"Poison aimed at 'heroes'?"
Everyone immediately turned serious. They did not expect it to be this troublesome.
One must know that everyone present were orthodox heroes. Don't be fooled by the black outfit on Artoria.
In fact, she is not a "dark side." It only emphasizes the image of a cold and iron-blooded ruler, and has nothing to do with corruption.
Only the Duke was different. He was summoned as a hero of Romania, but because of the legend he has a "vampire" side… making him the one most likely to be reversed.
"Not only that," Chiron glanced at Vlad III and continued, "If it is an anti-hero or a Servant whose image has been twisted by legends… then they have absolutely no resistance to this kind of curse!"
Sure enough, Vlad III's expression immediately became gloomy. He was the one who most wanted to punish Shuten Douji, but fate had played a joke on him. This meant that in the following battle he might not be able to play any role at all.
"To get close to Yamata no Orochi, we must find a way to resist the erosion of the poison."
"There is no need to make it so troublesome!"
Black Rider snorted coldly. "The will of a king cannot be twisted by anyone. It's only a poisonous snake. Acting timid has never been my style!"
The meaning behind her words was that she intended to force her way through while enduring the poison.
With her [Magic Resistance], she could indeed hold on for quite a long time. Not to mention she also has the dragon attribute, which can weaken negative effects brought by the same kind (similar to a special defense buff).
"Hah? What kind of king are you? The real King of Knights is not some pitch-black person like you. The only one who can replace Arthur is me. Other than me, even her own other side can't do it!"
Mordred immediately volunteered right after that. "Stop talking so much. Can't we just rush up and fight? I'll take the lead!"
"Young." The black king holding a spear smiled slightly. "But it's not surprising. Whether in body or in mind, you are still just a child."
"You..."
"Everyone calm down!"
Jeanne quickly spoke to stop them. "Now is not the time to argue. Everyone's bravery can be shown on the battlefield, not by mocking companions here."
"Even so, according to what Mr. Chiron said, then people like us simply can't get close to Yamata no Orochi." Atalanta analyzed calmly.
"Although we can use long-range attacks, that body size… it's not something that anti-army or anti-fortress Noble Phantasms can solve."
"About that…"
Jeanne first glanced at Karna, then looked toward Iori. "There will always be a way."
"I will open the path."
Karna spoke calmly. Even facing such a terrifying monster, his emotions still did not fluctuate much.
"The brilliance of the sun can purify all evil. No matter what kind of curse it is, it cannot affect my will. Let me use this spear to disperse the poisonous mist for everyone!"
When the others heard this, some showed admiration, some remained silent, and some sneered.
But no one voiced any objection. Even if someone among them disliked Karna, they still admitted that the Son of the Sun had the qualification to say such words.
Iori could not help but glance sideways.
This is the confidence brought by the [Golden Armor]. It is truly enviable.
His own intangibility is already a pretty good defensive ability, but compared with the brilliance that protects the Son of the Sun, it is still inferior.
The golden armor on Red Lancer's body is a defensive Noble Phantasm that has fused with his flesh and can release the light of the Sun God.
In Indian mythology, the Sun God Surya gave Karna golden armor and earrings to prove that he was his son, allowing Karna not to doubt his bloodline.
Because it is an existence formed from the sublimation of the concept of "light," even the gods find it difficult to destroy.
This statement is not an exaggeration, because in mythology Karna wearing the armor was indeed invincible.
Even in Servant form, the Golden Armor still has the powerful effect of weakening all hostile interference and reducing the damage he receives to one tenth.
Whether it is physical destruction, magical attacks, conceptual curses, or even extinction-level attacks like the end of the world, all of them fall within the range that the Golden Armor can deal with.
Considering the healing effect that comes with the Golden Armor itself, as well as its own defensive strength, the damage Karna actually receives is far lower than one tenth, and it will also be quickly healed.
Karna, the Son of the Sun, is literally a hero with no weaknesses.
The poison of Yamata no Orochi makes ordinary Servants feel extremely troubled, but clearly it cannot break through the Golden Armor.
"One person alone is not enough."
Jeanne shook her head and looked straight at Iori.
"But if Rider, Lancer, and Berserker launch a surprise attack together… maybe we can create a perfect opportunity!"
"I have no objections."
Iori actually hoped for a more stable battle plan instead of deciding to charge forward so rashly… but looking at the condition of Yamata no Orochi, it seemed they did not have much time left.
The enormous creature lying across the night sky became more and more solid as time passed.
At some unknown moment, dark clouds of various colors gathered in the sky and covered the bright moon. The area covered by the poisonous mist was also gradually expanding.
At this rate, before dawn arrives, Yamata no Orochi will probably be able to move freely, and casually treat Romania like its backyard.
'This speed is too abnormal!'
Even if Yamata no Orochi itself has something special and can draw magical power from the dragon veins, the largest dragon vein hub nearby is clearly under the Thousand-World Tree castle, right at the position of the Greater Grail.
Yamata no Orochi is only drawing power from a branch vein, yet it can create such a huge disturbance…
There may be something hidden behind this. If that problem is solved, it will probably greatly weaken Yamata no Orochi. But reality would not give Iori that much time. A decision must be made quickly.
"Then it's decided. The red and black Archers will provide covering fire. The main attackers will be Black Rider, Red Lancer and… hmm?"
Jeanne suddenly turned around, and the Servants all raised their heads as well. At the same moment, everyone felt danger approaching.
"Ah!"
The roar was not harsh. Instead, it was deep and long, spreading across the land from afar and echoing layer by layer. It rang in the ears of every hero, making them frown.
Soon, among the eight sluggish heads of the huge creature, one slowly lifted up. In its translucent eyes, a trace of scarlet gradually appeared, then quickly filled the entire pupil, then the whole eye.
Thick blood like berry juice slowly flowed out from it.
The moment the eye was completely "lit," the snake head opened its mouth. Ripples spread through the air, and the density of the poisonous mist around it immediately increased by more than one level. It even began to have a strong physical effect.
Seen with the naked eye, it had almost reached the point where you could not see your hand in front of your face.
The poisonous mist was about twenty meters high. The entire Yamata no Orochi seemed to be coiled inside a nest made of colorful clouds, and it even carried a strange kind of beauty.
Soon, it noticed the "insects" not far away. Its body moved slightly, and a powerful force instantly swept across the land.
Inside the thick fog it was difficult to see clearly, but the sound of trees being crushed could be heard. They were ruthlessly uprooted one after another.
The surface of the earth was crushed, countless cracks were created along with loud explosions, and they spread toward Iori and the others faster and faster.
Something was coming...
Although it seemed like a long process, it actually happened in only a brief instant. The battle-hardened heroes were not frightened at all and made their judgments in the blink of an eye.
"Perfect timing!"
Mordred moved.
She was not the first Servant to sense the chance, but her body moved faster than anyone else. Even her own brain was left behind.
"Get the hell back, you damn snake!"
Magic power surged and turned into crimson lightning. It was even more effective than a flamethrower.
In an instant it dispersed the dense fog nearly a hundred meters ahead, just in time to collide with the pushing shadow.
In the violent flashes of lightning, the red thunder was forcibly scattered. The huge shadow, the tail of Yamata no Orochi, continued to ravage the land as if it had not been affected at all.
From the sky, the ground swept by the tail looked as if something was deliberately being erased. Trees and rocks were all flattened together. No force could stop it.
Was it truly unstoppable?
The answer was no.
A terrifying Servant who had been waiting for a long time, with resentment and anger piled up in his chest, stepped forward. He raised the silver spear in his hand and aimed it at the snake tail.
"Kazikli Bey!"
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!!!
Just as Iori had seen before, twenty thousand stakes with the strength of low-grade Noble Phantasms tore through the earth and surged out like a swarm of insects from the biblical Ten Plagues.
The scale was far greater than when he fought with him before. Not only the number, but also the speed and destructive power were completely different.
Extreme violence turned into countless sharp spikes that stabbed fiercely into the tail of Yamata no Orochi.
Like blades they cut.
Like files they scraped.
Like insects they burrowed.
Like flames they devoured and spread.
Countless attacks covered it completely in a saturated assault. It was like a giant hand made of pain and damage lifting the tail by force, causing a waterfall of pus-like blood to pour down.
"Ah!!!"
A terrifying and painful scream burst from the snake heads. As the massive body twisted, more snake tails began to stir.
"Naive!"
Vlad III waved his hand. His five fingers spread as if he were gripping something tightly. Immediately the distant ground cracked open again, and waves of Noble Phantasm stakes swallowed the approaching tails one after another.
Although they did not cause the same heavy damage as the first tail, they could still injure and restrain them.
"You poisonous beast flowing with venom, don't think you can act wildly on the land of Romania. Kazikli Bey will show you what cruelty truly means!"
Vlad III's Noble Phantasm [Kazikli Bey] has a range of one kilometer in radius!
Even without entering the poisonous mist, he can still restrain Yamata no Orochi.
"Well done. We can't fall behind either!"
Achilles excitedly summoned his chariot. This Noble Phantasm had been damaged during the conflict with Siegfried, so it probably could not be used for a frontal collision anymore. But at least it still retained the ability to fly freely in the sky.
The fastest hero had no poison resistance or related legend, so he could not enter the poisonous mist casually.
But the enormous size of Yamata no Orochi meant it had to face attacks from multiple spatial levels, such as from the sky.
"Achilles!"
"Achilles!"
Seeing this, Atalanta and Chiron's eyes both lit up. They were both orthodox heroes, and Chiron even had a legend of being poisoned. They also could not touch the poisonous mist.
But if they rode on Achilles' chariot, they could support their companions from the air.
Of course, two Archers should ideally shoot from multiple angles, so only one person needed to board the chariot.
"Here I come!"
Achilles turned the chariot and rushed toward the ground. Seeing the hopeful expressions of the two acquaintances, in the split second when the chariot approached, he made his choice without hesitation.
One hand held the reins while the other reached out, pulling Atalanta up and throwing the huntress onto the chariot.
Then, under Chiron's silent gaze, he shot into the sky like a meteor.
The moment he entered the poisonous mist, the skin over his entire body tightened. Every hair stood up. It felt as if flames were burning across his body.
At first there was numbness mixed with slight stinging, then it turned into large areas of burning pain like being dissolved by strong acid.
"This is really rough."
Iori frowned slightly.
The Berserker class does not come with [Magic Resistance]. But a Shinigami instinctively spreads spiritual pressure across the surface of the body for defense.
When this ability is converted into the form of a spiritual foundation, it grants him roughly "C-rank" [Magic Resistance].
That is more than enough to deal with ordinary magecraft, but clearly it is not enough to resist the poisonous mist of Yamata no Orochi.
However, something interesting happened.
After enduring it for a while, the parts eroded by the poisonous mist passed the numb stage and regained sensation again.
As time passed, the symptoms on Iori's body became lighter and lighter, as if he had developed resistance to the "snake poison."
But the others did not have this change. The level of erosion kept increasing, without any sign of slowing down.
Among the other three main attackers, Mordred had the hardest time.
Her helmet is a defensive Noble Phantasm and can slightly block the poison. She also has the dragon attribute, so she can barely move inside the fog. But intense movement will accelerate the speed at which she is eroded.
"Damn it!"
Red Saber felt extremely irritated. She always likes to charge straight ahead. This troublesome environment restricted her everywhere and greatly affected her performance.
Just as she was about to release magical power to disperse the fog ahead with crimson lightning, a cold voice suddenly sounded in her ear, more like a command.
"Move aside!"
Mordred subconsciously shivered.
Her rebellious personality made her want to argue back, but her body instinctively moved to the side.
Almost at the same time, a deep red-black wind pressure plowed fiercely across the earth.
It was like the battlefield had been trampled by the chariot of a god. The poisoned ground was scraped away in a whole layer under the wind pressure.
The destructive magical power was even sharper than solid blades. The aftermath spread outward and blew away all the surrounding mist, carving out a small fan-shaped safe zone in this forbidden land of life.
But after the wind pressure stopped, the poisonous mist soon spread back again. The area was filled again at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Along with the sound of wind and thunder, a warhorse galloped past Mordred. The black-armored King of Knights cast a cold glance downward.
Whoosh!
Without saying a word, she charged straight toward the source of all evil deep in the poisonous mist.
Nothing could stop this domineering king.
"Ugh!"
Mordred gripped the demonic sword in her hand. If she had not been tied down, it felt like her beautiful golden hair would have stood up like a hedgehog.
"Bastard! I'll catch up to you sooner or later. Just wait!"
On the other side, the completely focused Karna advanced the fastest.
Wrapped in blazing flames, he did not run at all. Instead, like a rocket with propulsion, he flew directly across the poisonous mist.
After cutting a crack through the dark purple miasma, he rushed into the sky and stabbed the golden spear toward a snake head.
The snake head with crimson eyes seemed unable to dodge in time and was pierced right in the forehead.
Whoosh!
Blood splattered. The spear smoothly broke through the scales' defense. The body of Yamata no Orochi was so fragile that even Karna felt surprised.
But the next moment, the flowing blood turned into thick black poison. It squirmed like evil ghosts from hell, greedily rushing toward the light, and in the blink of an eye it completely swallowed Karna.
Then the damaged snake head opened its mouth and held the black water sphere inside.
Crack!
The temperature in the air suddenly dropped. A layer of frost and snow spread across the ground.
The snake head itself turned into a hundred-meter-tall giant ice sculpture, completely blocking the brilliance of the sun.
After capturing the Son of the Sun, ripples appeared in the nearby space. The real snake head slowly revealed its body.
The previous one had only been an illusion.
"Cunning creature!"
The King of the Wild Hunt rode her warhorse flying through the sky. Instead of releasing magic power from a distance, she kept accelerating like a knight in a medieval duel and charged straight at the target.
The spear in her hand is called "Rhongomyniad," a weapon of the same level as the holy sword "Excalibur."
Even ignoring the mystery attached to it, its material itself comes from the crystallization of human fantasy. In strength and sharpness it surpasses all ordinary things.