Her golden eyes sparkled with amusement as she looked down at the priest. "Why the sudden urgency? Are you afraid the little ghost in the cloak will come knocking on our church doors before my fortress is ready?"
Shirou didn't take the bait. He merely offered a serene, unbothered smile. "In a war such as this, one can never be too prepared. I simply wish to secure our victory as swiftly as possible."
He and Semiramis had spent years preparing for this Great Holy Grail War. Their plan to end the ritual early and claim the prize was meticulous. The Hanging Gardens, a massive, flying fortress, was the cornerstone of that plan, granting them an impregnable stronghold and absolute aerial supremacy.
"As you say," Semiramis hummed, clearly uncaring of his true motives as long as she got to build her grand palace.
However, her relaxed demeanor vanished in a fraction of a second.
Her golden eyes snapped toward the high, vaulted ceiling in the darkest corner of the church. Without a word of warning, she whipped her arm in an elegant arc. A bolt of toxic, emerald-green magic shot from her fingertips, striking the shadows with a sharp hiss.
"Assassin?" Shirou's smile dropped instantly.
"We have a rat," Semiramis hissed, her eyes narrowed in disdain. "A spy."
Shirou's hands instinctively moved to his hips, gripping the hilts of weapons concealed beneath his priestly robes, the Black Keys of the Holy Church.
"Can you handle it?" he asked, his voice low and dangerous.
"Hard to say. It did not possess a human soul," she replied, staring at the spot where her poison had melted the stone. "Come. Let us inspect the undercroft. I refuse to allow vermin in my domain."
The two commanders of the Red Faction moved into the shadows, their paranoia fully ignited. The sanctuary was no longer safe.
….
High above the surrounding forests, standing on the tallest spire of the Yggdmillennia fortress, Archer of Black drew back the string of his massive bow.
Chiron, the legendary centaur and teacher of heroes, stood perfectly still against the howling night wind. His keen, hawklike eyes pierced the darkness, focusing on a patch of ruined earth several miles away.
[Can you see Saber's position?]
The voice of his Master, Fiore, echoed clearly in his mind through their telepathic link.
[Perfectly, Master,] Chiron replied.
He tracked the furious, high-speed clash of silver and black. He watched Siegfried parry heavy blows from the cloaked figure's purple greatsword.
Suddenly, a blinding column of white-blue light erupted from the battlefield.
[What is that?!] Fiore gasped over the link.
Chiron recognized the massive surge of ether immediately. [Saber is unleashing his Noble Phantasm.]
Siegfried had realized standard combat was yielding no results. He was ending it.
[Archer! Provide covering fire!]
[Understood.]
Chiron exhaled, steadying his aim, and released the bowstring.
BANG!
A sonic boom cracked the air above the fortress. The arrow shot forward like a shooting star, crossing the miles of empty space in a fraction of a second, aimed directly at the exposed back of the black-cloaked figure.
It was a flawless pincer attack.
….
CLANG!!!
A deafening ring of metal on metal echoed across the plains.
The supersonic arrow struck its target, kicking up a massive cloud of dust and debris upon impact. Siegfried, his silver armor glowing with the overflow of his charging mana, didn't hesitate. He knew that sound meant Archer's support had landed.
Even if the arrow hadn't pierced the enemy's heart, the sheer kinetic force would surely disrupt their stance. It was the perfect opening.
Siegfried raised his legendary greatsword high above his head. The jewel embedded in the hilt flared, drawing in the ambient mana of the world and converting it into pure, destructive twilight.
"Phantasmal Greatsword..." Siegfried chanted, his voice echoing with heroic resolve.
He brought the blade down, aiming straight into the heart of the dust cloud.
"Felling of the Sky Demon! BALMUNG!"
A colossal, semi-circular wave of twilight energy roared from the blade. It consumed the earth, vaporizing the grass, the rocks, and the very air itself as it crashed over the spot where the cloaked figure stood. The sheer brilliance of the attack turned the night into day.
....
[Did Saber win?] Fiore asked anxiously from the safety of the fortress war room.
On the roof, Chiron kept his bow raised. His legendary eyesight pierced the fading light of the Noble Phantasm and the settling dust.
If a normal Servant had taken a supersonic arrow to the back and a direct hit from Balmung, they would be nothing more than fading spirit particles.
But as the smoke cleared, Chiron's brow furrowed into a deep, troubled frown.
"No, Master," he said, his voice grim. "It is not over."
[Eh?] Fiore's confusion was palpable over the link.
"Master," Chiron continued, his tone shifting from gentle advisor to strict protector. "If possible, I strongly recommend you gather your brother, Caules, and retreat deeper into the fortress's underground bunkers immediately."
[Wait, but why?]
"Because the battle is no longer something a Master can safely observe."
….
"Eh? But why?"
Fiore's eyes were wide with confusion. She clutched the armrests of her wheelchair, trying to make sense of Archer's sudden, urgent warning.
"Sister? What's wrong? What did Archer say?"
A young man's voice broke her train of thought. Fiore turned to see her younger brother, Caules Forvellge Yggdmillennia, looking at her with a mix of curiosity and concern. He pushed his round glasses up his nose, his expression tense.
Standing right beside Caules was a bizarre, yet strangely beautiful figure.
It was a young girl wearing a flowing, pure white bridal gown. A heavy, black veil drifted gently behind her in the night breeze. Her face was delicate, but her pink hair was parted by a large, metallic horn bolted directly to her forehead. Similar cylindrical, gold-colored nodes were attached to the sides of her neck.
"Ugh... nngh..."
The girl didn't speak. She merely let out soft, low grunts, her eyes hidden beneath her bangs. Yet, despite her delicate, almost tragic appearance, she effortlessly carried a massive, highly lethal-looking metallic mace.
This was Frankenstein's Monster. Berserker of Black.
In this world, the infamous creation of Victor Frankenstein was a tragic, patchwork maiden. If Stell's Main Unit had been present to witness it, she likely would have paused her processing to marvel at the sheer absurdity of the Fate universe's historical revisions.
"Archer says the situation with Saber is far too dangerous," Fiore explained, her voice tight. "He wants us to return to the fortress immediately. He suggests your Berserker continue forward to support Saber in our stead."
….
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