Chapter 190: Antares Snipe, Annihilating Two Gods!
The astonishing battle that took place on Orsa Island almost caused the entire island to sink.
Whether it was the mythological war in the sky, the Loki Familia's battle against Ottar, or the coalition army's duel against the knight Leon, all were so intense that they were on the verge of exceeding the limits that the Lower World could bear.
Because the overly exaggerated battle situations were erupting almost at the same time, the gods on Babel were overwhelmed, barely able to keep track of these three chaotic battlefields simultaneously.
Under the watchful eyes of the gods, the results of the three battles were concluded almost at the same time.
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First, the great battle between the Loki Familia and Ottar.
When Ottar released his trump card, Beastification, his own level completely surpassed Lv.7 and reached the realm of Lv.8.
Both the observing gods and the clashing Loki Familia deeply felt a certain terrifying presence that Ottar was exuding.
However, even when facing Ottar's pressure, Finn, the captain of the Loki Familia, did not hesitate at all. With a calm mind and decisive combat style, he led his comrades to clash with Ottar.
Although most people initially thought this was a battle that could not be won, as the fighting progressed, they discovered a surprising fact.
That was, during the continuous battle, the wounds on Ottar's body showed no signs of healing from beginning to end. The continuous fighting left Ottar with wounds so dense they looked like a hedgehog pierced by countless sword wounds...
"What in the world is this..."
During the battle, Ottar himself gradually realized that something was wrong.
Although the effect of Beastification reduced his rationality to the limit, the overly abnormal situation made his remaining rational consciousness realize the problem with the battle.
It was the unique, pale yellow long spear in the hands of that little person, Finn.
All the wounds pierced by the long spear showed no signs of healing!
This was undoubtedly the special effect of that long spear!
In fact, Ottar's guess was correct.
The weapon Finn used in the battle was not his usual and most frequently used weapon, the Command Spear. Instead, he had switched to the magic spear that Shirou had given him before the battle began, the one forged by Shirou himself—Gae Buidhe, the Yellow Rose of Mortality.
Without a doubt, this was a unique Noble Phantasm forged by Shirou.
It came from one of the twin spears of the Heroic Spirit Diarmuid.
In addition to the Gae Dearg, the Red Rose of Exorcism, that Shirou had previously given to the Loki Familia to use, this time he gave Finn the other one from the Noble Phantasm, Gae Buidhe, the Yellow Rose of Mortality.
The effect of the Noble Phantasm was also very simple: any wound hit by this spear would absolutely not heal.
After being damaged by this dangerous short spear, it would cause an irrecoverable injury, reducing the maximum HP. Even with the use of "healing magic" or "regeneration abilities," the "injured state" it caused could not be removed.
To remove the curse, one had to either destroy the short spear or kill the owner of the magic spear. Otherwise, the wound would continuously remain on the injured person's body.
Although this ability was not particularly special and its influence in actual combat was not significant, after Finn learned that such a Noble Phantasm existed, he decisively asked Shirou to forge a similar weapon for him.
The reason for this was obviously that Finn had seen Ottar's weakness.
Beastification was indeed a very powerful ability. It was a physiological phenomenon that only certain races among Beastmen possessed.
In a nutshell, it was a fighting instinct. After unleashing the bestiality and power contained within the body, physical abilities would be enhanced.
However, Beastification also had an extremely significant drawback, which was that after beastification, Ottar's rationality would be greatly diminished, or he might even completely lose his sanity.
When dealing with an opponent who only had brute force but no brain, instead of clashing head-on and trying to suppress them with brute force, it was better to use an invisible trap to weaken them. After the opponent was weakened to the extreme, one could then use the conditions one possessed to defeat them in one fell swoop.
And this was precisely the reason why Finn chose Gae Buidhe, the Yellow Rose of Mortality, as his weapon!
"Pfft!"
After thousands of clashes, Ottar certainly beat most of the Loki Familia members into immobility, unable to counter-attack.
Even Gareth, the Dwarf vanguard, was trembling all over from Ottar's frontal attacks and could not make any counter-attacking moves.
But in contrast, Ottar's own body was already stained with blood.
After countless intersections with Gae Buidhe, Ottar's injuries were so severe that it was visible to the naked eye, and his physical strength had weakened to the extreme.
No matter how powerful the opponent's strength was, if their physical strength and magic power were consumed to the limit, it would probably be impossible to make an effective counter-attack!
However, Ottar's performance was still astonishing.
He forcibly ignored his shaky body and the continuously flowing blood. He turned his bulging, muscular arm into a twisted fang and stabbed it into the earth in the next instant.
"Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh!!"
He swung his tyrannical giant fist that could blow away everything in one go.
The entire ground was instantly overturned, causing spectacular destruction as if a bomb had exploded.
It was a Boar's Strike that cracked the earth's crust, shook the ground, and made the land cry.
The overwhelming impact scattered in all directions, without exception, submerging, wantonly playing with, and throwing adventurers away, burying them deep in the rubble.
After this strike, the only one still standing besides Ottar himself was Finn.
Relying on his agile footwork and movements, Finn dodged Ottar's attack at the last minute and was now at an extremely close distance to Ottar.
"Now!"
Finn took a deep breath and pierced Ottar's chest with the magic spear in his hand—
"Bang!"
After the flying sand and debris dispersed, the invincible beast finally fell to the ground. Finn stood in place, panting, and became the ultimate winner.
But even after defeating Ottar and the Freya Familia, Finn alone was clearly no longer able to break through the final line of defense of the Ouranos Faction.
"As expected, it's still not enough..."
Finn sighed and could only turn his head to look into the distance, hoping that someone on the other battlefields could fulfill this difficult duty in his place.
However, Finn did not know that although he had narrowly won here, he was the only one who could win this great battle.
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On the western side of the island.
"Boom!"
After an unprecedentedly fierce battle, after the dividing line of flames and remnant light cut through everything, only one person was left standing on the field.
The knight Leon held his shattered weapon again, looking approvingly at the girl who had fallen to the ground in front of him.
"To be able to fight me to this extent with willpower alone is unprecedented." Leon spoke softly. "Unfortunately, with your power, you couldn't fully unleash the power of that weapon. Otherwise, I, who hadn't even drawn the twelfth trial sword, would definitely not have been able to take that last strike."
Leon said, raising his twelfth trial sword.
It was a two-handed greatsword made entirely of light.
The name of the sword was Leon's own name, as if it was composed of his very soul. At the same time, with the drawing of the twelfth trial sword, Leon's aura had finally and completely reached its peak.
At this moment, he was undoubtedly the most powerful adventurer, having reached the realm of Lv.9.
"Ryuu... as expected, it's impossible..."
On the side, Alise silently stood guard next to Ryuu.
As a soul, she still had the ability to fight, but if no one was holding her sword, she herself had no way to interfere with reality.
In that last moment, Ryuu had even overexerted the power of the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi.
Ryuu had broken her promise with Alise and, despite her body being on the verge of collapse, she still clashed with Leon with all her might.
As a result, she succeeded in shattering Leon's first eleven trial swords, but in the end, she failed to truly defeat Leon himself.
This resulted in Leon completely finishing his magic and strengthening his own body to the absolute limit.
Among the adventurers on the ground, there was no one left who could defeat Leon.
If at this moment, Leon chose to directly kill his way to the base of Shirou's Faction, it was likely that no one would be able to stop Leon's advance. Their defenses would be instantly destroyed, and they would be directly defeated.
But Leon clearly had no intention of doing so.
Just as he had claimed before, the moment he brought his strength to the limit, what he wanted was not to win this War Game, but to use his sword to challenge the strongest person on this battlefield.
No matter who ultimately won, he would use his sword to touch the opponent and see what heights he himself could reach!
At this moment, a shocking light suddenly lit up in the sky.
As if the sky had been torn open in the middle, an unprecedentedly intense energy instantly pierced through the clouds and smashed directly toward the earth, as if a star were about to fall!
Leon was immediately very interested in this and wanted to go and witness the process of that mythological war.
However, what Leon did not expect was that a figure in a black cloak suddenly appeared in front of him, as if to block him.
"I remember you. You seem to be Ouranos's subordinate, the one with the title of The Fool."
To Leon's words, Fels, The Fool, quietly nodded and slowly said: "Leon, what you need to do now is not to fight Emiya Shirou. You are not his match. Instead, kill your way to the opposing base immediately, and you will be able to win!"
"I'm sorry, but I have no intention of helping Ouranos win." Leon rejected Fels's words without hesitation. "From the beginning, I didn't think this was a righteous war. Moreover, a true knight would not point his sword at the weak."
"..."
The man's words plunged Fels into silence.
He seemed to have a lot to say for a moment, but he finally realized that he could not convince the man in front of him, and it was impossible to stop him.
But he still had no intention of giving up and even made a move to try and force Leon.
However, his action was stopped by Ouranos's voice transmitted through a Magic Stone.
"Let him go." Ouranos's ancient voice conveyed a will that was not shaken in the slightest.
"Is this alright?" Fels was very puzzled. "If we let Leon go to that battlefield, he will only sacrifice himself for nothing, and we will not be able to win the War Game."
"Winning the War Game was never important in the first place." Ouranos said quietly. "To achieve my goal, the War Game itself is the purpose."
"..."
Hearing Ouranos's words, Fels fell silent.
He finally seemed to understand something, quietly nodded, and obeyed the Heavenly God's words.
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The mythological battlefield, like a battle among gods.
After Shirou's Antares Snipe was ready, it was finally activated!
This was a Noble Phantasm from the Heroic Spirit Chiron, a manifestation of the fact that Chiron, as the constellation Sagittarius, constantly aimed at Scorpio.
It could be fired instantly the moment a decision was made. It did not rely on a bow but on a meteor strike shot from the constellation. The bow and arrow themselves were only guides for the true arrow.
It was a strike powerful enough to pierce stars and was the pinnacle of what an archer could achieve.
It was worth mentioning that the Antares Snipe, as a delayed Noble Phantasm, would automatically activate one turn after death.
Because the constellation Sagittarius in the sky represented Chiron, Chiron was always drawing his bow.
He only needed to decide on the target of the arrow to activate it, without needing to release its true name or accumulate magical power, completely eliminating the time lag that a bow-type weapon inevitably has due to the actions of nocking an arrow and drawing the bow.
This was a meteor strike that could only be achieved by the constellation that always had its bow drawn and aimed at the Scorpion in the sky.
"Pfft!"
Relying on the absolute vacuum period created by the sacrifice of Artemis's avatar, Shirou simultaneously used [Brahmastra Kundala] to suppress the Sea God Poseidon and fired the Antares Snipe at the Scorpion Antares!
Everything happened in an instant, or rather, it was an inevitability that was visible to the eye.
"Crack!"
The falling meteor arrow hit the core of the Scorpion Antares in an instant, which was where Artemis's main body was located!
As the astonishing strike collided, Artemis's crystal suddenly shattered!
Along with an unprecedented roar of divine power, a heavenly staircase also appeared in the sky, symbolizing the fact that a god was to be sent back to Tenkai from Genkai.
"Goodbye... my Orion."
After Artemis opened her eyes, she looked at Shirou with deep affection.
Then, taking advantage of the time she had before returning to Tenkai, she suddenly concentrated all her divine power and aimed a full-power arrow from the Moon Goddess at the location of the Sea God Poseidon's divine-powered monster.
"Boom!"
The divine-powered monster, which was already suppressed by the Brahmastra Kundala flames, was naturally unable to withstand a divine Authority of the same level. Its core crystal was quickly destroyed.
After the crystal at the heart of the divine-powered monster shattered, the Sea God Poseidon was also destined to return to Tenkai, just like Artemis!