#demon archer

Yesterday's sketch, a demon archer. I need to get better at drawing bows.

dreams in grayscale.

If Sesshōmaru trained as an archer under Kagome’s instruction, he’d look something like this.

...in exchange for him teaching her swordsmanship or some kind of one-on-one combat. (next up)

Also prop to Nobu for continuing to use musket as weapon despite its role in her two failed assassination.

Recall that her NP is named ‘Three lines formation’. In chapter 1 (or the prologue), it was also shown in three lines. This one is from Gudaguda 3 trailer, showing 3 lines:

It’s flipped sideway but the formation of Nobu’s muskets there is the replica of the kuji-kiri formation. It’s translated as ‘Nine (words) Cuts’. If you played Tenchu, especially Tenchu 3 you will find it familiar. The Kuji (nine words) is usually invoked as protection against otherworldly deities. It originates from Taoism and became incorporate in some aspects of Buddhism. They warned that without proper rituals and preparation, invoking the kuji could invite malicious deities instead. The kuji-kiri has wider and more common application. Usually, one would use it to gain protection or supremacy against something. It’s done by writing a character and then perform the cutting diagram over that character. Here, Okita is the ‘object’ to gained control over by the kuji-kiri drawn by Nobu’s musket formation. The intention here is clear: Nobu aims to annihilate Okita. While there are many combination of the 9 characters, usually the meaning is to call up warriors from all direction to attack the thing before the caster. I assumed it’s flipped because we can’t tell if the artist inverted the formation. It’s flipped because Nobu’s a demon king. Nobu isn’t the only Servant to use barrage of fire type attack without manifesting the soldiers/companions. Neither a demon king nor a demon soldier is comparable to that of a human general and soldier. As a demon king, she should have a boost in using concepts versus enacting her real life deed. Using soldiers to fire the muskets would strip her off much of her mobility and mastery in the fighting style she’s been using. More importantly, Sixth Heaven’s Demon King is the final obstacle to true enlightenment. If she doesn’t have the strength and power of an army by herself, she can’t be a demon king let alone the Sixth Heaven’s Demon King. This is a nice reference to her stance that religion should be respected and not relied on. She called herself a demon king thus her attack does not have that mythical attribute of guaranteed elimination of target. It’s a psychological attack sublimed into a (still physic affected) conceptual assault. Her opponent is Okita, a swordmaster that relies on her innate talent and training. If it was someone else that have tie with the supernatural to recognize that diagram, a second of hesitation would let them get caught in her attack. Most likely even the ones without Divinity would be at disadvantage in proportion to the strength of their belief. After all, she does use her terrifying epithet for all its worth. Here is a diagram of kuji-kiri in real life (taken from wiki page):

Remember in their trial quest, Nobu stands in as Shogun:

She was even mentioned by name:

The twist is the contest with life at stake:

Nobu didn't attain the title of Shogun in life. She is called 'King of Innovation' and has King trait in FGO. The reason could be that she cut off a piece of Ranjatai, an honor reserved only for Emperors and Shoguns. In Hawalulu, the Hokusai-Oei father-daughter pair would be killed off unceremoniously by XX per her duty of Foreigners eradication many times until the last loop. Depends on how you view it, they either suffer less or worse than Okita as a victim of Nobutoria pair. At least it's a one time thing for them.

There is another detail more important:

The Treasure Ship here is the one said to sail through the heavens by the Seven Lucky Gods of the Japanese. They each carry a godly treasure. Forward to Las Vegas event, Maou Nobu said she was jealous of Ruler Artoria's Ehangwen and wanted it. Ruler Artoria radiates divine aura despite lacking said trait as usual. She is also the ruler of Las Vegas and the owner of her casino. There is no chance of her losing money or get cheated out of it. She is the Goddess of Luck of Camelot. Of the seven godly treasures:

The hat of Invisibility: the hat on her 2nd Ascension? She is the one maintaining the seal on the real problem in Las Vegas. As X and XX, her crisis resolution effort is effective but often ignored in favor of being made fun of. She's invisible as an indispensable one.

Robe of Feathers - She flies and floats effortlessly except in 2nd Ascension when she only wants to take a stroll.

Magic Mallet to bring forth Money - Artoria is secretly skilled in all kinds of gambling. Her being a casino owner and manager could only mean money pouring in, not out. Even the evil mastermind eel Moriarty couldn't pull wools over her eyes.

Bag of Fortune - Similar to Touta's. This could be her Ehangwen or her use of Rhongomyniad to create a copy of Las Vegas.

Never Empty Purse - Tied in with her not widely known talent in gambling, visual acuity and cheat detection. And/or Rhongomyniad creation power.

Key to Divine Treasure House - Her shining hall Ehangwen and the person in control of Las Vegas herself.

Rolls of Brocade - I guess the battle gown and that....fur white boa? It's for ceremonial purpose.

Scrolls of Wisdom & Longevity - Her class as Ruler and her ownership of Rhongomyniad - the thing that could turn the owner into a Divine Spirit.

That small detail is a foreshadow to Las Vegas summer. It doesn't have other uses than confirming Nobu's taste and desire. The seven godly treasures are translated into Artoria's immaterial possession. When Maou Nobu said she wants the ship (Treasure Ship), it's really both the ship and pilot she wants. Since the ship and pilots are inseparable as discussed, Maou Nobu wants the pilot because the ship (treasures) can't manifest, exist or has values without Artoria.

A Nobutoria confirmation right off a New Year event. A subtle one that requires one to remember it till Las Vegas event. It's fortunate we're on NA server and is in the position to connect the dots immediately. A good start of a year indeed. Even better it probably set a pattern as we'll get that hotspring inn scene next year. I guess that made the headcanon about Nobu unable to flirt with Artoria without dragging diplomacy in more canon. It's still romantic in its own way since most likely Artoria intuited it even with her handicap in regards to Japanese culture. Nobody would suspect a thing. No one else was both there in the dream and at Maou Nobu's casino. Not even the Gudas realized it. It may not be possible without the perspective of a person beyond the 4th wall. Why else did Maou Nobu disappear for the rest of the event? Where did she even go? Archer Nobu's later scheme could be a ploy to attract Ruler Artoria's attention. If she's a patron deity of that casino place, making money would surely cause her to evaluate Nobu as a manager = acknowledge her as equal to the swimsuit swordmasters who are ranked with beautiful = strong. Nobu didn't even use her swimsuit sprite. She was trying to force her way into the system and used her own rules. Okita J foiled her plan but Ruler Artoria released her from incarceration. That's still a win for Nobu. They truly are good at this unconventional flirting.

If there's no magic involved then the stuff Nobu gave the Gudas is mead. In Norse mythology, it's called mead of poetry. There is also theories that mead is the soma drink of Indian myth. The text description of soma is generally thought to induced entheogenic experience. The Gudas got sent on this journey by a self-proclaimed Demon King and was accompanied by a Demob King's Daughter. At the end, they even managed to bring back a being who bent an Outer God to their will. There must be some sort of magic involved then or the time and the condition were right for the Gudas to be pulled into this dream/Abyss. I don't know if the writers researched mead but there are meads named after King Arthur and King Arthur's court, Camelot. Lancelot and Guinevere meads also exist. For now, I would say Nobu got the mead from Artoria so it's partly their fault the Gudas were sent into yet another New Year's Another Reality. X did participate in the last new year's event.

The words in the picture are commonly used on New Year, loosely translated as ‘Please take care of me in 2020 too.’ You can read it as from hanamuraugk-san to her followers, friends and Nobu + Artoria or you can read it as what is being said between our beloved pair.

Day 252

2019-11-17

Character - Demon Archer.

Series - Fate.