"This is a Demon God Pillar... you can actually summon it like this?!"
Before the decisive battle officially began, Takumi had warned about this possibility, so Helena was somewhat mentally prepared. But talk was just talk—seeing it with her own eyes, Helena couldn't stop her pupils from trembling.
Demon God Pillars weren't some run-of-the-mill mob enemies. Not only did they possess an unfathomably massive amount of magical energy, but they were essentially tank-like artillery emplacements. A single one required multiple Servants working together to take down. And now, a full twenty-eight of them had appeared! Furthermore, an amalgamation like this would only be exponentially stronger than one or two acting independently!
(Note: "Multiple Servants" implies an average baseline drawn from all existing Servants.)
Moreover, an invocation on this scale... Even if you summoned Solomon himself with a standard Spirit Origin, there was no way he could summon twenty-eight Pillars simultaneously. Just from this alone, one could see just how exceptionally Medb utilized the Holy Grail.
From this perspective, a certain interstellar gamer (Goetia) who once claimed he was born specifically for "summoning" wasn't even fit to lick Medb's boots.
Despite the shock rocking her core, Helena's hands didn't stop moving. She hurriedly directed the mechanical soldiers to retreat from the Demon God Pillar's vicinity, simultaneously notifying the allied Servants—who had nearly wiped out the Shadow Servant army—to intercept it.
Honestly, she didn't even need to notify them. The Demon God Pillar was so gargantuan that even an ordinary person standing at the far corner of the battlefield could spot it easily, let alone the Servants.
In fact, the Servants had noticed its presence before it even fully materialized.
"Wh-wh-what is this thing?!"
Elisabeth tilted her small head back, her eyes wide as saucers.
Wasn't she just supposed to come here, beat up some Shadow Servants, and farm some low-level mobs? Why did something like this show up?!
"This is definitely... the final boss."
Robin Hood glanced at the delicate little crossbow in his hand, then up at the absurdly massive Demon God Pillars before him, the corners of his eyes twitching.
With his attack power, if he didn't use his Noble Phantasm, he'd probably just be giving this thing a deep-tissue massage, right?
"Whatever it is, it's the biggest pathogen currently infecting this land. Eradicating it is the correct response!"
Nightingale's face was dead serious. She drew her pistol and fired several shots right at the Demon God Pillar.
The bullets sank into the colossal pillar of flesh without even causing a ripple.
Nightingale: "..."
"Master Li, do you have any way to deal with this big guy?"
Sighing, Robin Hood turned to the strongest combatant among them standing nearby: Li Shuwen.
"...I do not."
Li Shuwen was speechless. Against humans, his strikes were undoubtedly a guaranteed one-hit kill. But what the hell was this thing in front of him?
Did they seriously expect him to run up to its face and perform a set of Bajiquan on it?
"If it were just a single Demon God Pillar, I wouldn't necessarily be completely powerless... but this thing in front of us is an amalgamation of them..."
"I truly have no method."
Li Shuwen shook his head as he explained.
The entity that appeared on this battlefield wasn't twenty-eight individual Demon God Pillars lined up in a row. It was a super-amalgamation formed from them intersecting, entangling, and twisting together.
Just standing there, it blotted out half the sky. Despite it being high noon, to the eyes of the Servants, it looked like the dead of night. The eerie demonic aura radiating from the amalgamation dyed everything within sight a murky, oppressive hue, constantly flashing with unnatural lightning.
Beneath that black-and-red glow, the twisted, gargantuan silhouette seemed to declare: At this moment, only we are worthy of standing upon this earth.
Before anyone could formulate a plan, the Demon God Pillar Amalgamation made its move.
A barrage of magical beams poured down upon their location like Gatling gun fire, while its grotesque tentacles didn't remain idle, slamming down indiscriminately like giant flyswatters trying to crush everything around them.
Seeing this, the Servants' pupils shrank. They immediately scattered, utilizing their respective abilities to dodge the amalgamation's assault.
Whoosh—BOOM!
As they were fleeing, a crimson streak suddenly tore across the sky. With a single strike, it blasted one of the massive tentacles cleanly in two.
Although the severed tentacle didn't immediately lose vitality and slowly began to regenerate, the strike successfully stalled the amalgamation's offensive, allowing the three Servants—who had been desperately dodging under the dense barrage—to catch their breath.
Thank god! It's the dual-wielding old hag!
Scáthach didn't stop there. Maintaining the same posture, she blasted apart several more colossal tentacles anchored to the main body before finally landing back on the ground.
Seeing her, everyone quickly gathered around.
"Do you have a way to finish them off?"
Li Shuwen asked.
Having just slain the sub-species dragon and continuously unleashed her Noble Phantasm several times, Scáthach exhaled a long breath, adjusting her breathing before answering:
"There is absolutely no conventional way to destroy them... However, I do have a makeshift solution. I can open the Gates of the Land of Shadows that I guard and attempt to suck them all inside."
"Once they enter the realm of death, even beings like them won't be able to survive."
Elisabeth blinked.
"Then why don't you just do it?"
Scáthach threw the Dragon Idol a sidelong glance and said:
"The problem is that under normal circumstances, it is impossible for me to open a 'Gate' large enough to suck them all in. I can only attempt to forcefully widen the 'Gate' at the cost of damaging my own Spirit Origin. But if I fail, and it renders me incapable of fighting..."
Scáthach didn't need to finish that sentence. None of the people present were fools; they all clearly understood what she meant.
"In other words, if you fail, we lose a massive chunk of our combat power, and the rest of the battle becomes incredibly difficult, right?"
Elisabeth pondered for a moment before speaking up with a look of sudden realization.
After saying that, she even proudly tilted her chin up, looking as if she expected everyone to praise her for figuring it out.
Scáthach looked at her with pure pity.
Clearly, this girl was not the brightest bulb in the box.
Still, while her reaction time was a bit slow, at least she wasn't wrong.
"I understand. What we need to do right now is 'stall'!"
Robin Hood caught on to Scáthach's line of thinking.
"Exactly. Stalling is all we need to do. Leave the rest to my little disciple and Karna; they have the means to deal with these things."
Scáthach gave Robin Hood an approving look, then pointed toward the two combatants engaged in intense battles elsewhere.
Both Takumi and Karna possessed overwhelming, decisive Noble Phantasms capable of ending a fight in a single blow. This was especially true for Karna's God-Slaying Spear; among Spirit Origins of the same tier, it was highly unlikely there was a stronger Noble Phantasm in existence.
With the battle plan easily established, the pressure on everyone lessened significantly. They scattered, each using their own methods to harass and obstruct the Demon God Pillar Amalgamation to prevent it from interfering with the other fights.
Not far away, Edison, who had been observing their actions, finally rolled up his sleeves after a long time and roared:
"Bwahahahaha! It is time for you to witness the true, heroic figure of the King of Inventors!"
As the battle reached its climax, Edison's blood finally boiled, and he couldn't wait to join the fray.
"Oh? You're actually going to fight? When we first ran into this Demon God Pillar Amalgamation, I half-expected you to slump to the ground in despair, crying out, 'We can't win! We can't possibly win!' or something like that."
Helena raised an eyebrow, imitating Edison's typical dramatic wailing with a face full of amusement.
"Hey, hey, hey! We were friends in life, you know! Am I really that pathetic in your eyes?"
Edison stared at Helena, dark lines dropping down his face.
"Alright, alright~ So why the sudden urge to join the battle? As the primary mana supplier for most of the Servants, you are extremely important, you know."
Helena placated him like coaxing a child, opting not to bruise his fragile little heart any further.
"Of course I know I'm important! But at such a critical moment, how could I, the Great President, be absent?!"
"—Besides, Karna's side looks like it will wrap up soon. Once he returns, everything will be fine!"
Saying that, Edison pointed toward Karna's distant battlefield and flashed a goofy, honest smile.
Karna's combat skills were incredibly high. Being a Lancer fighting against Arjuna, an Archer, as long as he maintained close-quarters combat and no one interfered, defeating Arjuna was only a matter of time.
"Enough chatter! I will make these so-called Demon Gods understand that even while bearing the weight of all America on my shoulders, I am still an overwhelmingly terrifying existence—Roooar~!"
Before he even finished speaking, Edison charged howling toward the Demon God Pillar Amalgamation.
"I just hope you don't end up screaming for Karna to save you halfway through..."
Helena sighed helplessly, jogging after him.
With Edison acting like this, if she didn't keep a close eye on him, an accident might genuinely happen.
***
[A Thousand Meters of Scorched Earth, Crimson Hell]!
Intentionally pushing the battlefield far away from his allies, Takumi willed the Runes around him to flare, laying down another massive field of fire.
With the explosive roar of combusting air, the entire field of vision turned a blinding orange-red. The Celtic soldiers who couldn't escape the blast radius were incinerated into charred husks within seconds.
Not enough, not enough, not enough, not enough, not enough—I need to be even faster!
The flames in Takumi's pupils burned ever more ferociously, and his hands moved faster and faster. Driven by his surging will to fight, the rhythmic striking of a forging hammer echoed from the [Heart of Fire], passing through his soul and body, and hammering directly into Cú Chulainn Alter's mind.
CLANG!—CLANG!—CLANG!—CLANG!—CLANG!
The sounds striking directly at his soul made Cú Chulainn Alter uncontrollably lose focus, causing his movements to falter time and time again.
Takumi's hands didn't stop. Under the effects of Mana Burst, his flame-coated blade repeatedly slashed into Cú Chulainn Alter's body, ravaging it until it was riddled with holes, leaving bone-deep gashes everywhere.
Unfortunately, Cú Chulainn Alter perfectly inherited the original Cú Chulainn's ridiculous survivability. Coupled with the Holy Grail's backing, his tenacity was simply absurd. Injuries that would have killed anyone else two or three times over weren't even enough to bring him to his knees.
"Knock, knock, knock—what the hell are you even hammering?! It's annoying as hell!!"
Driven mad by the relentless, unblockable pounding echoing in his mind, Cú Chulainn Alter's face twisted in sheer impatience. He completely abandoned his meaningless defense, violently pouring the magical energy within his body into the demonic spear in his hands.
"[Gouging Piercing Spear of Carnage (Gáe Bolg)]!"
The sure-hit, sure-kill demonic spear locked onto Takumi's heart. Even though he had been battered to the point where his expression was twisted in agony, Cú Chulainn Alter still bared his fangs, putting all his might into launching his Noble Phantasm directly at Takumi.
Break free!
Takumi didn't even spare a glance at the incoming Noble Phantasm. With a slight sidestep, he completely dodged the "sure-hit, sure-kill" strike.
[Sure-Hit, No Second Strike, Sword Flash]!
Having successfully fused the profound mysteries of Li Shuwen's [No Second Strike] into his own swordsmanship, Takumi locked onto Cú Chulainn Alter in return. The Brahmastra, overflowing with pale, ghastly Qi, slashed cleanly across the Berserker's chest before bouncing off.
It didn't leave a visually gruesome wound, but the formless Qi had already bypassed the flesh, creating an internal shockwave that crushed down onto his organs.
"Pfft!"
Cú Chulainn Alter's eyes went wide. He spat out a mouthful of blood and slowly collapsed forward.
Facts proved that no matter how absurdly durable his outer body was, his internal organs were still soft. Under the crushing pressure of No Second Strike, they had already ruptured.
Despite landing a guaranteed fatal blow, Takumi didn't stop moving. Hundreds of Rune characters materialized in the air around him, ascending into the sky.
[Blazing Form: A Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix]!
The Runes ignited into flames, the fire shifting shape until it solidified into various forms of birds. They all hovered mid-air, their fiery gazes locked onto the collapsed, blood-spitting Berserker.
Normally, anyone would assume Cú Chulainn Alter was dead right here. After all, a strike from No Second Strike had undoubtedly inflicted fatal damage. But Takumi, who roughly knew the script, didn't think so at all.
—This guy still has several lives left!
Just as Takumi predicted, before Cú Chulainn Alter's body even fully hit the ground, his unfocused pupils sharpened once more. His bodily injuries completely regenerated, and even his attire, after a brief flash of light, became heavier and more heavily armored.
Commonly known as "Spirit Origin Ascension"!
Cú Chulainn Alter, holding the Holy Grail, possessed multiple lives, much like Heracles. However, unlike Heracles, Cú Chulainn Alter didn't gain immunity to the attack that killed him; instead, resurrecting from a shattered Spirit Origin made him even stronger.
It was hard to say which method of resurrection was superior, but it was unquestionably just as troublesome.
Cú Chulainn Alter stabilized his footing. Just as he parted his lips to flash a grin and say something, a flaming bird with a wingspan of over a meter dove straight into his mouth, cutting off whatever he was about to say.
Without giving Cú Chulainn Alter a chance to react, Takumi closed the distance once again. The chaotic light barrage of Nine Lives (Roman Style) rained down mercilessly upon the Berserker's freshly healed body.
The fiery birds hovering mid-air acted like homing missiles, relentlessly crashing into Cú Chulainn Alter one after another. From a distance, it looked as if Takumi was fighting a literal man of fire.
Cú Chulainn Alter's expression soured. Pinned down by Takumi's high-speed assault, he was forced to use his weapon and armored gauntlets to protect his vitals, terrified that Takumi would find an opening for a one-hit kill.
Of course, while being suppressed, he had attempted to counterattack. However, his normal strikes landed on Takumi as if they were hitting an indestructible slab of steel, failing to leave even a scratch.
But...
Hidden beneath his armored gauntlet, the corners of Cú Chulainn Alter's mouth suddenly ticked upward.
He had found Takumi's flaw!
His gaze imperceptibly flicked toward Takumi's prosthetic right arm, and the grin on his face grew wider.
The performance of Takumi's prosthetic arm was nowhere near that of the original. Its sensitivity was far too low to keep up with his high-speed movements. In actual combat, Takumi was practically swinging his entire body to manipulate the arm, desperately trying to force the prosthetic to match his pace.
Normally, no one would notice anything amiss, but to Cú Chulainn Alter's eyes, that slight lack of coordination was glaringly obvious.