"Just think of it as a personal favor to me," Azrael said, his voice carrying the weight of absolute trust as he gazed at Artoria. "Use Caliburn on that abomination."
Artoria felt the profound responsibility in his words and tightened her grip on the beautiful symbol of royal power, her golden blade gleaming with divine radiance. The sword thrummed with barely contained energy, responding to her determination.
To be honest, as a young knight still walking the path toward kingship, this was her first time participating in such a massive legion battle. When she had watched Azrael being consumed by that monstrous flesh dragon moments earlier, panic had seized her heart like an iron fist. Even the legendary King Arthur, who would one day command at Camlann, might have felt despair in such circumstances.
Fortunately, the young knight who had just embarked on her journey to become a king possessed unwavering resolve. She was neither the burden-bearing King Arthur of legend nor the storm-wielding deity of the Holy Lance. She was simply Artoria, his loyal knight and devoted companion.
"It's okay, Artoria," Azrael said gently, noticing her nervous tension. His warm smile accompanied the reassuring touch of his hand on her blonde hair. "Just do what you can."
Artoria's fair cheeks instantly flushed bright red like ripe apples, her voice dropping to barely a whisper. "I understand."
After speaking, she turned away from Azrael as if to hide her embarrassment, directing her intense gaze toward the distant flesh giant with newfound determination.
Observing Artoria's endearing reaction, Azrael couldn't help but chuckle softly. After all, they had shared far more intimate moments during their mana transfer sessions, this shy response was particularly adorable given their established bond.
Unaware of Azrael's affectionate thoughts, Artoria took a deep, steadying breath and banished all distracting emotions from her mind. She raised the legendary sword in both hands, feeling the familiar weight of destiny.
Golden light began gathering around the blade like captured starlight.
Azrael's mental energy started flowing toward her at an alarming rate, the connection between master and servant burning bright as their combined power built toward crescendo.
Keith, standing nearby, watched Azrael with growing confusion. "Brother, what exactly are you doing? This position isn't safe."
He glanced nervously between their current location and the bound flesh giant in the distance. "We need to retreat much further back."
At such a short distance, the creature wouldn't need to exert any effort to annihilate them all. While Azrael had managed to block one attack, Keith could see the pale exhaustion on his face and didn't dare gamble on a second miracle.
"I'm about to unleash something big," Azrael replied tersely, his concentration focused entirely on maintaining the energy flow to Artoria.
"What?" Keith stared blankly.
Hisham observed Artoria's deliberate preparations and immediately understood what Azrael intended. Without hesitation, he grabbed Keith's arm and began pulling him away from their position.
"What the hell, Lu! What are you doing? You'll be court-martialed for desertion!" Keith stumbled as he was dragged backward, his voice rising with alarm.
Hisham's face went pale with remembered terror as he stammered urgently, "Brother Keith, Azrael has a trump card he hasn't used yet. We need to get as far away as possible."
"What?" Keith looked back at Azrael in bewilderment.
Wasn't the defensive capability they'd just witnessed already far beyond normal limits? What kind of monster possessed even greater hidden power? Besides, what sort of technique could possibly influence a Gold-level battle between titans?
At that moment, powerful winds began swirling around Artoria's petite figure, kicking up clouds of dust and debris. The air itself seemed to thicken with anticipation and barely contained magical energy.
The golden Sword of Promised Victory in her hands slowly began dissolving into pure light, its physical form sacrificed to manifest something far more devastating.
In exchange for the blade's destruction came a terrifying golden beam that pierced straight through the heavens themselves.
Every Lore Cardian Master and demon across the entire battlefield ceased their individual conflicts at that moment, standing motionless as they stared at the impossible spectacle unfolding before their eyes.
The beautiful yet deadly column of light was reflected in countless pupils, some filled with awe, others with terror.
"What... what is that?" someone whispered in the stunned silence.
"You're telling me this comes from a Silver-level Lore Cardian Master like us?" another voice asked in disbelief.
"Impossible..."
Various sounds of shock and confusion rippled through both armies as the divine display continued building power.
The Gold-level Lore Cardian Master hovering in the distance watched the scene with unconcealed amazement, muttering to himself, "A Silver-level Lore Cardian Master possessing such capabilities..."
"It's absolutely incredible."
He understood that the Silver-level card, whose origin remained a complete mystery, would have to pay an enormous price to launch such a devastating attack. The technique clearly required assistance to properly control the target and ensure accuracy.
But in exchange for those significant restrictions came destructive power that would be impressive even among Gold-level ultimate techniques.
The flesh giant also sensed the tremendous danger radiating from the petite figure in the distance. It began struggling against its restraints with renewed desperation, completely ignoring the mounting damage to its regenerating form.
"Damn it! Damn it all!" the creature bellowed with escalating panic.
"Get out of my way!"
"I SAID GET OUT OF MY WAY!"
Frantic roars echoed across the battlefield as the monster realized its impending doom.
Seeing that it couldn't break free from the binding flames, the flesh giant's eyes blazed with desperate fury. In a final gambit, it began preparing to detonate its own body in a massive explosion that might eliminate both its captors and the distant threat.
Unfortunately for its desperate plan,
"Caliburn!"
Artoria's clear voice rang across the battlefield like a bell tolling judgment.
The golden beam that connected earth to heaven instantly descended, striking the ground with the force of divine retribution and drowning everything in its path like a torrential flood of pure destruction.
The earth trembled continuously beneath the tremendous impact, as if uttering its dying wails under the assault of such overwhelming power.
With Azrael's virtually unlimited spiritual energy supply, the already massive golden beam expanded to twice its original diameter. The devastating attack consumed his reserves at an alarming rate, but his enhanced capacity allowed him to maintain the technique far longer than should have been possible.
If Azrael were transported to a Holy Grail War, he would undoubtedly be hailed as the ideal Master. After all, who else could supply a Heroic Spirit's Noble Phantasm with energy as if it cost nothing?
Moreover, unlike the weakened Heroic Spirits summoned from the Throne of Heroes, Azrael's Artoria was the original version, requiring exponentially more magical energy to achieve her full potential.
"You! YOU! AAAAHHHHH!"
As the golden torrent engulfed the flesh giant, agonized screams that seemed to tear at listeners' eardrums echoed across the sky. The creature's voice carried such pain and fury that even hardened warriors winced at the sound.
Azrael watched with cold, expressionless determination as his enemy was reduced to ash inch by inch under the release of the Sword of Promised Victory. There was no mercy in his gaze, only the grim satisfaction of seeing a threat eliminated.
Finally, as Azrael's mental energy reached near-depletion, the golden beam gradually dissipated into fading motes of light.
What remained was a terrifying black trench carved deep into the earth, stretching far into the distance like a wound torn through reality itself.
Most of the flesh giant's massive body had been completely vaporized, and the charred ground offered no demon corpses for it to absorb and regenerate from. The creature's greatest strength had become meaningless in the face of such absolute destruction.
"Tsk. It's not dead yet," Azrael muttered with mild disappointment, though he hadn't really expected to completely destroy the Gold-level demon in a single attack.
After all, his primary objective had been clearing the battlefield of demon corpses to deny the creature its regenerative fuel. The extensive damage was simply a valuable bonus.
To be honest, this level of success was only possible thanks to the Gold-level Lore Cardian Master's willingness to help restrain their mutual enemy. Without that crucial assistance, landing such a devastating blow would have been impossible.
"Blegh!"
A massive gout of blood erupted from the flesh giant's remaining mouth, spraying across the scorched earth like crimson rain.
The surviving portion of the creature, now reduced to barely a quarter of its original size, fixed its single remaining eye on Azrael with pure, undiluted hatred. When it spoke, the words came out as incoherent, hysterical ravings:
"You damned ant! How dare you! Impossible! Why didn't you die earlier?! I should have killed you first!"
"I'LL MAKE YOU SUFFER!"
The demon couldn't comprehend how it had suffered such grievous injuries at the hands of creatures it normally considered beneath notice. The humiliation burned worse than its physical wounds.
"As long as I can reach them!" The one-eyed abomination's gaze swept the watching Lore Cardian Masters and demons with predatory hunger, a desperate plan forming in its damaged mind.
If it could just reach the other combatants and absorb their corpses, it might still have a chance to recover and turn the tide of battle!
"You have no chance," came a calm voice from above.
The Gold-level Lore Cardian Master who had been quietly observing Azrael's incredible performance recognized the demon's final gambit. Without hesitation, he commanded his cards to launch their ultimate technique.
Divine flames descended from the heavens like the wrath of gods, engulfing the broken flesh giant in cleansing fire that burned away corruption itself.
Even at the end of its existence, the creature continued staring at Azrael with uncomprehending hatred.
It couldn't understand how the "ant" had survived its devastating attack.
It couldn't fathom how that same "ant" could unleash such terrifying power.
Unfortunately, all its questions would follow it into whatever hell awaited defeated demons.
If such a place even existed for creatures like itself.
"Well done."
The moment after the flesh giant's ashes scattered on the wind, a familiar voice spoke beside Azrael.