Takumi had no choice but to pause his train of thought, swinging his sword to block Cú Chulainn's demonic spear thrust.
Cú Chulainn Alter's stats were no joke. Facing a full-powered thrust head-on, Takumi, caught off guard, could only be forced back.
Takumi absorbed the shock transmitted through the blade, bringing himself to a halt. A thoughtful expression crossed his face before he suddenly realized:
"...I see. The Holy Grail is on you."
With a tone of dawning comprehension, Takumi looked at Cú Chulainn Alter, who had just knocked him back.
For a highly valuable artifact like the Holy Grail, there truly was no safer place to keep it than directly on the strongest person.
Cú Chulainn Alter didn't respond to Takumi's words. Instead, he looked down at Medb, who was collapsed in a pool of blood.
"...Tch, aren't you way too weak? You couldn't even block a single sword strike."
Cú Chulainn Alter fell silent for a moment before speaking with a hint of disdain.
He was an entity created by Medb using the Holy Grail, so naturally, he harbored a different kind of attachment to her. But fundamentally, he was devoid of emotion, and being modeled after the original Cú Chulainn, managing to squeeze out such an awkward remark was already his absolute limit.
The dying Medb was momentarily speechless, managing only a weak reply:
"I'm not a warrior, how could I possibly react in time?"
Not far away, Takumi, who was standing there watching the two of them, couldn't help but roll his eyes.
Hold on, the way you two are acting makes it look like I'm the villain here!
"It seems someone is getting impatient..."
Glancing at Takumi, who could attack at any second, Medb, with blood trailing down her lips, revealed a beautiful yet tragic smile:
"But I worked really hard this time, so, Cú Cú..."
"Could you praise me, just a little?"
As she spoke, Medb's body radiated a crimson light, which resonated with the golden glow emanating from the Holy Grail within Cú Chulainn Alter's body.
A bizarre fluctuation suddenly rippled across the entire battlefield.
Feeling that familiar sensation, Takumi's pupils instantly contracted.
It was a summoning formula!
More accurately, it was a variation of the [Twenty-Eight Warriors] from Medb's legend that defeated Cú Chulainn—the Twenty-Eight Demon God Pillar Summoning Formula!
Damn it! Was this prepared in advance, using her own death as the summoning condition?
Takumi cursed internally, unable to stop himself from casting a glance toward where the allied forces were locked in combat with the Celtic army.
Over there, an irreversible, spectral summoning circle had already materialized in the blink of an eye. The massive, sanity-draining phantom silhouettes of fleshy, eye-covered pillars were already beginning to manifest, overlapping in the sky.
It would probably only take a few seconds before they fully materialized in this Singularity.
Takumi felt a surge of anxiety, but he knew exactly what the most critical priority was right now.
Without sparing another look at the Demon God Pillar team-building exercise over there, Takumi's icy gaze swept back to Cú Chulainn Alter.
By now, Medb had faded away completely, and Cú Chulainn Alter stood there, gripping his demonic spear, staring coldly at Takumi.
"That's right. The Holy Grail you want is right here inside me. If you have the strength, come take it yourself!"
Cú Chulainn jerked his thumb toward his own heart, offering his answer to Takumi's earlier question.
"Of course I will take it personally. And at the same time—"
Takumi sneered, raising Brahmastra and pointing it squarely at Cú Chulainn Alter.
"I will show you the true power of Rama!"
Cú Chulainn Alter grinned broadly, taking a two-handed stance with his demonic spear, and said:
"Doesn't matter. I beat him once, I can beat him a second time!"
Fully immersed in a state of combat, Takumi's eyes held nothing but cold detachment. The power of his mind faithfully channeled his killing intent, driving it like bone-chilling ice straight into his enemy's heart.
"This time will be different—"
Before his words even finished, Takumi instantly activated his ultra-high-speed state and charged forward, sword swinging.
[Flowing Fire Mana Burst: Nine Lives (Roman Style)]!
Opening with an ultimate move right from the start!
A black blur flashed, and an endless barrage of chaotic light strikes materialized right in front of Cú Chulainn Alter.
The true battle between the two erupted in an instant!
Runes transformed into raging fire clinging to the blade, while Mana Burst acted like a massive flaming battle aura enveloping it. Coupled with the sheer velocity of his attacks, from a distance, it looked as if Takumi was wielding a miniature sun to fight Cú Chulainn Alter.
The power wielded by these two was easily among the top-tier in the entire Singularity. Naturally, the collateral damage from their attacks was immense. Wherever they clashed, the earth cracked and shattered stone flew wildly. Anyone ignorant of the situation might think the two of them were a demolition crew.
However, if they were comparing raw stats right now, Takumi—who possessed A+ Strength, backed by [Monstrous Strength] and [Mana Burst]—was naturally a notch above Cú Chulainn Alter.
Add to that Takumi's unbelievably fast speed, and the proficiency of his Nine Lives (Roman Style), which had leveled up significantly during his fight with Beowulf. For a time, Cú Chulainn Alter was forced entirely on the defensive. His burly frame was repeatedly beaten back by Takumi's high-speed assault, trailing scalding hot blood wherever he stepped.
Flesh-rending sword wounds, blood-spouting punctures deep enough to reveal bone... various injuries severe enough to cripple bodily functions constantly appeared across Cú Chulainn Alter's body.
Yet, Cú Chulainn Alter acted as if he hadn't endured these attacks at all. Not only was his face devoid of expression, but even his bodily movements didn't falter or warp in the slightest. It made one wonder: Is this guy's flesh even attached to his body?
So tough!
With every strike feeling like he was hacking into some special alloy, Takumi couldn't help but furrow his brow slightly. And this was with him stacking a bunch of buffs. If some weaker Servant tried to attack him, they probably wouldn't even be able to break his defense.
He had to admit, Takumi had met an opponent of the exact same archetype as himself. Not only was Cú Chulainn Alter's damage output staggering, but his defense was extraordinarily robust.
The beast-hide-like material covering his entire body acted as incredibly durable armor. In the original storyline, he even tanked Karna's [Vasavi Shakti] head-on with his physical body, coming away only covered in burns and forced to retreat to base to recover.
Although a huge reason for that feat was because Karna had been heavily injured by a sneak attack—making it a hasty strike from a crumbling Spirit Origin—it still spoke volumes about how monstrous Cú Chulainn Alter's physical defense was.
While recalling this, Takumi glanced at the wounds he had just carved into Cú Chulainn Alter.
He watched as the flesh around the wounds surged and grew, almost as if it had a life of its own, fully healing in the blink of an eye.
It was the power of Runes.
If Cú Chulainn Alter only had immense physical durability, the barrage of attacks Takumi unleashed over this period would have been enough to kill him once or twice. But unfortunately, the Berserker also had Runes providing continuous regeneration.
Cú Chulainn Alter's method of usage differed from Takumi's and Scáthach's. He completely discarded the other functions of Runes, treating them strictly as tools for bodily enhancement and regeneration. What's more, he brutally opted to use the Runes for healing while the destructive flaming magical energy was still burning inside his wounds!
Naturally, this granted him stronger regenerative capabilities, but the catch was that it equated to destroying and repairing simultaneously. The pain would be absolutely unbearable. Even Takumi generally wouldn't choose to heal his own injuries this way.
But just this alone won't be enough to keep up with my speed of destruction!
How fast was Takumi's attack speed using Nine Lives (Roman Style)? If Cú Chulainn Alter planned to just defend like this, Takumi would eventually hack him to death.