"At least twenty heads facing us," said Erina. "At least ten more on him. Since we couldn't defeat it outright, it grew back even stronger than when we started. Did we… make a mistake…?"

  "Don't think like that," said Akira. "All we have to do is kill it dead for sure this time. Aileen, your crowd control is top class. If I pin them all, I can buy you a few seconds to—"

  "Do you really think that will work?"

  Akira stopped in her tracks.

  "Time is short. We only have one chance left. If this fails, there is no next time." The armored knight didn't turn to face her, staring out at the dragon whose figure dominated the ruined city. "Or are you just postponing the conclusion you've already made in your heart?"

  "Fuck you," spat Akira. But she didn't have any better rebuttal.

  "…The disc," whispered Erina. She turned to her mother and repeated, "Mom! Do you have the disc?"

  Black wisps of energy focused around her hand, coalesced, and turned pure white. A glowing white disc formed in Lazarus' hand, its surface glossy and covered in iridescent markings.

  "We don't have any other option," said Erina. "We need to return it."

  Lazarus hesitated. "But that's—"

  "Mom, we need to return the disc to him! We don't have another choice!"

  "Return it to the man that killed you once before?!"

  Erina drew back. Lazarus flinched too. She looked as surprised by the outburst as her daughter.

  "That's what he is to me," said Lazarus. "I gave him those arms. I granted him this power. And what did he do with it? He destroyed my life's work. Everything I dedicated myself to for longer than any normal human could understand!" She looked out through the storm, rain soaking her figure. "The person I admired more than anything…"

  "Cry me a river," sneered Akira. Boots splashed in the mud as she stomped over. "Now is NOT the time! Hand that damn thing to me or I'm ramming my foot straight up your—"

  Lazarus' hand stopped inches away from Akira's face and she froze.

  Akira bared her teeth. The fingers that could strip away all powers hovered just shy of her, daring her to take one step closer.

  "Lazarus." The armored knight's voice made them both turn. Aileen's attention was on Orochi. It had lost interest in the morsels that couldn't fight back, turning all its attention to pulling free the blades that kept it restrained. "No matter the past, somebody needs you now."

  "Mom?" said Erina. Lazarus looked between her and Aileen.

  "From one mother to another," said Aileen. "Please."

  Lazarus was silent. The rain poured down all around them from the sky of stormy gray and smoky black. The last of Orochi's flames died out, suffocated by the ceaseless rain. A cold, bitter wind pulled at the hem of her coat. Rain soaked her hair, dripping from the tips.

  Erina looked up at her, imploring. Those were the eyes that assured Lazarus she had made the right decision when she saw them for the very first time. Even now, she could see that woman in them… but this was not an expression she ever would have made. More than anything, she saw her daughter in need.

  Slowly, Lazarus lowered her arm. Then, she turned her back on them.

  "…Erina," she said. "Perform a scan and lock onto Darius' exact location. Akira, I need you to pin Orochi's heads to open the knot. Aileen, Erina will provide you the coordinates and timing. I'll use the accelerator. When I get close, I need you to—"

  Everyone staggered and Erina fell as an immense quake rocked the ground at their feet. Five of Orochi's heads entangled themselves around the hilt of one of Darius' great swords and pulled it free at long last. The sword the size of a skyscraper towered high in the air, its blade dominating the sky as it hovered over them.

  Red eyes flashed and the colossal sword descended, screaming through the air—

  The earth shook a second time as huge chunks of ice burst forth on their sides, twin icebergs crossing over the group and bringing the blade to a screeching halt over them. Without even touching them, the impact sent both Akira and Lazarus to the dirt—and the disc knocked loose from her hand, skittering away down the street.

  "The disc!" said Lazarus, hand outstretched.

  Time slowed down. All eyes turned to the disc that contained the ultimate Affinity. Aileen turned her head, arms still raised to hold the glaciers fast against the white blade. Akira rolled onto her feet as Erina made to scramble upright.

  Yamata no Orochi had no concept of discs that held Affinities. But what it knew was that thing was tainted with the same scent as the defiant scrap of meat responsible for the chains buried in its flesh. Driven by instinct, its head struck out at speed for the white disc.

  A dozen spires of ice grew to meet it head-on, running it through. Even so, its sheer bulk snapped through and smashed to the ground, throwing the disc to the air, a glinting white spot in the relentless storm.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Akira stood, static crackling at her fingertips, but a jet of flame from another angle sent her spinning away. Erina cast a series of spell circles and Lazarus launched through, hurling herself at the disc to catch it. Before Aileen could interfere any further, numerous serpentine heads locked on and forced her to divert her attention to protecting her allies.

  A deep whoosh, and Orochi swung the side of its head into Lazarus like a wrecking ball that sent her careening aside. At the same time, one more head snapped out, striking with the agility of a far smaller serpent, and—

  "It ate it?!" said Akira.

  "Don't let it get away!" said Erina.

  Lazarus got up from the dirt and leveled the Finger, railgun humming to life as Erina took aim and did the same. Both opened fire at once, bolts of blue and green piercing the torrential storm on their way to the head that had eaten the disc.

  Their bolts struck home, tearing through hardened scales and biting deep into the beast's flesh… but not finding their mark. Orochi had one more head to throw into the fray, diving in front of the other and taking the hit for it.

  Aileen threw both arms out and huge hands of ice copied the motion, physically wrenching aside the mass of heads in her way. The colossal white sword clattered to the earth, crushing buildings under its massive blade. She turned to the escaping head with the disc, huge spear-like icicles forming at her back ready to fire.

  "Shoot!" said Akira. When no spears of ice crossed the distance, she turned and yelled, "Shoot, damn it! Why aren't you shooting?!"

  "It's too late." The words came out reluctantly, as if forced. "It's blended in with the rest. I can't tell which one it is."

  "Then kill them all!" Akira gritted her teeth as nothing continued to happen. Even as she said it, she knew perfectly well how bad of an idea that would turn out. "Erina, do something!"

  Erina flourished, spell circles forming and vanishing around her as she scanned the city as quickly as she could. "Darius' signature identified," she said. "Two instances located, but…" She looked up from her array of seals at the tangle of heads holding the gunslinger. "They're moving too much. I can't get a clean lock on them."

  A glimpse of white, through the serpents and the storm. Orochi snapped its head like a whip and smashed Darius against the earth near the other end of the small city. He tumbled free of its grip, battered and beaten. The white coat once pristine was covered in dust, cuts, and burns, and its wearer little better.

  Orochi closed its jaws over him. Its head lifted high into the air, and swallowed, before vanishing into the rest of the tangled serpents.

  "Shit," muttered Akira. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit."

  "Mom!" said Erina. "Orochi is too powerful. It couldn't possibly have been resurrected and left to run free. Patriarch Kirigami must have some means of controlling it. There must be a way to make it stop! Right? …Right?"

  Lazarus' expression was grave. Yamata no Orochi turned its attention away from the scraps of meat that could no longer pose any threat to it. Instead, the mythical beast turned its effort to grasping the great swords still binding it and drawing them from the earth, immense walls of white rising.

  "I doubt it," said Lazarus.

  "W-We have to try." Erina's voice trembled, betraying the girl shrinking back even as she spoke. "We can still fight. T-There has to be a way to stop it. We just need to find it. Maybe… maybe Darius can still do it!"

  She turned with a new light in her eyes as she drew up a scan spell.

  "Orochi swallowed him! Then, if he can relocate his disc in its stomach, he could simply…"

  Scan complete, and Erina couldn't finish her line of thought. One signature in the belly of the beast, and one signature knotted still amidst the other heads.

  Orochi, it seemed, wasn't that stupid. And it would guard the disc as fiercely as it guarded the man in white himself.

  And if it was that smart, would it really consume its foe if it wasn't certain they no longer posed a threat?

  "I-I don't…" Erina stammered. "W-We just need to… We can… we c-can…"

  She trailed off. There had to be something she could do about this. Something they hadn't tried yet. But what was it? No matter how hard she thought, she only drew blanks. With every passing second, the dread sank deeper and deeper into her heart. The longer she stood there, unable to come up with a new strategy, the more she understood that they had already tried every strategy.

  "What do we… w-what do we do now…?"

  "Nothing." Aileen strode to the front of their group, crystalline armor clanking. "There is nothing left for you to do."

  "Don't wanna hear that out of anyone's mouth!" barked Akira. "And let this thing do whatever it wants while we sit here and watch?! I'll give up when I'm dead!"

  "I didn't say we'd do nothing." The bold visage of the lion helm turned to them. "Akira-san. Erina-san. Lazarus-san. Truly, I thank you. But the rest of this battle is mine to fight."

  "Are you listening to a word I said?" Akira stepped forward. "You're out of your mind if you think I'm gonna stick my thumb up my ass and—huh?"

  Lazarus reached out and grabbed Akira's wrist to stop her. Lazarus shook her head. She said, "We'll retreat to the laboratory. Take shelter there. Let Aileen handle the rest."

  "Get your damn mitts off me before I…" Akira trailed off. Her expression looked like she was being forced to swallow an oversized pill. Erina could tell she was struggling with the crushing truth she also didn't want to admit.

  Akira shook off Lazarus' grip. Slowly, she stepped back. Her teeth grinded against each other.

  "…C'mon, Erina," she said in a low voice. "I'm sick of seeing this stupid snake anyway."

  They left first. Lazarus lingered at Aileen's side, watching Orochi work at raising the last three blades from the earth.

  "You want us out of the way," said Lazarus. "Away from what you're about to do."

  "Indeed." Aileen didn't turn to her.

  "I heard it from Erina, you know. You pointed them to me. Not even the Binding Association, for all its power, knew where I was or how to reach me… but you did." Heavy rain ran down Lazarus' face. Cold water dripped from her slick long hair. "He told you, didn't he?"

  "You should go as well."

  "When we served Eve, Goukei was our greatest asset. It was through him that we could predict events and alter them. With him at our side, we knew everything. We controlled fate itself. And you received impossible knowledge from him. Erina wouldn't have learned. This fight wouldn't occur here. You wouldn't be here." Lazarus' expression was grim. "You changed the tides of destiny. That doesn't come without a cost."

  "If this is destiny, then so be it." Aileen's voice through the helm was as light and conversational as if they were talking over tea. "I am at peace with my decision. But even if I wasn't… wouldn't you do the same? If that was Erina in the grip of that serpent."

  At first, Lazarus was silent. When she spoke again, it was barely audible over the storm. "I understand. Do what you need to do."

  "If you don't mind me being selfish." That voice gave Lazarus pause as she made to turn away. "Please try to get along a little better with him from now on, would you? Call it a favor for this old lady."

  "Old? You're still a grasshopper as far as I'm concerned." Lazarus adjusted her coat. "…I'll think about it. Goodbye, Aileen."

  "Goodbye, Lazarus-san." As the scientist left, Aileen's attention turned towards the great dragon. Her next words were as cold as ice. "As for you… dear me, just what in the world am I going to do with you?"