[Complete] Ch 12.2 Is it Wrong for a Sword to Remain Sheathed Against Injustice? (Patreon)

Is it Wrong for a Sword to Remain 

Sheathed Against Injustice?

Story Starts

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Chapter 12.2

Unsheathed I

"I'll provide cover," he said.

To her side, Ryuu lifted Ardee into a more stable position, careful not to jostle the tourniqueted stumps. Blood seeped through the fabric despite their best efforts.

Kaguya looked up.

Countless swords materialised overhead, blades pointing outwards in every direction. Steel upon steel, layered like leaves on a tree. The air hummed with contained power, and the faint golden light of their manifestation cast strange shadows across the scorched courtyard.

She didn't need to turn around to know her Familia members wore the same expression she felt on her own face. Awe. Disbelief. A touch of fear.

'So this is what he's been hiding.'

She could sympathise, in a way. After losing his deity, advertising abilities like these would be suicide. Calling it a spark for war between Familias would be an understatement. Every god in Orario would scramble to claim him. Apollo. Dionysus. Loki and Freya, even. Perhaps Goibniu and Hephaestus would break their neutrality for a shot.

And now Evilus had forced his hand.

What manner of war god or goddess had blessed him? What experiences had shaped a Level 2 who could fight toe-to-toe with someone two levels above him and survive? In the chaos of battle, no one had questioned it. No one had asked about the basket of weapons he'd carried in Rivira—the absurd number that let him fire continuously through the entire siege without conserving a single shot. He'd spent arrows on weak monsters—war shadows, hellhounds—when any sensible archer would have hoarded them for stronger threats.

Why conserve anything, when the supply was endless?

A chuckle escaped her throat, dry and humourless.

Shirou would deflect, of course. He always did. And the Guild—Rose and Sophie—had clearly helped him maintain the façade. She wondered how long they'd known.

Kaguya looked up again at the impossible sight. She remembered her Goddess's words from that night in her study. A sympathetic soul, Astraea had called him. Burdened by doing what's right.

How?

She couldn't fathom it. A soul capable of manifesting this blessing—this walking armoury, this one-man siege engine—being sympathetic to anything. A being of war. A being of violence. How could such a thing carry exhaustion rather than bloodlust? How could he serve noodles to children and defend orphanages in the same breath as conjuring enough steel to arm several Familias? What did her Goddess see in him?

'And again, Evilus has forced his hand.'

The unrest wouldn't stop even after Evilus ended. She was certain of that now. The only way this concluded without all-out war was if Shirou joined one of the major Familias willingly. Even then, peace wasn't guaranteed.

'Perhaps Ganesha?' The thought felt hollow even as it formed.

"Kaguya, Lyra, Ryuu—take Maryuu, Celty, and the rest of the wounded and secure Central Plaza," Alise stated. Her voice carried none of its usual warmth. "Escort the Guild doctors and establish a triage station. The rest are with me—we secure our Goddess and the deities integral to the operation." She turned to Shakti. "Could you assign me some of your people?"

"Yes." Shakti's jaw was set. "Jiya, take a team and accompany Alise."

A young cow woman with short horns nodded sharply.

"On the way, we collect Dian Cecht and Miach," Alise continued, "their Familia members, and all the minor healing Familias. Jiya, ensure the team is large enough to carry the relevant equipment and maintain a proper guard whilst—"

"Let me provide cover." Shirou's voice cut through. He pointed towards Babel, the great tower rising at Orario's heart. "I'll perch at the highest point. As long as I have line of sight, my blades can reach you. I'll eliminate any straggler carrying a bomb before they get close."

"But how can you—" Celty's voice came out small, tentative.

"I have another magic. Structural Analysis. It lets me examine anything within my sight." He said it plainly, as if describing the weather. "I'll know if someone's carrying blaze rock before they're within fifty medr of you."

"For—"

Two blades shot from the floating mass overhead, streaking past the group towards the warehouse entrance. The detonations came a heartbeat later—two Evilus stragglers who'd emerged from the rubble, hands already rising to their chests. The remaining suspended swords shifted, forming a wall between the explosion and the gathered adventurers.

Heat washed over Kaguya's back. She didn't flinch.

"What about when we're not in line of sight?" a Ganesha member asked. Young. Nervous. His spear trembled slightly in his grip.

A pile of blades materialised before them. These were different from the swords overhead—thin, short, with minimal cross guards. They looked almost ceremonial.

Alise reacted first. "Those are the weapons from before! The ones that trapped the pickpocket!"

"Black Keys," Shirou confirmed. Another appeared in his hand. He flicked it towards the Ganesha member who'd asked the question.

Several people shouted. Weapons rose. Kaguya's hand found her katana hilt before she registered the movement.

The blade embedded itself in the cobblestones, passing through the young man's shadow.

"What?" He looked down, then tried to step forward. His legs didn't respond. "I can't move!"

The sword dissolved into pale motes. The young man stumbled, catching himself before he fell.

"If you pin a person's shadow, they can't move until the binding breaks." Shirou's tone stayed flat, instructional. "Use them on anyone you suspect. Pin them, then check physically for blaze rock. Especially in areas without clear sightlines."

"But the citizens—if they see us attacking individuals—"

"Better offended than dead," Kaguya interrupted. "Some bombers will position themselves amongst civilians and wait for the right moment. We explain our reasoning afterwards. To the living."

Shakti nodded once. She stepped forward and took two Black Keys, testing their weight. Others followed—hesitant at first, then with growing purpose. Several took extras, passing them to wounded Ganesha members who could still throw. Shirou produced more until everyone was satisfied, the weapons arriving in the pile as easily as breathing.

"Iska." Kaguya found her amongst the group. "Locate Hermes Familia—specifically Asfi. Request more communication crystals and escort them to Central Plaza."

"Hashana—take a team to coordinate with Loki Familia." Shakti's voice remained steady, professional. She still hadn't looked at her sister. "Ibri, contact Freya Familia. I'll secure our God."

Everyone nodded. Groups formed around the wounded, checking equipment, adjusting bandages. The floating swords overhead cast shifting shadows across their movements.

"We shall not let Orario fall!" Alise's declaration rang across the courtyard.

The response came as a unified shout—Astraea and Ganesha members alike, their voices carrying into the smoke-darkened sky.

Shirou didn't join the cry. He simply leapt onto the warehouse's perimeter wall, then again to the opposite rooftop. The suspended blades followed him, a flock of steel trailing its master. The black bow was already in his hand. A blade-arrow appeared against the string, and he loosed it into the distance. Something screamed briefly, then fell silent.

Kaguya turned to Ryuu.

Her sister-in-arms looked lost. Her eyes tracked Shirou's movements, but they were glassy, unfocused. Ardee's blood stained her arms to the elbows.

Kaguya grabbed her shoulder and squeezed. Hard.

"Ardee is strong. She'll pull through. Once the Dea Saint finishes with her, she'll be right as rain." The words felt inadequate, but she pushed on regardless. "But we need you here. Not distracted. Can you do that? For us? For Ardee?"

A tear threatened to fall from Ryuu's eyes. It didn't.

The elf steeled herself, jaw tightening, and nodded once.

"Good."

Above them, Shirou loosed another arrow. Something detonated in the middle distance—far enough that the sound arrived as a dull thump rather than a roar.

In the distance, explosions still rocked Orario.

He gave the signal. Clear.

Kaguya drew her katana and began moving towards the plaza, her Familia falling into formation around her.

"This is going to be a long night."

-=&<o>&=-

The evening kept getting worse.

"Aura! Ilsa! Gather the injured, use the high potions!" Rienne's voice cut through the chaos. Magic-stone lamps cast long shadows across the narrow street, their pale blue light doing little to soften the carnage.

Rienne's boots struck cobblestone as she launched herself forward, her leg connecting solidly with an Evilus member's midsection. The woman—young, perhaps twenty—wore that same serene expression Rienne had seen too many times tonight. Peaceful. Content. As if walking into death was a blessing.

Tonight it was always one of three: the serene smile, weeping sorrow, or a crazed howl.

The woman skidded down the alleyway, robes scraping against stone, the knife coming loose from her slackening grip.

"Dio Grail!"

Filvis's barrier materialised at the far end of the alley—a shimmering wall of violet light between them and the fallen woman. Maximum range. Maximum coverage.

Everyone braced.

Shink.

The knife clattered against the cobblestones. No detonation.

Then came the sharp crack—the sound arriving after the strike, the way it had all evening, threading between the explosions that shook Orario's foundations.

Shink. Shink. Shink.

Crack. Crack. Crack.

Three more figures emerged from a narrow alcove between buildings. Each one crumpled, knives falling from nerveless fingers. The blaze rocks strapped beneath their robes stayed inert.

Rienne had stopped questioning the pattern. Kick them away, make distance, brace behind Filvis's barrier for a blast that—more often than not—never came. Most of these bombers were weaklings, fresh Level 1s at best, zealots whose only strength lay in their willingness to die.

Her Familia had already lost members to surprise attacks. One had fallen to a child who seemed lost, wandering towards them with wide eyes and trembling hands. The knife had appeared from nowhere.

Nothing remained of Noreth. Nothing but a crater in an Orario street.

Rienne gritted her teeth and kept moving. They could mourn later.

Everyone was strung tight as bowstrings. They shouted at people—hands up, show me your palms, lift your shirt—and even then certainty stayed out of reach. A confirmed civilian one moment could produce a blade the next.

Rienne's gaze fell on the nearest corpse. A thin projectile jutted from its back, passing clean through to emerge from the chest. The weapon was irregular, jagged along its length, with a purple-rainbow sheen that looked both ornamental and grotesque. She'd seen its like embedded in walls, in bodies, in the cobblestones themselves throughout the past hour.

But this was the first time she'd seen one appear.

"Dionysus Familia."

Rienne's hand found her sword hilt. The voice came from above—a red-haired woman standing on the rooftop's edge, silhouetted against the smoke-hazed sky.

"Bright and ecstatic, let the vine—"

Everyone tensed. The magic circle was already forming beneath Rienne's feet.

The red-haired woman held up both hands, palms out.

Alise Lovell. Captain of Astraea Familia.

Rienne let the chant die on her lips.

In the distance, more cracks and explosions rolled on. The city was bleeding.

"We are gathering at Central Plaza to regroup," Alise called down, her voice carrying the particular clarity of someone accustomed to being heard over chaos. "Secure your god on the way."

Her left hand moved—a casual flick that sent something thin and dark streaking towards the mouth of a nearby shop.

An old man had stepped out, balding head catching the lamplight. He froze mid-motion, one foot raised, his expression caught between confusion and terror.

Alise dropped from the rooftop, landing with practised ease. "Apologies. I have to double-check."

Without ceremony or hesitation, she patted down the man's torso, hands reaching beneath his shirt with brisk efficiency.

The man sputtered, a flush spreading across his weathered cheeks. His frozen state didn't prevent him from expressing his indignation through strangled sounds of protest.

"Clear." Alise didn't register his embarrassment. She crouched and pulled the blade from where it had embedded itself in the cobblestones—through the man's shadow, Rienne realised. "Are there more of you inside?"

The man gave a dumbfounded nod as Alise steadied him.

"We need to check them before we escort you to Central Plaza." Alise turned towards the rooftops. "Neze!"

"Yes, captain." A werewolf dropped from the eaves, landing in a crouch.

"Inspect the rest of them. Isolate the confirmed before checking the others. Remember—prioritise your safety and avoid collateral damage. Then escort them to Central Plaza. Use the rooftops."

"Yes, captain!"

Rienne watched the werewolf guide the old man back towards the shop's entrance, calling for the occupants to emerge. Civilians shuffled out—a woman clutching an infant, two young men with the calloused hands of craftsmen, an elderly couple supporting each other.

"Line up in the centre of the street, please. Hands where I can see them."

Shink. Shink.

Two of the figures collapsed. Blood pooled beneath them, dark rivers reflecting the lamplight. The same jagged projectiles had pierced them from behind, tips emerging through their chests.

Neze and Alise moved in the same instant, slamming thin blades into the still-standing civilians' shadows.

The two dying figures clawed across the cobblestones, reaching for their knives, gurgling as they went.

"You'll burn for this! The Goddess will—"

The rest of the line screamed over him.

"Murderers! You're supposed to protect us!"

"My husband didn't do anything wrong! You animals!"

The remaining civilians pressed together, terror palpable. The woman with the infant was sobbing. One of the young craftsmen had gone pale as milk.

Neze knelt beside the two bodies and tore their robes open.

Blaze rocks. Strapped to their chests in crude harnesses. The projectile tips jutted from the explosive devices themselves, somehow having passed through the mechanism without triggering detonation.

The accusations died in the civilians' throats.

"These are blaze rocks. These two were members of Evilus." Neze's voice stayed steady as she addressed the line. "Now—Shirou has already checked everyone, but for your peace of mind, we'll verify before escorting you safely to Central Plaza."

"Shirou?" Filvis voiced the question from Rienne's side.

The Dionysus Familia watched in silence as each civilian was patted down, asked to lift their shirt, then lifted to the rooftops by a Ganesha Familia member Neze had called down.

Meanwhile, Alise leapt back to the rooftop's edge. She waved one of the thin blades towards some distant point, her other hand indicating the weapon whilst making vague gestures in their direction. She looked almost comical—a woman having a one-sided conversation with empty air.

Something flickered in Rienne's peripheral vision.

A pile of those same straight blades with the short cross guards materialised before the Dionysus Familia. One moment empty air, the next a heap of identical steel.

Alise dropped back down, landing amongst them with a small cloud of dust.

"Black Keys," she said, picking one up and demonstrating its weight. "They pin shadows. If someone's standing on solid ground and you throw one through their shadow, they can't move until the binding breaks." She gestured at the evening gloom surrounding them. "Be careful—shadows overlap at this hour. Don't pin yourself as well."

"How does—"

"Shirou Emiya is stationed at Babel." Alise cut off Rienne's question. "As long as he has line of sight, he can somehow see whether someone has blaze rock strapped to them. These projectiles—" she indicated the jagged weapons in the corpses, "—disconnect the trigger mechanism. The blaze rock itself remains dangerous. If another charge detonates nearby, or someone uses fire magic, it can still explode. But the deadman switch is severed."

Rienne turned towards Babel. Even knowing where to look, she couldn't make out so much as a figure on the tower. And this was the archer who'd helped save Rivira.

"How far is his range?" Maren asked.

"Far enough." Alise shrugged. "I stopped asking."

Rienne gathered the Black Keys and distributed them amongst her Familia. The weapons felt strange in her grip—lighter than they appeared.

"Filvis. Aura. With me." She turned to her vice-captain. "Maren, take one team and gather our members patrolling the eastern districts. Direct them to Central Plaza."

"Understood."

"Ilsa, your team handles the western patrols. Same destination."

"Yes, captain."

"My team will help secure deities." Rienne paused, calculating routes. "Filvis—suggestions?"

The black-haired elf's expression stayed neutral, but her voice carried an edge of practicality. "Hephaestus and Goibniu. Their forges are on our path towards our familia residence."

Aura nodded beside her, already checking her equipment.

"Good. We secure them on the way."

Alise clasped Rienne's forearm—a warrior's greeting, brief and firm. "Stay in Babel's line of sight where you can. Where you can't, use the Black Keys to check civilians."

Rienne nodded.

The Astraea captain leapt away and vanished into the lamp-lit maze of Orario's streets.

Rienne turned to her team. Filvis stood ready, expression unreadable as always. Aura's hand rested on her sword hilt, tension visible in the set of her shoulders.

Another explosion rumbled from somewhere to the north. The magic-stone lamps flickered.

"Move out."

-=&<o>&=-

Scenes like this repeated across Orario, through the night.

On Northwest Main, a grocer lay face-down on cobblestones, arms bound behind his back as two Loki Familia adventurers patted him down. The man spat curses at them—called them thugs, demanded to know what crime he'd committed, swore his wife would hear of this.

The adventurers said nothing. They'd stopped explaining hours ago. Explanations took time. Time got people killed.

Someone else lifted the grocer towards the rooftop, ready to be escorted to Central Plaza. He'd learn why when he got there. Or he wouldn't, and that would be answer enough.

-=&<o>&=-

A Ganesha shield line walked four hundred civilians through the dark towards Central Plaza. The formation moved in silence, torches guttering in the windless air, children pressed between adults who didn't know if their neighbours were neighbours or something else wearing familiar faces.

Twice, figures stepped into the column's path, knives already drawn.

Twice, steel arrived from the sky before they took a second step.

The first time, people screamed. The second time, they stepped over the body and kept walking. It was that or stop forever.

-=&<o>&=-

An Apollo adventurer turned a stranger away from his god's carriage at spearpoint, shaking, half-convinced he was threatening an innocent man. The stranger had kind eyes. Grey hair. A limp that made him look old and harmless.

The stranger dropped where he stood, a jagged blade through his back.

The adventurer stared at the body for a long moment. Counted the seconds it would have taken the man to reach the carriage. Counted how many people sat inside.

Then he shoved the body further away with the butt of his spear—the rock strapped beneath the coat could still detonate—lowered the spear, and kept his post. He trusted no one else that night.

He was right not to.

-=&<o>&=-

That was Evilus's true weapon, in the end. Not the blaze rock. Not the children. Not even the bodies.

The doubt.

Neighbours eyed neighbours across barricades. Rescuers frisked the people they rescued. Every open hand had to be checked for a knife before it could be taken.

By night's end, no one could trust even a child asking after her mother.

-=&<o>&=-

But Orario had not survived this long by breaking.

Riveria Ljos Alf's magic stood over the eastern districts in pillars of light, turning bombers to ash at distances their triggers couldn't answer. Her voice carried across rooftops, calm and measured, directing evacuation routes.

Gareth Landrock carried a collapsed tenement's worth of families out through a hole he'd made himself, stone dust in his beard, a toddler tucked under one arm and a grandmother under the other. He went back three times. The fourth time, the building came down. He dug through it anyway.

The Warlord walked the southern avenue. The southern avenue emptied of enemies. Those who saw Ottar's shadow simply... left. Those who didn't leave stopped being problems.

Hermes Familia's crystals were passed around, a web of whispered intelligence that kept the rescue teams one step ahead of ambush. Somewhere in the chaos, Asfi Al Andromeda had a makeshift workshop alongside Hephaestus's and Goibniu's temporary forge inside Babel.

In Central Plaza, Dian Cecht's white tents filled and filled again. Airmid worked red to the elbow, hands steady even when her voice wasn't. Miach handed out potions without once asking who would pay.

And through all of it, small and constant, Astraea's daughters stitched the districts together one escorted family at a time. Eleven women against a city's worth of fear.

It wasn't enough.

But it was something.

-=&<o>&=-

In the north, smoke stood tall over the quarter where Braver had made his stand. Orange light flickered against the clouds.

Shink.

Crack.

The steel kept falling from Babel, patient as rain.

"This area is clear. Let us head towards Central Plaza," Braver ordered the Loki Familia members around him.

The explosions were fewer now, and farther apart.

And yet his thumb still throbbed.

This was truly going to be a long night.

-=&<o>&=-

End

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