The fairy tale author duo, Nursery Rhyme, and Francesca decided to set up a camp at the entrance of the Clock Tower, joining the remaining members of the Mage's Association to buy as much time as possible.
"There might still be remnants of the Association's Mafia lingering... Since the Spirit Tomb is in the deepest part, if they attack, we'll simply retreat gradually toward it. If push comes to shove, I don't care if you wreck the Clock Tower itself. Feel free to run wild."
"I appreciate the sentiment. I've always wanted to try smashing an institution like the Clock Tower at least once."
Zolgen let out a hollow chuckle.
"Regardless... I never expected you to capture that witch."
"You knew her too?"
"I've heard whispers of the heretic Francesca. Unlike me, who lived five hundred years only for my soul to begin rotting, she was one who enjoyed a span nearly equivalent to immortality through some peculiar method..."
Zolgen's tone was thick with a sense of shame as he spoke.
"...Well, frankly, you managed to make a clean break in your own way. Don't dwell on the past anymore; let's focus on the present."
"Let us do so. However, I have one doubt."
"A doubt?"
"It is true that Nikola Tesla, the King of Storms, and Jack the Ripper are powerful, but is it wise to take all the Servants to the front?"
"...Those supported by the Holy Grail are variables incarnate. Honestly, even with our current strength, it's a bit touch-and-go."
"No, I mean whether it is right to take the other Master... Ritsuka Fujimaru. You are a Magician who has weathered countless storms, so I have no concerns for you, but the enemy camp has an Assassin—and Jack the Ripper is an Assassin on par with a Hassan-i-Sabbah."
"Don't worry about that."
The assassination attempt after the transfer in the First Singularity, the separate transfers and the awakening of a Beast of Humanity in the Second Singularity.
Since those events, I could be certain of one thing: that King of Demon Gods is wary of Ritsuka as well. Do you think I'd be crazy enough to send Ritsuka Fujimaru out without any preparation?
"For now, just assume I've prepared one self-protection measure and one spare life for her."
"...Well, I suppose you have your own plans. Are not creativity and the unpredictability it brings the exclusive privileges of the youth?"
"Haha, I appreciate you looking at it that way. To be honest, I'm reaching an age where it pricks my conscience to be called a 'youth.' Though, in my heart, I'll always want to be in my teens."
In fact, my body had barely grown since my late teens... Was this also an effect of the Rinnegan?
"Master of Chaldea, our preparations are complete. Having produced this many homunculi... it should take them at least three hours to breach the first and second defensive lines. Even if, contrary to our expectations, the Mafia's Servants enter through the Clock Tower entrance to flank us, we can stall them for at least thirty minutes."
"Good work, Paracelsus... Just in case, I should mention that once we enter the Spirit Tomb, communication with Chaldea will be impossible. That means we'll have to rely solely on Holmes and you. Can you handle it?"
"Naturally, I shall do my utmost."
In the end, unlike the previous investigations or forced reconnaissances, this was a total war in every sense of the word.
While Zolgen possessed abilities comparable to a Servant, he was ultimately a Magus. He took charge of the front-line defense, commanding the other magi and leading the thaumaturgical combat.
"Humans are different from Servants. Fundamentally, as long as we have magical energy, we can recover from any injury unless our Spiritual Core is struck or we are hit by a special incantation or curse. But a Magus is different... Bear that in mind, Bug Mage."
"Advice from a member of the Round Table who spent their life in battle... I shall etch it into my bones and remember it with my soul."
"...There's no need for that. Even if you count all the fighting since I was born, I'm basically only four or five years old."
"...Excuse me?"
"Anyway! I'm leaving the front line to you, Seaweed-head!"
Leaving the front line to them... the rest of us formed the infiltration team.
Our main force to deal with the other Servants guarding the Spirit Tomb, the Holy Grail located within, and Charles Babbage...
The Round Table duo with maximum Fame Boost + Mash, and Holmes for the analysis and guidance through the tomb... along with Paracelsus to dismantle magical traps and clear the path in critical situations.
And for Masters, there was Ritsuka and myself.
We pushed through to the entrance of the Spirit Tomb with overwhelming momentum, entering through an ancient cryptographic system Kayneth had just restored...
"I have been waiting."
"...Nikola Tesla. In that case, the Wild Hunt—the King of Storms—must be pounding on the outside."
"Indeed. She is a variable in the truest sense, one even we cannot control. Furthermore, an uncontrollable storm of magical energy is nothing short of a calamity."
"I don't think your lightning is any more 'controlled' than that. Is your self-objectification perhaps a bit lacking?"
"Better than yours. To show such foolhardiness before this body, who has obtained the Holy Grail, omnipotence, and omniscience! Hahaha!!!"
...This was dangerous.
Setting aside that nonsense about being omniscient and omnipotent, he didn't seem inclined to fall for provocations at all. Moreover...
'Magical energy has accumulated to the point where I can't even discern its depth. If he transforms that into standard lightning and fires it, I won't be able to stop it like last time... Wait, provocation?'
At that moment, a brilliant idea struck me, and I murmured in a low voice.
"...He's just a fool playing at being Edison..."
"That's only because your damn eyes are rotten!!!! My genius! The current! Why does Edison's name come out of your mouth?!!!!!!!"
...Ah, as expected. Provocation works.
Highly effective.
"...Hey, Master, are we sure this is okay?"
"The discharge countermeasures are perfect. Everyone remembers the plan, right!"
"We never even made a plan!"
"Of course not!!! How can a 'plan' even exist in a fight between Servants!"
Strategy does not break tactics.
Strategic victory is more valuable than tactical victory.
Servants are beings that shatter such common-sense axioms with their bare bodies.
These supermen casually overturn logic that even magi and Dead Apostles must somewhat adhere to.
...Furthermore, the man before us was Nikola Tesla, a Heroic Spirit with the fate of a 'Pioneer of the Stars,' serving as a turning point for humanity.
"There's no victory if we don't beat him anyway. We will overcome!"
"...You have looked down on me. Very well, witness this and fall to your knees! This is the electricity that drags the lightning of Zeus down to the domain of humanity!!!"
Rotation and revolution.
System Keraunos: a pure power-type Noble Phantasm that produces and pours out electricity using those forces.
"Well said. If what you use is lightning, then it's only natural for humanity to devise a way to oppose it!"
"A lightning rod... Fine, let's see how long you can hold out with such a trivial stick!"
While it didn't fall under the Six Paths of Reincarnation, creating 'Magical Energy Receivers' was a basic feature of the Rinnegan.
Blocking electrical attacks with the Preta Path's Seal Absorption or Shinra Tensei was extremely tricky, but if it was a Magical Energy Receiver that absorbed not just prana but all sorts of 'energy' like human vitality, then even Tesla's lightning would be manageable...
'...Or so I thought, but this is tougher than I expected... It really is the Holy Grail's support, damn it!'
In terms of combat prowess, we certainly should have been overwhelming them.
Excluding Sherlock Holmes, everyone was a combatant—even two Knights of the Round Table who had high Magic Resistance and a massive Fame Boost.
Nevertheless, Tesla persistently held his ground against us.
If pulled by gravitational force, he used magnetic fields to create a repulsive force and escape; if the knights approached, he kept them at bay by pouring out bolts so bright they threatened to blind them. His wounds grew, and blood that looked like liquid prana flowed from them, yet his cold smile remained unchanged.
As Mash charged with her shield raised, letting out a war cry, Tesla instantly generated electricity to fly high into the air. He formed a bolt that looked like a massive pillar of light and hurled it like a javelin, scattering it in all directions.
"Catch him as he moves to the upper right! Then bring him crashing to the floor simultaneously!"
"...The Master is a nuisance after all. Die!"
"I won't let you lay a hand on Senpai!"
In the instant Tesla shouted and poured down his lightning, the image of a small girl seemed to flicker in our eyes.
But in that split second, Tesla's lightning storm held the Servants and me back. And that small girl... the serial killer Jack the Ripper, plunged her dagger into Ritsuka's heart in a heartbeat, tearing through her.
"Master!!!"
"Well done, Jack."
"Yeah. Now, the next one..."
However, in that moment, the arm of Jack the Ripper that had pierced Ritsuka's heart was severed.
"Eh? What is thi—"
Crunch!
Her head was also severed.
Crunch!
Snap, crackle, crunch... Crunch!
Her entire torso, where the Spiritual Core would be located, was 'crushed,' then lifted into the air and vanished as if swallowed by something resembling a carnivorous plant.
"...Ho...w... The Master of Chaldea... was definitely human! It should be impossible to escape a Servant's notice!"
Oh, it's quite possible. You might not know it, but there's a crazy puppetmaster in the modern era who has far surpassed the past.
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