It wasn't surprising that Akihiko muttered about Gawain suddenly getting all cocky… After all, this was a person who not long ago had little confidence in his own abilities. And now he suddenly became arrogant enough to want to solo a hundred Sphinxes—creatures whose strength was comparable to ordinary Servants. It was almost surreal. Unlike Servants, Sphinxes wouldn't suddenly pull out some bizarre Noble Phantasm and perform a complex mechanism kill, but the sheer numbers of them, capable of biting elephants to death, were daunting—especially when these divine beasts grouped together. Even a top-tier heroic spirit would find them nearly impossible to deal with.
Yet, Gawain wanted to try.
On one hand, the current state of Fujimaru Ritsuka was somewhat worrying, causing Gawain anxiety. On the other hand, the existence of the cheat-like skills "Time Stop" and "Save/Load" gave him the confidence to attempt it.
"Ritsuka really needs a break right now. It would be terrible if these Sphinxes blocked the way," he thought.
Gawain drew Victor's spear once again, while his other hand had already unsheathed the Caladbolg Cavalry Sword.
"You all wait here. I'll be back soon."
Without waiting for the Chaldea group to protest, he took a step forward and charged straight toward the Sphinx group. The fierce wind and sand did little to deter him, but Sphinxes were divine beasts with keen senses, and soon one detected his presence. Yet, just as the first Sphinx lifted its head to look at Gawain, a spear shot like an arrow and pierced through its skull.
"Okay! Next one!"
Due to slight miscalculations in accuracy and speed, Gawain had already missed a few throws. Fortunately, he was skilled at throwing shields, so adjusting to throwing spears wasn't difficult. After a brief practice via reload, he quickly regained his touch.
Then, as another Sphinx near the one he had just killed lifted its head, Gawain raised the Azlwer Radiant Staff he had just retrieved from the system space.
A Noble Phantasm he had obtained during the Holy Sword simulation, Comet Azlwer had been shelved due to its enormous mana consumption and poor maneuverability. This time, however, the group ambush provided a perfect opportunity to finally use it.
"Child of the stars, return once more to the distant darkness."
After a short incantation, Gawain thrust his staff forward:
Comet Azlwer!
With his voice, a cyan torrent of magic blasted from his staff, instantly piercing the targeted Sphinx and several others aligned directly behind it.
"Damn, this mana consumption is insane…"
Gawain immediately remembered why he had shelved Comet Azlwer. The mana cost was terrifying. He felt as though he had fired seven or eight times consecutively, his legs weakened, and his body staggered even while sprinting at full speed.
The next moment, the nearest Sphinx fired a beam from its eyes, chilling Gawain to the core.
At the instant the beam pierced him, he promptly stopped time and performed a reload.
Even though being pierced through the chest was lethal, he still had a few seconds before death. As Fate Simulation Gawain felt all the pain, he decided not to risk it and reloaded immediately.
Time returned to the moment he had just thrown Victor's spear to pierce the first Sphinx. This time, however, he didn't retrieve Comet Azlwer. Instead, he reached forward, conjuring a white pistol-like projection of Heaven's Fire.
Using the auto-aim capabilities from the Demon Gun's flesh fragments, he fired two quick shots, blinding the Sphinx's eyes before it could launch its deadly eye beam.
After observing the situation with Time Stop, Gawain twisted his body just in time to evade another Sphinx's mouth cannon, then sprinted to the Sphinx he had previously struck down with Comet Azlwer, using its massive body as cover. This forced the other Sphinxes behind to halt their magic beams.
The Sphinx under his close-range attack reacted immediately, swinging its powerful front claws like a professional boxer, aiming two devastating punches at him.
As a physically strong divine beast, the strikes were as fast as lightning. Had they landed, Gawain would likely have been crushed into pulp. But he had already activated Time Stop, clearly observing its attack trajectory.
Gawain easily sidestepped its attack and swept his sword, decapitating the Sphinx on the spot.
He kicked its body aside, dashed to another Sphinx he had previously taken out with a thrown spear, drew his own spear from its corpse, and activated Time Stop again, ready to decide the next target.
But as he looked up, he froze.
Hundreds of beams were suspended in midair, all aimed at him. The closest one was just a few meters away—had his Time Stop been a fraction slower, he would have been shredded instantly.
No, even if he had activated Time Stop first, with this density of projectiles, no escape was possible. Some might be alive, but he would be dead.
Sighing quietly, Gawain chose to restart, reverting to the very beginning of this Endless Trial battle—just as he had charged toward the Sphinxes.
This time, he changed his approach. Instead of reducing their numbers with ranged attacks, he directly charged at the outermost Sphinx, closing in rapidly on its face.
As expected, using the Sphinx as cover, the remaining nearly hundred Sphinxes hesitated, fearing to attack him directly. Gawain used Time Stop to easily slay them one by one, moving from the outermost to the next, repeating the process.
Though complex, with Time Stop and reload, Gawain barely missed a strike. To any observer, he cut through all the Sphinxes as if slicing vegetables. For Chaldea, only a few minutes had passed.
Akihiko, staring at the fallen Sphinxes, gaped in disbelief.
"This is supposed to be average strength? Even humility doesn't excuse being this understated."
Though his physical strength, agility, and Noble Phantasm ranking were average compared to Servants, his ability to always make the optimal choice in battle was extraordinary.
Da Vinci stroked her chin thoughtfully.
"This is instinct and insight only top-tier warrior Servants possess. No wonder all future versions of him we met were superhuman… We should be grateful he's on our side, right?"
"Anyway, can we move on now?" Mash asked. "You really do need a rest…"
"No, unfortunately, moving forward now would be suicide. I think I've guessed the identity of the temple's master…" Da Vinci murmured, sweat forming on her brow.
"This is bad. We never expected Gawain to succeed, so we didn't intervene. Now that he's cleared all these Sphinxes, the guy inside the temple will likely see him as a provocateur. That's terrible…"
"Wait, is someone coming out of the temple? I think I see a skull mask…" Mash suddenly spoke.
"Ah? Damn, could it be an assassin sent by the temple master?" Da Vinci wiped sweat away. "We should call Gawain to retreat. He's not at full power yet. Facing the Sun King now would be too much…"
But before they could do anything, the figures rushing from the temple moved at an insane speed and reached Gawain first.
"Tch, they got ahead of us… As expected from the Sun King. Even our move was anticipated. Normally, as long as they have the Queen, monsters wouldn't attack, but humans are another matter…"
The leader muttered a few complaints, then drew his weapon:
"Then let's end this quickly!"
"Wait…", his subordinate seemed about to speak, but the black-clad leader charged Gawain first, followed by her men, aiming to overwhelm him.
Naturally, they were all swiftly defeated by Gawain.
The fight was so simple that he didn't even need Time Stop. He just beat them plainly and efficiently.
Though the leader was clearly a Servant, his stats were ordinary, slightly weaker than Gawain. Without summoning any powerful Noble Phantasms, he was easily pinned and defeated.
"Damn! His strength is this high? He's no ordinary soldier!"
The leader was kicked flying, rolled twice, then furiously pulled off his cloak, revealing a dark body and pale skull mask.
"Boss, wait! Look behind that person!" His subordinate pointed at the recovering Sphinxes behind Gawain. "He's clearly not with the Sun King. He's fighting the Sphinxes too!"
"Oh?" Hearing this, the leader's expression changed. "Friend, if you're not a Sun King subordinate, can you clear the way for us? That was all a misunderstanding. We didn't mean to fight—let's reconcile."
"Reconcile? Are you joking?" Gawain snorted coldly. "Want to fight? Fight. Want to leave? Leave. Do you think I'm made of clay?"
"Perhaps… I should call you, Hundred-Faced Hassan?"