MTL NOVEL Chapter 7: Chapter 7
Darnic Prestone Yggdmillenia observed the fight between Gordes and the mysterious red-haired girl on a screen in the Millennium Castle, courtesy of one of Caster's golems who had been brought along with Gordes. She was very surprising.
"A second-generation magus who summoned one of the world's most powerful heroes… she does not wear the clothing of the church but she wields their weapons… interesting."
"She appears to know a lot about us," Lancer of Black, also known as Vlad III, said as he sipped on a goblet of fine red wine. "Darnic, what will you do with her? She may jeopardize your plans. Even from here, I can sense great potential in her."
"I will observe her for now, my liege," Darnic replied. "She has not shown her full skillset yet, and if she cannot hold her own against Gordes while providing mana for her Servant, then we have completely overestimated her and she would not be of any danger to us."
Lancer watched silently as the girl flung three red Black Keys at Gordes, two shattering against his reinforced arms but the third managing to pierce his hardened flesh. The blond shouted in pain, and countered with a spell that caused the ground to rise up and attempt to trap the girl, who reinforced her legs and backflipped out of the way, flinging 3 more Black Keys at her opponent. "How fares Saber?"
Darnic motioned with his hand, and the scene changed to the image of two Servants battling with their all. "Lancer of Red is matching Saber blow for blow. Unsurprising, considering Karna is a demigod and has a divine spear."
"It will be interesting to cross blades with him in the near future," Lancer stated, taking another sip of his wine. "Have them retreat when dawn comes. If Karna truly is descended from the sun, I do not think Saber will be able to defeat him then."
"Yes, my liege."
***
A few months before the current events…
Haruka's frustrated scream could be heard throughout Chaldea.
In the summoning chamber, Tesla and Edison had stopped arguing for once, instead laughing together at the pile of conceptual weapons that had appeared in the middle of the summoning circle. Realizing what they had done mere seconds later, they resumed their catfight. With Helena nowhere to be seen, no one stopped them.
Haruka was busy raging.
"10 SUMMONS AND ALL BLACK KEYS?! THIS IS INSANITY, I TELL YOU!" She turned to Tesla and Edison, eyes blazing. "TESLA! EDISON! STOP FIGHTING AND FIND A WAY TO CHANGE THE RATIOS OR WHATEVER! AMAKUSA SHIROU TOKISADA! GET OVER HERE THIS INSTANT!"
"Senpai…" Mashu called gently, but Haruka was beyond comfort at this point.
"THIS IS EVEN WORSE THAN THE MOBILE GAME! AT LEAST SOMETHING THAT WASN'T A BLACK KEY WAS GUARANTEED WITH EVERY MULTI SUMMON!"
Unfortunately, Amakusa chose that time to pop his head into the summoning chamber. "Master Haruka, did you call me—" He was rewarded with Haruka picking up a Black Key and hurling it at his head. He tilted his head to the side and saw the pile of Black Keys on the ground. "My, my, a whole pile of them this time? Shall I take them off your hands?"
Haruka had an angry glare on her face. "Did you steal Gilles's spellbook or something and curse the summoning circle? You're the only one who uses Black Keys!"
"I assure you, I did nothing of the sort," Amakusa raised his hands in a placating manner. "I still haven't gone through the 5 buckets of Black Keys you gave me, so why would I need more?"
Medea materialized at this moment, shaking her head. "Your luck appears to have fallen to E-rank, Haruka."
"Don't remind me," Haruka moaned. "I knew I was spending too much time around Cu and Siegfried, no offense to their E-rank luck."
Medea snapped her fingers and the Black Keys disappeared.
Haruka stared at the elfin beauty. "How…?"
"A simple spell to store objects in alternate spaces," Medea explained. "I don't need an incantation, but you do, and I can teach it to you. With this spell, you can store your extra Black Keys and any other things you don't need, and…" Making a gesture, a portal opened up behind her and fired a Black Key at Amakusa, who dodged it again with a sigh. "Fire them as weapons. The least you can do is use them against enemies."
Haruka had a strangely blank expression on her face. "You're right…" She said dreamily. "Just like how Gilgamesh fires his weapons…"
Amakusa suddenly sensed immediate danger at the serene expression on Haruka's face. He hurriedly dematerialized.
A few days later, Haruka was testing her limits in the training area. There were separate rooms sectioned off from the general area for private training, and she was busy perfecting her Black Key firing.
Muttering the aria, Haruka thrust her hand forward and 12 portals opened behind her, firing Black Keys into the opposite, reinforced wall. They shattered, but the wall was strong and remained unmarked. She had observed a while ago that the green Black Keys flew the quickest, the blue ones were the most accurate, and the red ones were extremely powerful. Working with different combinations, she could destroy weaker enemies and get rid of the things she hated the most at the same time.
Before she could fire again, a child's disembodied voice was heard. "Heh, so that's what you're working on, Master?"
Haruka stopped and smiled at the child Servant, who materialized in a burst of golden sparks. "Hello there, Gilgamesh."
Ko-Gil giggled slightly. "Copying me, aren't you? I don't care what my older counterparts say, I approve. Although your spell will never compare to the Gate of Babylon, it is sufficient for you. I suppose this is a secret from the majority of Chaldea, then?"
Haruka nodded. A thought then struck her mind. "I shouldn't tell your older counterparts about this, should I?"
Ko-Gil scratched his head, and then shook it. "Don't. They're annoyed enough with the faker copying our treasures. Caster might be more amused, but Archer will probably be very angered."
"Then I'll have to give it a name, then, to differentiate," Haruka mused. "I know… how about Black Key Hell?"
Ko-Gil grinned. "Good idea, Master."
Haruka let another barrage fly into the wall. "If I ever reach the Throne of Heroes, this is definitely going to be one of my Noble Phantasms. Sad."
"Black Key Hell… an almost-infinite stream of Black Keys. You're getting more interesting by the day, Master."
"I'll take that as a compliment, thank you."