just march up and get killed again.



With the rest of the floor cleared out and the Trigger heavily guarded, we'll just have to leave and hope tomorrow brings a solution.



Music: School III


That Servant is...really, really strong! Let's do our best to beat him and get the cipher keys!





Music: School IV


A person in the distance...? It must be my imagination. No... There's actually someone there. It's a man all in white. He walks toward me slowly, flickering as if he's not all there.



A ghost in a white robe walks up for a moment.



Then vanishes just as quickly.



Leo walks up.



The calm voice jerks me back out of the trance and back to reality. Leo is standing next to me. Did he see the apparition, too? If it was an apparition.



In that way, the SE.RA.PH resembles the primordial sea from which unicellular organisms sprung. Just as those bacteria grew into humans, so, too, do the conditions of SE.RA.PH allow for evolution. That pseudo lifeform must have been generated from information evolving in the SE.RA.PH. It's merely an echo of someone who once lived. It's harmless data, don't worry about it.

...are you telling me that the SE.RA.PH is a self-haunting computer system?





Also, I don't want to be bossy, but you really should find out more about that Berserker.

That's a good idea. I should find out if that thing Alice summoned is even a real Berserker. And until I figure out if those girls are twins or not I have no idea how our battle will unfold. First of all, should I hunt down Alice, or should I find someone who might know more about her? For the time being, I think I'll take Caster's advice and be a bit more cautious than usual.



Frolicking with your opponent is pretty freaking inappropriate.



~

The virtual space SE.RA.PH created is really, really impressive. This is a hacker's paradise.



And by annoying little bugs, I mean those two trollops that have been eye-humping you.

Caster. Darling. Sweetheart. You've been an excellent Servant, even with Hakuno's own inadequacies and my own incredibly unorthodox build.

But if you point the phrase 'eye-humping trollops' towards literal children one more time I'll cut our contract on the spot.



Alice is hanging out on 2F today.



All right, Alice will go and hide and you have to come and find me!



She then teleports while on campus. Which is actually rather odd, when you think about it. Not even Shinji could pull that off.



*Chuckle* Such a devious plan is beyond the ken of such a little girl.

For all of the dire warnings, Caster seems really...enthusiastic about this, but I can see why. Hide and seek, huh? She'll be hiding somewhere on campus. I'd better go look for her.



You're either brave or stupid.

~

...How many times must I tell you not to talk to me? Actually, feel free to tell me all about yourself. The favor won't be returned, however.

Serious guy survived! He was just doing his own thing yesterday!



The blue ones have regular items, red ones have rare items, and green ones contain cipher keys. While not really earth-shattering information, it is something to keep in mind.



Should you need to revisit a previous action, this data might prove to be invaluable.



Way ahead of you, sister. I got saves all the way back to Newshound.



No... It is not my place to judge. Results are all that matter.





Playing hide and seek.

I see. I admire you. My professor instructed me that the truth hides in the trivia of the everyday.

You're always training, even at school, Hakuno Kishinami.

~

Playing tag.

Monsters? Are you being pursued by a dreadful Servant like a dullahan or Scylla? If you injure another Master on campus, a penalty will be imposed. Though it appears some Masters are willing to do very audacious things.

~

I'm too embarrassed to say.

Is there anything in this world that words cannot give shape to? There are words for most things. Ah, I understand. What you wish to say cannot be spoken without fear of great misunderstanding.



That's exactly it!

I see. I understand what you are trying to say, Hakuno Kishinami. Do your best.

~

That's not it...

My apologies, but I still don't understand. My professor would know, but I do not...

I still require training. You, on the other hand, are already wise, Hakuno Kishinami.







Why did Taiga want this taken away anyways?



Ah.



You-know-who is always causing a ruckus in the school building.



Quick stop at the Chapel to spend my SP.

I'll start pumping Magic eventually, I swear.



"Innocence" and "purity"— I just saw a child who fits those words. Could she be another Master?



He cut our opponent in half in the blink of an eye! And not only is he hot, his aura is just...WOW!



I forgot to check in with Sakura yesterday to get her weekly supplies, so I stop in now.

Here you go, Hakuno! Healing supplies. I wish you the best of luck this week, too.



...thanks, Sakura.



The techniques bestowed by these items can temporarily increase some of your Servant's stats.

I tried the Strength buff offscreen yesterday, and I didn't notice much of a difference. Better to hold on to MP for heals instead, honestly.



Speaking of heals, I have enough cash to buy the Mermaid Robe!



The Phoenix Scarf has served me well since the first floor of the Arena, but the time has come to retire it.



But seriously, I question his taste, and predilections, for using an avatar like that! I mean, what a creepy little troll... Just the sight of him disgusts me.

Do you think Alice is some 30 year old neckbeard or something? Why the hell has everyone gotten creepy today?



...Alice, you suck at hide and seek.

Music: Duel of Fate






Give me something nice... What should I ask for...?



Who is that girl in black?

*Giggle* She's Alice, just as I'm Alice. But who is that over there? I'm sure you'll eventually figure it out. So, is there anything else?

This just loops back to the choice.

Tell your "friend" to move.

My "friend"... Oh, you'll have to ask...her... about that...



Fitting the constant Alice in Wonderland motifs, the Vorpal Blade was coined by Lewis Carroll himself in Through the Looking-Glass, and was used to kill a Jabberwocky. Odds are good that whatever Alice summoned yesterday is one.

As you might imagine, Hakuno will never use this for this week's Servant Status mission, so we'll have to get confirmation elsewhere.



A blade of legend that no one has ever seen. How will you find it? CAN you find it? *Giggle* Well, good luck! Bye-bye.



Alice runs into the Arena.



But we should find that Vorpal Blade the girl mentioned before more...important...matters.



What are the odds that we'll be able to find such a rare item laying around school?

Next time: The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!