The Noble Phantasms Gilgamesh unleashed this time from the Gate of Babylon were not only several times greater in number than before, but vastly superior in raw power as well.
Earlier, the treasures he had fired were mostly low-tier Noble Phantasms—rank D and E at best.This new volley, however, was different. Mixed among the D-rank weapons were a considerable number of C-rank Noble Phantasms.
Faced with the torrential rain of treasures pouring down from the sky, Diarmuid no longer had the luxury of continuing his close-quarters battle with Ren Kuroda. He pushed his Agility parameter to its absolute limit, barely managing to escape with only minor collateral damage from Gilgamesh's bombardment.
"Tōsaka family head—what is the meaning of this?" Kayneth snapped, fury blazing in his eyes as he glared at Tōsaka Tokiomi."Earlier, you spoke so eloquently about cooperation. Is this what you call sincerity? Attacking friend and foe alike?"
To begin with, Kayneth's mood had already been sour after witnessing Lancer being suppressed at every turn by Ren Kuroda.
But seeing Tokiomi's Archer indiscriminately engulf both Ren Kuroda and Diarmuid in his attack pushed him over the edge.
At this point, Kayneth seriously suspected that Tōsaka Tokiomi's earlier talk of "working together" had been nothing more than empty rhetoric meant to deceive fools.
If not for Diarmuid's exceptional Agility, that last barrage alone would have left him either dead—or at the very least, flayed alive.
As for Kayneth's accusation, Tōsaka Tokiomi could only feel helpless.
His desire for cooperation was genuine—at least until the faction war concluded.
But as for why Archer acted this way?
Tokiomi was just as powerless.
The strength of the King of Heroes as a Servant was beyond reproach—but as a Master, Tokiomi simply couldn't control him.
Other people summoned Servants.
Tōsaka Tokiomi had summoned a father.
In everyday communication, he had to address Archer as a loyal subject.When issuing commands, they had to be phrased as gentle advice.
Archer suffered from terminal "king syndrome." If you didn't stroke his ego the right way, he would explode without warning.
Diarmuid's ability to evade Gilgamesh's bombardment wasn't just due to his high Agility—it was also because Gilgamesh hadn't considered him a primary target.
At that moment, Ren Kuroda's sprinting figure cut through the night like a raging gale, darting freely through the darkness as countless Noble Phantasms pursued him from above, detonating relentlessly in his wake.
Before Gilgamesh even attacked, Tōsaka Tokiomi had already used magecraft to disperse all ordinary civilians, turning the surrounding area into a deserted zone.
Even so, the continuous explosions and massive surges of magical energy were impossible to hide.
Throughout Fuyuki City, others began to sense it.
Only Heroic Spirits could produce magical fluctuations on this scale.
At the Tōsaka residence, Rin Tōsaka, Emiya Shirō, and the others could feel it clearly—though they had no idea who on their side was bold enough to singlehandedly provoke the entire Red faction.
"It's our Assassin," Archer Emiya said calmly."He's fighting their Archer right now. And judging by the situation… the rest of the Red faction's Servants are there too."
As an Archer himself, Emiya used his class skill Hawkeye, allowing him to observe the distant battlefield with astonishing clarity.
In truth, he had always been curious about the Assassin of their faction.
As a Heroic Spirit from the future, Emiya was intimately familiar with both the Fourth and Fifth Holy Grail Wars.
And in the future he came from, the Assassin of the Fifth War should have been Sasaki Kojirō.
So why had Assassin alone changed—while the other Servants remained the same?
No matter how much he thought about it, Emiya couldn't find an answer.
The Holy Grail War unfolding before him had already spiraled into chaos. Aside from the Servants' true names, everything he thought he knew about history had become useless.
"Rin… should we go support him?" Emiya asked.
From what he could see, Assassin had already driven Diarmuid back with ease and was now holding his ground against the King of Heroes himself.
In terms of sheer strength, this unknown Assassin far surpassed the Kojirō Emiya remembered.
That was precisely why he asked his Master.
Anyone with eyes could tell that Assassin was powerful. If he were to fall here, it would be a devastating loss for the Blue faction.
Rin bit down on her thumbnail, her expression tense.
Whether or not to rescue him was an incredibly difficult decision.
At present, the Blue faction was little more than a loose collection of individuals. She had only formed a temporary alliance with Shirō, Saber's Master.
Even if they wanted to help, Archer, Saber, and Assassin together made only three Servants.
The enemy had seven.
Charging in recklessly wouldn't save Assassin—it would only get them killed as well.
"Archer… is there any way to provide long-range support?" Rin finally asked.
After careful consideration, she chose not to personally risk entering the battlefield.
The reason was simple: with no other Servants moving, the two of them alone couldn't turn the tide.
"It's possible," Emiya replied."But at this distance, even if I can hit them, the power will be greatly reduced. It probably won't help much."
Even as he spoke, Emiya had already projected a longbow into his hands. A peculiar arrow with a spiral-shaped tip was smoothly nocked onto the string.
It looked plain—almost mundane—with none of the flashy effects one would expect from a Noble Phantasm.
Yet this "Spiral Arrow" was an A-rank Noble Phantasm.
It was also the most powerful projected weapon in Emiya's entire archery arsenal.
And within Fuyuki City, Rin and Emiya weren't the only ones who had noticed Ren Kuroda clashing with the Red faction.
At Ryūdō Temple, Medea frowned as she watched the scene projected in her water mirror.
She had almost no authority over Ren Kuroda as his Master. As a result, she was often completely unaware of his movements.
Still—even she hadn't expected him to be this reckless.
Charging alone into a confrontation with seven Heroic Spirits?
Ren Kuroda was her most reliable ally—and one of her trump cards after the faction war concluded.
No matter how she looked at it, she needed to support him.
Yet, just like Rin, Medea faced the same dilemma.
The other Blue faction Servants weren't moving. With her personal combat strength, she couldn't help Ren directly—she'd only get herself killed.
In the end, Medea made the same choice as Rin.
Remote support.
As a Caster, Medea possessed the class skill to create magical constructs.
And as one of the greatest magi of the Age of Gods, the artifacts she produced far surpassed those of ordinary Casters.
She had originally stockpiled massive numbers of Dragon Tooth Soldiers for the final battle.
But now, for Assassin's sake, she could no longer hold back.
Hundreds—no, thousands—of Dragon Tooth Soldiers poured out from Ryūdō Temple, sprinting toward a single location within Fuyuki City.
"ROOOOAAAR—!"
On top of that, supported by Ren Kuroda's vast reserves of magical energy, Medea even created a colossal bone dragon.
Under normal circumstances, this was far beyond what her own mana supply could achieve.
But Ren Kuroda lacked many things—mana was not one of them.
Especially after becoming a Demon Lord-class existence, his magical energy had grown not only more abundant, but dramatically faster to recover.
Dragon Tooth Soldiers were individually weak—even an average magus could defeat them.
But their strength lay in overwhelming numbers.
And soaring above them, the gigantic bone dragon was no mere expendable.
In any era, in any world, dragons stood among the most powerful beings in existence.
Though a bone dragon was no longer truly a "dragon," the aura radiating from it rivaled that of an average Heroic Spirit.
Meanwhile, back on the battlefield—
As Ren Kuroda continued evading Gilgamesh's relentless barrages, he appeared utterly overwhelmed.
But anyone watching closely would notice something crucial.
He wasn't injured at all.
The Red faction Servants observing the battle noticed it too.
"We can't keep letting this drag on," Emiya Kiritsugu said sharply."Saber, you're joining in as well.
Assassin's goal is obvious—he's stalling for time, waiting for reinforcements from the Blue faction.
He's strong. The situation favors us right now. If we don't take him down quickly, once the Blue faction arrives, it'll be much harder to finish him."
Watching Ren Kuroda focus entirely on evasion without counterattacking, Kiritsugu quickly saw through what he believed to be Assassin's plan.
If Ren Kuroda had heard that, he would have sighed and said Kiritsugu was overthinking it.
The truth was far simpler.
Ren was still unfamiliar with the overall strength of Heroic Spirits in this world.
He was using Gilgamesh as a benchmark—measuring just how powerful "Heroic Spirits" truly were.
"Uh… ganging up on one person isn't really my style," the new Saber muttered."But if that's my Master's order, I don't have much choice."
The Saber summoned by Kiritsugu—replacing the King of Knights—was an unknown Heroic Spirit clad in white full-body armor, wearing a horned helmet.
After receiving Kiritsugu's command, a low voice echoed from within the armor. The Saber drew a massive greatsword and charged straight toward Ren Kuroda.
"You lowly mongrel—who gave you permission to interfere in this king's battle—"
"Archer," Kiritsugu interrupted coldly,"by the power of my Command Spell, I order you to cooperate with the Red faction Servants and force the Blue faction's Assassin out of the war!"
High above, Gilgamesh was still wearing a look of delight as he watched Ren Kuroda scramble under the rain of Noble Phantasms.
But the moment Saber intruded—and just as he was about to vent his displeasure—
The binding force of a Command Spell suddenly wrapped around his body.