No need for many words.
No need to hesitate.
Perhaps other classes still need to consider compatibility, but for the Berserker class there is only one choice.
Cross the trial, reach the future. The Berserker class truly suits your mental state well. Don't let difficulties obstruct you here. Just as you believe I am the strongest Heroic Spirit Servant.
I also believe you, Illyasviel, will overcome this almost impossible final trial. Whether first-rate Heroic Spirit Servant, second-rate or third-rate Heroic Spirit Servant—no matter how much power I can lend you, you can utilize it to the fullest.
But don't go too crazy. You possess rationality and persistence, the potential qualification of a hero.
What you lack is merely your own epic, and now you shall compose your great achievement.
I cannot share your burden, just as I couldn't do anything for my daughter in life. But I can advance together with you, become your partner, your protective umbrella. Consider it my laughable compensation for regrets in life.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!
Deafening earthquake-like explosions erupted from within the Einzbern family castle!
Golden light descended like raindrops from another direction, ravaging the already fragmented castle. Continuous bombardment raised scorching heat like mountain floods and tsunamis—a natural disaster that made the hearts of the Saber girl and the Lancer man even more anxious, because everyone clearly understood that this commotion meant King Gilgamesh had made his move!
That most ancient king who had overwhelmed five Heroic Spirit Servants during the first night of the Holy Grail War at the docks had acted, setting aside his pride as the King of Heroes to attack other people's Masters!
They couldn't delay any longer—absolutely couldn't be held here by this Age of Gods mage any longer!
The gap between Heroic Spirit Servants and Masters couldn't be bridged. Every second of hesitation meant their Masters might be slaughtered here by that most ancient king!
"Retreat here!"
The Berserker card turned into motes of light. The Saber girl roared and swung her sword in fury. The violent sword energy and the crimson magic spear arrived at Miss Illya's position one after another in an instant. The Saber girl and the Lancer man held nothing back!
Whether they could defeat Diarmuid alone afterward was already a matter for later. Right now, if Illyasviel didn't die, Kiritsugu Emiya would die. Since they couldn't even guarantee the present, how could they speak of the future? She didn't think Kiritsugu Emiya could live longer than Kayneth. Rather than sit and wait for death, better to make Illyasviel exit first, then find an opportunity!
The remaining half of her magical energy attached to the invisible sword—Strike Air: Hammer of the Wind Kingactivated!
This was a small-scale magical energy sword bombardment. Even if Illyasviel's Agility attribute might be as high as A+, there was no way to dodge. She could use her Instinct skill to compensate for attack deviation. Moreover, Illyasviel was currently severely injured!
BOOM!
However, the moment the attack arrived, a shocking change that none of the Heroic Spirit Servants present had anticipated occurred.
CRASH! A huge roar erupted from within the walls and garden. A strike no weaker than the Saber girl's swept horizontally, blooming with black light. Malicious magical energy instantly resounded through heaven and earth!
A figure flew back unexpectedly from the smoke and dust, CRASH, smashed into the flower bed by enormous force and magical energy!
"Wh-what?"
The Saber girl whose arm had gone somewhat numb, her invisible sword embedded in the earth, barely managing not to fall, stood stunned.
The anger and urgency that had originally covered her sanity seemed to clear somewhat.
She felt the strange pain transmitted from her arm—that was rank suppression from a higher Strength attribute, the consequence of head-on impact without using technique to dissipate force.
But—but why would she need to dissipate force? She was Saber, the publicly recognized strongest class Servant in Holy Grail Wars throughout history. Except for that Berserker of unknown name, who could match her stats, requiring her to fall into disadvantage in frontal combat?
"Hey hey hey, seriously?" On the other side, Iskandar who was waiting for death also widened his eyes.
At the same time, another crimson flash also retreated from the hurricane sword and slashing magical energy explosion within the smoke and dust—that was Diarmuid Ua Duibhne.
Unlike the Saber girl's being blown back, he wasn't in such dire straits but actively retreated. The arm holding his spear trembled slightly. The worry and fury in his eyes also gradually regained clarity, like a wounded beast staring intently at the smoke and magical energy rising not far away. He too had been caught off guard—only due to his extremely high martial skill, he hadn't suffered any injury.
His heart felt somewhat astonished, because he also discovered his Strength had been suppressed. Even if only briefly, it proved from the side that the enemy's Strength was even higher than his, which had been greatly enhanced by magical energy from the magical furnace.
Most critically, Strength suppression aside, he had also sensed something in that instant of exchange...
"Divinity."
Iskandar, who also possessed Divinity, clicked his tongue. Faintly, he could even feel a sense of suppression—that was Divinity of a higher rank than his.
Comparable to King Gilgamesh from the dock battle, even surpassing King Gilgamesh's Divinity.
In an instant, the entire battlefield fell silent again, stunned by the word Iskandar had spoken.
The most shocked was the Saber girl, because even if she thought until her brain broke, she couldn't imagine Illyasviel having Divinity. Her parents, Kiritsugu Emiya and Irisviel, weren't deities. Theoretically, no matter what other trump cards she possessed, anything would be more reasonable than having Divinity, right?
"Hahahaha! You really are the one hiding deepest among everyone in this Holy Grail War, Age of Gods mage Medea!"
After his shock, Iskandar laughed heartily. He increasingly felt his defeat in this conquest wasn't unjust. Every hero and outstanding individual was growing, hiding trump cards.
That he could simultaneously suppress all three to poor condition already counted as a miracle.
Should one say, as expected of the disciple of the goddess Hecate? A deity's disciple was truly terrifying—repeatedly underestimated, repeatedly displaying new miraculous hope!
No need to speak of the future anymore. He could already foresee that after tonight, the name of Age of Gods mage Medea would resound among all Holy Grail War participants. Whether subspecies Holy Grail Wars or regular Holy Grail Wars, Medea would become a sense of oppression, an evil dragon who once appearing would be everyone's most powerful enemy!
The tradition of the Three Knights being strongest would become a joke. In future Holy Grail Wars, the Caster class would be the strongest. Medea would be the existence mages flocked to for victory, and simultaneously the Sword of Damocles all feared!
"Playing tricks!" The Saber girl snorted coldly, breaking through the gale to charge at the dispersing smoke!
The invisible sword gripped diagonally at her waist, in a crescent moon posture slashing upward from below!
BOOM! Sparks scattered. Within the dust, a huge axe-sword swung heavily down, suppressing the weakened gale with terrifying power, dispersing the surroundings to reveal the single-ponytailed girl with bangs who was adapting to her own power!
CLANG!
"Knight King onee-sama, do you still remember what I said to you on the first night?"
Malicious magical energy transformed into a black beast-like dress-spirit garment. Furry armguards were donned. A headband held white hair tied behind her back. Two black cloths wrapped around her chest. Snow-white arms and midriff were exposed.
The red-eyed cute little girl effortlessly wielded the axe-sword that might even be taller than herself, lightly blocking the holy sword's killing intent. Under the gale's illumination, jade-green eyes met hers in gaze—one side surprised and furious, the other releasing madness long suppressed.
"If I had excellent attribute values like yours, I'd hope more than anyone for fair and just duels with other Heroic Spirit Servants. But back then I was the weak one... Now our positions should swap."
Strength A+, Endurance A, Agility A, Magical Energy A, Luck B, Noble Phantasm A.
These were the attributes possessed by the Heroic Spirit who responded to her summons under Berserker class circumstances.
However, due to self-downgrading to respond, plus her own considerable injuries, overall attributes would decrease by one rank or even several ranks to conform to her B+ rank Noble Phantasm's maximum Heroic Spirit Servant capacity limit.
And after recorrection through her own skills, plus Mad Enhancement and Divinity attribute corrections...
"Illyasviel, step aside! That's your father—your biological father!"
The Saber girl let out a bone-chilling roar, no longer conserving magical energy to guard against Diarmuid's sudden sneak attack. All skills fully activated, desperately slashing.
"Is that so? But if I remember correctly, aren't you also Mordred's father? Then why did it also want to usurp your throne and kill you on Britain's battlefield~"
BOOM!!
CLANG!!
Clang clang clang clang clang clang clang clang clang!
The King of Knights and the beast-like little girl burst forth with sharp collision, shattering the entire rooftop garden. The clash of these two legends manifested myth from fantasy back into the present world. Between breaths, the entire heaven and earth and atmosphere were changing. Strands of hurricane tides fell upon the ground, producing deafening magical explosions!
The world seemed to transform into a stage with the two at its center. Miss Illya laughed gleefully aloud, using extremely unreasonable speed and strength to beat the Saber girl into continuous retreat. Those were afterimages the human eye fundamentally couldn't follow, hundreds of attacks and defenses occurring in an instant. The Heroic Spirit Servants present couldn't understand why a little girl who was a mage possessed such powerful strength, nor could they comprehend why a mage could keep up with the Saber girl's movements in frontal melee without dodging or evading!
But at this moment, the little girl was undoubtedly an existence even the Saber girl couldn't contend with. This was mythological epic, the great hero walking from dream fantasy transcending humanity!
Frontal offense and defense—true frontal attack and defense without dodging or evading. The little girl who would hide and dodge even facing Berserkers now fought like the two knights on the first night, openly and magnanimously battling the enemy without using any schemes!
"Hehe, hehehe, just like this! Struggle like I did on my first night! Experience that sense of powerlessness from weakness! Experience that despair where I'm no match for anyone, yet my opponents still clamor for me to face them openly in frontal combat!"
"Why aren't you speaking? Eh? Don't want to speak, Knight King onee-sama? Oh no, I mean the lady who let Britain's kingdom walk toward destruction in her own hands, the high and mighty lady who can't even manage her own child!"
Axe-sword and holy sword. King and beast. Myth and epic. The Age of Gods demigod who reached the pinnacle and the era's final holy sword wielder.
Their speed and strength had already surpassed ordinary human understanding. Sonic booms accompanied the beast-like little girl's gleeful laughter continuously ringing out. The empress wielding an axe-sword commanding malice and the holy sword knight spreading ideals of saving the nation—their battlefield permitted no others' intrusion. In less than ten seconds, the entire garden transformed into rubble and ruins.
Powerless. Very powerless. Extremely powerless and despairing.
These were Miss Illya's former feelings, the pressure she constantly bore.
Her enemies grew stronger day by day. Her Master, Kirei Kotomine, was a bastard villain...
Her supposed ally Kariya Matou inexplicably wanted to bite her to death and crush her two trump cards. An enemy who should have died mysteriously resurrected. Her mother Irisviel, who claimed to love her in heart and words, became her enemy standing on the opposite side. Iskandar and Diarmuid, originally just upper-mid tier, leaped to become top-tier in this Holy Grail War...
Honestly, when Kariya Matou and Lancelot shattered her Assassin card and smashed her Caster card that night, after she woke up she really really wanted to cry.
After trying so hard, struggling so long, she couldn't even protect her friend she initially wanted to protect. Tomorrow and accidents—accidents always arrived first.
Body severely injured, unable to even stand. Noble Phantasm cards reduced to just one unfamiliar one.
How should she win? How should she survive? She was already trying her absolute hardest every day and night—why still couldn't she do anything right?
All her everything couldn't withstand a mere accident. All her efforts washed away before one accident?
Irisviel was right—she wore a mask, wearing one every day.
Because she truly was about to break down. Every payment of her all in the dock battle to fight desperately with the Saber girl was ruined by the Conqueror King. Plans and efforts over so long were shattered by Kariya Matou, all hope destroyed, directly falling into despair's abyss.
Someone like her could only wear a mask, deceiving others while deceiving herself.
Keeping that broken, despairing aspect forever hidden in a corner.
No one could listen to her innermost voice.
No one could resolve her despair.
No one could understand that beneath her glamorous exterior, how much she didn't want to gamble her life fighting with others.
CLANG!
But now, she no longer needed to pretend, because she was very strong now, very strong.
Berserker was the strongest card. They would be the strongest in this Holy Grail War.
"Returning to you, your Noble Phantasm... I don't need it."
WHOOSH—BOOM!
A heavy strike directly shattered the invisible sword's hurricane and magical energy release. Malicious magical energy wrapped in bombardment. The Saber girl flew like a projectile, smashing through several walls and deeply embedding into the castle's tower, unable to move!
Miss Illya laughed heartily again. The yellow rose magic spear threw from her other hand like a storm missile, breaking through the atmosphere toward Diarmuid who was preparing to use this opportunity to finish off the half-dead Iskandar then retreat!
"?!"
The sudden outburst made Diarmuid, attempting to scavenge, pupils contract as he quickly dodged sideways. The yellow magic spear tore through the atmosphere, instantly passing before his eyes and bombarding the wall behind him. Like missile bombardment, it erupted in roaring noise. The entire wall surface was blasted apart by this terrifying magical energy and Strength!
What kind of stats was this? Or rather, what absurd existence had this Age of Gods mage Medea spirit-descended?
Was this really spirit descent? Isn't spirit descent soul possession? Why can soul possession still break through stat limits? Were all Age of Gods mages monsters?
Before the thoughts in his mind could produce answers, his Eye of the Mind skill made him swing his magic sword instinctively...
BANG!
Magical energy clashed. Crimson magical energy and black magical energy formed two airflows colliding!
Diarmuid looked with surprise and helplessness at the axe-sword that had arrived before him in the blink of an eye. Surprised that her Strength was high, her Agility was also this high.
Helpless that he hadn't even wanted to kill her, yet she still wouldn't let him leave.
"Caster, are you truly severely injured?"
He couldn't help but ask.
"Who knows~"
The little girl whose mental state obviously wasn't quite normal, whose lips curved up like a beast enjoying tormenting others, laughed gleefully and raised the axe-sword to chop again, completely ignoring the other magic spear that would pierce herself!
Like a madman, wanting to trade life for injury to the hero before her!
Strength: A+.
Endurance: D.
Agility: A+.
Magical Energy: A.
Luck: D.
Noble Phantasm: B.
Self-severe injury plus downgrade summoning caused Miss Illya's card attributes to plummet from the original 5A panel to none, with the highest attribute reduced to mere B rank. Some even fell to unbearable levels.
Becoming B, E, C, B, D, B levels. Combined with the Noble Phantasm, roughly standard first-rate Heroic Spirit Servant category.
But the gaze of All the World's Evil, after self-extremization, all attributes slightly increased.
The wish of the Lesser Grail's heart—single attribute greatly increased.
Class skill Mad Enhancement B, innate skill Divinity A—pulled up some attributes.
Second and third-rate Heroic Spirit Servants could display first-rate strength in Miss Illya's hands. First-rate Heroic Spirit Servants, especially stat monsters like Berserkers, could naturally easily display super first-rate standards. Though with her condition maintaining transformation too long was difficult, contending with two already poorly-conditioned Three Knights was absolutely easily possible!
RIP!
BOOM!
Flesh tore. The magic spear drove straight in, piercing the defenseless Miss Illya's frail body—that was the heart's position, where her Spirit Origin resided!
And just as Miss Illya's heart was pierced, her axe-sword also reached above Diarmuid's head. The enormous Strength disparity meant even blocking with the magic sword made him vomit blood from shock, deeply hammered into the bricks!
Then the axe-sword tilted, sweeping horizontally. The magic sword defended. BOOM! A flowing light crossed again from the ruins, falling into rubble not far from the Saber girl!
Earth dust flew. Rubble and garden soil soared high. Even Conqueror King was shocked speechless by Miss Illya's almost suicidal fighting style.
Had she truly gone mad? Trading life for injury? She clearly could fight with better methods!
"You really are crazy enough. Could your class actually be Berserker rather than Caster? Are you only now exposing your true nature?"
Iskandar scratched his head with his remaining arm, sighing at the beast-like girl kneeling on one knee, blood continuously flowing from her chest. Having her Spirit Origin heart destroyed meant she couldn't survive. This was even more fatal an injury than his.
Right—Diarmuid taking this strike he couldn't dissipate would certainly suffer considerable injury.
But the price? The price was your Spirit Origin pierced by the magic spear. Others would thank you before they could finish.
Trading injury for your life—for any Heroic Spirit Servant, this was a deal they could accept without hesitation. Moreover, normally fighting down would certainly result in injury too.
"I'm Berserker, of course, because I really love this feeling of strength."
Covering her pierced wound, Miss Illya wiped her lips carelessly and stood laughing. Frontally defeating two Three Knights class heroes—even if they were poorly conditioned Three Knights, it was enough to prove her current strength.
"You've already lost, Caster. With your Spirit Origin pierced, no matter how high your magecraft attainments, you cannot reverse heaven's will. How long can you persist? Do you truly want to use your final remaining time in this world to open the path to victory for that bastard Golden King!"
Ptui!
Coldly spitting out the blood welling in her throat, the Saber girl climbed up, looking at the hoarsely laughing Illyasviel and advising. She roughly already understood.
The other's feelings during the first night, because she now absolutely didn't want to frontally battle her here either.
"Cough cough cough... You've gone mad, Caster. You truly resemble a witch now."
Diarmuid, forehead seeping blood, also climbed from the ruins to advise. He wiped his already cracked forehead, knowing his current combat power was less than seventy percent of peak condition. Short-term, he truly couldn't easily resolve this Age of Gods mage.
He didn't understand—her Spirit Origin was clearly pierced by him, yet she seemed to still have considerable remaining strength.
"In favorable situations, crossing swords. In adversity, smiling negotiations. Where's your boldness from the first night?"
I respect you, so please also respect me, you two big brother and big sister.
"Kill me?" Miss Illya slightly curved her lips, shouldering the axe-sword.
Tilting her small head to reveal a morbidly sweet smile, allowing blood to flow from her body.
"Hehehaha, I'm the strongest now—I'm the current champion!"
"You all—who dares kill me? Who can kill me!"
Who dares kill me?"
"Who can kill me!"
Within the snow-covered castle echoing with continuous roaring tremors, the Saber girl and the Lancer man both fell silent, only gripping their weapons tightly while staring at the beast-like little girl.
Miss Illya cheerfully wiped the corner of her mouth. Her laughter arrogantly provoked the heroes, comparable to the Golden King's arrogance from the dock battle. The only difference was that not a single Heroic Spirit Servant present dared immediately refute her.
Exquisite calculations, supreme magecraft, overwhelming combat power, a reckless fighting style.
The information gap was far too great. Everyone had advantages, yet no one possessed more information than this Age of Gods mage. Everyone had been wary of her, trying to estimate as high as possible, but no one imagined she could reach this step.
Perhaps if everyone were at peak condition, the Three Knight classes wouldn't necessarily fear this Age of Gods mage. After all, existences capable of becoming Heroic Spirit Servants were all brilliant and outstanding individuals who once left their mark in mythological epics. Moreover, now everyone had given their all. Among super first-rate Heroic Spirit Servants, no one was much worse than anyone else—or rather, that Age of Gods mage was actually weaker.
Because anyone with eyes could see this definitely wasn't her own power. This was spirit descent, and her slightly trembling body already indicated she was also overloaded in combat this time. Her own body couldn't withstand this kind of spirit descent.
This wasn't a matter of magecraft skill level, but rather the Noble Phantasm's rank being too low and the summoner's own injuries.
Just as a cup cannot possibly hold a barrel of water, Illyasviel was equivalent to an already cracked cup. Advanced spirit descent magecraft had filled this cup to the brim.
But due to the cup's poor quality itself, plus having fine cracks, the barrel of water forcibly poured into this cup would sooner or later burst it.
This was precisely the main reason why the Heroic Spirit Servants responding to Miss Illya's summons had basically all been second or third-rate. Because her basic attribute stats and Noble Phantasm rank were too poor, the Assassin class's attribute corrections were almost negligible. So compared to first-rate Heroic Spirit Servants, second and third-rate ones were more suitable for her—equivalent to leaving some operating memory.
She absolutely couldn't hold out much longer. The Saber girl's Instinct could sense this.
At the end of the day, though her spirit descent technique differed from traditional spirit descent, it was still just a kind of shell transformation. The injuries to her core had always existed. Perhaps at peak condition, her transformation could persist for quite some time.
But already severely injured, having expended herself within the Army of the King, having briefly clashed with others—under these circumstances, the currently transformed Illyasviel's condition could probably only suppress her and Diarmuid by a notch for a short time.
"Where exactly did you learn this kind of spirit descent technique..."
The Saber girl's eyes were cold like an injured lioness, constantly trying to calm the blood and energy within her body. She tried to find a flaw in Illyasviel, a sign of exhaustion after having her Spirit Origin heart pierced by the crimson magic spear.
But she couldn't find any. After being pierced through the heart, aside from bleeding a little, the wound had actually disappeared.
"Age of Gods mage Medea, former kingdom priestess—possessing such spirit descent technique isn't surprising. It seems my lord and I both misjudged. Modern spirit descent acts primarily on the soul, while the pinnacle of Age of Gods spirit descent acts upon the body."
A recovery skill? Or Battle Continuation? Or did she change her Spirit Origin's location?
Thinking of how the beast-like little girl had seemingly died and revived once when fighting the Berserker period, Diarmuid's eyes flickered slightly as he exhaled a long breath:
"Existences possessing such Divinity aren't common. Little kitten, who have you spirit-descended this time?"
The Holy Grail War defaults to Divine Spirits being unable to descend. At most, it's demigod level like King Gilgamesh.
So Diarmuid didn't think about whether the goddess Hecate had descended to protect her disciple. He could only speculate this Age of Gods mage Medea had spirit-descended a hero who possessed high Divinity in life, probably the kind born from a deity and human.
Moreover, since such existences were generally quite special, even top-tier spirit descent technique might not necessarily be able to pull them down. It might even be a hero Medea knew in life, someone with quite an unusual relationship.
"Who knows? The glorious knight who betrayed his own lord Fionn and killed his lord's mother, wanting to use the Holy Grail War to make up for his disloyal regrets~"
"...You haven't noticed yet, have you, little kitten? Your mental state is currently very poor. The you from before was a noble hero—the you now is just an increasingly mad witch. If you continue fighting like this, you'll completely lose yourself sooner or later."
The forehead seeping blood, Diarmuid climbed from the ruins to advise. He wiped his already cracked forehead, knowing his current combat power was less than seventy percent of peak condition. Short-term, it really wasn't easy to resolve this Age of Gods mage.
He didn't understand—her Spirit Origin was clearly pierced by him, yet she seemed to still have considerable strength remaining.
"Hahaha, so what? I feel my condition is super, super good right now. Besides, didn't a certain Ruined King already say it? Chivalry cannot save the Kingdom of Britain, nobility cannot bring me victory either~"
"..."
Miss Illya tilted her small head, cheerfully bringing her palm stained with her own wound's blood to her lips, licking it as if savoring it with a playful smile.
The bloody taste gradually spread in her mouth. Her pupils also changed to heterochromatic black and red.
That was pure, deep malicious black without whites—that was beastly red with no rationality, only the instinct to survive. The class skill Mad Enhancement and All the World's Evil's gaze extremified her, making her current mental state very beautiful.
She'd regained the clarity from the dock battle, even surpassing it. Because back then it was merely innate skill plus her own strong survival desire bringing extremification, whereas now she had multiple aspects stacked.
"Didn't I say very early on? Everyone's the same—no need to hide inner desires so much." Boom! The axe-sword embedded into the cement floor.
Miss Illya licked her lips, casually wiping her mouth like the leading actress of this stage play:
"I want to live! You want to live too! Poor mental state? No, no, no!"
"This is the truest me—me who wants to kill all of you and survive to the end to claim the omnipotent wish-granter!"
What if the whole world becomes my enemy?
Walking my path alone makes my will stronger!
Even if the road ahead has many thorns!
I shall still slaughter everything under heaven!
People live for peace of mind. I want to live, so I must give myself that peace of mind.
After all, this is the Holy Grail War. Either you kill me or I kill you. Everyone's the same. What chivalry, what Heroic Spirit Servants' nobility—none of it compares to simply surviving to the end, those four words. No matter what purpose we fight for, as long as we're clear that none of us will yield, that's enough.
"Ruined King, Rebel Knight—kill me, or give your Masters their last rites!"
BOOM!!!
As you wish, rebellious witch!!
The glorious knight wielding magic spear and magic sword instantly became an afterimage. The ground he stepped on immediately cracked from the enormous impact force. His condition had recovered somewhat.
His heart shaken by anxiety to save his lord had also calmed. Just as this Age of Gods mage said, he'd already wronged Lord Fionn. This time he absolutely wouldn't wrong a second lord who recognized him, trusted him, and entrusted victory to him.
He was tired, he knew. That strike just now had made him, already greatly depleted, injured again. But was this his limit? Absolutely not, definitely not. Because he was a knight, a hero. If he couldn't break through adversity, if he couldn't penetrate the difficulty of saving his own lord, then what right did he have to be called a Heroic Spirit Servant, what right to be remembered by humanity?
"Witch!"
"Come fight!"
Diarmuid's roaring cry and crimson magic sword rushed forth, and Miss Illya also unhesitatingly swung her axe-sword.
Kicking up dust to collide with that legend who'd transcended his own myth, rubble intertwining—two heroes with Agility starting at A+ shook heaven and earth. The magic sword destroyed everything in sight. The withering magic spear shredded and pierced the world's myriad things. Vast energy ripples raised waves of shockwaves. Peak martial arts clashing, two monsters with inexhaustible magical energy—this wasn't battle or duel, this was slaughter that must continue until one side fell.
Fight!
Fight!
Fight!
The invisible sword wrapped in gale also followed close behind, dancing the holy sword in hand like a dancer within a hurricane. The激荡 continuous collisions between axe-sword and holy sword scattered everywhere, directly flipping the dumbfounded spectating Iskandar to the ground!
No need to conserve magical energy anymore. Run out if you must. Everyone had retreated to the point of no retreat. The only choice was your own life or your enemy's death here!
"Hahahaha, it hurts! But it should be like this! The more it hurts, the more I feel I'm a living human, the more chance I have to survive, the more I feel alive!"
Simultaneously facing two Three Knights who'd already adapted to her attribute stats!
Wounds on Miss Illya's body increased more and more. As expected, aside from catching the two off guard at the very beginning, now they wouldn't give her chances to exploit information gaps. Supreme martial arts surrounded and attacked from all directions simultaneously. Naturally she couldn't block them all!
But so what? Berserker was the strongest—this card she'd drawn was the strongest!
CLANG!
Continuously swinging the invisible sword, facing the beast-like girl who gave her no moment to breathe, the Saber girl burst out with mana burst at the eighth second of combat, briefly knocking away the giant blade close at hand, exposing that small defenseless delicate body before her. A crescent moon diagonal slash struck out!
This was an extremely close-range slash. Even wearing high-grade armor would definitely cause injury!
But Miss Illya didn't retreat. While swinging the giant blade, she actually changed its trajectory to attack Diarmuid instead. This was martial skill and force control like a miracle, using force against force to directly knock Diarmuid back several steps!
SPLATTER!
The next instant, Miss Illya's body sprayed blood. The invisible sword viciously slashed across her body, its accompanying magical energy explosion even completely shattering her sternum!
"Now you have no more combat capability. We've won, Illyasviel...!"
However, before the Saber girl could finish her momentary relaxation, she saw that at the moment blood splattered, the broken Miss Illya seemed to have anticipated this all along, slightly curving her lips.
Simultaneously, that flying blood seemed premeditated in blocking her instant vision.
"Your sword is too dull. Are you worried about Kiritsugu Emiya? If my father knew you were distracted in battle from worrying about him, he'd be very, very happy~"
Instinct.
The moment this voice rang out, alarm bells clanged.
BOOM!
A blood-stained fist enlarged in jade-green pupils. The Saber girl's attempt to defend was already too late!
Her Agility itself was a small grade lower than Diarmuid's and Illyasviel's. Moreover, worrying Kiritsugu Emiya would be killed, and her own martial skill being at the bottom level among the three—how could she possibly block this strike?
BOOM! The sound of metal frames being crushed and dented rang out. The seemingly tiny fist actually produced a booming sonic boom, directly piercing through the Saber girl's abdominal armor!
"Ugh... koff!" Under the enormous force, white liquid spewed from her mouth. The Saber girl was directly sent flying into the air by this punch!
And this was already the result after Instinct defended. If not for relying on Instinct and Illyasviel's height being too short, this punch would have landed directly on her head. The best result would have been her briefly losing combat capability!
"Hehehaha, how is it? How does it feel to have your attributes comprehensively suppressed? Isn't it very interesting, very much gives a struggling operational feel?"
Rip! Broken irregular ribs!
Directly reached deep into her chest cavity by the maniacally laughing Miss Illya, snapped off and thrown aside like garbage!
The injury the Saber girl caused her wasn't fatal, but would obstruct her combat. This wouldn't do. How could this do? If obstructed, wouldn't others be able to escape? Wouldn't she be unable to keep up with certain Heroic Spirit Servants' movement speeds?
"Hehe, second life... gifted to you."
After damage was determined to have reached fatal level, the slash wound on her chest rapidly healed.
If the Saber girl were at peak full magical energy condition, perhaps even normal attacks could cut away many of her lives. Because that invisible sword's Noble Phantasm rank in the opponent's hand was too high, even higher rank than Diarmuid's magic sword and magic spear.
This was the quality gap of possessed Noble Phantasms. That holy sword was the most stat-based aspect of the Saber girl overall.
But unfortunately, everyone's condition wasn't great, and the Saber girl's mentality was even more anxious than the Lancer man's, overly worried about Kiritsugu Emiya's life and safety. Even with this rank of Noble Phantasm, she could still be baited into a counter-burst, using one life to directly severely wound the opponent and reduce combat capability.
"A recovery-type Noble Phantasm. If you don't kill little kitten you entirely in one strike, no matter how severe the injury, you can rapidly heal?"
"Who knows~"
Sensing the violent magical energy flow surging again from behind, Miss Illya slightly curved her lips, tilting her head forty-five degrees to look back. Her body already stained crimson smiled cheerfully at this handsome man who'd taken out some little toy while she dealt with the Saber girl.
He was panting, forehead full of exhausted sweat. His steadfast glorious visage was now so fragile. Clearly should be an indomitable hero.
But now with stamina and energy both bottomed out, he was like a frail girl still unwilling to admit defeat.
BANG!
Miss Illya stepped forward in less than half a second, shattering the ground beneath to pick up the axe-sword and slash toward the frail Lancer man. She hadn't seen wrong, her senses hadn't erred—the opponent had actually pulled out another priceless magical furnace!
And embedded it into the magic sword. That violent magical energy emanating was already faintly matching hers, giving her a threatening sense that this definitely couldn't be easily taken with just one or two lives!
"Caster, above!"
"?"
Violent wind pressure reduced speed. Hammer of the Wind King formed above her head.
Iskandar shouted loudly, and Miss Illya also reacted quickly, raising her head to swing the axe-sword with full effort, annihilating that sudden hurricane.
"Your opponent is me, Illyasviel!"
The beast-like girl deliberately exposed a flaw to lure. Wasn't the Saber girl also deliberately exposing a flaw?
A Strength A+ burst could indeed destroy her armor and severely wound her, but her Mana Burst skill was sufficient to attach to her body's surface to block most damage. Ever since her Spirit Origin was destroyed and Illyasviel could still fight normally, she and Diarmuid had simultaneously realized this opponent possessed extremely terrifying recovery capability. Pure melee combat might let them maintain undefeated status, but definitely couldn't cross over the opponent to save their respective Masters.
Then how should they win? In brief communication with Illyasviel.
She and Diarmuid used eye contact to indicate, knights tacitly formulating tactics without words.
No need to be too complex, because detailed communication would let Illyasviel see flaws. They only needed to reach consensus—one person responsible for luring and restraining, one person responsible for unleashing a killing move that could completely kill Illyasviel!
The opponent thought they were still on the first layer, she stood on the second layer. Actually they both stood on the third layer, using the method of hunting beasts to capture this fierce beast!
Whoever still had magical energy and ultimate moves would be responsible for killing Illyasviel!
BANG!!!
"Ha, so Ruined King onee-sama, you really are a fool who dares believe just anyone."
The hurricane sword fell from above, smashing down the axe-sword-wielding Miss Illya!
Her calves embedded into cement bricks. This sudden attack made her briefly unable to extract herself to respond to that Lancer man over ten meters away preparing to release power!
"Fool—even so, better than a patricidal rebellious daughter who'd kill her own father just for victory!"
"But don't you also want victory? For your own victory, you killed Mordred in Britain's war of national defense. Why when it comes to me does it become me being a patricidal villain? I already said—for victory, no need to hide. Because victory and surviving to the end is the highest honor!"
Third second.
Boom boom boom! The Saber girl was forcibly shaken off by magical energy and Strength simultaneously bursting from her arm. Her entire already injured right arm transmitted bone-piercing pain as if dislocated. She looked incredulously at the Barrier of Wind King being corroded by unknown black magical energy. But the next moment her eyes became even more fierce!
Uncontrollably spitting blood, internal organs churning, jade-green pupils even seeping crimson—this was a sign of reaching the limit, even earlier than she'd anticipated. She knew she'd overestimated her own limit tolerance in poor condition!
Fifth second.
The Saber King girl wielding the gale-wrapped holy sword let out an unyielding war cry, breaking through the sound barrier space to again intercept Miss Illya trying to reach the charging Diarmuid unleashing his Noble Phantasm. The holy sword instantly knocked away that huge axe-sword. When the somewhat impatient Miss Illya reacted, the invisible sword's torrential strikes had already arrived!
However, the invisible sword that could easily slash Illyasviel's body before now only embedded into the opponent's flesh, unable to advance further!
Eighth second.
CLANG! Slender fists directly smashed down the invisible sword again and again. Both sides' weapons simultaneously left their hands. Under enormous impact force arriving the instant the feinting slashes ended, at this moment the Saber girl also abandoned her weapon to counterattack with her own iron fist toward Illyasviel!
But the Strength gap was enormous. Another fist met that armored fist!
Completely unequal power tore the Saber girl's arm guard. Illyasviel slightly raised her lips in a smile, as if mocking the Saber girl's folly. Trading holy sword and her axe-sword to cancel and discard, then fighting her in raw base stats was seeking death. Diarmuid's charge needed at least fifteen seconds—she'd silently counted in her heart when he fought the Conqueror King back then!
And the Saber girl in poor condition who'd abandoned her holy sword absolutely couldn't hold her off for fifteen seconds!
"Stop right there!" Arm restraining the opponent's arm, the Saber girl roared. She never intended to defeat the opponent from the start, only wanted to delay time as much as possible.
Mana Burst suppression. At close range, she actually caught the rushing fist using Instinct.
"The one who should stop is you, this Ruined King—the Ruined King always making excuses for herself, the saint who doesn't understand people's hearts and never lived for herself!"
"Wha—what?"
BANG!
This familiar phrasing made the Saber girl already nearing her limit slightly freeze!
Then suddenly, enormous pain transmitted from her forehead—that was the beast-like girl's headbutt arriving the instant her hands were caught!
Tenth second.
The Saber girl's head spun from the headbutt. She instinctively raised both arms to protect several vital areas, wanting to block Illyasviel's next possible attack.
However, the anticipated attack didn't arrive first. Instead, while her mind was confused and she could only rely on instinct, a phrase came:
"King Arthur, do you still remember Lancelot?"
"He... is Berserker."
Lancelot?
The Saber girl whose brain confusion reached its limit froze again. In this bewildered instant.
Her beautiful pupils were pierced by a conjured dagger
From when did I start wanting to take this Holy Grail War seriously?
Was it from the dock battle when five heroes staked their lives to carve out a path of hope from adversity? Or from when retainer Tokiomi Tohsaka finally gave his heart, using not even one Command Seal restriction to pledge loyalty and sincerely trust me, this most ancient king, to defeat all powerful enemies?
The homunculus girl didn't know, because she wasn't King Gilgamesh himself.
She didn't even have the skills a Heroic Spirit Servant should have. Even King Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon—she couldn't carefully screen Noble Phantasms that could change the situation according to her own will. After all, at the end of the day, she was just a counterfeit.
A defective product abandoned by the Einzbern family, an existence born from signs of life in King Gilgamesh's Spirit Origin, a second or third-rate counterfeit Servant who couldn't live long, whose own body couldn't withstand a Heroic Spirit Servant's great power raging and spreading within.
Counterfeits could never compare to the genuine article, let alone those already blurred wills.
"Don't you feel regret using up those treasures?"
"What kind of thing is that? If opponents and retainers are worth my taking action to subjugate and protect, even if my treasures are exhausted, it's a pleasure for this king."
Long ago, a beautiful man asked this, and King Gilgamesh laughed heartily in response.
The beautiful man was a clay figure created by deities, a Divine Construct capable of fighting King Gilgamesh evenly for several days. It was ever-changing, possessing unimaginable power. Clearly a naive, foolish thing made of clay, clearly a puppet-like being who knew nothing like a machine, yet it made even King Gilgamesh exhaust all his power to lie on the ground like a corpse.
That was King Gilgamesh's most exhilarating battle, his only and sole true friend in the world. Even knowing clearly its mission was to pull him, this child of gods, back to the deities' side as the Chains of Heaven, it still unhesitatingly betrayed the gods' will and resisted its own fate for his sake—that will and noble soul.
It had no gender. Its appearance was modeled after a human. Both beautiful and resilient.
It was called Enkidu, a tool, a weapon, a life pure as an unblemished flower.
They jointly governed the nation of Uruk in the Two Rivers. They defeated powerful enemies, making the gods furious.
Eventually forcing the gods to use punishment called divine retribution to finally end the epic chapter the two had created.
"What is a king?"
The dying beautiful person lying in King Gilgamesh's embrace asked.
"Everything I decide, everything I command, everything in the world I acknowledge, I permit, I bear all the world's disasters and pleasures—this is a king."
King Gilgamesh at that time shed tears as he answered the beautiful person's question.
His true friend was about to die. His opponent would be no more. This world's only person who could advance together with him and shoulder everything was about to become part of history. Never again would anyone advise and admonish him like the other. Never again would anyone make him laugh joyfully like before. The gods mercilessly separated them, just as they mercilessly made the other arrive.
"Then king, why are you crying? I'm merely a weapon, one member among your myriad collections. Weapons always have a day when they dull and are discarded."
"Now and in the future, many treasures more excellent than me will appear. I'm not worth your tears, am I?"
The beautiful person cupped King Gilgamesh's tear-streaked face. Until life's final moment, without resentment or regret. It was just this straightforward, nothing hidden.
This was good—dying with foolishness, dying with sorrow, dying with glory of resisting the gods.
Though at this time, it was still somewhat sad. Not denying its own death.
But feeling sad for King Gilgamesh. After all, it understood very clearly.
Therefore it also shed tears—that was a kind of sighing sadness...
"After I die, who else will understand you..."
It didn't fear death. Until the moment before death, it still worried about the king and friend holding it in his arms. It worried that after its death, no one would be able to understand this king, understand this child bearing divine blood. Precisely because of this, it felt sorrow—sorrow for itself and undeniable regret.
Fool.
Watching the beautiful person close its eyes, no longer breathing, King Gilgamesh truly felt the other was foolish.
They fought side by side, talked side by side, walked side by side. It still called itself a tool.
This was a friend. Enkidu—the value of all my treasures combined cannot compare to you. Whether now or in the future, no tool could possibly compare with you. Your significance to me will never change even a bit, even until my aging and death.
You are my true friend, the only one in heaven and earth, my sole friend.
...This was King Gilgamesh's memory.
Also fragments continuously circling in the homunculus girl's mind. Magical energy resonance from contracts would give Masters opportunities to glimpse their Heroic Spirit Servants' past from dreams.
And the homunculus girl carrying King Gilgamesh's Spirit Origin could naturally do this too.
After all, their magical energy was homogeneous, Spirit Origins the same. She was just a counterfeit.
"Loyal retainers—kings are never stingy. Myriad treasures cannot compare to so-called sincerity."
"Even if your loyalty is for the omnipotent wish-granter, your resolve and will have already gained this king's recognition, on this stage befitting this king's status."
Outside the Einzbern family castle, a golden key emerged from golden ripples.
The expressionless homunculus girl took out the key. The surging magical energy within was pushing her body toward collapse's edge. Even some body flesh and artificial magic circuits showed glass-like tearing marks from inside out.
She couldn't live long. Just as everyone speculated, the Holy Grail War's conclusion would be her death's moment—or even just exerting slightly more force would be the same.
All she could use was the Gate of Babylon, and treasures not under her control at that.
She could only throw out part of the endless Noble Phantasms within according to her magical energy consumption, by rank.
Every moment, she could feel tearing pain, similar to Miss Illya's current suffering. Both were using unqualified cups trying to contain large amounts of flowing water. Just that her body quality was even worse, so compared to Miss Illya's duration, she couldn't match.
"Forty-eight gates—is this the limit... But it's already enough."
Two-thirds of silver threads dyed gold—forty-eight blades radiating terrifying magical energy reactions emerged from behind the homunculus girl in the magic mirror forest.
From all directions, aiming at all magical energy emission locations except the Heroic Spirit Servants' battle zones—that included Kiritsugu Emiya and Lord Kayneth who'd also stopped fighting in shock, both fleeing madly wanting to immediately escape bombardment range, all rushing desperately toward the castle's interior.
"The King permits."
"The King acknowledges."
"The King bears the entire world."
One of the homunculus girl's pupils was dyed crimson and vertical, like a miniature King Gilgamesh. Her small hand waved, then continuous Noble Phantasm bombardment began!
She wasn't King Gilgamesh himself, but she had King Gilgamesh's partial memories and consciousness. Without King Gilgamesh's tacit permission, she couldn't possibly have been born from defective products to become the possibility for Tokiomi Tohsaka to achieve victory!
Did it disgrace the king's majesty? Was it too inferior? That no longer mattered.
What mattered was she didn't want Tokiomi Tohsaka to die. She'd already decided to bestow the omnipotent wish-granter to her retainer.
She permitted Tokiomi Tohsaka's survival. She acknowledged Tokiomi Tohsaka's existence. She would bear Tokiomi Tohsaka's trust and expectations for victory in her, this King of Heroes from ancient to modern times.
Enkidu, my friend—I know I, this counterfeit, am ultimately just a counterfeit!
But I still won't deny my answer to you in memories. If opponents and retainers are worth my taking action to subjugate and protect, even if my treasures are exhausted, it's a pleasure for this king!
BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!
"MEDEA!!!"
Explosions echoing throughout the magic mirror forest continued endlessly. The castle was being bombarded and destroyed by Noble Phantasms. Modern cement architecture was like a joke under Noble Phantasm bombardment.
Kayneth rapidly shuttled and escaped under the Moon Spirit Marrow Fluid's protection. Such wretchedness and humiliation made him roar involuntarily, simultaneously feeling alarmed at that Age of Gods mage's methods. How the hell did she exploit this bug?
Already exited Heroic Spirit Servants could still return to the field? Like playing a game winning a revival match?
He'd thought that relying on talent and resources to enhance dual-class Diarmuid Ua Duibhne made him invincible under heaven. Never expected another expert to appear.
"Age of Gods mage Medea can even resurrect already exited Heroic Spirit Servants and control them for use. If this ability spreads, who'd still summon other Heroic Spirit Servants? Everyone just summon Medea, wait for other Heroic Spirit Servants to exit, snowball pulling corpses!"
"The Holy Grail War is truly a countryside magical ritual. So many bugs and loopholes—if placed in the Clock Tower, I could write twenty papers criticizing and improving it!"
Don't ask why he first thought of Medea. Because it was said long ago.
Except for Diarmuid and Age of Gods mage Medea, he didn't regard other Heroic Spirit Servants and mages as human, thinking they were no different from AI familiars.
So seeing that golden light instantly, he connected it to King Gilgamesh's resurrection.
Plus the last person to contact King Gilgamesh was Medea.
Doesn't everything match up? That night at the dock battle, Medea truly held back in combat. From start to finish, she schemed and played other Heroic Spirit Servants and Masters like monkeys. Probably even Tokiomi Tohsaka didn't anticipate his already exited Heroic Spirit Servant becoming someone else's puppet.
"But controlled puppets definitely won't have original precision. This bombardment is far worse than that night's dock battle. Moreover, according to this intelligence, if Rider doesn't exit tonight—"
"That Age of Gods mage will have one more Heroic Spirit Servant puppet capable of using Reality Marble Noble Phantasms."
Corridors were destroyed. The Noble Phantasm flood was like a steamroller gradually devouring the castle bit by bit.
Already somewhat disheveled from Kiritsugu Emiya's sudden earlier explosion, Lord Kayneth tumbled into the ruined hall, leaning against a still-intact wall, panting. His forehead bled as his brain rapidly processed.
Speculating from magical energy reactions and Noble Phantasm numbers, that resurrected King Gilgamesh was probably at first-rate Heroic Spirit Servant level, not like the first night period.
This indicated Medea could indeed resurrect Heroic Spirit Servants, but at most could only make them weakened puppets.
But...
This raised another question...
That is—assuming Medea could also control the Conqueror King, could the puppet Conqueror King use his Reality Marble...
"Cannot summon back!"
"Absolutely cannot summon back Lancer. No matter what, the severely wounded Iskandar must die here. Even his corpse cannot fall into Medea's hands!"
Kayneth looked at the single crimson Command Seal remaining under his glove, gritting his teeth.
Others all thought he still had two Command Seals. He also pretended to have two Command Seals to intimidate Kiritsugu Emiya.
Actually, what two Command Seals did he have? Before coming, to use spirit descent and other magecraft to modify Diarmuid's class, he'd already used one Command Seal as assistance. Otherwise the dual-class wouldn't be so handy either.
Adding a Heroic Spirit Servant's class container required a channel—a bridge within Holy Grail War rules. Command Seals were the best choice for this data bridge.
Otherwise forget using the magic sword—even keeping Diarmuid alive through his surgery and magical modification would be very difficult. After all, moving class containers and Spirit Origins was equivalent to moving a Heroic Spirit Servant's underlying spaghetti code. Without guarantees, who'd dare say this program could run?
"Damn! If summoned back, Medea can directly make King Gilgamesh retreat with the Conqueror King to make into a puppet. In future confrontations, Medea could have the Conqueror King open his Reality Marble to pull me in, or directly pull Diarmuid to resolve me. Dead end."
"And now, Saber and Lancer are stalemated with Medea, unable to kill Iskandar. Me facing a puppet Heroic Spirit Servant alone is also a dead end."
Clearly already holding the strongest Heroic Spirit Servant—why had it become this situation with dead ends everywhere!
Medea, and Medea's unknown Master—these two played way too dirty!
Kayneth's brow furrowed trying to break through, but no matter how he tried, it seemed only the difference between earlier defeat and later defeat. Moreover, unlike that naive guy Weber Velvet, he'd guard somewhat against his own Heroic Spirit Servant. He really didn't want to use that remaining Command Seal.
Mature mages, no matter what advantageous situation faced, would leave a contingency.
Now Diarmuid was already raised. Without Command Seals, if the opponent wanted to kill him, it would be easy as pie.
Even if Diarmuid clearly had no such disloyalty, hearts were hard to predict. Couldn't not guard against it.
Having seen much darkness, one won't believe in light. Kayneth and Miss Illya both belonged to this type.
"...You still won't summon back Lancer? Kayneth."
"Heh, then why haven't you summoned back Saber? Filthy, despicable rat."
"You're not afraid Rider will be saved by Caster?"
"You're not afraid Saber has Magic Resistance, your remaining Command Seals can't restrain her?"
Not far from the ruined hall, hiding under the stairwell with his arm also bleeding profusely from earlier bombardment, Kiritsugu Emiya fell silent after hearing Kayneth's cold laughter.
The castle shook. Occasionally blasted rubble and gravel fell to the ground.
Kayneth hadn't summoned his Heroic Spirit Servant. He was even more uncomfortable than the opponent.
Because King Gilgamesh finding them wouldn't take long. Only Heroic Spirit Servants could delay that great enemy. He naturally hoped the one wasting that summoning Command Seal was Kayneth, not him. After all, the Saber girl's Magic Resistance attribute was too high.
One Command Seal—she could struggle. Only two Command Seals could completely control the Saber girl.
Honestly, he truly couldn't understand how King Gilgamesh resurrected.
Unlike Kayneth's thoughts, he didn't think King Gilgamesh's revival related to Miss Illya. After all, that eighth irregular Heroic Spirit Servant was also killed by Miss Illya's own hand, the Assassin was done in by Miss Illya's own hand, even the unstoppable Berserker was still shattered by Miss Illya this mage.
If Miss Illya truly had this ability, by now shouldn't she have pulled out a four-Heroic-Spirit-Servant puppet army, then swept the field beating everyone down?
Though now it didn't seem much different. Miss Illya was already violently beating two Three Knights class Heroic Spirit Servants. Even if enemies were in poor condition.
But she still... simply like a war god.
"Want to cooperate? Kayneth. Since neither you nor I are willing to summon back respective Heroic Spirit Servants to break through—only temporarily cooperating can we survive."
Kiritsugu Emiya lit a cigarette, exhaling a long breath. At most twenty seconds.
The bombardment zone would reach their area. If they kept fleeing without cover, they'd just be live targets.
"Heh, cooperate with a despicable, shameless rat? You think I'd still believe you?"
Kayneth dismissed it with contempt. If not for not wanting to expose magical energy reactions and be tracked by that King Gilgamesh behind, he'd even want to finish off Kiritsugu Emiya right here and now.
"The weak unite with the weak to check the strong. Every day in the Holy Grail War follows this principle."
Kiritsugu Emiya wasn't surprised by Kayneth's reaction. He just spoke at steady pace, telling the opponent this principle repeatedly discussed from the first night in Illyasviel's mouth until now:
"Before that most ancient King of Heroes, we're both just weaklings. If you don't want to be defeated here, disgracing your family and Clock Tower lord name, we can only cooperate to defeat that puppet king."
"?"
What?
How much did you drink?
Us two defeating that most ancient king who suppressed five Heroic Spirit Servants in the first night's battle?
Are you too confident in your abilities, or too confident in me, this Mineralogy Department Clock Tower lord?
"My Mystic Code is called Origin Bullets. It can disrupt mages' magic circuits. That King of Heroes isn't a true Heroic Spirit Servant. From him not using spirit form to approach us for sneak attacks, but choosing large-scale bombardment after roughly determining our positions, we can speculate he's currently using a normal body."
"Then since it's a normal body, plus his bombardment needs magical energy supply, I have reason to believe he's now using a mage's shell—meaning possessing magic circuits. The logic here shouldn't need me to explain in detail, right?"
Extinguishing the cigarette in hand, Kiritsugu Emiya who'd barely rested over ten seconds climbed up, directly walking out from hiding under the stairs, standing about twenty-plus meters from Kayneth, expressionlessly looking at the opponent calmly.
Kayneth only suffered some superficial injuries, while he'd already used inherent time control over five times.
His body's burden was nearing its limit. So actually he was more anxious than the opponent.
Even revealing his Mystic Code's principle and name unreservedly to show sincerity.
"But this is just your personal speculation. If he simply didn't sneak attack out of kingly dignity, that's also explainable. After all, he has pride..."
"If he truly had kingly dignity, tonight's banquet would have been his solo performance."
"..."
"Ten more seconds before bombardment reaches here. If we don't gamble, we'll wait for death together. Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald—we both don't want our battles to end here. On this point, our persistence is consistent!"
He had his own obsession, wish he wanted to realize.
Kayneth had Clock Tower lord pride, Archibald family honor.
No one wanted to lose here because of third-party interference, because of unknown sudden developments.
To be defeated inexplicably, lose utterly, lose bafflingly.
"Hmph! It's not your place as a rat to lecture me!" Not immediately attacking Kiritsugu Emiya, Kayneth snorted coldly with disdainful attitude—tacitly agreeing.
However, his heart had somewhat revised his view of Kiritsugu Emiya. Because though the opponent was a filthy rat, he indeed possessed absolute persistence as a mage.
Crazy enough—wanting to hunt a Heroic Spirit Servant. Not some third-rate Heroic Spirit Servant either, but a genuine one of the strongest Heroic Spirit Servants.
"What do you want to do? What's the tactic?"
"Create me an opportunity. Right in this hall, let me see the King of Heroes' true form."
Hearing Kiritsugu Emiya's expressionless declaration, Kayneth also slightly narrowed his eyes.
Then his lips curved slightly, immediately understanding Kiritsugu Emiya's crazy idea.
Just that on the surface, he was still tsundere-like disdainful.
"Holy Grail War records have never had a case of mages defeating Heroic Spirit Servants."
"Then tonight... we'll create new history!"
Defeat Gilgamesh head-on.
Create the first case in Holy Grail War history where a magus defeats a top-tier Heroic Spirit Servant with their own body.
If the main families of Fuyuki City's founding families knew what Kiritsugu Emiya and Kayneth were thinking right now, everyone would probably think these two had gone insane.
The very fact that Heroic Spirit Servants can be called Heroic Spirit Servants already demonstrates they are existences beyond human reach—legends that walked out of myths and epics, true legends whose great achievements not even modern magi, not even Grand-rank magi, could compare to. If magi could defeat Heroic Spirit Servants, then why would the Holy Grail War need to summon them at all? Why not just have magi battle Heroic Spirit Servants directly?
But nothing is absolute. At least Kayneth, this genius Lord of the Clock Tower, had some degree of confidence, because he had brought an exceptionally large number of Mystic Codes this time.
While insufficient to compete with first-rate Heroic Spirit Servants, they were enough to preserve his life against third-rate ones, and Kiritsugu Emiya similarly possessed trump cards specifically for enemies with Magic Circuits.
In a sense, they truly had the possibility of repelling a puppet Heroic Spirit Servant.
Of course, it was rather laughable—the Clock Tower Lord and the Magus Killer, who had been fighting each other to the death and despising each other just moments ago, could actually reach consensus within mere dozens of seconds, temporarily setting aside their mutual disdain to cooperate...
"The Azoth Sword—a Mystic Code frequently used by the Mage's Association. Many examples exist of it being given as a memento by teachers or parents during coming-of-age ceremonies. This low-end ceremonial equipment shouldn't be unfamiliar to a Magus Killer like you."
In the darkness, a short sword with a spherical jewel embedded in its hilt was removed from Kayneth's person and tossed over.
Mysterious words were inscribed on the sword's jewel. According to legend, this sword's ivory container in its guard held the Philosopher's Stone, possessing legends of turning coal to gold and instantly healing ailments. However, according to Kayneth's research, this wasn't truly a short sword but rather a wand disguised as one.
It could serve as a tool when using magecraft, functioning as a magical energy regulator for its wielder, capable of assisting magi and strengthening the power and effects of their magecraft.
Even within the Mage's Association, this very common ceremonial equipment's price had always remained in the mid-to-upper tier, as its versatility was extremely strong—nearly every magecraft family with a lineage possessed one.
But for Kayneth, who could pull out three magical furnaces and borrow fragments of Divine Constructs for this Holy Grail War, it was merely part of the numerous ceremonial equipment he carried, used to guard against sudden close-range ambushes by magi.
"RGD-33 hand grenade. Explosive charge: 85g. Detonation mechanism: 3.5 seconds after pulling the pin. Dual-purpose offensive and defensive, can kill living targets and destroy tanks and armored vehicles at certain distances. Effective kill radius approximately 100 meters. Can breach the defenses of most low-end Mystic Codes."
How many meters???
Watching Kiritsugu Emiya pull out a handled grenade from his coat and toss it to him, Kayneth went from initially dismissive and unwilling to accept it, to freezing slightly upon hearing that kill radius. After hesitating for a few seconds, he still used his Volumen Hydrargyrum to preserve it.
Not that he wanted to use it—after all, the remaining Mystic Codes on his person also had considerable lethality. It was simply that, out of the courtesy and refinement befitting a Clock Tower Lord, he couldn't go so far as to slap the face of someone who had already become a temporary ally, even though he deeply disliked this temporary ally and had never relaxed his vigilance against them.
"BOOM!"
"Found you."
The next instant, moonlight poured into the castle hall, with half of it already destroyed.
The blonde, red-eyed girl looked down from above, standing atop the broken tower of the ruined castle, overlooking the two magi below whose expressions remained unchanged. With a wave of her small hand, twenty-four golden ripples opened!
Twenty-four Noble Phantasms of varying forms—swords, spears, blades, and halberds, all C-rank—simultaneously reversed and aimed at the enemy Masters a hundred meters away!
With her abundant magical energy, she could naturally release higher-grade Noble Phantasms, but the plan she and Tokiomi Tohsaka had established was not to quickly kill Kiritsugu Emiya and Kayneth, because the power displayed by that Age of Gods magus Medea was far too abnormal.
Based on magical energy reactions, even now she could tenaciously hold back two of the Knight classes and one Cavalry class, even though they were all in poor condition.
This was enough to prove Medea possessed the terrifying strength of a top-tier Heroic Spirit Servant. You must know that even with abundant magical energy, she herself was only at the level of a first-rate Heroic Spirit Servant—she could briefly reach top-tier level by self-destructing without hesitation, but the gap between her and Medea was more than just a little. And this was still with Medea already heavily injured.
Therefore, essentially, she and Medea were just mutually calculating and using each other.
Medea wanted to use her hands to eliminate the other Masters.
She and Tokiomi Tohsaka were also trying to use others' power to eliminate Medea.
Everyone held the psychology of killing everyone else tonight. Diarmuid and the swordswoman were the same; she and that Age of Gods magus Medea were the same. The only difference was who dared to gamble, who schemed more, and which side would show weaknesses first.
Just as Miss Illya had said and thought—there's no such thing as alliances in the Holy Grail War.
Whoever softened their heart, whoever showed weakness, would be waiting for death. It was all about who had more intelligence, betting on others' psychology and circumstances.
"Die!"
Noble Phantasms rushed forth in reverse bombardment. Twenty-four Noble Phantasms covered the ruined hall like raindrops!
Then came endless explosions, continuous scorching heat, deadly surging high temperatures!
Not wanting to quickly kill the enemy didn't mean sparing their lives. What Tokiomi Tohsaka and the homunculus girl needed to grasp was a degree—letting enemy Masters like Kiritsugu Emiya and Kayneth retain just enough breath to be killed at any time, but not so much that their Master-Servant contracts would become invalid, preventing those Heroic Spirit Servants from being unable to escape desperately fighting that Age of Gods magus!
"Fervor, mei sanguis (Boil, my blood)!"
"Time Alter—Triple Accel!"
The Volumen Hydrargyrum rapidly deployed, forming a membrane over ten meters in diameter covering the exposed hall's sky. Defensive ceremonial equipment fully activated. Kayneth's life-preserving Mystic Codes were deployed and destroyed one after another as if they cost nothing, magnificently spread out, smashed down, then destroyed.
With the amplification of the Azoth Sword, Kiritsugu Emiya also forcibly endured his body's burden and activated triple time acceleration. The rushing Noble Phantasms slowed in his vision, while he simultaneously locked onto the blonde girl standing on the tower platform a hundred meters away in the night.
His expression was grave. Although he didn't understand why her appearance differed from the first night!
Based on that magical energy reaction, he still didn't hesitate to quickly move through the bombardment!
Using Kayneth's cover, he pulled the trigger toward the distance!
"Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!"
"Clang."
However, how could Tokiomi Tohsaka not have anticipated this? After reviewing Kiritsugu Emiya's information from Kirei Kotomine, he had been constantly guarding against modern weapon ambushes!
The homunculus girl didn't have golden armor like King Gilgamesh for defense, but merely modern small-caliber bullets—any magus could set up corresponding magical energy defenses, simply needing to infuse magical energy through Magic Circuits!
So the blonde girl merely extended her hand, releasing the powerful magical energy belonging to a Heroic Spirit Servant, directly deflecting and repelling all the incoming small-caliber bullets!
"As expected, using Magic Circuit defense. There's an opportunity." Seeing this scene, Kiritsugu Emiya, who had been blasted against a wall by the bombardment, gritted his teeth and obtained the intelligence he wanted. But the next moment, three Noble Phantasms radiating terrifying magical energy struck toward him, whose position was now exposed.
Knowing he couldn't dodge, and that even using acceleration magecraft would leave him severely injured, he immediately roared:
"Kayneth!"
"You rat, do you need to command me?"
Several gorgeous, shining gemstones carved with different inscriptions exploded instantly before Kiritsugu Emiya just as the Noble Phantasms arrived. These were Mystic Code rune gemstones, carved with Rune characters, colorful natural gemstones!
Boom! At the moment the rune gemstones shattered, the magical energy within formed vortices with the incantations, slowing the unobstructed rush of Noble Phantasms, allowing Kiritsugu Emiya to successfully activate Time Alter again and dive down to the first floor, which had already become a scorching hell!
"Splash!"
The instant he landed on the first floor, Kiritsugu Emiya immediately pulled out a flashbang from his coat and threw it.
In an instant, light covered the ruined hall, and the torrent of Noble Phantasm bombardment briefly lost its target again.
The heat and the cold of surviving disaster made Kiritsugu Emiya roll and dive to the dark corridor entrance, then leap down, gasping continuously. The target position was confirmed.
Estimated distance was about 120 meters. He quickly drew the antique handgun from his waist and loaded a bullet different from the previous ones.
Moreover, the opponent had held back. Kiritsugu Emiya could feel it.
Those Noble Phantasms had aimed at his limbs rather than his heart or brain; otherwise, he absolutely couldn't have evaded so easily.
But why? Why did she—or rather, he—hold back? Which side's faction did they belong to?
Had Illyasviel ordered her to hold back?
No, no! If it were Illyasviel order, why would Illya be holding back the other Heroic Spirit Servants, preventing those Servants from leaving the main battlefield?
But regardless of the reason, there was only...
"Only one chance."
The instant the swordswoman was deprived of her sight by the silver thread dagger, fifteen seconds had passed!
Diarmuid's demon sword, finished with its charge, radiated crimson light extending to five meters. He roared and suddenly slammed down toward Miss Illya, who was preparing to pursue her victory and completely eliminate the swordswoman's combat capability. With the boost from the magical furnace, the demon sword now revealed its Divine Construct sharpness. The entire castle trembled from this strike!
"Saber!"
"Aaaaaaaaahhh!" The swordswoman with hollow sockets where her emerald eyes once were was pushed back by the vast magical energy current. Knowing she could no longer delay, she released a frenzied roar, picked up her invisible sword, and slashed toward Miss Illya, who was using her battle-axe sword to directly withstand the magical energy burst and couldn't move an inch!
Lancelot? The Berserker is Lancelot? Illyasviel defeated Lancelot in direct combat?
Her brain, nearing its limit, no longer had time to process this shocking information!
Because at this moment, Diarmuid had created an opportunity. If she couldn't kill her opponent, everything she had would turn to empty dreams and bubbles. Her ideals, her ambitions, her beloved country and people would all vanish into smoke because of her, their king's, defeat!
"You care greatly about others' evaluations, don't you? Do you know what that Lake Knight said at the end? He asked me to ask you—are you still looking for excuses to fight?"
"Bang! Riiip!"
Just as the invisible sword was about to break through the atmosphere and sever the beast girl's waist, a pure white small hand directly grabbed the unstoppable blade in her grip, embedding it into her flesh!
The swordswoman's eyes widened. One hand held the battle-axe sword blocking the demon sword's radiance.
The other hand, gripping the incoming blade, belonging to Miss Illya, bled profusely as she laughed madly:
"You think this level can kill me? An attack of the same power level—I won't be killed by you a second time!"
Noble Phantasm: God Hand (Twelve Labors).
Rank: B.
A self-targeted Anti-Unit Noble Phantasm. The Noble Phantasm possessed by the Heroic Spirit Servant who responded to Miss Illya's summon this time, and which, conveniently in its degraded state, could be accommodated by Miss Illya. It nullifies attacks of Rank B and below. Regardless of whether the attack is physical or magical, it cannot break through the holder's defense.
It also possesses the effect of automatic resurrection after death, storing eleven revival instances. As long as she isn't killed twelve times, she will never be eliminated.
Furthermore, each type of attack that kills her allows her to develop a certain degree of corresponding resistance. While not quite complete immunity, relying on high baseline attribute values, she could achieve damage reduction effects close to ineffectiveness.
The swordswoman and spearman at their peak truly possessed the possibility of consecutively killing her multiple lives while tanking the damage reduction. But with everyone already at critical health and heavily injured, this Noble Phantasm's characteristics became an abyss no one could cross!
"Magical energy..."
"!"
The gale suddenly dissipated; the invisible sword took form. The swordswoman lowered her head, channeling almost all her magical energy throughout her body into the holy sword in her hand, causing the immobilized Miss Illya's heart to tense, sensing something ominous.
This was the ultimate Divine Construct, the symbol of King Arthur—the most powerful, most noble holy sword.
"This guy's magical energy... is transforming into light?" Miss Illya noticed the holy sword's radiance beginning to bloom, and the swordswoman's arm starting to tear!
This was forcibly attempting to break through the Yellow Rose's curse, the burden feedback from being unable to use both hands to release the Noble Phantasm. It would completely cripple her entire arm beyond repair, a move tantamount to mutual destruction with reduced output power. But even reduced, that magnitude was undoubtedly approaching Anti-Army Noble Phantasm level—power sufficient to kill her one or even several lives!
Light gathered.
Magical energy surged.
Flesh continuously tore and collapsed.
The holy sword's radiance reached its peak within just ten seconds, illuminating the sky.
Miss Illya wanted to free her hand to stop this process, but Diarmuid on the other side further intensified the surging magical energy sword aura released by his demon sword.
"You were still hiding...!"
"BOOOOM!!!"
The holy sword's radiance pierced the night sky, using every ounce of strength throughout her entire body!
The swordswoman, from bottom to top in a crescent moon posture, swept across Miss Illya's slender body!
Light enveloped all things. That crescent-shaped sword aura broke through the firmament, illuminating the night sky. Terrifying magical energy heat destroyed everything. Brilliant radiance spun a diagonal line at the castle's peak, followed by continuous roaring like missile bombardment baptism, explosions that startled the entire Magic Mirror Forest!
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!
The entire castle, like a cake being forcibly cut, suddenly collapsed and fell from its midsection!
The atmosphere wept, hurricanes wailed, the world seemed to freeze.
On the other side, the homunculus girl, seeing this scene, first froze involuntarily, surprised by this radiance's sanctity.
However, an even greater sense of crisis arose from another surging magical energy.
"This kind of power... it seems Assassin encountered quite some trouble. But for Sensei to let other Masters survive long enough for their own Heroic Spirit Servants to use such Noble Phantasms—he also wanted to gamble on calculating Assassin in reverse."
"Am I right? Illyasviel mother?"
With considerable interest, roughly gripping Irisviel's silver threads, Kirei Kotomine, who had already reached the edge of the Magic Mirror Forest, looked at that distant holy sword radiance with good spirits, even making small talk with this lifeless corpse in his hand.
"I should have left you with a breath of life. I was just preparing to tell you about your husband and daughter who've already gone red-eyed with killing." Kirei Kotomine shook his head, feeling somewhat regretful.
Of course, even so, he didn't believe Illyasviel would be defeated here.
After all, the desperate situations that person faced weren't limited to just this once. Each time seemed utterly hopeless.
But that Heroic Spirit Servant from the future could always create new miracles.
"It's not... over yet!"
Among the collapsing rubble in mid-air, the beast girl, killed again by this incomplete Noble Phantasm, furiously climbed up. Gripping her massive battle-axe sword, her body dissolved by light and heat rapidly recovered as she crouched. She could still fight; she hadn't truly lost yet!
Fight, fight, fight! Betting one's life—who in this Holy Grail War couldn't do that?!
If the critically injured swordswoman could be this powerful, once she recovered to her peak, she didn't dare imagine the result. Either they or their Masters must die here. Otherwise, even if all her lives were spent tonight, she absolutely wouldn't flee like in the first night's battle!
"It's already over. I must admit, to push everyone to this extent—"
"Medea, you truly are a hero worthy of being remembered by history, worthy of everyone's awe."
Just as the beast girl's body was recovering, a red light even more terrifying than the holy sword's radiance pierced the heavens.
It was a magical energy torrent that shattered heaven and earth. The terrifying demon sword, like a pillar of light, made even the clouds retreat. Diarmuid raised his demon sword and spear high, blood dyeing his body. Opening two Noble Phantasms consecutively beyond his limits caused his face to bulge with blood vessels, making him appear as ferocious and terrible as a demon.
The magical furnace's energy fully enhanced the demon sword's blade. That unimaginable magical energy, which made even the atmosphere cry out in sorrow, suddenly fell toward the recovering, falling beast girl.
This was his final trump card. The swordswoman had lost her strength, lying against the ruins like a corpse, unable to move, her arm broken and twisted like a snake.
His energy and stamina had also bottomed out. This killing move was his final light.
To slay the Age of Gods magus Medea, to defeat the evil dragon and save his lord—this was his hope.
"Móralltach!"
ROOOOAAAR!!!
The demon spear's light cannon descending from the castle's peak instantly tore apart the earth along with the falling beast girl!!
The boundless magical energy devastated and spread. Half the Magic Mirror Forest's land instantly crumbled and ignited. Rubble and smoke dispersed like an elegant retreating tide. It was meaningless, truly meaningless. Simultaneously facing two top-tier Heroic Spirit Servants, any resistance from the beast girl was meaningless. So what if she temporarily gained stronger power through possession? So what if she possessed divinity and briefly suppressed two Knight-class Servants? Why should suddenly acquired power compare to the experience others had familiarized themselves with over longer periods? This wasn't fair or reasonable!
Any so-called breakthrough in the heat of battle or borrowing others' power was merely entertainment before truly battle-hardened heroes. Besides earning a few polite words of praise from the heroes, there was little difference from the initial situation. Because this was what Heroic Spirit Servants were—this was the epic mythology remembered by humanity!
Illyasviel, you are not a hero. What right do you have to be mentioned in the same breath as heroes?
The greatest difference between heroes and you—true heroes always find opportunities to break through desperate situations.
You cannot bear Heracles' power. You're just a humble rat, a heavily injured container that could shatter at any moment. So from beginning to end, all you thought about was delaying, fearfully delaying. How could someone like you claim the Holy Grail?
There's no need to seek help from others. You have your own power, a will that can truly be called demonic. You are a natural carrier of malice...
You need only give your body to me, to your true nature, your instincts. Trust me—you'll become worthy of everyone's admiration. You need only cry out my name. This world's malice, this ley line's malice, this Holy Grail ritual's malice—none can compare to you...
"Can't maintain it... the Noble Phantasm..." Under the demon sword's radiance wash, intense pain caused Miss Illya's body to deteriorate, reaching the edge of final limits.
She had known all along she couldn't last much longer. Her earlier arrogance was merely to make others wary.
The two Knight-class Heroic Spirit Servants had reached their limits, but so had she.
Using degraded demigod power with a heavily injured body was itself already a miracle.
And now, after high-intensity combat, she understood—she had reached her limit.
Her increasingly agitated and extreme behavior was just covering her essential fragility.
Being able to revive never meant immunity to pain.
Each death's pain was genuine physical and mental torture for her.
"BOOM!!!"
Gale winds swept through the Magic Mirror Forest. A crater over a hundred meters in diameter was blasted out in the distance beneath the castle. Earth-shaking roars echoed through this world. The magical energy explosion even triggered earthquakes within several kilometers. The unprecedentedly high concentration of magical furnace volatilization disturbed the atmosphere, even heating it enough to distort space like a mirage. Large swaths of forest trees vanished instantly.
Diarmuid collapsed weakly on his knees atop the rubble, his entire body emitting white smoke as if about to die. He felt that even lifting a finger was painful. Most of his body had been burned into blackened charcoal by the magical furnace's energy.
This was mythology.
This was epic.
A battle against a magus that made two Knight-class Servants give their all—an impossibility, a case never before seen in Fuyuki City's Holy Grail Wars. The highest level of treatment in this Holy Grail War thus far. Even the dock harbor battle couldn't compare.
"It's over..."
"Can you still move, Lancer?"
"I cannot."
"Neither can I."
Energy, stamina—completely exhausted.
Even hoarse speech was agony.
If the two Knight-class Servants were in such condition, the magus girl who had fought while injured was even more so.
One near-Anti-Army level radiance Noble Phantasm at close range, one fortress-level magical furnace-boosted Noble Phantasm. The two Heroic Spirit Servants had already exhausted all their strength to their utmost limits, burning everything they had just like Miss Illya.
The swordswoman lay collapsed, her twisted arm and empty, bleeding eye sockets marking her flank.
Diarmuid's forehead bled, half his body burned to charcoal. Only by using his demon spear as support could he avoid collapsing unconscious.
Forget Illyasviel getting up now—even a third-rate Heroic Spirit Servant arriving could directly harvest both of them on the spot.
Scorching white smoke drifted from their bodies, as if symbolizing their proximity to death.
"How terrifying—a Caster actually pushed both Lancer and Saber to the point where they can't continue fighting." Looking from afar at the beast girl lying in the massive crater.
Her spirit dress had begun shattering into light particles due to the user's burden. She seemed to have lost consciousness as well, without the slightest strength.
Iskandar couldn't help but exclaim in admiration. He hadn't expected that he would be the only one still standing.
"Fighting two Knight-class Servants to a standstill, taking Anti-Army and Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasms head-on—I really don't know how that Age of Gods magus Medea accomplished such feats..."
However, before Iskandar could finish his exclamation, with the superior vision of a Heroic Spirit Servant, he suddenly saw the little girl in the distance whose spirit dress was dissipating, the little girl covered in ceramic-like cracks all over her body.
Her mouth moved imperceptibly, soundlessly.
What was she saying?
Iskandar's eyes widened.
"———BER... SER... KER!!!!!!"