"Speaking of which, aren't you going to worry about that side? That thing over there might just be harder to deal with than I am."
Clang.
Under the inescapable, net-like barrage of attacks, Cú Chulainn Alter fiercely protected his vitals while tentatively glancing toward the distant Demon God Pillar Amalgamation.
Takumi remained completely unfazed, coldly maintaining his relentless assault.
His trust in the Heroic Spirits was far greater than Cú Chulainn Alter could ever imagine. Furthermore, with so many of them present—and Scáthach among them—Takumi didn't believe for a second that they wouldn't be able to hold out until he or Karna finished their respective battles.
Seeing Takumi remain tight-lipped, Cú Chulainn Alter, who had kept his eyes glued to Takumi's movements this entire time, didn't get angry. Instead, he flashed a wide grin—
Now!
"[Curruid Coinchenn: Beast of Crushing Devouring Death]!"
Keenly catching onto the micro-inconsistencies in Takumi's prosthetic arm, Cú Chulainn Alter decisively activated his second Noble Phantasm.
Upon activation, this Noble Phantasm temporarily materialized the exoskeleton of the Curruid—the crimson sea monster that served as the prototype for his demonic spear—wearing it like a suit of armor. It instantly skyrocketed his Strength and Endurance to the rule-breaking EX rank and physically mutated his body. As a combat-oriented Noble Phantasm, it was undeniably exceptional.
However, truly activating this Noble Phantasm came with a severe drawback: it completely sealed his first Noble Phantasm, rendering it unusable.
But right now, that was clearly no longer a drawback.
After all, Takumi had casually sidestepped his "sure-hit, sure-kill" spear thrust with a mere tilt of his body. Was there even any point in keeping the first Noble Phantasm available?
In an instant.
Cú Chulainn Alter's posture grew even more savage, his facial features twisting into those of a wild beast. His head was encased in a black-and-red skeletal helm, the bone plating stretching and expanding to form a massive, singular horn jutting from his skull.
His fingers also enlarged and elongated, as if every digit had been capped with a razor-sharp miniature spear, gleaming with an eerie, unnatural light.
Riiiip—CRASH!
Accompanied by a harsh, earsplitting crunch, Takumi's prosthetic arm was instantly shattered near the shoulder and blasted completely off. The remaining half of the severed prosthetic instantly lost all power, and the Brahmastra slipped from its grasp. Both flew upward into the air simultaneously.
—Let's see how you swing a sword now!
A manic grin spread across Cú Chulainn Alter's face, the crimson in his eyes practically glowing. He couldn't wait to utterly ravage Takumi now that the boy had lost one of his greatest weapons.
[Sure-Hit Fist]!
Suddenly, mid-air, the severed prosthetic arm's open palm snapped into a tight fist. Reversing direction, it smashed brutally into Cú Chulainn Alter's face like a falling meteor.
"Puh-ah~!"
Completely failing to anticipate such a maneuver, Cú Chulainn Alter's eyes bugged out. He only had time to hack up an incomprehensible noise before being launched backward.
His burly frame skipped across the ground twice like a skipped stone before finally coming to a halt.
His prosthetic arm had been destroyed, yet Takumi's expression didn't shift in the slightest. Just as he always maintained, he had a backup plan for everything.
[Trace On!]
Casually ripping off the ruined stump of the prosthetic at his shoulder, a flash of blue-and-white lightning-laced light sparked. A brand-new prosthetic hand was instantly reattached to the severed joint.
—Takumi had also dabbled in Projection Magecraft!
Although he definitely couldn't compare to Emiya Shirou's innate pseudo-Sword Origin physique, as long as it was something he had physically crafted with his own hands, Takumi could project it while maintaining a passable degree of quality.
On top of that...
Keeping his eyes locked entirely on Cú Chulainn Alter's movements, Takumi didn't even spare a glance at the Brahmastra that had landed on the ground. He simply opened the palm of his new prosthetic hand.
Swish!
The Brahmastra lying quietly on the ground flickered and instantly materialized right back into Takumi's grip.
Takumi knew a thing or two about Displacement Magecraft as well!
Gripping the Brahmastra tightly, Takumi swung his arm to test the quality of his newly projected prosthetic.
Fuck! This guy absolutely refuses to leave even a single opening!
Cú Chulainn Alter wrenched his dislocated jaw back into place, shooting a foul look at Takumi, who had already fully restored his prosthetic arm.
Meticulous planning, an impeccable defense, and ruthlessly decisive action... Against a guy like this, the only way to win in a head-on clash was probably just overwhelming him with raw stats.
Without giving Cú Chulainn Alter any time to strategize, the barrage of homing firebirds—which had paused for a brief moment—resumed crashing into him, bang bang bang.
After briefly loosening up his "new" arm, Takumi repeated his earlier assault, unleashing the chaotic light-slashes of Nine Lives (Roman Style).
However, Takumi soon furrowed his brow.
It's not really working anymore...
His mastery of Nine Lives (Roman Style) hadn't reached its absolute peak; he was still a far cry from Romulus's authentic version.
Furthermore, his current prosthetic was just a projection. Its quality was at least a full grade lower than the original built from proper materials. And a drop in the prosthetic's quality naturally hindered Takumi's combat performance.
At the very least, if Takumi wanted to exert his Strength parameter to its absolute maximum, he would have to do so at the cost of shattering the entire projection outright.
At this point, Cú Chulainn Alter had also completely discarded the bearing of a warrior. He was fighting exactly like a cornered beast. Anywhere his body was covered by the bone armor became a weapon. As long as he protected his vitals, he relentlessly launched counterattacks against Takumi with reckless abandon.
Moreover, with his second Noble Phantasm active, his Strength had surged to EX rank, and both his regeneration and defense had been massively enhanced. With the tides shifting like this, Takumi didn't dare clash with him head-on; he could only weave through the gaps to land solid strikes.
But because of this, whittling down Cú Chulainn Alter's health through a battle of attrition was no longer a viable option.
Bang—CRACK! Bang—CRACK! Bang—CRACK!...
The projected prosthetics were being burned through at a rapid pace. Almost every passing second, a projected arm would shatter for one reason or another, sending fragments of flickering magical energy scattering through the air.
Takumi's expression remained unchanged. If it shattered, he just projected a new one. Simultaneously, he used Displacement Magecraft to yank the Brahmastra back into his grip whenever he dropped it, maintaining his relentless attack frequency.
Homing firebirds, Projection Magecraft, Displacement Magecraft, all while maintaining the brutal speed and precision of his physical strikes—only someone like Takumi, who was capable of extreme multi-tasking, could manage all of this simultaneously. If it were anyone else, just managing to avoid tripping over their own feet would be considered a victory.
Time to use the Noble Phantasm!
The firebirds were no longer effective against Cú Chulainn Alter's Phase 2, and normal attacks couldn't deal any substantial damage. If he didn't use his Noble Phantasm now, Takumi genuinely ran the risk of being dragged into a battle of attrition and killed by the Grail-empowered Berserker.
He cut off the homing firebirds. He halted the compromised light-slashes. Dozens of fiery Runes converged onto the Brahmastra, locking onto Cú Chulainn Alter's heart with Causality Sure-Hit, while stacking Mana Burst on top of the Noble Phantasm's innate power...
[Sure-Hit, Mana Burst, Rune Fire-Enchanted Greatsword: Pierce Through the Indestructible Rakshasa]!
Sensing the fatal threat, Cú Chulainn Alter went completely berserk, wildly slashing and stabbing at Takumi using his claws, headbutt spikes, knees, soles... every single offensive part of his mutated body.
Remaining in his ultra-high-speed state, Takumi easily dodged the frenzied assault. Finding the perfect opening, he swung the massive flaming greatsword—a weapon so terrifyingly powerful it looked as if it was warping space itself!
The five-meter-long flaming greatsword slipped through the gap between Cú Chulainn Alter's arms, slashing diagonally up through his ribs and straight toward his heart.
WHOOSH—BOOM!!!
The energy within the flaming greatsword detonated instantly. Extreme light and heat erupted between the two of them. The explosion was so violently catastrophic that even sound failed to escape it, instantly swallowing Cú Chulainn Alter's body whole.
When the light and heat finally dissipated, all that remained in front of Takumi was a charred husk with a gaping hole where its heart used to be, sitting in the center of a hundred-meter-wide fan-shaped crater. The crater was scorched red-hot, the soil having been entirely vaporized nearly a meter deep.