He swung the sword.
At the very instant the golden light vanished, twilight-colored sword energy surged forth to meet the scorching Dragon Breath.
Like a hot knife cutting through butter, that terrifying energy was split apart by a single slash, cleaving straight into Fafnir's face under its horrified gaze.
"ROAR!"
Fafnir threw its head back and roared in agony, the continuous stream of Dragon Breath coming to an abrupt halt.
'This feels bad...'
The group of Servants, who had finally managed to send Marie and Amadeus back to the Throne of Heroes, all felt a sense of foreboding rise in their hearts upon seeing this.
Amidst the smoke and dust, twilight-colored specks of light flickered. with each flicker, the brilliance grew more intense.
Unknowingly, Takumi had already walked to the position where Jeanne had stood. Behind him was the translucent phantom of Siegfried.
He grasped the Holy Flag still planted in the ground, letting it flutter in the wind.
The boy's eyes were calm, but beneath that seemingly placid surface lurked an endless rage transformed from sorrow.
Inherent Skill [Dragon Slayer] — Activated!
Command Spell —
Red light flashed again, and pure Mana appeared out of thin air within his body.
Takumi turned the hilt of the sword. The True Ether contained within the blue jewel seemed to have been enduring for a long time, erupting like an active volcano that had been suppressed for decades. Twilight-colored energy attached to Balmung like violent flames.
He stomped heavily on the ground. The earth beneath his feet screamed, cracking into several mottled fissures.
Boom—
The next second, Takumi and the phantom behind him vanished from the spot. Their speed instantly broke the sound barrier, scattering all the surrounding dust and leaving a ring-shaped void where they stood.
First Special Ability — Activated.
This time, Takumi didn't use it just for running. He applied it to both his movement speed and his hand actions simultaneously.
Mental exhaustion? Was there a need to care about such things?
I was already furious beyond measure!
"True Ether fully released. Phantasmal Greatsword · Maximum Output —"×2
Siegfried's voice overlapped with Takumi's voice. But anyone could hear the rage contained within Takumi's voice, which sounded as if it were squeezed through his gritted teeth.
Just how fast was the Dragon Slayer's terrifying power combined with Takumi's special ability?
No one knew. In the eyes of all the Servants, they only saw the dust kicked up by Fafnir's breath suddenly pierced through, and a flash of azure light passing in an instant.
In this marvelous state, all the Servants merely blinked, and frame-by-frame afterimages of Siegfried appeared in their vision, displaying his movement trajectory.
Their hearts trembled inexplicably, and they subconsciously followed the trajectory to look up.
But just as they raised their heads, a massive black shadow, seemingly hit by an irresistible heavy blow, crashed heavily onto the ground in their unfocused vision.
The earth shook and the mountains trembled. Only then did the Servants discover with horror that the mountain-like giant beast, which had stood among them as the ultimate weapon, was smashed flat on the ground without any resistance.
There was a wound on its forehead so deep that bone was visible, flickering with twilight-colored aura.
But was this the end?
Fafnir wasn't dead yet, and Takumi hadn't fully unleashed the Noble Phantasm.
After knocking Fafnir down, Balmung ruthlessly pierced into Fafnir's neck. The semi-unsealed Noble Phantasm already possessed terrifying power. The bewitching True Ether raged madly beneath its scales and within its flesh.
But did you think it ended there?
Takumi gripped Balmung tightly with both hands. His gaze followed Fafnir's spine all the way to the tip of its tail, connecting them in a line.
"Awaken from the golden dream... Release yourself from its cradle. The evil dragon must be destroyed. Balmung! [Balmung (Phantasmal Greatsword · Felling of the Sky Demon)]!" ×2
With the enhancement of Takumi's special ability, not only was the speed maximized, but the release of the Noble Phantasm was like using [High-Speed Divine Words]. The words connected into a blur; bystanders couldn't understand what Takumi was saying at all.
Moreover, Siegfried's voice was chanting along with him. The overlapping voices sounded like reciting sutras.
But it didn't matter. The roar that seemed to ring in everyone's hearts made it clear to everyone present.
"HAAAA—!!!"
Fafnir didn't even have time to scream.
Balmung tore through its massive dragon body. The twilight-colored pillar of light condensed from terrifying True Ether followed the sword trace, bursting the massive body apart from the inside—
Then, with undiminished momentum, it crashed into a distant mountain peak, blasting a semi-circular "hole" with a radius of several hundred meters.
"Haa... Haa..."
Takumi panted, his cold gaze sweeping over the Berserk Servants who had been blown back a dozen steps by the shockwave of the beam.
Coincidentally, at this moment, Fafnir's relatively intact head fell, landing behind Takumi.
Thud...
Seeing this scene, all the Berserk Servants who still retained some reason involuntarily swallowed.
T-This... something seemed wrong, right?
"...What is there to be afraid of! We swarmed and heavily injured the original Dragon Slayer before. What's more to fear from this ordinary Master who is just borrowing someone else's power?"
Vlad III gritted his teeth, feeling annoyed at the fear he had just felt.
How could I be afraid? And of an ordinary Master at that!
"Exactly. He's just a little guy who only knows how to hide behind others. Let us show him what a true Servant battle is~"
Carmilla also restrained her emotions and chuckled playfully.
That's right. We have so many people. Could he possibly kill us all at once?
Thinking about it, Carmilla even made herself laugh.
Wait, how are you guys maintaining such high morale even at a time like this?
D'Eon, who had lost all spirit after helping to kill Marie, found the fighting spirit of these two ridiculous.
Beside them, Sanson had been muttering "Why wasn't it me" ever since he failed to kill Marie.
As for Atalante, there was no need to mention her. Since manifesting with Madness Enhancement, she had been practicing the motto "Silence is Gold" and hadn't spoken a word.
Just as the two Berserk Servants were feeling smug, a voice suddenly came from the distance.
"[Ascalon (Blessed Sword by Which Force Is Slain]!"
Faint light split into multiple portions, evenly distributed onto every Servant.
The smiles on the faces of the two Berserk Servants froze.
In the distance, Georgios was elegantly sheathing his sword.
Having been suppressed and beaten for so long without being able to fight back... even he had a belly full of anger.
So—What are you looking at? You are a Dragon too!
[Balmung (Phantasmal Greatsword · Felling of the Sky Demon)]!
Takumi didn't hesitate. He turned the hilt, barely charging up, and unleashed the Noble Phantasm almost instantly.
Swinging Balmung, twilight-colored sword energy shot out in a fan shape, enveloping all the enemies present.
In this Type-Moon world where "Attribute Advantage is Greater than Heaven" and "Special Attack against Sun Gods/Immortals," these Servants, who had been inflicted with the Dragon trait, meeting Siegfried's Noble Phantasm—the strongest Special Attack in the game—was like snowflakes meeting a raging fire.
Without even a sound, they vanished within the twilight sword energy.
...
Inherent Skill Update: [Escapist (A~EX)] → [Escapist (A)]
You, who carry the expectations of others, have lost the ability to escape completely.
(Note: At EX rank, the protagonist could run into a world similar to Avalon/Utopia and never come out again.)