"What's the enemy's status?"
Tamamo-no-Mae asked the two standing beside her.
"Judging from the distribution of Cursed Energy, the enemies at the North Gate have the weakest presence."
The old man with a jitte at his waist knelt on one knee, respectfully reporting what he had scouted.
Tamamo-no-Mae nodded, then looked toward Takako, who was hanging upside down in the sky.
Noticing her gaze, Takako immediately lowered her altitude.
"The people at the North Gate are indeed the weakest in terms of strength, but their numbers are far greater than those at the other three gates."
Takako's conclusion matched the scout's.
She also believed the North Gate was the most likely breakthrough point.
"The strongest Cursed Energy aura is concentrated at the East Gate."
Tamamo-no-Mae nodded in satisfaction.
That settled it.
The army of Cursed Spirits would attempt to break through from the seemingly weakest North Gate.
Then observe the enemy's response. If they retreated once the North Gate fell, all the better.
If not, it would force them to shift defenses and reinforce the North Gate.
Both outcomes would work to her advantage.
"Dhruv, I'll give you half the troops. Lead the attack on the North Gate personally."
"Understood."
Dhruv nodded.
"Now, everyone, let these foolish beings who dare to hinder us witness the grandest Night Parade of One Hundred Demons in history!"
Tamamo-no-Mae spread her arms wide, officially declaring the start of war.
Just then, a sudden sense of crisis welled up from deep within her.
The nine tails behind her, formed of Cursed Energy, all bristled in alarm.
At the same time, Tamamo-no-Mae noticed that the top of the barrier above had suddenly opened.
But she had no time to pay attention to the sky.
Her eyes shot toward the East Gate.
Countless beams of light were gathering there.
"No good, scatter now! Anyone who can attack the East Gate, fire immediately!"
Tamamo-no-Mae had seen that golden light before.
Her incarnated body, Sanzu Kawa, had been seriously injured by it.
But the light shining now from the East Gate was far stronger than what Sanzu Kawa had faced.
The golden light cannon from Excalibur descended upon Tamamo-no-Mae and the army of Cursed Spirits before her.
Thousands of attacks were launched in return.
But under the radiance of the Holy Sword, those attacks, filled with negative energy, melted like spring snow under sunlight.
Takako, who had originally intended to twist Artoria's attack like she had twisted Ryu Ishigori's Cursed Energy cannon, immediately abandoned that thought the moment she saw the light.
Instead, she ascended to her maximum altitude at the fastest speed she had ever reached.
She couldn't twist it. Absolutely couldn't.
Ryu's attack was already monstrous.
But Artoria's light was a hundred, no, a thousand times more terrifying.
The beam struck the densest cluster of Cursed Spirits.
A golden pillar of light shot into the sky, piercing the clouds and illuminating the dark heavens.
A massive crater, several hundred meters wide, formed in the center of the Sendai Barrier.
Over one hundred thousand Cursed Spirits were completely exorcised by the power of the Holy Sword.
"What a terrifying strike. Even over the past thousand years, no one has unleashed anything that rivals this in sheer destructive force."
Tengen, observing the Sendai battlefield through the barrier from far away in the Tombs of the Star, murmured in awe.
Right after, Tengen began rapidly forming hand seals.
The opened portion of the Sendai Barrier above began to close.
There were many flying Cursed Spirits.
If the top remained open for even a moment longer, many would escape.
"Damn it!"
Tamamo-no-Mae, who had narrowly dodged the attack, cursed furiously.
"She can't keep using an attack like that! Take her down now!"
Tamamo-no-Mae believed she understood why the East Gate was so heavily fortified.
It was to protect this girl, capable of unleashing such devastating destruction.
Their original plan to simply contain the East Gate while focusing the breakthrough on the North had to be revised.
The North Gate remained the priority, but now the East Gate would also face a high-level assault.
She could not allow that attack to happen a second time.
Cursed Spirits surged toward both the North Gate and the East Gate like a tidal wave.
Meanwhile, only tens of thousands of Cursed Spirits were sent to the South and West Gates as harassment.
"They're coming, Medea!"
Eichi shouted from behind.
"Don't worry, Master, it's ready."
Medea raised the Holy Grail in her left hand and lifted her staff high with her right.
Countless teeth poured from the Holy Grail.
They burrowed into the ground like seeds and sprouted into skeleton-like soldiers.
These were Medea's Dragon Tooth Soldiers.
And there were over ten thousand of them.
"No way, are those Shikigami?"
"Who could possibly control that many Shikigami?"
"Isn't there a sorcerer who can manipulate tens of thousands of Cursed Spirits?"
"Are Cursed Spirits and Shikigami even the same?"
The Jujutsu Sorcerers behind Naobito broke into startled murmurs.
They had been incredibly tense as the wave of Cursed Spirits advanced.
But now, not only had that nervousness vanished, it had turned into excitement.
Artoria's Noble Phantasm had left an unforgettable impression.
It also gave them a real sense of hope.
And now, with Medea summoning an army of Shikigami out of nowhere, all remaining fear was gone.
At this moment, they truly believed they could win.
After summoning the Dragon Tooth Soldiers, Medea applied multiple enhancements to Eichi.
Then she returned to the center of the formation.
Medea had three roles in this battle.
First, summon a vast number of Dragon Tooth Soldiers to relieve the defensive pressure on the East Gate.
Second, as Cursed Spirits were exorcised on the battlefield, she would collect and refine the residual Cursed Energy using the Holy Grail, converting it into power for Eichi, Artoria, Emiya, and herself.
Before the battle began, Eichi had Medea connect the Holy Grail directly to the three Heroic Spirits.
This allowed them to draw magical energy directly from the Holy Grail rather than relying on Eichi to supply it himself.
This not only eased Eichi's burden but greatly improved their combat efficiency.
After all, his Cursed Energy output wasn't infinite.
Trying to supply three Heroic Spirits in real-time would compromise both their effectiveness and his own.
So he entrusted the Holy Grail to Medea.
Her third task was to support the front line from the rear.
How and when to assist would be left entirely up to her.
"Rabbit Escape!"
Looking at the incoming Cursed Spirit army and feeling his own rising strength, a sense of resolve surged within Eichi.
Countless Rabbit Escape spilled from the shadows like waves, their numbers quickly exceeding ten thousand.
These Rabbit Escape couldn't handle high-level Cursed Spirits.
But when it came to exorcising Grade 4 Cursed Spirits, these little rabbits trained in martial arts were more than capable.
Their leg techniques were so sharp that even Toji would be tempted to try them out.
(To be continued.)