There was no sign or warning.
By the time the angel reacted, the golden storm was already upon it!
*BOOM!*
No time to defend, no time to dodge. The angel stood stunned, taking the full brunt of the blast. Its entire body plummeted!
Seeing it fall, without hesitation, after retracting the two cannons mounted on its shoulders, the Sacred Sword Armor sprinted toward the falling angel, leapt high, and delivered a powerful kick to its head!
*THWACK!*
The angel's trajectory shifted dramatically from the kick. Instead of crashing toward Shin-to, it plunged straight into the Mion River!
Letting it fall in the city would be troublesome, especially since they didn't know if there'd be another correction later. Minimizing damage was the goal—that was Naoki's thought.
"But… it's unscathed?"
Seeing the angel rise from the Mion River almost without a scratch, Naoki, who had chased after it, couldn't help but frown. "That shot earlier, its power was the same as the beam, right?"
"Yes, which means its durability is exceptionally high—Look out, a concentrated beam attack is coming!"
*BOOM!*
Almost as Artoria's voice faded, Naoki's vision was filled with colorful light. Instinctively, he raised and crossed both arms, and the Absolute Protective Shield Avalon unfurled, barely blocking the beam just before it hit him!
[Attack neutralized, confirmed]
[Defensive conceptual weapon confirmed, selecting countermeasures]
[Announcement]
The angel's voice echoed through the rainbow light. At the same time, Naoki felt the colorful light intensify slightly. Though Avalon's defense held firm, the overwhelming impact made his footing unsteady, forcing him to slide back bit by bit!
If this kept up, he'd be pushed all the way to Shin-to!
"Master! Try deflecting this attack!"
"Easier said than done… I'll try my hardest!"
Deflect? Redirect the beam's trajectory? Not left, not right, not down… Upward would be best, but how? Just holding back the beam's impact was already making him unsteady. If not for Avalon's absolute defense, he might've been thrown far back!
"If only something could suddenly appear under its feet, pushing it upward."
*CRASH!*
Right as Naoki had that thought, in the Mion River, beneath the angel's feet, where the riverbed had been swept away by the colorful light and turned into a deep trench, a massive stone pillar suddenly emerged without cause!
The sudden terrain change threw the angel off balance. The beam, previously aimed straight at Naoki, veered upward by at least thirty degrees!
An opening!
*WHOOSH!* *BAM!*
Without thinking, Naoki quickly released the shield and opened the back armor. The thrusters hidden inside activated at full power!
Blue flames erupted behind the Sacred Sword Armor, and like a meteor moving at godlike speed, it reached the angel in an instant. Its right arm, clenched into a glowing golden fist, swung at the angel's bird-like head!
[Instant Flash, Switch On – Airgetlam!]
(This… Sir Bedivere's?)
The Silver Arm—one of the Round Table Knights under her, Bedivere's unique weapon. Being one-armed, to compensate for his combat strength, Merlin gave him a divine replica from mythology. By infusing massive magical energy, it could unleash an attack as powerful as a Noble Phantasm in an instant.
Why could Master use this attack with the Sacred Sword Armor? No… how did Naoki know? If it were the real Master, Artoria wouldn't be surprised, but wasn't his memory sealed?
(No, now's not the time to think about this. Defeating the monster is the priority!)
*CLANG!*
The swift, heavy light-fist strike smashed into the angel's bird-like head! The blindingly fast and powerful blow deeply dented its head!
No, not just the head. Under that strike, the angel's entire body visibly crumpled, like a water balloon being squeezed. Though it looked severely deformed, however—
"No damage at all?!"
[Attack mode confirmed, harmless]
[Selecting counterattack mode—Announcement, Rainbow Meteor]
*SWISH!* *SWISH!* *SWISH!*
Countless light points ignited in the small gap between the angel and Naoki, transforming into a dense rain of meteors, fired at the Sacred Sword Armor from point-blank range!
*BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!*
The sensation of being pelted by a celestial shotgun spread through Naoki's body. Along with intense pain, the explosive impact threw the Sacred Sword Armor back, stumbling over ten steps before regaining its footing.
[Warning, unit damage level—20%, please take caution]
"Ow, ow, ow…"
Struggling to recover from the severe pain, clutching his chest, Naoki gritted his teeth. "One attack caused 20% damage? If it reaches 100%, our fusion will be forcibly undone, right?"
"I believe so. Please be extremely careful, Master."
"If I keep being careful, how are we supposed to defeat it? By the way, it's completely unharmed!"
As Naoki said, despite taking a direct hit and a powerful punch, the angel showed no signs of injury. Even from that attack, Naoki felt no impact from his strike.
It was like hitting a blob of water—as if any attack would be absorbed by its unique body structure, rendering it harmless.
[Sword]
The word suddenly appeared before Naoki and Artoria's eyes.
"Sword? What does that mean? Do we need to use a sword?"
"I think so—let me check. We should have weapons besides the cannons."
(So why, as a Tsukumogami, don't you know what's in this armor? Were you buried in the ground so long you forgot everything?)
[Chase mode—Announcement, Rainbow Strike]
At that moment, the angel's voice rang out again. Unlike before, the rainbow light this time wasn't a beam but the angel's body itself, cloaked in a layer of rainbow light, charging straight forward!
*CRASH!*
The impact, worse than before, made Naoki feel like his entire body would shatter!
[Announcement, Rainbow Meteor]
(Again?!)
Light particles gathered around the angel, giving Naoki no time to break free or dodge. The swarm of rainbow meteors, just like moments ago, struck Naoki like a storm!
(No chance to even activate Avalon… Damn it, if this keeps up…)
[Warning, unit damage level—50%, please take caution. If damage reaches 70%, unit manifestation will be forcibly canceled]
Not 100%—how considerate. Were they afraid the pilot and unit would be completely destroyed?
*CRASH!*
Due to two devastating close-range impacts, Naoki could barely stand. His knees slammed into the water. Not far ahead, the Rainbow Meteor was glowing for the third time.
If it hit again, their fusion would definitely be undone. And from the earlier situation, the damage taken by the unit would 100% transfer to Naoki.
This attack absolutely couldn't hit! They couldn't drag this out any longer. If it went on, they'd definitely lose!
[Sword]
The word appeared before Naoki's eyes again.
[Draw the sword]
"Draw the sword? Where's the sword?"
The Sacred Sword Armor had no sword, only the two weapon barrels stored on its back. Where was he supposed to find a sword?
[Command, draw the sword]
"Command? Uh… Like when I called the weapon barrels? Lia, where are you?"
"I'm always with you, Master. Sorry, I was trying to find information about the sword." Artoria replied instantly. "Draw the sword… If it's a command, I think it's like the weapon barrels—Master needs to give the order for the sword to appear."
"Got it? I'll try…"
[Announcement—Rainbow Meteor]
But before Naoki could give the command, the angel delivered its verdict. Thousands of rainbow meteors nearly filled the entire space before him, forming a dense curtain of light! Like a tsunami crashing toward the Sacred Sword Armor!
No time!
The thought flashed through the minds of everyone watching the battle.
When the giant appeared and knocked the angel from the sky, a spark of surprise lit in everyone's hearts, as it meant someone could stop the angel destroying the city.
But as the giant's attacks were blocked by the angel, and the angel easily knocked the giant to the ground, that spark of surprise and hope quickly faded. Now, seeing the meteor swarm that had twice injured the giant launched again, an emotion called despair inevitably rose from the depths of their hearts!
The giant would be defeated!
But just as despair began to take hold in everyone's hearts—
*CLANG!*
The clear sound of a sword being drawn suddenly rang out.