"Hah…"
The Shogun let out a slow breath. Then, with a subtle shift in demeanor, her amethyst eyes blazed with sharp violet light. As her aura grew serious, the Chakra Desiderata unfurled behind her.
A cold wind swept across the battlefield, lifting the sleeves and hem of her kimono.
Achilles' chariot, cutting through the skies like a dragon, wheeled downward toward her. With the speed of a cannonball, it blazed with emerald light as it charged! From atop the vehicle, Achilles leveled his spear, prana surging, and thrust with all his might as the chariot bore down.
The Shogun stood her ground, body radiant with thunder. She had no intention of dodging. Instead, she met him head-on, raising her naginata.
Boom!
The impact shook the heavens. Violet lightning and emerald prana clashed violently, distorting air and shuddering the earth, warping the trees around them.
"Tch…"
Achilles clicked his tongue, irritated. He cracked his reins, urging his chariot to press forward, to overwhelm her defense with sheer force.
"..."
Sensing the pressure mounting, the Shogun unleashed her Elemental Burst. Behind her, high in the sky, a massive violet eye manifested—its threefold tomoe spinning as its lid opened. The Eye of Stormy Judgment.
Her own eyes slid shut for a moment.
—Transcendence: Baleful Omen.
When she reopened them, they gleamed with cold, unyielding violet light.
Whrrr…
The colossal eye rotated, its tomoe glowing with dreadful might.
"!"
"What is this?!"
Achilles froze for an instant, his body weighed down under a crushing pressure. His movements grew sluggish, strangled by fear.
The next moment, a slender doll-like hand emerged from the eye's pupil. With its fist clenched, it struck downward at Achilles with devastating force!
"No way!!"
Abandoning the clash, Achilles yanked the reins hard, forcing his steeds to veer aside just before he was smashed to pieces.
Boom!!
The place where he had stood erupted, the land upheaving like waves upon a stormy sea.
"That was close!"
From the sky, Achilles exhaled in relief.
But it wasn't over. The doll's arm retracted into the pupil—and in the next instant, the eye fired a colossal violet beam of thunder, chasing his chariot like a searchlight through the night sky!
"Damn it!!"
Frantically, Achilles steered his chariot, weaving desperately as the beam pursued him. He had no time even to curse properly—the danger was overwhelming.
By then, the Shogun had risen into the air. Stepping calmly upon invisible stairs of lightning, she gazed upward at his racing figure. His chariot always left behind a streak of emerald light, making his movements plain to her eyes.
As if the barrage weren't enough, she raised one hand in a mudra. From the Eye of Stormy Judgment burst countless violet energy bolts, forming a curtain of light so dense it threatened to blanket the entire sky.
"Oi, oi!! What is this, a human artillery battery?! This is insane!!"
Even Achilles despaired at the sight. How was he supposed to dodge something like this?!
Still—he was Rider. And when it came to riding skill, he had absolute confidence. With a shout, he hurled himself and his steeds headlong into the storm.
Like a serpent weaving through branches, he twisted and turned his path, somehow threading between the beams and bolts as he drew closer and closer to the Shogun's position.
But that was exactly what she had foreseen. His movements were already within her calculations.
For the first time, a faint smile tugged at her lips. The very next instant, her body burst into lightning.
"You think you can outmatch a Rider's mastery of steeds? Foolish—"
Before he could finish taunting, a flash of thunder appeared before his eyes. The Shogun materialized in lightning, driving her knee hard into his face.
Bam!
Pain exploded across his features, as though his teeth and skull had shattered. For a brief moment, his thoughts went completely blank.
The force of the knee strike rippled through the air itself, sending out an invisible shockwave that rattled the trees and stirred dust from the ground. Achilles' voice turned hoarse, slowed and distorted by the impact. His twisted face flew from the chariot like a cannonball, smashing into the earth without any resistance.
Boom!!
The crash tore up earth and trees alike, the sound echoing like thunder.
[Oh my… is he alright?]
Ei narrowed her eyes with a trace of pity in her voice.
'Not dead.'
[The Shogun's strike was excessive. Were he a mortal, he would not have survived that kick.]
Ei sighed softly within the Plane of Euthymia.
'I never intended to restrain my strength.'
Boom!!
Another violent explosion shook the battlefield. Elsewhere, Atalanta was beset by Berserker and Archer together. Unable to withstand their relentless coordination, she could do nothing but retreat desperately.
"Damn… no chance left?"
Perched briefly upon a branch, she muttered to herself. Then Shirou's voice resounded in her mind, ordering them to withdraw immediately. Their Berserker was to be abandoned—he could not be saved.
Atalanta raised no objection. Their side had already lost the initiative.
Crash!
Glancing toward the site where Achilles had fallen, she dodged Berserker's charge and leapt from the collapsing tree. Bounding swiftly, she raced toward Achilles' location.
Reaching the crater, she found him unconscious, his mouth slack, his face grotesquely swollen and unrecognizable.
"You got beaten badly… We're leaving!"
Clicking her tongue, she heaved the hulking man over her shoulder. Seizing the moment before Berserker could pursue, she sprang into the trees and sped away through the forest, narrowly escaping beyond the Fortress of Millennia's surveillance.
[They've fled. Shall we pursue?]
Ei's voice echoed.
'Cornered foes need not be chased. Driving them away is enough.'
Descending calmly upon lightning-forged steps, the Shogun answered. In the next moment, Fiore's voice entered her mind.
[Shogun…]
'What is it?'
Glancing at Berserker, who had stepped to her side, the Shogun inquired.
[Uncle has sent word. Rider has escaped with a homunculus. He is to be captured alive and returned.]
By then, Fiore had left the watchtower, Caules pushing her wheelchair toward the fortress gate.
'That homunculus… where is he now?'
[According to Caster's familiars, Rider has taken him into the forest. He should be in the area near your position. If you locate him, seize him.]
As the message ended, the Shogun turned her Eye of Stormy Judgment upon the forest. Its tomoe spun, surveying every detail—even down to the scattered grains of earth and stone.
Within mere seconds—
"Found you… traitor."
Her violet eyes locked upon a single point, her cold, commanding voice following.
She glanced at Berserker.
"You're coming with me."
"Uwah!"
Berserker nodded instantly, hefting her hammer as she followed the Shogun's stride.