| Erza Scarlet vs. Saber | |
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| Season 6, Episode 1 | |
Vital statistics
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| Air date | January 10, 2016 |
| Written by | ParaGoomba348 |
| Directed by | Anonymous |
Episode guide
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| Asura vs. Pyron (Season 5 Finale, Part 2) | Sinestro vs. Freddy Krueger |
Erza Scarlet VS Saber is a What-if? episode of Death Battle.
Description
Fairy Tail VS Fate/stay night! In a duel between magic swordswomen who have sworn themselves to loyalty, who shall emerge victorious?
Interlude
Wiz: It is said that the best quality in a knight is his loyalty. How he swears to protect and serve his country, his people, and his loved ones.
Boomstick: Now, take all that, and turn him female. And you get Erza Scarlet, the S-Class Mage of Fairy Tail!
Wiz: And Arturia Pendragon/Saber, the Knight of Knights.
Boomstick: He's Wiz and I'm Boomstick!
Wiz: It's our job to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to find out who would win... a Death Battle.
Erza
Wiz: In the land of Fiore, one could find many a guild filled to the brim with powerful wizards. The most powerful of them all, Fairy Tail, is home to many of the most renowned wizards in the land.
Boomstick: But none of them are more powerful, more well-known, more awesome, more badass-
Wiz: Boomstick, I think we get the point-
Boomstick: More beautiful, more hot, more waifu material, than the redhead sword-wielding S-Class Mage who looks sexy no matter how much armor she's wearing, Erza Scarlet!
Wiz: That's...a really long explanation from someone like you, Boomstick.
Boomstick: That's because, I'm not Boomstick. I'm actually a guy named Blaze, from a completely unrelated Death Battle series! Uh, Boomstick's taking the day off.
Wiz: Uh, okay. Well, anyway, you came in at the wrong time, because as happy as you seem to be talking about Erza's beauty, her story is... really quite the opposite. While much of Erza's childhood was spent living happily with her parents, that was quickly taken away from her when a child-murdering group of psychopaths attacked her village, setting it ablaze and kidnapping all the children.
Blaze: Oh... that's... not quite wanted to hear about... But anyway, Erza became a child slave as she was put to work building the ironically-named Tower of Heaven. And despite all the horrible work she had to do, Erza managed to make some friends! After forming a plan to escape, everyone got caught, and then Erza was... tortured... and... oh crap, Wiz, this is just getting really heartbreaking to read...
Wiz: It's not over yet, Blaze. Anyway, Erza was soon freed by a man named Jellal Fernades, but at his own expense as he was captured himself. Deciding that she'd had enough, Erza led a revolution against the slave drivers. Sadly, her friend Rob died in a heroic sacrifice to save Erza. And it was right there, in a fit of rage and sadness, where Erza discovered her abilities. She was able to take control of all of the nearby weapons and turn them against her captors, freeing herself and reaching a new land, where she would find the renowned wizard guild, Fairy Tail.
Blaze: And man did she prove she can kick ass! She became a badass wizard feared throughout the land of Fiore, and she took on the S-Class Promotion Trial! Then she turned 16! She's also a master of swordplay, being able to wield any kind of sword, in normal and reverse grip, and can even wield a sword with her feet! My inner foot fetish has been fed.
Wiz: But what truly makes Erza a powerful mage is the wide array of different armors and magic she has at her disposal. Her base armor, the Heart Kreuz armor, has no notable offensive or defensive abilities, but it at least serves as a baseline defense.
Blaze: Her sexy Heaven's Wheel armor grants her access to omni-directional attacks, allowing her to wield many swords against large groups of enemies. And it can even grant her short-distance flight!
Wiz: The Black Wing armor grants her some flight too, as well as putting a larger focus on offense. She can also infuse her weaponry and armor with lightning using the Lightning Empress armor, or do the same with fire and water using her Flame Empress and Sea Empress armors respectively.
Blaze: Possibly her strongest but also her sexiest armors are her Purgatory armor and her Armadura Fairy armor, the former of which no one has faced against in battle and lived, and the latter which could destroy an island at its strongest using its energy blast-firing capabilities.
Wiz: In addition, Erza can increase her striking capabilities with the Piercing armor, or her speed using the Flight armor. But in case a battle gets dire and she needs to max out her offense and speed, the... bondage... clothing?
Blaze: Oh, sorry. I switched out the script with a fanfiction I wrote. Anyway, it meant to say BANDAGE clothing. Wielding two katanas as weapons, and looking sexier than ever, Erza blinds her foes with speed then takes 'em out using sheer power! Problem is, it lacks any sort of defense, so it's only really used as a last resort.
Wiz: But on the other end of the spectrum is the Adamantine armor, which greatly increases Erza's defensive capabilities, even allowing her to survive attacks capable of leveling an entire city. However, this armor lacks any sort of offensive properties and is strictly used for defense.
Blaze: But speaking of defense, Erza's Wingblade armor allows her to screw with anyone's defenses by having her swords strike opponents without even touching them!
Wiz: Hmm... all these hax abilities and magic and a variety of armors... kinda reminds me of...
Gilgamesh: Don't you dare compare me to the likes of that red-haired mongrel.
Blaze: Well fucking shit, don't you fucking dare talk that way 'bout my waifu, ya hear?!
Wiz: Please, can we-
Blaze: She's so fucking sexy and hot and badass and if you can't see that then you don't deserve to even talk about her or even be here pull your head out of your ass you arrogant as fuck piece of shit!
Gilgamesh: Suit yourself, mongrel.
Blaze: Well fuck you too!
Wiz: But perhaps Erza's most powerful armor is one that took years for anyone to don before Erza. Known as the Nakagami armor, it grants Erza magical capabilities to cut through anything - even space itself. However, it is so powerful that Erza's own body cannot handle it, and a second container of magic needs to be released before Erza can even use it. But if her opponent can outlast this armor and deplete her magic supply, then she's basically a sitting duck.
Blaze: But that don't matter to Erza most of the time, because my waifu has godlike endurance allowing her to fight for hours on end, and I don't think too many opponents will like to take a hit that cuts through space itself! But just in case, she does have one last armor guaranteed to end it all - the one to stop any and all men in their tracks and have them begging on their knees for mercy, exhausted of any and all bodily functions as they lay in a pool of a bodily fluid that sustains life - the Seduction armor!
Wiz: ...I'm... well... uh... I can't say you're completely wrong with that description, but... let's move on. Even without armor, it is not uncommon for Erza to punch Natsu, Gray, and Happy miles into the air with a single punch. She can even cut through stone columns using nothing but the air pressure in her swords.
Blaze: She can even react to explosions and keep up with hypersonic opponents such as Ikaruga! She also has a really high pain tolerance, like when she got her Second Origin released. Natsu, who usually has an inhuman threshold for pain, was gasping for air, while Erza essentially didn't even care.
Wiz: I also do not lie when I say that she took no less than 200 attacks from Laxus' Lightning Palace, while she was down on magic no less. She's also survived building-sized explosion after explosion without relent, and emerged with not a scratch to be seen.
Blaze: Ah... I could talk and hear about my waifu all day...
Wiz: But just because she is powerful doesn't mean she isn't smart. Erza can calculate her opponents' attacks on the fly, being able to exploit two weaknesses in Midnight's magic. She also has plenty of experience under her belt, though all her techniques are self-taught.
Blaze: That's not even mentioning that he once fought off Kyouka with all of her senses diminished, simply because she's Erza fucking Scarlet! And she defeated 100 monsters in a row, by her own choice, even when the last monster was stated to be so powerful that not even one of the Ten Great Wizard Saints, the strongest wizards on the continent, could beat it.
Wiz: However, despite all of her great power and feats, Erza is not quite perfect. Her armors are still fully capable of breaking, and most of her different armors forgo one of her physical stats for another one, plus many of them aren't always useful against all opponents. And while her stamina and magic reserves are immense, they still can be worn out and aren't nearly infinite.
Blaze: But she's my waifu, and there's a good reason for that!
Erza: All I need is the power to be able to protect my comrades. So long as I can have the strength to do that, I don't care if I'm weaker than everyone else in the world.
Saber
Wiz: The European tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table is often considered to be one of the greatest stories ever told, whether it was a true story or not. The tale detailed the life and adventures of Arthur, a boy who was destined to become the king of a land known as Camelot.
Blaze: I think I know my classic literature, Wiz. When do we get to the part where we talk about some girl my waifu's fighting?
Wiz: Hold on, Blaze. We're getting there. Anyway, some versions of this tale are different from others. In the one we'll be looking at today, King Arthur was a girl.
Blaze: ...Is this really her? This girl is part of our so-called waifu wars? I mean, really. Her chest is too flat to be waifu material. Anyway, you'd think that this character being a girl would mean that she'd try to be queen or something, but that's actually not true. See, Arturia Pendragon - goddammit, Type-Moon, you think you're so clever with your names - became a crossdresser and became the king of Britain.
Wiz: And while Arturia maintained a stable rule over the nation, treachery was strewn throughout the land and Camelot was lain to waste. And while Arturia fought well, she was mortally wounded at the battle of Camlann and left for dead. But in her dying moments, Arturia made one last promise to the world - and became the Servant Saber for the Holy Grail War.
Blaze: Then a few centuries or so later, a stupid-as-all-fuck high school boy by the name of Shirou Emiya, who knew a little bit of magic from his dead father. Finding himself basically about to be killed by some douche known as Lancer, Shirou needed some way to live through this one, and fast. And with a bit of some dumb luck, he succeeded in summoning Saber and was bonded to her as her master.
Wiz: And lo and behold, Saber was a formidable force of nature. She was able to fight off powerful Servants and even protect Shirou from harm - but thanks to Shirou's shortcomings as a master and his overall naivety, Saber wasn't quite allowed to reach her full potential.
Blaze: And I think Wiz pointed this out in some other battle he did, but characters in the Fate universe have stats like RPG characters. Saber in particular has excellent Agility, Mana, and Endurance, with good Strength and really bad Luck. But much like any other Servant, Saber's power resides in her Noble Phantasm- wait, what's a Noble Phantasm?
Wiz: It's a symbol of a Heroic Spirit that can aid a Servant in battle, usually coming in the form of a weapon. However, Noble Phantasms are hardly limited to that as they can also come in the forms of other support items, or other abilities, or even curses. Noble Phantasms are activated using prana - a form of magical energy - and calling their true names.
Blaze: Wait... "activate" is another word for "turn on"... and you activate these by calling their names... hmm... you've given me some ideas there.
Wiz: Uh... okay? Anyway, Saber's initial Noble Phantasm, the broadsword Invisible Air, refracts light all around it to make it look, well, invisible. But that isn't its only ability: By releasing all the wind stored around the invisible blade, Saber can fire off a powerful projectile attack capable of cutting through stone and solid metal.
Blaze: Huh, not bad for someone who very clearly isn't waifu material!
Wiz: But Invisible Air is hardly her only Noble Phantasm. She can also wield another one, this one being Excalibur, The Sword of Promised Victory-
Excalibur: Did someone call for me?
Wiz: Wait, no, that's not-
Excalibur: Eeeexcaaaalibuuuuuurrrrrr!
Blaze: Get the fuck out of here you annoying ass skrub! Aaaanyway, Excalibur is one of the most famous holy swords there is, created by the wishes of people and forged from the planet itself. Huh, if it's created by peoples' wishes, you think that maybe my wish for Erza to become real is in that sword?
Wiz: Uh... well, considering that this sword was forged centuries before your conception, I highly doubt it. Anyway, Excalibur is an incredibly powerful sword, possessing the divine protection to survive Saber's magically-charged attacks. Excalibur can also convert Saber's prana into energy blasts of light, at whatever intensity she desires.
Blaze: Being ranked A++, this Noble Phantasm is capable of annihilating an entire city at its most powerful! Man, and I thought there was nothing this girl couldn't do. However, if she uses that attack a few times, she'll be exhausted of prana.
Wiz: It gets better. Saber's ultimate Noble Phantasm, Avalon, serves as the ultimate defense. It is notable because it is not exactly the barrier it appears to be, but rather an illusion - during the time Avalon is activated, Saber has actually teleported to a parallel dimension, meaning that literally nothing can pierce the barrier of Avalon.
Blaze: This includes the planet-busting Enuma Elish from Gilgamesh, by the way.
Wiz: But also while behind the barrier of Avalon, Saber can heal herself from any wounds she may have gotten over the course of battle, even those that would be fatal to her.
Blaze: And that's only her magical abilities! On her own, Saber is strong enough to punch a stone slab the size of a truck into the air, she can keep up with speed demons like Lancer and Caster/Medusa, the latter of which can strike over 100 times in an instant! So basically, a fuck-ton of times.
Wiz: Saber can even shrug off a relentless beatdown from Berserker/Heracles, who is significantly stronger than Saber, strong enough to hold up the sky. And Saber was even able to kill him in a single shot with Excalibur, even though he had to be defeated seven more times to truly die.
Blaze: And if that's not badass enough for you, Saber's Instinct ability also allows her to predict an opponent's moves and react accordingly if she knows 'em well enough!
Wiz: And by channeling her prana, she can increase her physical stats incrementally, or use it to destroy weapons without divine protection.
Blaze: But someone so light has to have a dark parallel, right? After Arturia was exposed to the Holy Grail's curse, Saber gained a sort of dark super mode. An altered state, if you will. It's appropriately titled, Saber Alter.
Wiz: Saber Alter is a stark contrast to base Saber, with her personality going from just and pure to that of a cold-blooded killer. Because Saber Alter is literally overflowing with prana, she can use a dark version of Excalibur which is even more powerful, and doesn't force her to regenerate her energy. What's more, Saber can tap in and out of Saber Alter as she pleases. It even increases her strength and durability to even higher levels, but at the cost of some of her speed.
Blaze: With a proper master, Saber is practically unstoppable! Her battle with Lancer caused a city-wide earthquake, she can grind skeletons to dust with a single slash of her sword, she's fast enough to dodge a barrage of swords coming from all directions, and that's not even counting her craziest feat!
Wiz: One day, Saber and Shirou found themselves locked in a duel against Gilgamesh. In Shirou's moment of competence, he was able to manifest Avalon within Saber and grant her what she needed to defeat and even kill Gilgamesh, even though he is drastically more powerful than her.
Blaze: However, despite how OP she can be, Saber isn't unstoppable. Her code of honor as a knight means that she can get herself locked into some dangerous situations, and forces her to not to, you know, make a practical decision. She also gets kinda stubborn and headstrong in battles... Oh, and if you have some sort of weapon that works better against dragons, then you can find the right weapon to screw over Saber. Not in that way, though. I'm not into flat girls.
Wiz: However, with her immense power and the legend behind her, Saber is no foe that anyone should mess with, unless they have the power to put her down.
Saber: It is the sacred duty of a knight to act in accordance with the virtues of chivalry, and the sacred duty of a king to serve the people with just laws and actions, in humility and mercy.
Death Battle
ParaGoomba348
Coliseum somewhere off the coast of Fiore
It was a calm and beautiful day in the land of Fiore. The sky was bright and sunny, with not a cloud to be seen in the sky. The weather was calm and quiet, with nothing but the gentle breeze to occasionally make the trees rock back and forth. One would think that this was the beginning of a Fairy Tail story arc, as no threat had been present lately. No rival wizard guilds out to defeat Fairy Tail, no traitors trying to break up Fairy Tail from within, and Team Natsu had managed to stay out of trouble, somehow. For once in a long time, the city had stayed completely unharmed as Team Natsu hadn't accidentally destroyed it for a while.
However, just because there was peace in Fiore doesn't mean that there weren't missions to take up. Earlier that day, an S-Class mission had been posted on the wall: To complete it, one simply had to win a tournament being held, with a reward of 50,000,000 Jewel - and Team Natsu had the perfect team member to take this one.
Just a short while beforehand, Team Natsu's very own S-Class Mage had signed up for the tournament. Now all they had to do was wait.
"Man, this is gonna be an easy 50,000,000 Jewel for us!" Natsu Dragneel ecstatically shouted out, grinning ear-to-ear with his shiny white teeth bared.
"Heh, for once slanty-eyes has a point." Gray Fullbuster muttered under his breath, not knowing that he'd taken his shirt off for at least the fifty-sixth time today.
"WHAT WAS THAT, DROOPY-EYES?!" shouted Natsu, his face suddenly fixing itself into a super-deformed glare as flames appeared in the background for effect. Gray faced Natsu with a similar glare as the two of them began to spit indistinct insults at each other.
Lucy Heartfilia rolled her eyes at the two of them and sighed. "Guys, don't you think this is really petty?"
Happy sighed too and then sat down next to Lucy. "No, they don't."
Lucy lifted her palm to her forehead and sighed again. "Yeah, you're right..."
Suddenly, there was a gasping sound from both Natsu and Gray in unison as the two of them were both being hoisted into the air by none other than Team Natsu's S-Class Mage herself, Erza Scarlet.
"Alright, boys, that's enough fighting." Erza reminded the two of them as they were sweating profusely. They slowly turned their heads toward Erza and nodded as she let go of the two of them, who promptly fell down onto the ground. "Anyway, I've got a battle coming up." Erza told her team with a grin on her face. "Wish me luck."
Lucy smiled at Erza and winked. "I don't think you'll need luck with all the skill you have!"
Erza smiled back and chuckled. "Well alright, Team Natsu's getting an easy 50,000,000 Jewel then."
All the way on the other side of the Coliseum was a group of three people - the high school boy Shirou Emiya, the high school girl Rin Tohsaka, and Shirou's Servant, Saber, the Knight of Knights.
"So, uh, this is the tournament we're entering Saber in?" asked Shirou.
Rin rolled her eyes and gave a short laugh. "Like I said before, Shirou, this is the one," Rin replied. "If we win though, that means we have to figure out how to convert Jewel to yen... I'm sure we'll figure out after we win, though."
"Master, what do we do in the event which I lose?" asked Saber to Shirou.
Shirou scratched his head and gulped, pausing for a moment. "Well..."
Rin's eyes widened too as she tried to think of something. "Er... how about you, uh... don't lose?"
Saber raised an eyebrow and tilted her head, then glanced to the side where she looked down upon the Coliseum. It was empty right now, but it was a rather spacious area. It was the perfect area for two combatants to do battle. "Don't lose...?"
"The very first round of this tournament is about to begin!" shouted out an unnamed and unseen announcer. His voice was deep, yet charismatic and charming... but there was something rather off about his voice, almost malicious-sounding.
Back with Team Natsu, Erza closed her eyes and smiled, putting her arms at her side. "Anyway, it appears that it's now my time for battle." Gripping a single broadsword in her hand, Erza marched down to the arena section of the Coliseum, where she wore a look of bravery and determination as she held her sword aloft. The calm breeze gently flicked her red hair as she stood on her side of the arena, her stance unwavering and here line of sight focused on the opposite side...
...But on the other side was none other than a regular mook. He was a malnourished, almost skeletal man with a scraggly, greasy black beard and a sweat-drenched white shirt which was yellowed from the grease and sweat, and in his hand was a cracked, rusty dagger. With one look at Erza's shining, untouched silver armor and her broadsword which appeared sharp and strong enough to pierce through stone, and moreover the fierce determination in her eyes which read "I am not going to lose this one", the mook's face filled with fear as he made a quick dash toward the bleachers. "I forfeit!" the man shouted out, loud enough for the entire Coliseum to hear.
"Why, that's a shame!" shouted out the announcer, having almost a condescending tone to his voice. "But all these fans came here looking for a fight! And if it's a fight they want, it's a fight they're gonna get! Let's go with the next one in line!"
Suddenly, Rin's eyes lit up with excitement. "Shirou! Now's the perfect time to enter Saber in the battle!"
Shirou tilted his head at Rin and gave a subtle "Hmm?" in unison with Saber.
"Don't you get it? Everyone is terrified of this girl. That means that she must be really strong! If we defeat her early on the tournament, that means that she'll be able to breeze her way through the rest of it!"
Shirou nodded. "Right. Saber, are you up for it?" Shirou asked his Servant, gripping her by the hands.
Saber looked deep into Shirou's eyes and nodded. "Yes. I am always ready for battle, Master."
Back in the middle of the arena, Erza retained her position for a solid few minutes. That is, until the announcer spoke up again.
"Is anyone going to participate in this battle? If no one comes down to fight Erza, then this tournament will be canceled."
But then suddenly, Saber began to make her descent toward the arena as well. The audience gave mixed reactions as they all watched Saber make her way down.
"Wow, she's either really bold, or really dumb."
"Does she really think she can take Erza?"
"I'd give her about two minutes, tops."
"She's kinda cute though."
"I dunno, I get the feeling that she's actually kinda strong."
Saber then took a battle stance opposite Erza, looking her in the eyes with that same determined stare. The gentle breeze pushed aside her golden hair as her armor gleamed with the reflection of the sunlight. She held her arms down at her side as if she were holding a sword in her hands, though it appeared as if there were nothing in her hands - as if she were pantomiming a sword. "I am ready for battle." Saber told Erza, the two of them more ready for battle than ever.
Erza smiled at her opponent as she pointed her sword at the female King Arthur. "Alright, then I'm ready too. I bet I could even win this one without even having to switch armor." She muttered that second sentence underneath her breath.
"Combatants ready..." The announcer built up anticipation in the crowd with those words.
"Go Erza!" shouted Natsu, standing up in his seat as Happy waved a flag with Erza's face on it while wearing a soda-drinking hat which read "Erza #1" on it.
"Come on, Saber!" shouted Shirou, standing in his seat too. "Please don't lose..."
"FIGHT!" shouted the announcer as the crowd went wild. This was going to be a swordfight to remember. After this was finished, only one swordswoman would emerge victorious.
"Draw your sword." Erza demanded to her opponent, who still appeared to be pantomiming a sword.
Saber's stance did not change as she simply gave a short nod, still looking determined for battle.
"I said," Erza began with a huff. "Draw your sword!"
Saber still did not reply as she held her hands in position. "I already have."
Erza raised an eyebrow for a second, but then she held her sword horizontally, with the edge facing Saber as she took an offensive stance. "Then I shall make the first move!"
With blinding speed making her appear as nothing but a blur, Erza made a mad dash toward Saber with her broadsword extended, then made a horizontal slash aimed toward Saber's midsection. As anyone else would, Erza was expecting to hear and feel her sword cut through Saber's flesh, or possibly her armor if she had aimed a little higher...
...But as if right on cue, Saber quickly positioned her hands as if she were wielding an invisible sword to block Erza's strike, and the S-Class Mage was surprised to hear a metallic "CLANG!" as her broadsword connected with the invisible sword.
"An... invisible sword?" asked Erza to herself. Erza's eyes widened as she looked down at the ground. "An invisible sword... and I have no clue how long it is... stay on your guard, Erza..." Erza thought aloud. She looked up to see Saber rushing toward her, the Knight of Knights holding her invisible sword aloft.
"Invisible Air!" shouted Saber, swinging her invisible sword diagonally at Erza. With not a second to spare, Erza held her broadsword in a defensive position, blocking the hit just in time. However, the force of the hit was enough to slightly push her backward.
Erza pushed her broadsword against Saber's Invisible Air, planting her feet into the ground in order to maintain balance. Saber did the same, pushing her invisible sword against Erza's sword while keeping her position. The two continued their struggle for a few seconds, both swordswomen beginning to tremble as they struggled to overpower the other.
Suddenly, Invisible Air began to glow with a shimmering aquamarine as wind began to circulate around the blade.
"Huh?" Erza's eyes widened in surprise as she saw the invisible blade light up - and before the S-Class Mage could react, Saber swung her arms downward in a crushing motion, shattering Erza's broadsword into tiny pieces. Erza was left with only the hilt in her hand as she stumbled backward onto the ground.
Saber pointed Invisible Air at her downed opponent, looking her in the eyes with a look of determination. "Are you still capable of fighting?" asked Saber to Erza, not yet making a move.
Erza gave a short chuckle and smiled. "I'm only beginning." the S-Class Mage replied, bringing herself back onto her feet. "Requip!" she shouted out as two silver broadswords appeared in each of her hands, and before Saber could make any defensive moves, Erza thrust both blades toward Saber's chest - however, both of them were stopped cold as they harmlessly struck Saber's armor with a "CHING!".
Saber did not flinch from the attack as she swung Invisible Air horizontally into Erza's torso with a blinding reflex, her sword glowing with an intense aqua again. "SHINK!"
Suddenly Saber vanished from Erza's line of sight. "Huh?" Erza's eyes popped in surprise, then she squinted in confusion. "But where did she-" Suddenly, she gripped her side as she felt a stinging pain - the side of her armor had been sliced through like butter, and there was a minor wound on her side, which was bleeding. "Hmm..."
Erza turned around to see Saber swinging Invisible Air downward, and in the nick of time Erza swung one of her broadswords upward in an attempt to parry the blow. Sadly for Erza, Invisible Air crushed through the broadsword and broke it into many different shards, as with the last one.
Saber swung Invisible Air horizontally into Erza's torso again, but in one quick, reflexive motion Erza blocked the strike with her broadsword - which promptly shattered upon impact.
"Tch... this armor isn't working..." Erza muttered to herself as Saber's sword began to circulate wind around it once more. "So she thinks she can go around breaking swords, huh?" Erza stood up tall, then jumped back at least ten feet and grinned at Saber as she was just about to fire off her attack. "Requip!"
Suddenly, Erza's base Heart Kreuz armor began to change its shape. Now, spiked, silver armor shielded her forearms and forelegs, and a silver-white armored skirt was worn below her waist. A silver breastplate concealed her bust as her cleavage, shoulders, and stomach were, for whatever reason, left completely exposed. In each of her hands was a heavy sword, much larger than the broadswords she was wielding earlier - they had to have been too big and heavy for any normal person to wield with a single hand. But perhaps most interesting was that on her back, supposedly attached to her armor, was a pair of silver, spiked metallic wings with a span slightly longer than Erza was tall. This was her famous Heaven's Wheel Armor.
Right as Erza's armor finished changing, Saber swung Invisible Air, even though Erza was nowhere in the sword's range. "Invisible Air!" shouted Saber as all the wind stored around the invisible blade fired itself as a projectile attack toward Erza.
But as if right on time, four swords identical to the ones in Erza's hands materialized themselves in front of her, levitating horizontally with their tips facing toward Saber. With a hand wave of Erza, all of the swords were fired as projectiles toward Saber. The wind attack from Invisible Air and all of Erza's swords collided, with the swords being ground into dust as the wind disappeared.
Erza and Saber took defensive stances, when suddenly Saber began to run toward Erza in an offensive. However-
"Don't move." Erza commanded, wearing a grin on her face. Suddenly, another levitating sword of Erza's materialized itself in front of Arturia's face, being just millimeters away from the space between her eyes. If she were to move any further, she would impale herself upon the sword.
"What is this...?" Saber asked herself quietly. She took a step backward, but her eyes widened in surprise as she gave a soft "Ah!". She turned to see that an identical sword was levitating behind her, facing the sword which was in front of her. Upon further inspection, Saber saw that there was a circle of levitating swords, each of them surrounding her head.
"You're surrounded by swords," Erza boasted. "If you make any move at all, you'll be impaled upon all of them."
Saber gave a long, frustrated exhale as she closed her eyes and tightly gripped onto her sword. "Shirou's counting on me... and Rin told me "Don't lose"... there's a way around this one..." Saber muttered underneath her breath.
"You moved!" Erza called out. With another hand wave, each of the swords began to move in on Saber all at once.
Saber gasped as she clutched the hilt of Invisible Air. She weaved to her left to just barely dodge the two swords in front of her and behind her, and then swung her sword in a horizontal circular motion to shatter the other swords in the circle. In completing the circular motion, Saber had managed to avoid all of the swords, but had faced away from Erza.
Before Saber could take a moment to process what had just happened, two swords intersecting in an "X" shape began to fly at her from her front side. "Invisible Air!" shouted Saber, swinging her sword and releasing a blast of blue wind at the swords. In one fluid motion, the two swords were reduced to dust.
Right behind Saber, Erza began to fly toward the Knight of Knights, wielding her swords in a similar "X" shape. Before Saber could turn to face Erza, the S-Class Mage slashed with both her swords in an "X"-shape on Saber's back. Saber gasped in pain as she was knocked down to the ground. Her armor was scratched and part of her dress had been torn, creating a minor slash wound on her back. However, Saber didn't even seem to notice the pain as she shrugged off the wound, then without falter pushed herself back onto her feet.
"Heh, you're persistent, I'll give you that." Erza noted, requipping four more swords in front of her and aiming them all at Saber. "Let's see you find a way around this one." With yet another hand wave, each of them flew toward Saber at a breakneck speed.
Saber closed her eyes as she began to think. With nothing but pure instinct, she could see where the swords would strike. She also saw that Erza would move the swords' positions before Saber could dodge or attack them. Saber opened her eyes back up and began another run toward Erza, holding Invisible Air in an offensive position.
Erza grinned at her opponent. "I don't think you want to do that."
Right when Saber made her way to the swords, each of them spread out into a circle shape, with the tips of the blades facing outward and spinning toward Saber like a shuriken - just as Saber had predicted. Not falling for this trick, Saber ducked down underneath the spinning sword attack, then after the swords moved past her had she began to circulate air around the sword.
Suddenly, Erza's confident expression turned into a wide-eyed face of surprise. "But... how did she-" she asked herself, until being cut off by a sword slash to the uncovered midsection. "G-gah!" Erza let out a grunt of agony as she spit up some blood onto the ground, freezing in position. No... this can't be...
"Invisible Air!" shouted Saber. Everything seemed to move in slow-motion as Saber pushed Invisble Air further, then launched Erza into the air as she nearly-instantaneously was sent flying into the wall of the Coliseum. Somehow, the wall behind her wasn't damaged at all, but the wings on the armor broke off and her Heaven's Wheel Armor was beginning to break.
"Damn... this girl's tougher than I thought..." Erza said underneath her breath. "I should use something a little stronger..." Saber slowly approached the downed Erza, when suddenly Erza began to stand up, albeit trembling. "Requip!" Suddenly, Erza was wearing a new armor. This one had black-blue shield-like plates of armor on her shoulders and hips. Her arms and legs were also shielded with black-blue plate armor. In her right hand was a curved sword, similar to a cutlass. But what was most interesting about this armor was that behind her back was a pair of blue-black draconic wings with beige skin(?) underneath. However, as far as shielding her core went, it seemed she had little more than bits of black cloth to cover up, and even then her stomach was exposed to the world. This was Erza's Black Wing Armor.
Now feeling completely rejuvenated from her armor switch, Erza took flight in a rush toward Saber. Reacting accordingly, Saber held up Invisible Air as Erza swung her curved blade in a crushing motion toward her. But much to Saber's surprise, the force of Erza's swing was more than enough to catch Saber off-balance. "Agh!" Saber grunted in surprise, trying her best to maintain her footing. But it was to no avail as Saber was still knocked onto the ground on her back from the force of the Black Wing Armor. As Erza struck, a piece of Saber's shoulder armor was crushed and shattered as the skin was pierced, leaving a small pool of blood beneath Saber.
"Agh..." Saber let out a groan as she pushed herself onto her feet, trembling. As she got herself back up, she saw Erza flying slightly above the ground, circling Saber with her curved sword poised for striking. Don't lose. Saber thought to herself, trying to perceive Erza's blinding speed. After a few seconds, Erza seemed to be slowing down as Saber could track her movements. Erza then did a loop-de-loop in mid-air, and flew right toward Saber and delivered a hard cleave toward Saber's chest, but before she could make contact Saber quickly weaved right out of the way. Erza's eyes widened as she found herself about to crash headfirst into the ground, and then Saber delivered a swing from Invisible Air into Erza's back. Erza was unable to dodge the strike as she was sent down into the ground from the attack.
Ignoring the pain, Erza quickly got back up onto her feet. She jumped up into the air, quickly taking to the skies as she weaved around a swing from Saber's Invisible Air. Within seconds, Erza was far above Coliseum, well out of Saber's reach.
"I can just attack her from here," Erza noted, beginning a quick descent toward Saber, two battle axes appearing in her hands.
"Invisible Air!" shouted Saber, releasing a blue wind blast from Invisible Air at Erza. Without much trouble, Erza quickly flew underneath the blast and then rushed toward Saber, with her battle axes held in an "X" shape in front of her. Saber closed her eyes once more. She saw Erza about to strike at her, but trying to fake her out, somehow...
Saber opened her eyes back up as Erza neared her with her axes drawn. Right as it appeared that Erza would strike, she instead flew upward as she did another loop around and came back - just as Saber had predicted, as Erza found herself looking right at a charged Invisible Air. No...
Erza could not stop herself as she flew right into a bolt from Invisible Air, the force of the blast breaking the two axes and her shoulder plates into tiny pieces. Erza was sent flying into the air, but she was able to use her wings to catch her air momentum. She looked at Saber back on the ground, and suddenly she grinned as an idea came to her head.
"Requip!" shouted Erza, still airborne. In a flash, her armor changed once more. This time, she was wearing two large strips of white cloth - one on her front, and one on her back - tied together with red straps. She wore a white-blue breastplate with various yellow markings on it, as well as two spiked shoulder plates and two pieces of spiked armor to shield her arms and legs. Her hair was tied behind her back in a long braid, with two yellow ribbons on either side of her head. In her right arm was a long blue spear with a large circle preceding the tip. This was known only as Erza's Lightning Empress Armor.
"Hmm?" Saber suddenly seemed interested in this new armor of Erza's, for whatever reason. She tilted her head in curiosity, but held her sword up in defense just in case...
Erza then pointed the spear down at Saber, taking aim at the Knight of Knights. "Alright, let's finish this!" Erza called out as the head of the spear seemed to split in half, revealing an opening. Suddenly, a shining blue orb of electricity appeared in the opening, and without warning a large bolt of lightning crashed down from the spear all the way to Saber's location. Gray clouds suddenly began to fill up the sky as it suddenly began to rain without any sort of warning.
CRAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSHHHHH!
The bolt of lightning was only seen for a split second, but it shone brighter than anything seen in this battle up to this point. Dust and smoke kicked up as there was a black mark on the ground from where the lightning crashed. And right in the middle of all this was Saber, standing upright and unwavering. As a matter of fact, she emerged from the blast of lightning completely unscathed and didn't even flinch.
"B-but-" Erza's eyes widened in shock (no pun intended) as she quickly began to descend to the ground. Erza landed on her feet without a scratch, but what was more concerning was that Saber had survived a hit from her Lightning Empress Armor without any sort of visible damage. "Hmm... there's a reason for that..." Erza mumbled to herself as she took note of Saber rushing toward her with Invisible Air drawn. "Maybe-" Right before Erza had the chance to finish her sentence, Saber delivered a stabbing motion toward her. Erza quickly jabbed her spear toward Saber's sword in a counteractive motion, then swung her arm to the side to move Saber's sword out of the way. Saber then swung her sword into Erza in a downward motion as the S-Class Mage raised her spear horizontally in defense, locking the two weapons in place.
The two struggled against each other as they each pushed their weapons against the other, but then suddenly Erza's spear broke in half. Saber took this opportunity to deliver a stab into Erza's midsection, but fortunately the Mage sidestepped around the sword, which barely missed her. If she had been any closer to the sword at that point, then she would have gotten cut, and badly.
"That's it!" Erza called out. "You just have a resistance to magic," Erza noted aloud. "So I'll just have to find another way of dealing with you. Requip!" shouted Erza as her armor began to switch again. Now, she was covered in a jade-bronze armor heavy at the shoulders and waist, covering everything but her head. In her hand was the handle of a rather large conical jousting lance, the lance portion of which stood at about half of Erza's own height. Erza had now donned her Piercing Armor.
Saber nodded as she saw Erza switch armors. Erza suddenly rushed toward Saber, lance in hand. With one swift thrust, Erza jabbed the huge lance straight toward Saber with a force capable of toppling even the most gigantic of fortresses. Saber quickly sidestepped around the tip to avoid getting impaled through the center, but the lance still pierced right through her breastplate, cracking it in two as the bottom half fell onto the ground. The lance managed to pierce through Saber's left pectoral, splattering blood over Saber's dress and Erza's armor. "Ah!" Saber shrieked, falling over onto the ground, on her back. Erza loomed over the Knight of Knights, pointing the lance at her head.
"I must say," Erza began, her face now bearing a smile and a look of confidence. Her face was partially bruised and blood painted splotches of her armor a brown-red as the smell of iron wafted throughout the arena. "You've been a pretty good opponent."
"Saber!" shouted Shirou from the bleachers. "Remember what Tohsaka said! Don't! Lose!"
Saber rolled over onto her side as she struggled to push herself back onto her feet. She trembled as she barely gripped onto her invisible sword, fighting through the pain. She was beginning to tire, but her skin was slowly beginning to reform over her wounds. If one payed close attention to them, one would see that her wounds were healing much faster than those of a typical human's.
"Heh. Still haven't had enough yet?" asked Erza, pulling back her lance in preparation for another strike. Saber's eyes quickly lit up as she watched Erza thrust the lance toward her once more. She had to act now, and fast.
Saber quickly held aloft Invisible Air and parried Erza's lance, but the recoil from the hit threw Saber off-balance as Erza swung the blunt side of the lance into Saber's side. Saber stumbled, struggling to catch her footing - only to see the lance heading right toward her face. Don't lose, Saber told herself in her mind. Suddenly, Saber's arm began to glow with a bright golden color. "Excalibur!" shouted Saber.
"W-what?!" Erza began to tremble in her armored boots as a new sword appeared in Saber's hands - a golden sword which had a holy presence to it. This was none other than the fabled holy sword, Excalibur.
Taking advantage of Erza's sudden vulnerability, Saber slashed Excalibur down the middle of Erza's lance, cutting it right in two without fail or falter.
"...No..." Erza sputtered in complete shock. Wisps of yellow wind-like energy began to circulate Excalibur as Saber charged prana into the holy blade. Erza attempted to move out of the way or block, but before she could react Saber swiped the blade into Erza's torso horizontally. The swing launched Erza with enough force to send her flying toward the wall of the Coliseum once more, incidentally splitting her Piercing Armor down the middle.
Saber remained still in the place where she standing as dust and smoke circulated from around Erza's spot. The wall behind her was beginning to crumble.
"Ugh... she's good..." Erza muttered beneath her breath. "I can't let this go on much longer... but she's too fast, and too strong..."
"Are you finished?" asked Saber to Erza, with a voice of concern.
Erza let out a small chuckle as she pulled herself back up. "Now, why would I let myself lose this one so soon? Requip!" Within an instant, Erza's armor switched yet again. Now, her torso was covered in a black corset, lined with spikes at the head area. Her limbs were covered in black armor as well, with spikes strewn about in various places. In her right hand was a long blade which reached her height in length, and black spikes lined the edges of this blade. This was Erza's legendary Purgatory Armor.
Why was Erza's Purgatory Armor so legendary, one might ask? Well-
"I should warn you," Erza told to her opponent. "No one has seen me don this armor... and survive the encounter."
Suddenly, Saber began to flash back to her fight with the giant Berserker/Heracles. How she had to block attacks from the giant's cleave-like sword with caution, lest she get torn to shreds by the blade's spikes and sheer size and weight. Huge, spiked blades are deadly, and Saber learned that the hard way.
Erza and Saber rushed at each other full-speed, swinging their blades at each other at imperceptible speeds. Sparks of bright yellow light would fly any time the two blades would hit each other, and it didn't look like the two were letting up any time soon.
Suddenly, in the midst of the fighting, Saber closed her eyes again as she continued parrying attacks from Erza's front. All she could see was Erza continuing her offensive flurry of sword-swings. No tricks, no fake-outs, nothing. Just the opening Saber needed.
With each swing of the two blades, Excalibur would light up with holy golden light. Of course, at the speed the two were going at, it was almost impossible for Erza to tell. Until out of nowhere, when instead of pulling back her arms to go for another swing, Saber blocked Erza's strike and pushed Excalibur down upon the huge, spiked weapon as prana began to flow into Saber's arm. In one fluid motion, Saber cleaved right through Erza's spike blade, shattering it into many pieces and leaving her with just the hilt.
"Agh... that's no good..." Erza muttered to herself. Having created just the opening she needed, Saber then swung Excalibur upward, almost like a golf club.
"Excalibur!" shouted Saber. A giant wave of yellow light burst from Excalibur, kicking up dust and smoke as it approached Erza.
Think fast, Erza. Erza thought to herself as the massive light wave approached her. Saber watched as the Excalibur blast engulfed Erza's body, exploding upon impact.
BOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!
Saber stayed in her position, still holding onto Excalibur in anticipation. After a few seconds, some of the dust and smoke cleared from the battlefield as a lone figure stood in Erza's position. It appeared to be a cracked, circular object studded with spikes all around the outside. Once more dust and smoke cleared, it was revealed that behind the circle was Erza, covered head-to-toe in heavy silver armor - which had been cracked and and tarnished by the Excalibur blast. This was Erza's Adamantine Armor, which was her token defensive armor. And it had just protected her from one of Saber's most powerful attacks.
Erza coughed, trembling in her shoes as her armor was visibly beginning to crumble. "Ugh... that was even too much for the Adamantine Armor... there's no way any of my other armors would ever live through an attack like that..." The S-Class Mage said to herself. "Maybe I should just try dodging that attack next time... Requip!" In a moment's notice, Erza's armor began to shift once more. Now, she was wearing a leopard-print piece of cloth resembling a brassiere over her bust as well as a leopard-print shoulder pad and knee pad, but only on her left side. She also wore blue gloves and thigh-highs beneath silver boots, and she even had decorative leopard ears and fuzzy tail. In her hands were two thin short swords. This was an armor which could only be known as her Flight Armor, known more for its speed than its defense.
In a flash, Erza ran behind Saber to attempt to get a good strike in there. Saber quickly turned to face Erza, who quickly jabbed both of her swords toward Saber's back at once - and Saber turned and parried both swords in one fluid motion, as if she'd practiced this technique before. Saber then returned the favor by delivering a hard swing of Excalibur upward toward Erza's face, and the S-Class Mage attempted to sidestep out of the way. However, the speed of the attack was so blinding that not even Erza in her Flight Armor could react to it as Excalibur struck Erza from under her face, launching her skyward.
"Ex..." Saber began to call the name of her Noble Phantasm as her sword started to glow with a bright golden color. As Erza began to fall back toward the ground, her eyes lit up as she recognized that attack from before.
She wasn't about to let it connect this time.
"-Calibur!" finished Saber, swinging her sword in time with Erza's falling. However, Erza just barely jumped to the side in one reflexive motion. Not a moment too soon, the wall behind Erza was completely obliterated as dust and smoke rose from the impact point. But Erza had just barely managed to make it out of that one unscathed. Saber, on the other hand, slumped over, exhausted. She'd used up a lot of prana in that last attack, and Erza had appeared right behind her once more.
Saber closed her eyes once more, and saw Erza right behind her, about to impale Saber upon both of her swords. Saber opened her eyes back up and turned to face Erza before she could strike, then delivered a hard swing of Excalibur which shattered both swords upon impact and launched Erza toward the wall again, but she fell onto the ground before she hit the wall this time.
Erza looked up at Saber from the ground, quivering as her body was covered in wounds and dirt. Pieces of her Flight Armor were falling off (and since the Flight Armor isn't very much, Erza was pretty damn close to naked so there's your bit of fanservice for the day) as she just barely managed to pull herself off of the ground. "I guess this means-" Erza began, spitting up blood as she spoke. "There's not much else I can do... except-"
Saber wore a look of curiosity as she set Excalibur at her side. "Except?"
Erza grinned at her opponent, even with a mouth full of blood. "Requip!" In a flash, Erza emerged wearing a white cloth dress tied with a black belt, complete with white thigh-highs and black sleeves. But what was interesting to note was that there were eight single-edged swords levitating at Erza's sides, forming what appeared to look like wings. This was Erza's elusive Wingblade Armor. "You should count yourself lucky that you've lasted long enough to make me need to use this," Erza told to her opponent with a grin. "But you should consider yourself unlucky that now you have to fight me while I'm wearing this armor."
Saber nodded, holding Excalibur aloft in a defensive position. "I shall fight no matter what. My master is counting on me."
Erza nodded back, and chuckled as she gave Saber a hand wave. Saber raised an eyebrow in confusion, but then-
SHINK!
SHINK!
SHINK!
SHINK!
SHINK!
SHINK!
SHINK!
SHINK!
Eight times in succession, Saber felt her body take heavy cuts all around, even though at no time did any of Erza's swords even make contact with Saber's body. She slouched over onto her knees as her eyes widened in surprise. "But... how..." Saber asked herself, trying to comprehend how all this was happening. Saber attempted to push herself upward, when-
SHINK!
"Aaaaagh!" Saber cried out in agony as she felt a deep slash across her chest, past her armor and dress. If Saber didn't act fast, things would be over rather quickly...
She needed some sort of defense. Something which would protect her from anything - even Erza's reality-defying sword attacks.
Suddenly, Saber remembered - the one barrier which nothing could break before. It was able to resist even the reality-warping attacks of Gilgamesh, so it would definitely be able to help here, right?
With a look of determination in her eyes, Saber held Excalibur facing downward - and then shouted out the name of her ultimate Noble Phantasm.
"AVALON!"
Suddenly, the hallowed sheath of Excalibur, the embodiment of the utopia Arturia Pendragon would once seek, materialized in front of Saber, taking the form of a barrier of light.
"What?" Erza asked herself. She continued waving her hands and moving the swords she had levitated behind her, but Saber seemed completely unaffected during the time she was behind Avalon. After a few more seconds passed, the light barrier faded and Saber appeared to be in perfect condition once more - as if she had just started this battle over from the beginning. There's no way... Erza thought to herself. I need to end this quickly...
Before Erza could say anything else, Saber swung Excalibur upward into Erza's torso, the shockwaves alone being enough to shatter each of the eight swords at Erza's side. Erza was knocked slightly upward, then fell back onto the ground.
"Alright, if that's the way you're gonna play it," Erza gritted her teeth, spitting out blood then wiping her mouth with her had. "Requip!" Nigh-instantly, Erza now had a long strip of bandage wrapped around her bust countless times over, and she was wearing baggy red sweatpants below. She had no shoes to speak of and in her hands were twin katanas. This was her last resort, the bandage clothing. At this point, it was all or nothing for Erza.
Sparing no time, Erza began a mad dash toward Saber and delivered a flurry of sword-slashes into the Knight of Knights. Saber reacted accordingly, swinging Excalibur in any and all directions she needed to parry Erza's blows. Without warning, Erza feigned a slash - and Saber reacted with a parrying motion. However, Saber quickly realized her mistake when Erza ran behind Saber simultaneously striking her torso, cutting through her dress and drawing some blood. Saber turned to face Erza again, but then Erza ran past Saber and repeated the action, cutting her dress some more.
"Excalibur!" shouted Saber, swinging her holy blade like a golf club once more. A wave of light emerged from the sword in Erza's general direction, but the S-Class Mage jumped to the side to avoid the blast without much effort. Saber slumped over in exhaustion after firing the attack, and Erza took this opportunity to continually run past Saber and strike her side, similar to before.
"Just need to keep doing this-" Erza muttered to herself, taking full advantage of the opening in Saber's defenses that she had found. Then, everything seemed to be in slow-motion as Erza jumped up off of the ground, then delivered a slashing attack in an "X" shape with her twin katanas. Saber quickly turned to the side in response to the attack, but she seemed to be too late...
Think fast... Saber thought to herself. She'd fought as valiantly and bravely as possible throughout this battle, just as every knight should. After all, Saber was the very essence of light itself. She was simply so just, so pure, so good.
But light without darkness is blinding, and even Saber had a dark side.
The prana built up within Saber began to turn from a pure, untouched light... to an abyssal darkness in which no light can be seen.
Saber's blue-and-silver armor began to turn into a dark black, with red tendrils almost akin to blood being strewn about on the armor. Excalibur turned from a bright gold to a dark color, lined with a blood-red rather than a royal blue. It seemed that all the good and purity from Saber's eyes turned into a coldness and ruthlessness.
Saber Alter had awoken.
And while base Saber might have gone easy on Erza, it wasn't likely that Saber Alter would show her the same kind of mercy.
Erza watched with a look of intrigue, clutching onto the handles of her katanas. "Alright, show me what you've got now!"
Saber did not answer, and instead began to run toward Erza with her sword beginning to darken with black-purple light. However, one thing Erza quickly noted was that Saber Alter was moving at a considerably slower pace than her base form.
Erza grinned, knowing she could take full advantage of the speed boost from her bandage clothing. Saber Alter delivered a crushing downward strike toward Erza, but the S-Class Mage nimbly jumped away from the attack and slashed at Saber Alter horizontally with one of her katanas - but to Erza's surprise, Saber didn't seem to react to the hit at all. "Wh-wha-"
Saber Alter remained silent as she delivered another crushing strike toward Erza. Erza moved to the side as quickly as she could.
No... why can't I hurt her in this form... I need to hit her harder... Erza thought to herself. She ducked and weaved around a horizontal slash from Saber Alter and slashed at her in an "X" shape - which, again, was completely futile. "No..."
Saber Alter then lifted her head up, her eyes open wide and looking deeply into Erza's as her mouth was fixed into a an expressionless face. "Vortigern." Saber Alter stated quietly in a monotone voice. Erza's heart skipped a beat as Saber Alter swung Excalibur in an upward motion, as if she were swinging the holy blade Excalibur once more. A wave of black light was exuded from the blade, like an Excalibur blast except black. Erza jumped backward, and with a stroke of luck, narrowly - and I mean narrowly - avoided the center of the blast, though the aftershock was more than enough to knock her down into the ground. Erza's heart began to race as she started sweating profusely. Something in the way Saber said "Vortigern" gave Erza chills - and there was definitely something off about this new form.
And whatever it was, it wasn't safe for Erza to drag this fight on. She needed to end it, and now.
Erza ran behind Saber Alter, but then Saber swung Excalibur in a horizontal circular motion. In a reflex, Erza held up her two swords to block the strike, but both swords were cleaved through and shattered like glass. Erza looked at her two swords with a hint of real fear as her heart began to race faster and faster. "There's only one thing... I can do..." Erza muttered to herself. "Requip!" shouted Erza, with one last trick up her sleeve. Erza screamed out in part pain, part determination as she felt her magic reserves burning up. After a flash of light, Erza was now wearing a short blue robe trimmed with gold, with a window in its middle to show off Erza's ample cleavage. It was tied at the waist with a simple red ribbon, and she wore blue gloves with red ribbons tied around the palms. A golden lion-themed armor plate shielded both of her shoulders, and she had blue-gold leggings to shield her legs as well as golden armor on her lower legs. A golden tiara sat upon hear head and a white sash which seemed to defy gravity sat behind her. But what was perhaps the most interesting aspect of this armor was her weapon - it was a large golden halberd with a circular hand-guard in the center, and a purple cloth was tied below the blade.
But this armor didn't just look interesting. It also possessed incredible power that Erza had not yet brought out in the heat of this battle. This was the legendary Nakagami Armor, which very few besides Erza had ever successfully worn.
"This is getting intense, everyone! Could this be the final round?" asked the announcer, his voice beginning to sound as intrigued as anyone watching this battle would be. Natsu, Gray, Happy, Lucy, Shirou, and Rin were all hanging on the edge of their seats, watching nervously as the two swordswomen gave this fight everything they had. This last round would determine the victor of this fight.
Nakagami Armor Erza and Saber Alter swung their weapons at each other in unison, the two blades clashing with enormous power each. Despite the power of both combatants, neither one would hold up.
"I can't... lose this one..." Erza muttered underneath her breath. With one fluid motion, Erza charged her halberd with as much magic as she possibly could, and then delivered a diagonal downward slash into Saber Alter's shoulder.
This attack used a form of spatial magic to cut through the physical dimension, through space itself. Saber Alter watched the blade fall at her, but didn't even react.
SHINK!
The space-cutting blade slashed right through Saber Alter, sending blood splattering across the arena. Saber Alter's face remained unchanging, with no words to give whatsoever.
There was a gasp heard from everyone in the audience, even the announcer himself.
"S-saber..." Shirou muttered, now feeling legitimately sick. He held his stomach in agony as he tried to stop himself from crying out. "Saber!"
Rin began to breathe heavily, nervously trying to think of some way Saber could have survived.
Erza and Saber stayed still - everyone awaiting the inevitable moment where Saber would fall over in defeat. After all, there was no way she could have survived an attack like that...
...But instead of what everyone was expecting, Saber pulled back Excalibur in an offensive position and began to charge it with black light as she uttered one word which made everyone go silent once more, and furthermore sent a chill down everyone's spine.
"Vortigern."
Saber Alter swung Excalibur like a golf club once more, releasing a wave of dark purple energy in Erza's general direction. Erza swung her Halberd horizontally at the blast, and then it was dispelled as it vanished harmlessly into thin air. "I can cancel out magic too, y'know." Erza said to Saber Alter. "Looks like it's just a regular swordfight from here on out."
Saber Alter gave a subtle nod, but did not give a vocal response. The two of them slashed at each other with every last bit they had, each strike getting slightly stronger, slightly harder, slightly faster, slightly more willing to take out the opposition.
Erza delivered an upward strike with her halberd, and Saber parried the blow by slicing downward. Saber delivered a stabbing attack, and Erza moved to the side to avoid the hit. This pattern continued for a few more minutes.
Erza then screamed out as she ran at Saber with everything she had - magic, willpower, determination, strength, speed, Erza-ness, waifu quality- and put it all into one swing. Saber followed suit, putting the exact same things into that one swing (except replacing Erza-ness with Saber-ness) as the two of them collided blows at once-
-And nothing happened once more as the two attacks counteracted each other. It seemed to be a completely stalemate.
Saber cleaved Excalibur horizontally, and Erza held her halberd vertically to counter - but that's when she realized she was beginning to fatigue. Erza's limbs were starting to feel numb, and her magic reserves were running low - this was certainly no good.
"No... It can't be..."
Saber Alter then closed her eyes, then opened them back up with a look of... well, she looked rather emotionless, honestly. Anyway, Saber Alter jumped in front of Erza, and then began to charge Excalibur with a dark prana as she said that hellish word once more.
"Vortigern."
Erza's eyes slowly began to widen more and more as she fell down onto the ground, completely exhausted of any energy she had left. All she could see was a wall of dark magical energy moving right toward her, and she closed her eyes as she prayed it would be over quickly.
Natsu...
Gray...
Lucy...
Mirajane...
Elfman...
Happy...
Makarov...
Juvia...
Jellal...
Fairy Tail...
Erza thought aloud, taking one last breath as she saw nothing but darkness, and felt nothing but the pain of infinite needles poking through her skin at once.
BOOOM!
A large explosion was created from Erza's position. Erza was over on the ground, bleeding from her torso but still alive. However, she was hardly in any condition to fight.
"And Erza is down and unable to battle! We have a winner, everyone! K.O.!"
Saber Alter reverted back to her base form as Shirou and Rin ran down to the arena.
"You did it, Saber!" Shirou exclaimed, hugging Saber tight.
Rin grinned from ear-to-ear. "Looks like that 50,000,000 Jewel is ours!"
Saber tilted her head at Rin. "Do I not need to fight the other combatants in the tournament?"
Rin laughed. "Ha! They all left after they saw how powerful you two were!"
Back on Erza's side, Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and Happy all ran down to her rescue.
"Watch your step, guys. There's shards of metal everywhere." Lucy informed everyone
"Erza! Are you alright?" asked Gray, shaking Erza's barely-conscious body.
"Gray, that's not how you wake someone up!" Natsu shouted. "This is how-"
Before Natsu could finish his sentence, Erza quickly got back up as if she had all her energy restored (though she was still covered in bruises and wounds) and then punched the two of them into the air. "Boys, now is not the time to do this."
"Yah, Erza's back up!" Happy exclaimed. "Anyway, we failed this one... why don't we try the one worth 60 billion double Jewel? All you have to do is catch some guy for that one!"
Erza ignored Happy and walked toward Saber with a smile on her face. "Excellent job." Erza congratulated. "You deserved that win."
Saber glanced at Erza and gave a short smile of her own. "You fought well too, Erza Scarlet."
Results
Blaze: My waifu! No! How could you do this to me?! *incessant rambling*
Wiz: Uh... while Blaze is over here rambling... This battle, at first, appeared very close. At first glance, Erza has notable advantages in tactics, smarts, and experience. She also has a much bigger variety of skills and armors at her disposal, making her the far less predictable of the two as well. However, once you look past all that, the result becomes very clear.
Gilgamesh: As far as physical stats alone go, Saber has the advantage just about everywhere. In her base form, the mongrel Erza is capable of punching Natsu and Gray into the air... impressive, yes, but Saber can do the same thing... except with a slab of stone which easily weighs several tons.
Excalibur: Fool! While Erza can shrug off building-sized explosions, Saber tanked a relentless beatdown from Berserker/Heracles, who held up the sky.
Wiz: And while Erza is capable of moving at hypersonic speeds by being able to tag the speedster Ikaruga, Saber can keep up with Lancer, who can strike 100 times in an instant. However, Erza has various armors to allow her to keep up in various stats, such as her Adamantine Armor for durability, Black Wing Armor for strength, and Flight Armor for speed. However, none of her armors give her the stat boosts in all three areas needed to keep up with each of Saber's stats.
Gilgamesh: And one may be wondering why Erza didn't use her Armadura Fairy Armor, Flame Empress Armor, or anything which relies on magic. See... Saber's resistance to magic is so great, that nothing below True Magic is capable of even harming her. And considering that stronger beings than Erza exist within the realm of Fate, no one's calling Erza's magic True Magic anytime soon.
Excalibur: But one thing Erza certainly had in her corner was the Nakagami Armor, which dispels magic. And interestingly enough, Saber's biggest advantage, speed, is sacrificed when she taps into her dark form, Saber Alter. However, this also gives her unbeatable advantage in strength and durability.
Wiz: Erza has incredible willpower and determination, and her stamina and magic reserve are immense. However, they can still be worn down. Saber, on the other hand, is practically limitless as far as stamina goes, just as long as her master is alive. And while the Adamantine Armor is capable of living through most of Saber's arsenal, it will still eventually be broken through. Saber, on the other hand, has Avalon at her disposal. This is a barrier that literally cannot be broken, no matter what Erza does because Saber technically isn't even there while the barrier of Avalon is activated.
Gilgamesh: And with the strength and durability boost of Saber Alter, Erza would be forced on the defensive with her Nakagami Armor. But this also plays into Saber's favor, because the longer Erza remains in one armor, the more of a chance Saber's Instinct would allow her to predict her opponent's moves.
Excalibur: You could say that Erza should get this one sword-ed out?
Blaze: Hey! No making puns about my waifu's loss!
Gilgamesh: I don't see the problem... she lived.
Wiz: The winner is Saber.
Comparison
Erza Scarlet
- +More experienced of the two
- +Better tactician
- +Less predictable and more versatile fighter
- +Can keep up in the strength department with Black Wing Armor and Bandage Clothing
- +Can tank most of Saber's attacks with Adamantine Armor
- +Has an indomitable will and never gives up
- +Nakagami Armor is her best bet, especially against Saber Alter
- +Bandage Clothing and Flight Armor are faster than Saber Alter
- +Takes better control of the environment
- +Wingblade Armor gave her a nice little advantage for a time
- -Completely outdone in speed by base Saber, no matter the armor
- -Adamantine Armor, while durable, can still be broken
- -Completely outdone in strength and durability by Saber Alter
- -Magic is completely ineffective against Saber
- -Could never hope to pierce through Avalon
- -Many of her armors were absolutely useless
- -Less outright destructive capability
Saber
- +Completely outdoes Erza in speed in base
- +Far more destructive capability
- +Stronger and more durable than most of Erza's armors
- +Excalibur could pierce through Adamantine Armor
- +Had a ranged advantage
- +Saber Alter completely outdoes Erza in strength and durability
- +Avalon is unbreakable
- +Magic immunity
- +Stamina is completely limitless
- +Regeneration makes her even more difficult to put down
- +Could easily break through almost all of Erza's armors with ease
- +At the end of the day, is simply faster, stronger, and more durable
- -Less of a tactician
- -Less experienced of the two
- -More predictable fighter
- -Saber Alter sacrifices speed