Chapter 129: Changing sides at the last minute? I'll help you!
The golden torrent's afterglow pierced the sky, leaving a lingering scorch mark.
Arthur, having reined in his Magic, lowered his Holy Sword, its tip lightly touching the scorched earth with a soft sizzle.
Before him lay a pitch-black chasm, deep and leading straight to the fortress, with rising heat shimmering the air.
On both sides of the chasm, the Golem legion had been pulverized, and the remaining Shadow Servants wailed, their bodies dissipating into Magic mist.
At the end of that charred chasm, three Black Faction Shadow Servants struggled to push aside the scalding earth and rose to their feet.
Their bodies, which should have been shattered, now oozed viscous, inky liquid from within, wriggling to repair all their wounds.
Mordred, standing behind Arthur, had an incredibly complex look in her eyes; the words she wanted to question her Master with were stuck in her throat, ultimately turning into astonishment at the enemies.
"Tch, are these guys monsters? They took that blow head-on… and they can still move?"
Hearing his Servant's usual irritable tone, Arthur's smile did not fade as he explained.
"It's a common trait of unknown entities; as long as they aren't completely annihilated, even the gravest injuries can be regenerated at super speed."
Mordred clicked her tongue: "Super-speed regeneration for everyone? How is that not cheating!"
Before her words finished, the neighing of a warhorse ripped through the air.
Achilles abruptly pulled the reins, bringing his Undying Chariot to a steady halt in mid-air.
"Yo! You unsociable… Hmm!?"
He looked down, intending to say something, but the cheerful smile on his face instantly froze.
He blinked blankly, his gaze fixed on the Holy Sword in Arthur's hand.
Saber was one thing, but why did this Master have a Holy Sword in his hand?
Where did it come from!?
Arthur glanced sideways at the battle-weary Achilles, then conveyed a combat order to Mordred via a Command Seal.
'Counting the captured Spartacus, there are a total of four enemy Servants; cooperate with the others to stop them.'
'And—'
'If any of our Servants defect, do not hesitate; unleash your Noble Phantasm directly!'
Mordred's expression stiffened, and she uncomfortably rubbed her nose, responding with a muffled sound.
"Understood, Master, you… be careful."
Arthur nodded slightly, and with a burst of wind pressure from his feet, he transformed into a crimson afterimage, streaking towards the distant fortress!
On the spot, Mordred withdrew her gaze, shouldered her Royal Sword, subtly blocking the uninvited Achilles, and provocatively shouted.
"Hey, Rider, how about giving me a ride?"
Achilles crossed his arms, his brows filled with helplessness; he picked up his Meteor Spear, his usual battle-hungry eyes now only showing displeasure at the current situation.
"Saber, what exactly does your Master intend to do?"
"Ha! That's a truly redundant question!"
Mordred raised her Royal Sword, crackling with crimson lightning, towards the chariot, grinning with a flamboyant and fearless smile.
"Redundant, huh…"
Achilles shook his head with a sigh, his eyes suddenly turning cold.
"By the Command Seal's decree — prioritize your annihilation!"
The moment his words fell, three chariots simultaneously let out deafening roars!
The divinely bestowed Undying Chariots trampled the earth; merely their rapid charge, and the wind pressure they stirred, was enough to tear everything apart!
Mordred, directly in their path, showed no fear; crimson lightning danced wildly on her Royal Sword as she let out a sky-shaking roar!
"Then come and try it!"
"Clarent Blood Arthur!"
A torrent of dark red Magic, like a breached river, slammed fiercely into the meat-grinder-like Undying Chariot!
Boom—!
At the collision point of the two forces, shockwaves, laced with crimson lightning, exploded in successive rings!
The already ravaged, charred earth was completely ripped up, with explosions and dust intermingling and rising, obscuring half the sky!
…
Inside the Hanging Gardens, Semiramis waved her hand to adjust the view of her Clairvoyance Magic, her slender eyes showing undisguised mockery.
"Even the great heroes of Greek mythology cannot escape the shackles of Command Seals."
"Master, how does it feel to command others at will?"
Kotomine Shirou chuckled softly, shaking his head: "I do not seek power, and besides, you underestimate Rider too much."
He pulled up his sleeve; his arm was covered in crimson Command Seal markings, but the one representing Rider had only one stroke left.
"I used two Command Seals to make Rider completely give up resistance; it was too inefficient."
Semiramis casually curved her lips, lightly tapping her finger to shift the view to the chaotic battle near the fortress.
The fully vampirized Shadow Vlad III single-handedly suppressed Karna.
The Son of the Sun God, deprived of extra Magic supply from the greater grail, found even wielding his spear and unleashing flames to be constrained.
The Shadow Astolfo, riding a Hippogriff, soared through the sky, expressionlessly throwing out Noble Phantasm after Noble Phantasm, continuously disrupting the battle.
The bloated, distorted Shadow Spartacus, riddled with arrows, his muscles bulging as if injected with water, appeared grotesquely comical yet eerie.
Atalanta had just dodged his clumsy swing when three arrows pierced his head, having no effect whatsoever, but instead stirring up a more surging Magic beneath his skin.
Further back on the battlefield, the Shadow Avicebron, protected by countless Golems, was chanting in a low voice.
"Born of earth, swallow the wind, fill with water, wield fire, banish disease!"
"Five elements connect, grant life and weapons to the clods of earth, lead the suffering people to the Paradise of Birth!"
"Golem Kether Malchut!"
The Magic embryo, which had devoured two of the Black Faction's Masters, suddenly pulsed, rising from the ground in the form of a supreme human figure!
The Shadow Avicebron, wearing a full-face mask, was still not satisfied; he spread his arms, like a martyr, and merged with his supreme creation!
In an instant, rocks, trees, earth…
The countless materials accumulated by the Yggdmillennia constructed a colossal Golem, like an ancient city, reaching the sky!
"That is…"
Semiramis's face darkened; as a Servant equally skilled in Magic, she could feel the troublesome nature of that Golem.
She narrowed her eyes, urging Kotomine Shirou beside her.
"Master, we absolutely cannot let them complete that Noble Phantasm."
Kotomine Shirou also noticed the threat of the Golem, but before that, he raised his hand and pointed to a corner of the screen.
Arthur, enveloped in a storm, was surging across the ground, his momentum as brutal as a siege ram, pulverizing everything in his path!
"Assassin, prioritize stopping him."
Semiramis's delicate brows furrowed slightly, but she still obeyed her Master's command.
The Hanging Gardens' defensive Magic circuits activated accordingly; complex and precise arrays unfolded and converged in front of the fortress.
In a flash, searing beams of light, imbued with malice and destruction, rained down from the sky, exploding with a roar!
To use bombardment capable of rivaling a God-era Magus against a modern Magus, in her opinion, was no different than using an ox-cleaver to kill a chicken.
Semiramis's lips curved into a proud smile, victory assured.
"Are you all in such a hurry to die?"
"Who!?"
The sudden voice echoing through the throne room startled both Master and Servant, who believed themselves to be safely behind the scenes.
A pitch-black steel hawk, with ruby-like eyes, flapped its wings down from the dome, fixing its gaze on Semiramis, and spoke in a cold, emotionless human voice.
"I intended to finish my main task first, then deal with you two traitors."
"It seems I'll have to adjust the order now."