At the very front, Alicetaria and the White Spear Fool (Artoria Lancer) were the first to clash.
Both wielded long spears, and the instant their weapons met, a fierce duel erupted.
Spears that should have been heavy cavalry lances felt almost weightless in their hands, striking and parrying in rapid succession.
Beneath them, their warhorses moved in perfect sync with their masters' wills, circling, sidestepping—seeking the perfect opening for a decisive strike.
However… Alicetaria's spear and mount were ultimately ordinary, no match for the holy spear Rhongomyniad and the King's Horse, Dun Stallion.
Especially after Artoria Lancer activated her A-rank skill, Mana Burst, her strength could overwhelm even the most robust warriors with ease.
Alicetaria quickly found herself being forced back, barely holding on.
On another front, Kirameki Mamika kept flinging Magic Splash Flashes, yet she could never land a hit on Okita Sōji, whose agility rivaled that of any top-class Assassin.
Even when a sudden attack left her no time to dodge, Okita would simply use Shukuchi to vanish and reappear right beside her.
With her Noble Phantasm-enhanced sword, Kiku-ichimonji Norimune—upgraded by the Chikai no Haori—Okita would slash without hesitation, carving fresh wounds into Mamika.
And then there was Nero, lurking nearby with her Aestus Estus, watching Mamika like a predator studying prey, calculating the perfect moment to strike.
For a magical girl who had never fought in a true life-or-death battle, the pressure was suffocating.
Saber too had been forced into a bitter fight.
Her opponents—Mysterious Heroine X and Mysterious Heroine X Alter—refused to engage her head-on.
One was an Assassin, the other a Berserker (laughable as that pairing might sound), and both attacked from the flanks, firing beams from their holy swords.
Saber relied solely on her Instinct skill to dodge—
because one hit from those "laser swords" could leave even a Servant half-dead, if not worse.
"Stop running, Saber!"
"Annihilate them all, Saber!"
"What kind of grudge do you people have against me?!" Saber snapped, unable to hold back her frustration.
She was wrong, of course—these two didn't hate her personally; they hated all Artoria-types and Saber-class Servants.
But with no time to ponder X's strange obsession, all she could focus on was the killing intent radiating from that beam blade—Secret-calibur, a skill with special anti-Saber effectiveness.
"Don't run away, Father!"
While Saber was dodging X and X Alter's attacks, a third blade suddenly struck from behind.
Unable to evade, she was slashed across the back.
The pain slowed her, and X seized the chance—raising her beam sword for a lethal downward strike.
Saber had no choice but to block with her own holy sword.
Her situation was dire.
The Secret-calibur could fall at any second, while X Alter and the treacherous Mordred closed in.
No one could come to her aid.
Illyasviel and Heracles were locked in battle with Artoria Lily and Jeanne.
The Military Uniform Princess had her hands full against Artoria Alter and the Black Spear Fool.
The two corrupted knights of Arthur gave her no room to breathe.
"This really is… an epic-tier battle…"
Kikuchihara, watching the valor of the Servants before him, couldn't help asking the historians and mythologists the government had urgently dispatched:
"Can you explain who they really are?"
"Of course," the two professors replied, glancing at each other.
"First, King Arthur—or rather, the group of King Arthurs.
In most manga adaptations, this is explained.
Arthur possesses compatibility with multiple classes, so it's not strange to see versions like this spear-wielding Arthur.
The weapon she carries is, we believe, the holy spear Rhongomyniad, famed in legend for slaying Mordred.
As for the stranger Arthurs among them… we've found no historical record of a tyrant Arthur or the white-clad Arthur over there.
Judging by her demeanor, she doesn't have the solemn air of the usual Arthur—more like the vibe of a 'yuri' heroine."
They cleared their throats and continued:
"The armored knight who calls herself Mordred—she matches the traitorous knight of Arthurian legend, the one who ultimately struck down King Arthur.
But we are curious… in this case, Arthur is female, so how was Mordred born? And why does she look exactly like Arthur?"
"I can explain!" Ritsuka interjected, taking over smoothly.
"Mo-chan is Artoria's child—well, actually Morgan's child.
Morgan used magic to temporarily turn Artoria into a man, placed the resulting 'seed' into her own ovary, and nurtured it into an artificial human.
That's why she resembles Artoria so closely."
The professors' eyes lit up as they scribbled furiously in their notebooks.
Ritsuka felt a bead of sweat roll down her temple.
(They… they're not going to put this in the history books, are they? The Japanese government would never allow that, right?)
Once they'd finished their notes, the professors moved on:
"The red-clad emperor is clearly Nero, the fifth Emperor of Rome.
In history, he was infamous for his cunning, excess, and cruelty—but here, Nero is female.
Given her popularity among the common people and her hatred of the nobility, it's possible her gender was altered in historical records after her death.
As for her uncanny resemblance to Arthur…"
"Pure coincidence," Ritsuka replied flatly. (And also Takeuchi's fault.)
Next came the Shinsengumi-uniformed Servant—Okita Sōji, captain of the first unit in Japan's Bakumatsu-era police force.
She was a genius swordswoman who died of tuberculosis in Edo in 1868.
"…But why was someone this beautiful mistaken for a man back then? Were people in Japan as blind as the British?" the professor mused.
Finally, they turned to the flag-bearing Servant—Jeanne d'Arc.
She explained her own name was often mistranslated; "Jeanne" already meant "of Arc," so saying "Jeanne d'Arc" was redundant.
Her fate was tragic—betrayed by her own countrymen, she was burned as a witch.
Her comrade-in-arms, Marshal Gilles de Rais, fell into depravity, committing atrocities until his execution.
He is thought to be one inspiration for the fairy tale villain "Bluebeard."
"…But this saint also resembles Arthur, doesn't she? Care to explain, Miss Ritsuka?"
"Just a coincidence," Ritsuka said again, deadpan. (Takeuchi's fault, again.)
The three listeners silently thought: (Sure it is.)
Back on the battlefield, things had reached their climax.
Mamika was struggling to fend off Okita alone—
and then Nero joined in.
Overwhelmed, she was quickly knocked down.
The magical girl tried to stand, but a shadow fell over her.
Okita looked down with cold eyes.
"…Sorry."
She raised her sword.
"You lose."
The blade fell—
and Kirameki Mamika was no more.
"Mamika!"
Alicetaria, already hard-pressed against Artoria Lancer, saw her friend fall and screamed.
Her moment's distraction was all her opponent needed.
Shnk shnk.
The holy spear pierced straight through her chest.
Alicetaria touched the wound in disbelief—her hand came away crimson.
Artoria Lancer withdrew Rhongomyniad, and without support, Alicetaria's body crumpled and slowly faded away.
Her horse vanished with her.
---
Alicetaria February – Defeated
---
Even the mighty Heracles—the strongest hero of Greece—couldn't last forever.
Even in Ritsuka's "nerfed" version, he was holding off Artoria, Lily, and Jeanne all at once.
But against five Servants—after Okita and Nero joined in—he finally fell with a roar of defiance.
"Berserker!"
Illya jumped from his collapsing form, shaking him desperately.
But he could no longer answer—this was only the last flicker of his life.
Even so, he shielded her until the end, glaring at the five enemies before him.
"…Don't worry. We won't harm her," Artoria assured him.
Illya was no threat, so none of them intended to attack her.
"Rrraaagh…"
Hearing her promise, Heracles stopped roaring.
The light in his eyes faded, and his body went still.
---
Heracles – Defeated
---
Elsewhere, Saber was barely dodging blows from enemies with anti-Saber abilities.
Wounded by Mordred earlier, her movements grew sluggish, and her injuries mounted.
At last, Mordred's strike knocked her down.
Saber tried to push herself up with her sword, but a shadow blocked the sun above her.
Mordred looked down at her "father."
Though she knew this one was a fake, that stubborn gaze still softened her heart.
"Father… I'll prove I'm more fit to be king than you," she said gently.
Then she drove Clarent down, ending Saber's life—
a rebel knight destroying King Arthur once more.
---
Saber – Defeated
---
"This is bad…"
The Military Uniform Princess avoided a strike from Artoria Alter, glancing around.
She was the only one left—surrounded by enemies.
While only Artoria Alter and the Black Spear Fool were actively attacking her, the other nine Servants formed a tight ring to block her escape.
GG… can I just surrender now? she thought bitterly.