Saber, Rin, and Shirou's ears bled as Saber Alter's Excalibur obliterated the Triple Rashomon.
A massive crater appeared where the gigantic demon-faced gates had been standing before meeting their doom.
In one attack, Saber Alter had proved why she was considered Gilgamesh's match across timelines — even a touch above, perhaps.
Like a gothic, ancient Queen, she stood there casually as the dust settled.
With a bang, Venom blinked into existence behind her, a deafening boom echoing somewhere afar.
Making a huge fist, Berserker punched at the back of her head, his white eyes glowing yellow.
In the very next moment, Saber Alter's foot landed on his chest.
Saliva, along with hundreds of worms, came oozing out of Venom's mouth as his huge chest caved in.
However, instead of flying away, Berserker's entire body let out a purple glow.
Kaiju Blood Essence —
Berserker's head became a hand, already pulled back, muscles creaking under the black tendrils with surging energy.
Then, like a supersonic arrow, it landed on Saber Alter's face, cracking her eye guard.
— Skill — Kinetic Surge!
With a bang, Saber Alter was sent flying as Berserker used her own power against her.
However, even before her feet landed on the ground, the Blackened Servant spun midair, and blurred…
… before appearing on top of Berserker, the sword in her hands burning red and black.
A multicolored light took over Venom's body as Kai used Wobbuffet's Mirror Coat, which could deflect all Damage from the Special Attacks with the highest value among Kai's MP, HP, and SP as the base.
As the Saber Alter fired another Excalibur on top of Berserker, with the same intensity that had obliterated Orochimaru's Triple Rashomon, time seemed to pause in their surroundings.
The beam of pure, raw Mana came for Venom…
… and incinerated him with a Damage surpassing even AI's calculation, burying his remains hundreds of feet deep into the earth.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
…
Far into the distance, seeing Berserker getting incinerated, who had been matching Saber's strength just moments ago, Rin gasped.
In the sky, Caster was hurling balls of fire, as large as Mansions, across the space at Lich.
Surprisingly, with one wave of his hands, he extinguished those fireballs before even one of them could land.
To her far left, on the ground, a mass of red and black strips had become a ball around the spot where Black and Sakura had been standing.
Rin had recognized the teleportation circle under his feet.
For him not to have disappeared by now, given that Sakura was with him, it only meant that the Lich had used a Space Spell, canceling all Mana-based teleportations.
Still, despite the events taking a horrible turn, Rin found a sense of relief.
Because, as she kept throwing her gaze all around, she realized — she was unwanted on this battlefield.
So, grabbing Shirou's hand, she turned around to run. "Let's go!"
To Rin's great surprise, Shirou didn't even budge.
As she looked over her shoulder, she found him looking in the direction of Shadow, his pupils shaking at the sight.
"… We need to go!" Rin shouted. "They must have a way to leave as well! Do you really think they would buy time for us to run…"
Shirou brokenly looked at her, his gaze hardening. "We need to help, Rin. You know we need to…"
Rin looked at Shirou in disbelief. She ground her teeth in annoyance before letting go of Shirou's hand, sighing.
"Archer…" Rin said.
"Saber!" Shirou shouted.
"ATTACK!"
Miles away on a skyscraper, Archer grinned.
On the battlefield, Saber smiled as if she could see that grin.
In the very next moment, the sky lit up with arrows, hundreds of them landing on The Shadow. Simultaneously, Saber hacked with her sword, causing a hurricane, each gust of wind carrying enough Mana to wound a Servant.
Unfortunately, neither the arrows nor the hurricane landed on Dark Sakura, both attacks vanishing into the Imaginary Number Space.
This… ?!
Suddenly, Saber Alter snapped her head toward Rin and Shirou.
Their hearts skipped a beat, making them stumble back as the evil eyed them.
Then, as they blinked, the Evil Servant was already on them, her sword raised high.
Before either Archer or Assassin or Saber could make a move, though, a purple band of light fell on Saber Alter.
No. It wasn't Medea.
As Saber Alter fell, a layer of stone appeared on her body, petrifying her.
Behind her, holding her needles, Rider boomed toward The Shadow, her Mystic Eyes of Petrification uselessly landing on it.
"HAA!!" Saber Alter broke the petrification with another Mana Burst, sending Rin and Shirou flying.
In a hundredth of a second, she chased Rider down, putting herself between Rider and Shadow.
Booms and Bangs exploded the surroundings as Rider exchanged moves with Saber Alter, using her Mystic Eyes to counter the Evil Servant's mind-bending speed.
Soon, Saber joined Rider in pressuring her evil counterpart as well, gold and purple bands of light blurring through an evil red now and then.
However, with Saber Alter getting fueled by unlimited Mana, Rider and Saber's loss was already set in stone.
In the sky, the Lich was gaining an upper hand as well.
As if that wasn't enough, the ball of terror Shadow had created around Black and Sakura was becoming smaller and smaller.
Something must be done, Rin knew.
Now that she had already stained her hands with all this, she couldn't afford to go in half-handedly.
"… Can you do something…" she mumbled, rubbing the blood off her lips, "… Assassin?"
"I can," Assassin replied with confidence. "… Are you sure? You will pass out the moment I act…"
Rin stared at the battlefield that was about to become their graves… and gave a hard nod.
"Alright," Assassin said. "Kid — get ready to use your strongest move…"
"My strongest move…?" Archer mumbled in amusement. "What are you planning, old man?"
"I will attack The Shadow," Assassin replied. "It will cause a temporary disruption between it and the evil Servant, cutting off the Mana supply. You must attack at that moment…"
Assassin's invisible figure walked past Rin and Shirou, taking out a dagger.
Far into the distance, Archer smiled —
— a magnificent, gold and yellow sword-like arrow appearing in his hand.
*****************
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100 Power Stones: +1 Bonus Chapter