"Damn it... what is it with us Indian heroes and getting screwed over by oaths we took... it's ok, all I need to do is not target her... I don't want to harm this young lady... I simply want to hit the ground... or that sword that's trying to harm me."
"Varunastra!"
Bhishma shot an arrow at the ground, causing a massive flood. Salter jumped up in the air and, instead of releasing her mana in a single slash, she stored it in her blade and concentrated it on the tip. When she swang down her weapon, the torrent of water instantly evaporated.
"The fact that he's avoiding hitting me directly makes me think that he's somewhat incapable of harming me. Normally that would be an advantage..."
A shower of projectiles rained down on the ground around her as she skillfully avoided them and attempted to hit the Archer in front of him directly.
"Vayavastra!"
A powerful tempest of pure wild wind impacted against Excalibur Morgan's handle, knocking Salter back.
"Agneyastra!"
A column of fire erupted from Bhishma's bow, aimed exactly at the spot the other King of Knights was about to land on. Emitting a sudden release of mana, she managed to redirect her trajectory and take cover from the devastating attack.
"Well, this is fine... I don't need to defeat her, I just need to stall her long enough for others to come here and finish her off."
"Normally, that would be an advantage but... that's not what I want."
"Hey, geezer."
"Mm? You're talking to me?"
"Don't play dumb with me."
"Geezer... the disrespect..."
"Are you the one who shot down the ship?"
"... yeah, it was me."
"Show me."
"?"
"Show me the Noble Phantasm you used."
"I'm afraid I can't do that."
"What do you mean?"
"I can't harm you, lady. If I were to use this on you, it would go against my oath."
"If you can't harm me, you won't be able even if you don't want to."
"I'm pretty sure oaths don't work like that..."
"Let's make it a wager then. We'll do the best of three. If I can't overpower you, then I'll surrender and let you do what you want. That's my oath."
"Young lady, making inconvenient oaths is not very smart, trust me."
"Too late, geezer. Now show me."
"... fine."
It is said that once, due to complicated circumstances, Bhishma fought his master, Parashurama, for nearly a month straight. At the end of their epic fight, Bhishma was about to use Praswapa, an arrow capable of making everyone fall asleep. However, that last part is a misunderstanding that was passed down throughout generations. It's not that the arrows makes people fall asleep, it's that it's so silent, quick and precise in killing someone that it seems like they've suddenly fallen asleep.
It's the ultimate Anti-Unit Noble Phantasm, a nearly undetectable and therefore unblockable attack. The only reason Gilgamesh was able to block it was that he could see into the future. If any other male had been in his place, they would've died right then and there.
By contrast, his other Noble Phantasm, capable of waking people even from the eternal slumber of death, is the ultimate Anti-Army Noble Phantasm. An arrow capable of shaking creation itself. Its name is...
"SAMVODHANA - Cherished Bow, Awake Creation"
"EXCALIBUR MORGAN - Sword of Promised Victory"
The clash of those two powerful Noble Phantasms transformed the landscape around them into a barren wasteland of molten rock in a split second. The light would have been enough to dwarf the one produced by the strongest nuclear bomb ever released. Both weapons held an absurd amount of power.
However, Excalibur Morgan was considered an A++ Noble Phantasm. That means that, as great as it was, its power could still somewhat be calculated. But the monster that Bhishma had released was completely unintelligible even for the most skilled mage, not because it was subtle, on the contrary, its power was so great that no one could even fathom it. Therefore, it was something that exceeded the ranking system entirely. An Ex-rank Noble Phantasm.
"Are you alright, Miss? You look a little bit worse for wear..."
Salter slowly got up from the ground, every cell of her body screaming out in pain.
"The arrow is all the way there... so he wasn't even aiming in my general direction... this is simply the recoil... ridiculous... if he weren't restricted, I would have died... he's on a completely different level..."
"As I foretold you, I'm unharmed. Now ready your bow again, geezer."
"May I ask why you are so eager to do this, Miss?"
"It's simple... I don't want to defeat you, I want to surpass you."
"I can guarantee that, skill-wise, your ability with a sword is far greater than mine. In fact, had I decided to use my astras as swords, I would already have lost."
"That means nothing if I can't beat you at your best."
"I don't get it."
"I'm a selfish person. I can't help it. I want things to go my way, and if that doesn't happen, I get mad. It's a fatal flaw that's a fundamental part of me. Without it, I wouldn't be who I am. And typically, things tend to really refuse to go my way, so I have to force them to go my way. That's the main source of my strength. That's what I'm all about. Forcing fate to go my way through power."
"I see-"
"I wasn't done talking. A guy told me that to improve myself, I need to turn my Noble Phantasm into something that represents what I'm about as much as possible. It's a really hard task, since the whole point of Noble Phantasms is to represent us. So I thought about it for a bit. What exactly do I want? What do I want my sword to be capable of doing? Quite simply, bend fate to my will. How? Through sheer overwhelming power. That's my resolve, that's what Excalibur should be all about because that's what represents me. Someone who's willing to destroy herself just to achieve what she wants. My Excalibur shouldn't be overpowered by anything, because otherwise, how can I make everything and everyone do as I say?"
"So you're going to use me as a stepping stone?"
"That's more or less the idea."
"Hehe... hehehe... HAHAHAHA..."
"What are you laughing at, geezer?"
"How naive of you, brat. I must say, I missed these moments a lot... the excitement and conviction with which youngsters pretend to conquer the world... it's a dream that's fated to be crushed by reality... and yet, everyone has it at one point or another..."
"It's weird, isn't it... people stay fundamentally the same... but what changes is what they want... despite having the same temperament as I did in life, I can hardly recognise myself... my priorities have changed completely... my objectives... my views... and yet... I'm still me. I'm still the King of Knights, I'm still the young girl who climbed her way to power because she was tired of sitting on the cold ground and wanted to stay on a throne."
"It seems like you aren't as foolish as I expected after all. In any case, to thank you for this amusing occasion, and for making me have a good laugh after a long time, I'll grant your request. Here I come, King of Knights."
"I'm ready."
"SAMVODHANA - Cherished Bow, Awake Creation"
The attack wasn't fire, and not even mana or energy. It was power itself. One look at it and Salter could tell that it was unbeatable and unsurpassable. Despite this, her mana circuits fired up, her core roared and nearly tore itself apart, every ounce of strength and every little bit of mana that her body could produce and contain was used into this single attack, capable of destroying even the sturdiest fortress.
"EXCALIBUR MORGAN!"
In that moment, Salter's attack surpassed every conceivable limit that applied to it. It surpassed the original strength of the superior prototype, Merodach, and the one of its twin, Saber's Excalibur, so much so that its strength was closer to the unsuppressed version of Excalibur than to the might of these already formidable swords. It was, quite possibly, the singular most powerful sword swing of the Age of Man. And yet, it wasn't enough.
Splitting the red beam of dreaded energy right in enough, the arrow lodged itself into the terrain, shaking it, moving it, quaking it so much, that it as if even what wasn't living had been awakened into existence. Everything moved, everything danced around. Creation awoke.
Salter's armour shattered into a thousand pieces, leaving her skin facing the unbearable heat of absolute power. The mere sight of that display was enough to nearly make her faint. Still, refusing to be knocked with her face kissing the ground a second time, she powered through it and withstood her defeat with the dignity of a King, even though her entire body shook and was about to give out.
"I must say, you really have impressed me, Miss. To stop my attack, although I held back quite a bit, Arjuna nearly died by charging his bow completely with the weapon of destruction Lord Shiva had entrusted him. For you to even rival such power, is no small feat."
"Shut up!"
"Excuse me?"
"It means nothing. Absolute power is not made of ifs or buts, but of absolute certainty. I'm certain I can cut through your bullshit arrow no matter how seriously you try. I'll bring out the best of you and crush you, geezer. That's my promise, and all I can gift a warrior of your caliber."
"You really are quite childish... although that might just be the source of your power, no, of every hero's power. If we were not childish, if we behaved like respectable adults... we wouldn't be heroes. But there's no point in trying this anymore. I could see that, despite putting everything you had in your attack, you couldn't defeat me. How about we tone it down a little? Here, I'm sure you can stop this.
BHRAMASTRA!"
"I TOLD YOU NOT TO PLAY WITH ME, BASTARD!"
Salter shouted furiously, retaliating with a swing of her sword and Burst Air. The ground was split in half, and drops of blood fed whatever roots remained. Bhishma looked straight in front of himself, questioning what had just happened. An even more puzzled face was all he could find.
"She cut my Bhramastra in half? With a normal swing no less? And that's not the worst part... she overpowered it so much that she was able to cut me... that's... completely absurd."
"What the hell happened? I just wanted to stop his attack... but I came out on top... how? That wasn't a weak attack... it should be at least equal to a moderately charged Excalibur Morgan. It wasn't even a good swing... it was a terrible form because I was mad, my blood was boiling and my muscles tensed up... wait... I was mad... my blood... my body... mad... could it be..."
"Isn't this a surprise? Care to explain what happened, Miss?"
"Hey, geezer. Can you still shoot?"
"Are you doubting me, Miss? I could do that even with no arms."
"I meant at full capacity."
"I imagine I can."
"Good, then I'll tell you after our last exchange."
"So persistent... fine."
"This time, I'm starting. Sure, take your time to-"
Instead of charging up her attack, Salter clenched her hands around the handle, her nails splitting her palms open, her arms nearly getting ripped off from her body, and in a singular instant, a red flash could be seen.
Normally, Bhishma would question such a decision. She couldn't catch him off-guard so easily, and without time to charge up energy, she couldn't possibly produce a powerful enough attack. However, Pitamah Bhishma, commander of the Kaurava forces in the Kurukshetra War, great warrior celebrated in the Mahabharata, and an opponent not even the Pandava brothers supported by the Gods could hope to take on in a direct fight, didn't have time to make none of these considerations. Instead, his body instinctively fired a fully powered Samvodhana directly against the fast-approaching attack.
Before he could even question what was going on, Bhishma barely realised he had been, for the first time in his long life, surpassed in a contest of raw and absolute power, as his body was getting split in half by the power of a sword capable of cleaving right through his most powerful attack. A slash powerful enough to not only awaken creation but to put it back to sleep forever. The undisputable symbol of pure and unadulterated strength, bearing the name of the cursed weapon of the Unstoppable Tyrant. The Sword of Promised Victory.
"EXCALIBUR MORGAN!"
Bhishma, or rather the two halves of Bhishma, crumbled to the ground, or at least what was left of it. Salter's legs finally acknowledged reality and finally gave out. But the King of Knights didn't care about what Gravity wanted, so after the shortest break she could afford, she was back on her feet, stumbling around in a weird motion that was supposed to be walking, but still pushing forward nonetheless.
"So... what was the secret?"
"You're not dead... freaky..."
"I am a man of many oddities... no matter what happens to my body, I can choose the moment of my death... don't worry though, I can't magically put myself back together. I lost, fair and square. What I'm dying to know is... how?"
Salter looked at him for a moment, then turned around and resumed moving forward, a step closer to her goals, a step closer to overpowering fate.
"Adrenaline."