"Bite—!"
The crisp clang of metal silenced the entire room.
The attacker was a man in black, clearly disguised. His weapon—a pitch-black dagger—flashed only once. At the very moment everyone's attention was fixed on Merlin, the Servant struck.
I guess this is the last ASSASSIN.
His breath suppression was almost perfect.
Even Arthur had noticed nothing unusual until now.
But due to the peculiar nature of Merlin's appearance, Arthur had, for the first time since arriving in this era, used his clairvoyance. Though it lasted only a brief moment, those golden eyes were enough to glimpse the immediate future.
Thus—
"ASSASSIN, you're an unnecessary piece on the board. Leave the stage." Arthur's voice was cold as judgment.
The Shadow Sword instantly completed its process of drawing, magnifying, and deforming, splitting into countless needle-thin blades that hurtled toward ASSASSIN.
Faced with this ability, ASSASSIN made the wrong choice—raising his dagger to guard while retreating at speed. There was no hint of panic; in fact, it seemed he was already familiar with such strange combat styles.
Arthur frowned. Now he was the one surprised.
Whether in the form of sword or needle, the weapon remained an extension of Arthur's own shadow—imbued with a potent spatial attribute. Anything before it would be sliced and swallowed whole, leaving no room to evade.
By Arthur's knowledge, the only arms capable of withstanding an attack from Dragon's Shadow (Space) were the two holy swords, the holy spear, and the scabbard Avalon.
If we count what has yet to be revealed, there might be other divine weapons strong enough to endure for a time.
And yet, the small dagger in ASSASSIN's hand—ordinary at first glance—had resisted the attack.
No. Not quite resisted. The instant blade and shadow touched, a strange mutual interference had occurred.
"Unfortunately, the dagger's quality isn't high," Arthur muttered.
He lost interest in observing ASSASSIN any further. Dangerous though the class was in a normal Holy Grail War, here it had no real value to him. Better to remove it quickly.
He'd already found a replacement combatant last night.
The next blow would be merciless.
The distortion of the shadow deepened, and with Arthur's vast magical output, it felt as though the entire hotel lobby would be swallowed by darkness.
ASSASSIN was instantly locked in place. The dagger Arthur had noted earlier shattered under the renewed onslaught, this time with no effect at all.
Then light burst forth, and the shadows receded.
"Show the light of the stars here!"
"Not so fast, Artorius! Forget trash like him—fight me first!" Lucius appeared in the middle of it all, red lightning-wreathed magic sword in hand, crashing down toward the starlight.
Arthur's eyes widened.
He hadn't expected this fool to jump in at such a moment.
Lucius lived up to his name—always acting in ways unusual and absurd.
Arthur gave a wry smile and braced to respond, already imagining the crushing debt the Tōsaka family would face after tonight. The space was far too confined; if a magical explosion broke out here, only the old bug would have the means to escape unscathed. First priority: shield Sakura and Irisviel.
But there was another present—someone who'd been quiet up to now—who also couldn't sit still.
"Take me with you! CASTER! BERSERKER! ARCHER! I'll show you why they call me the King of Conquerors!"
At some point, a towering figure had risen, now clad in full battle gear. A hurricane swirled around Iskandar, searing hot and laden with sand.
In an instant, the world shifted.
When everyone came to their senses, they stood upon endless yellow sand.
An inherent barrier.
The Noble Phantasm Iskandar was most proud of—
The King's Army (Ionioi Hetairoi)
Anti-Army Noble Phantasm – Rank EX.
"They're all idiots, too eager to show their cards." Arthur's teeth itched with frustration.
Just when ASSASSIN was about to be finished, Lucius had butted in—and now Iskandar had made the chaos worse. None of them followed any sense of reason.
True, Arthur himself had suffered no loss. In fact, with the King's Army active, he no longer needed to split his focus to guard Irisviel and the others.
But the disruption to his plans still left him seething.
"Enough noise! If you're all so desperate to die, then stay here! The Holy Grail War ends tonight!" Arthur snapped.
To him, the Holy Grail War had been nothing more than a diversion—a rare chance to step out, relax, and meet heroes from other ages.
That was why, after arriving in this era, he had deliberately refrained from using clairvoyance to peek at the future—to keep the game interesting.
But now, he understood something.
Some people simply refused to play for fun.
If that was the case—
Then no one should be playing.
They should all just die.
Across the desert hills, silhouettes emerged. One, two… then countless more, until they became a sea of warriors. The sheer size of the army, chanting "King of Conquerors," was staggering.
But on the opposite side, Arthur stood alone, radiating a pressure that made him stand out like the sun. Irregular golden shards swirled around him, his power too bright to ignore.
Bigger means stronger?
Hmph. When would mere human standards ever suffice to measure Britain?
"This king is Britain."
Boom—!
Golden light burst through the sky. The yellow sand beneath Arthur darkened to shadow, as if he stood at the threshold between heaven and hell.
At the same moment, among the Masters, the old bug suddenly collapsed, his body shriveling before their eyes until he looked like a dried husk. Even so, those clouded eyes stayed fixed on Arthur's godlike figure, lips stretched into a dreadful, skeletal smile—a grotesque sight, yet somehow contagious.
Zouken Matou always had a way of making any scene revolting.
Irisviel shuddered and instinctively edged closer to Matou Yagan, Sakura, and Waver—anything to be farther from the mummified horror on the ground.
So disgusting.
"Hahaha! Yes! That's more like it! Artorius, ignore the trash! Only you can stir my blood, and only Rome can give you true joy in battle! Come! Fight Rome! Cut and kill until one of us falls!" Lucius roared, paying Iskandar no mind.
No one knew what technique he used, but the man who had been short on magical power now brimmed with it, absorbing energy from within Iskandar's barrier. Red lightning surged around him, as fearsome as Arthur's own brilliance.
On one side, holiness worthy of myth.
On the other, the terror of a natural disaster.
One side—an invincible army.
The epic was about to begin.
-End Chapter-
Visit the Patreon!!
Read 30 chapters ahead, more on the way!
[email protected]/TrashProspector