As he heard Alice and Jonathan run away from him, Shirou would stop for a moment in his stride back towards the hotel. He could feel the presence behind him seep through his very metal skin, and didn’t even need to turn around to realize what was going on. “So, you came out, you monster.” Turning back around the knight would watch Oda’s lifeless body as it laid underneath the barren tree. It was not long before just about anyone could see what he was talking about. For all over Oda’s body, black armor was starting to appear, black armor not much unlike that of the jet black knight that Evelina and Alice had fought. But there was a clear difference, this armor was more animalistic, like it was nothing but the hide of a monstrous animal and all over it there were golden veins whose glow would pulsate like the beating of a heart. Slowly standing up to face the warrior before it, the beast would immediately get down low in an animalistic stance.
“Come.” That was the simple command Shirou uttered and like it was waiting for that invitation, the beast would immediately lunge towards him without changing position. Hitting Shirou head on with a devastating tackle, the force it carried was enough to send the two of them bouncing in different directions. As soon as the monster had hit the ground it would get up and launch itself towards its opponent again. The knight on the other hand, never lost balance to begin with, landing gracefully on booth feet as soon as he hit the ground. Seeing that his opponent was about to try the exact same tactic as before, Shirou would use his opponent's great speed and strength against them. Aiming his sword right at the beast as he moved through the air, unless he was able to change his trajectory mid air he would inevitably end up being impaled by the tip of the blade. To Shirou’s surprise, the beast did not even seem to consider changing trajectory as its shoulder was pierced by the blade. Colliding with Shirou once more, the two were sent flying in different directions. This time, the knight wasn’t given the respite of a graceful landing as he violently collided with a nearby residential building, who thankfully was empty.
Letting out a screeching howl, the beast would stand upright as it looked towards the spot where its opponent had crashed. Clicking its teeth angrily, it was not long until it would begin to slowly walk towards the motionless knight, akin to how a predator approached its dying prey. As he laid there the still knight would let out a slight chuckle, “You think that two attacks are enough to take down a knight of justice?” While it was true that he had suffered some damage from the two collisions, as long as his metal body was mostly intact he could keep fighting, for that was the nature of his manifestation. Getting up from the pile of rubble and jumping back down on the street, with a simple glance towards the beast he was able to confirm that the wound he had given it just a moment prior was already starting to close up. Truly, its regenerative ability was beyond monstrous. But that alone was far from enough to dissuade the knight from fighting it. He had a theory that something like that must burn an incredible amount of energy to keep fighting and generating, unlike him who could keep going for all eternity as long as his body remained intact.
His plan, provided the theory he had was correct, was quite simple: he would tire the beast out by forcing it to regenerate over and over. Seeing that the opposing beast was lowering its stance, most likely trying to use the same attack for the third time in a row. But against a human being who could improvise and adapt, using the same move over and over was incredibly stupid. Instead of pointing his blade towards this time, Shirou would put it up diagonally in front of him, gripping it with both hands. If the monster tried to attack him head on while the knight was in that stance it would surely be split in half as a result. Despite that, the beast launched itself towards the knight head on like it had done twice before, turning its entire body into a deadly projectile. Tightening the grip on his sword even more, Shirou was convinced that this was where their battle would end, after all regardless of how monstrous the beast's regenerative abilities were there was no way it could recover from being split in half.
Watching it approach as if in slow motion, he would see something unusual. Right as the monster was about to make impact, it would twist and turn its body in a strange fashion before punching the ground. The speed it was flying at combined with the force of the punch was enough to send it completely off trajectory, hitting a nearby building instead of the knight. Simply standing there without moving in the slightest, Shirou pondered what had just happened, was it possible that the beast had learnt how to dodge. No that wasn’t it, to him it felt more like the monster was forced to dodge rather than it intentionally did so. Turning around to peer into the cloud of dust that had been created when the beast made impact with the building, it would not be long before it began to settle and Shirou could see a highly unusual sight. The monster was standing upright in the hole it created in the building, grabbing onto its head like it was suffering from a strong headache. Falling down onto its knees, it would aim its head upwards before releasing an incredibly loud scream of pain into the December night. “Just what the hell is going on in your head.” Shirou said to himself as he assumed a neutral stance, his words obviously not being able to reach the beast.
At the same time, Oda was desperately fighting for control of his body, he had no idea where this darkness, this bloodthirsty beast, had come from but he knew that if he let it control him that would be the end. Therefore he was putting his all into restraining this rampaging monster. Looking back, he felt like a fool, he had seriously believed that simply being able to control a sliver of this creature's power was enough to make him its master, now he realized that had been little more than a trap to give him a false sense of security, a trap that he walked straight into to. Living alongside the beast was an impossibility, it was a creature that only wanted one thing, to kill and destroy. But at the same time, how had such a creature been able to exist in him for so long without him realizing it? When did it first appear? Maybe it was all those years ago when he beat up an innocent guy simply because his so-called friends dared him too, maybe it was at that moment that the beast had started controlling his actions from the shadows.
Oda would chuckle a little, what a convenient excuse, blaming everything on some demon living in your body. If he could do that then he would have a perfect alibi to call upon when someone confronted him about his past. But if he did then he would be a terrible coward, truly if he couldn’t even face his own actions then there was no way that he could face the beast that was now running amok with his body, a beast that he had created. From that day when he first chose to walk down the dark path that had consumed his life, every action, every choice had been no one but his own.
He wasn’t proud of having walked that path down into the abyss, but he was proud of having clawed his way back up. “A hero… born from the abyss.” Oda said those words like he was almost tasting them. Looking up at the beast standing tall, Shirou was certain that his ears deceived him for a moment, it sounded almost like it had spoken for an instant. But that wasn’t possible, a mindless monster like that couldn’t speak.
Grabbing onto his sword tightly, Shirou was preparing to jump up there and face the beast. But just as he was about to move, his eyes met its gaze. There was something about it that had fundamentally changed, if only for an instant it seemed like there was genuine intelligence in those eyes. The very next instant that sheen was gone as the beast lounged itself towards him. Not being prepared for the sudden move, Shirou was unable to muster a proper defense. Taking the beasts punch head on, the knight would be sent flying through the air. But before he could fly far the beast was upon him, having launched itself off the concrete wall with superhuman strength to follow its foe. It gave the knight no time to recompose himself before another powerful fist crashed into his metal body, sending him straight down to the earth. The impact as his metal body hit the ground caused a huge explosion, shooting debris in multiple directions and kicking up a large cloud of dust.
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Unsure whether its foe was dead or not, the beast would wait for the dust to settle before it dared approach. But before it had a chance to take action, a silvery figure would emerge from the cloud of dust and rapidly approach it. Aiming a swing straight towards the monster's head, his attack would be repelled by its forearm as it put up a defense against the attack almost immediately. Instead of the arm being cleaved in half like it would have if Shirou was fighting the beast of a few weeks ago the beast was simply pushed back a little by the blow.
Seeing that his attack was mostly ineffective, Shirou would keep up the pressure, forcing the monster back as he delivered swing after swing towards its defensive stance. As he was slashing away at the foe before him, Shirou thought that something had changed. It no longer felt like he was facing a rampaging monster but rather, a mix of both human and beast. Seeing that he was unable to damage his opponent by simply slashing away at it, Shirou would stop for a moment. This split second pause was all the beast needed to launch a counterattack towards him, but this was something the knight had anticipated. Bringing down his sword straight towards the fist that was quickly approaching him, it was split in half by the blade. A surprised growl could be heard from the beast as it saw its own hand being split in half, the very next instant a heavy kick connected with its stomach sending it rolling on the ground for a dozen meters before it finally collided with a light pole.
As the knight watched the struggling beast, he would almost feel pity for it. “I feel like I owe you an explanation for what just happened, although these words are probably wasted.” Shirou said as he slowly approached the monster as it lay on the ground. “When a moving car crashes into a car standing still, both cars take the same amount of damage. However, if the same car were to crash into a moving car at the same speed as before the damage would be doubled to both of them. That’s because the crash no longer only contains the energy of one moving car, but two. If I myself lack the strength to damage you, all I have to do is use your own strength against you.” Inside the monstrous form, Oda's consciousness understood every single word that was being said, but the same thing could not be said for the rampaging beast he was attempting to control. It seemed frightened, yet running away wasn’t an option so the only choice it had was to attack. 'Whatever you do, don’t try and punch him aga-’ before Oda was able to finish that thought, uncertain whether the beast could even hear or understand him, it had already launched itself towards the warrior with a raised fist, bringing it down towards its target in the very next instant. “As expected of a beast.” Was the short statement Shirou would give upon seeing that action, cleaving the beast's left hand in two as well shortly afterwards.
After that was done, he would use his sword like it was a baseball bat to propel the beast's armored head through the air, the rest of its body following right after. Crashing into a building like a baseball going out of the playing stage, the monster would soon emerge from the cement box. It looked down towards its seemingly undefeatable foe, regardless of what strategy, regardless of what attack its primitive mind came up with; it seemed like that piece of metal was always three steps ahead of it. Being able to directly feel the beast's frustration, Oda would try to use this as an opportunity to reason with it and seize the reins. ‘Come on now, there's no way you’ll be able to defeat him. Hand over the controls to me and I’ll show you how it's done.’ While he was uncertain if the beast could understand what he was saying, Oda was certain that his intentions were getting through. But, as to be expected, the beast was stubborn and refused to give up the little freedom it had been able to obtain. Well if diplomacy didn’t work then Oda would have no choice but to use war. It was not a war of physical might but rather a war of willpower, in the end the one with the strongest will would be the last one left standing.
Looking up towards the beast as it stood at the building's edge, like it was about to jump out at any moment, Shirou prepared himself for its next attack, but it didn’t come. The beast would simply stand there and look out towards the distance, like there was something far away only it could see. Unsure about how to proceed, the knight would only stare at the beast as it stood there. At the same time, the beast and Oda were fighting a battle inside his head about whose will would be the dominant one, the blonde man could only thank god that his armored opponent didn’t take this opportunity to annihilate him. Although he could feel an immense pain as the mental strain increased with every second he fought against the monster, Oda did not waver in his faith. It was a slow process, but steadily, piece for piece, he could feel the monstrous presence within his body beginning to break apart and disappear, with each passing second that monstrous creature became less and less. After what felt like an eternity, Oda was the only thing remaining.
Shirou’s eyes would widen, if he had had any that was, as the monster took a bold step forwards off the building and promptly crashed into the ground. While the fall would have been enough to break every bone in an ordinary person's body, that standard could obviously not be applied to the monster that was now standing up on its legs like a human being. Shirou had no idea what happened during those few moments that the beast had been stunned, but he was certain that something was going to change in their battle from this point onwards, with both its hands already having healed Shirou would face this new beast on equal footing. The beast would look towards his direction and as it did, the knight would be able to notice the same intelligent eyes that he had seen in the beast once before. That was when he realized his opponent must have been battling for control in there and it was not until now that he finally gained it.
Unsure whether he was going to get a response or not, the armored man would speak up. “Can you hear me?” Facing the beast as it stood up, it was not long until it would grant him an response, its golden veins glowing faintly as it did. “Yeah…” Although it was muffled and sounded somewhat slurred, there was no mistake about the fact that the creature had been able to produce human speech.
Walking up to it, the two beings stood face to face, their heights being nearly identical. “Is that you?” The knight would ask curiously, wanting to find out whether the human man he had knocked out was now back in charge of his own body. “Yup, it sure is. One and only, Oda Kaguri.” Inspecting the person before him, Shirou would take the moment to comment on his unusual manifestation. “It seems like your abnormality affects your entire body, just like how mine does.” Upon hearing that Oda would let out an obviously sarcastic remark. “Who knows, maybe we are kindred spirits.” Following it was a mocking laughter, although when it was distorted by his now monstrous vocal cords it sounded like a howl from hell. Walking past the beast, turning his back on it in the process, Shirou would give his opponent a choice. “Since it seems like you have finally learnt to control that power, I don’t have a reason to fight you anymore. Oda Kaguri, you are free to go.” Sounding almost like a policeman or a judge, the authoritative tone in the knight's voice would rub Oda the wrong way, especially after what he had done.
“I’m free to go? That’s great, absolutely amassing. One tiny issue though, before I leave I’m going to rip you to shreds.” Upon hearing that last part, Shirou would quickly turn around just in time to block one of the Oda’s claws as it approached him with immense speed, hitting the sword instead of its intended target. After he was pushed back by the force from the attack, he would look straight at his opponent. “Did you forget the tiny detail that you slaughtered my friend, Mifuyu Matsuki? Hell you have probably forgotten his name by now.” The bloodlust practically manifesting off Oda as he spoke made it seem like the monster was back in charge for a moment, but Shirou quickly dismissed those thoughts. From this point onwards, he would be fighting a human being with the powers of a beast, it was a hard battle but he was certain that he would come out victorious. Why was that? “I see, so you fight to avenge your fallen comrade. In that case, give up now Oda Kaguri, because someone who fights to avenge their friends will never beat someone who fights to avenge strangers.” As he spoke, the silver knight would raise his sword and point it towards his opponent. It was clear that the only option the two of them had now was to fight to the death, neither wanting to back down from this battle.