sword / shield meme -- [ x ] // @mudscion said:
Shield. // no worries, leonidas, your master took the hit well. even if she did grow her tiamat-horns in the process, watch out, the mana exhaustion is going to kick in soon. 🥺
To think that his defenses would have been breached, and so easily at that-- Leonidas cursed himself for what could only be his weakness. Even his Noble Phantasm only did so much to hold the assault back, before shattering before him. The counter-attack he launched barely damaged the enemy at all.
And then Anthy jumped into the fray, shielding him from an oncoming attack. It took the Lancer so off-guard, he had no idea how to respond. She was supposed to remain behind; if he fell in battle, it mattered little. He was not truly alive to begin with, so for her to use her life as a possible stand-in for his own...
Such a tone of voice was unprecedented of Leonidas, especially toward his Master, but for Anthy to throw herself between himself and the oncoming attack could only be suicide. He struggled to stand, to throw her aside, but it was too late.
He was supposed to be her shield, the pillar that would refuse to budge. And he failed, not even the one to pay the price for his weakness, as he should. Smoke and debris began to settle, and instead of bearing horror to his Master’s broken and battered body, instead she was standing tall, sporting horns of some kind.
Leonidas was not sure what to make of this, but he did not need to be a smart man to understand that something was wrong. Whatever she was doing, it didn’t look like she could do it for much longer. Grabbing his shield and spear, he called upon the three hundred Spartans, commanding them to attack. Grabbing his Master as she began to fall from exhaustion, Leonidas placed her upon his back, piggy-back style.
“I will accept my broken pride, but I will not accept you falling in battle, Master,” he wasn’t even sure if Anthy could hear him. “Mark my words, I will not allow this failure to happen again. As your shield, I swear this, on my LIFE...”