Immediately following him, a viscous shadow emitting an aura of blood and corruption coalesced into form—it was Gilles de Rais (Caster)! His already twisted face had become even more hideous under the erosion of the black mud, and the Human Skin Magic Book in his hand flipped its pages automatically, emitting gibberish that made one's sanity plummet.
He glared fixedly at Kanjuro, then looked with jealous hatred at Jeanne d'Arc, who stood guard by Kanjuro's side, letting out a shrill howl: "Liar! Thief! Kanjuro! You promised me! You promised you would let Jeanne return to the embrace of the light! But what did you do?! You dragged her even deeper into your filthy darkness! You defiled the Saint! You are a treacherous oath-breaker!"
He waved his wand, summoning even more and more distorted phantoms of deep-sea monsters, as the air became thick with the smell of fish and blood.
Facing Gilles de Rais's accusations, Kanjuro merely sneered, his tone full of disdain and mockery: "Treacherous? Gilles, when did you ever have the... delusion that I would keep a promise?
Besides, Jeanne followed me of her own free will, immersing herself in this eternal darkness. Since when is it your place, a simp living in his own fantasies, to criticize her choice?"
His words were like poisonous thorns, stabbing ruthlessly into Gilles's deepest pain.
"Mongrel—!!!"
A third figure appeared amidst radiant yet gloomy golden ripples—it was the king of heroes Gilgamesh (Archer)! He still maintained that utterly arrogant posture, but within his crimson snake-like pupils burned a killing intent even more intense than before, mixed with a sense of profound humiliation.
The ripples of the Gate of Babylon expanded behind him; however, most of the Noble Phantasms emerging from it were entwined with ominous black mud, having lost their former brilliance. "To dare forcibly drag this King's noble soul from the Throne of Heroes and defile it once more! Kanjuro! You thief who steals treasures and desecrates kings deserves ten thousand deaths! This King shall tear you into a thousand pieces and seal your soul forever in the lowest depths of the underworld!"
Facing Gilgamesh's roar, a more intense mockery appeared on Kanjuro's face. He didn't even bother to look him in the eye, simply saying flatly: "A defeated dog dares to bark so loudly? Your Gate of Babylon is nothing more than a child's toy before my eternal night treasury, and your enkidu failed to even touch a corner of my clothes. What? Just because you were fished out of the trash heap by the Holy Grail's black mud, have you forgotten how I crushed you like a stray dog? Crawl back to your Throne of Heroes and lick your wounds; you have no right to speak here!"
Gilgamesh trembled with rage, his golden spirit particles almost exploding out of control. The torrent of Noble Phantasms behind him poured out like a torrential rain, aiming straight for Kanjuro!
At the same time, figures emerged from several other dark pillars of light: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne (Lancer), holding twin spears entwined with black mud, his eyes filled with the humiliation of being betrayed by his lord (stemming from his legend) and being forcibly summoned now. "Kanjuro, I want you to pay in blood!!"
; Numerous clones of Hassan-i-Sabbah (Assassin) hid in the shadows, their presence more eerie and lethal than ever before;...The Saint of Winter had actually used the connection between the Holy Grail and Root to forcibly re-summon the many Heroic Spirits who had been defeated by Kanjuro and whose souls had been absorbed or recorded by the Grail, bringing them back in a blackened, controlled form!
They retained a portion of their former strength and Noble Phantasms, and were further empowered by the curse of the Holy Grail's black mud and a deep-seated hatred for Kanjuro, forming a siege against him!
However, among these many forcibly awakened spirits, a single golden figure was missing—Artoria Pendragon (Saber).
At this moment, deep within the Throne of Heroes that transcends time and space.
Artoria sat quietly upon a throne where nothingness and brilliance intertwined.
She could clearly feel the powerful summons from the Holy Grail. Contained within that summons was the will of Root, carrying an irresistible power that demanded she respond, demanded she return to the battlefield and join the crusade against Kanjuro.
Her fingers lightly brushed over the seemingly invisible sword of promised victory on her lap, a flicker of complex emotion passing through her emerald eyes.
That summons evoked too many grievances and entanglements between her and Kanjuro—those altered memories, those real pains, that shredded dream, and his inexplicable following and gaze in the final moments... but in the end, she simply shook her head slowly and firmly.
She refused.
She chose to remain in this silent Hall of Heroes, alone, guarding that glimmer of light within her heart that had survived countless storms yet remained unextinguished, as well as her own final peace and decision.
She was no longer willing to be anyone's pawn, not even the will of Root.
The karma between her and Kanjuro had already been settled in her own way.
On the battlefield, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse!
Iskandar drove his gordius wheel, launching a charge with a momentum that could crush everything, his iron hooves trampling through the void! Although his Army of the King (Ionioi Hetairoi) was not fully deployed, countless phantoms of blackened cavalry charged along with him, creating a grand spectacle!
Gilgamesh's rain of Noble Phantasms blanketed the sky, sealing off all of Kanjuro's possible evasion routes!
The monsters summoned by Gilles de Rais swarmed from the ground and the shadows, coordinating with the Hassans' Assassination Arts to form an inescapable net!
Diarmuid's twin spears were like venomous dragons, searching for gaps in Kanjuro's defense!
Facing this siege from his former opponents, Kanjuro showed no fear; instead, a more blazing battle intent, like the flames of the abyss, burned in his eyes!
"Hahaha! Perfect timing! A collective of ghosts of losers, you think you're worthy of blocking my path?!" Kanjuro laughed wildly, and the eternal night treasury vibrated with an unprecedented frequency!
"Jeanne! Guard the rear!"
"Yes!" Without hesitation, Jeanne thrust her holy flag deep into the ground. A barrier of light, woven from pure white and darkness, expanded outward, doing its utmost to resist the bombardment of Noble Phantasms and the impact of monsters from the flanks and rear. The barrier flickered under the erosion of the black mud, but her gaze remained firm, and she did not retreat a single step.
Kanjuro directly faced the primary pressure—Iskandar's charge and Gilgamesh's torrent of Noble Phantasms!
"Gospel of Matthew, Reconstruction: Myriad Armaments Torrent!"
Kanjuro held his hands out as if grasping something. The eternal night treasury no longer fired Noble Phantasms one by one; instead, like a bursting dam, it poured out an unceasing, surging torrent of destruction composed of countless dark weapons! Sabers, swords, spears, halberds, axes, hammers... all sorts of blackened divine and demonic armaments converged into a black steel storm, violently clashing with Iskandar's cavalry charge and Gilgamesh's rain of Noble Phantasms!
RUMBLE—!!!
The black torrent, the golden rain, and the iron cavalry charge collided fiercely!
Countless Noble Phantasms shattered and were annihilated in the collision, producing a continuous string of explosions! Iskandar's charging momentum was forcibly halted, and the gordius wheel emitted a piercing screeching sound under the impact of the blackened armament torrent!
"gospel of luke, Local: Time Fault!" Kanjuro simultaneously manipulated his Space-Time Authority, creating several brief time-stasis zones in the densest areas of Gilgamesh's Noble Phantasm torrent. This caused a large number of Noble Phantasms to instantly lose their momentum, like insects frozen in amber, before being crushed by the subsequent dark torrent!
"Gilles is like child's play in my eyes!"
Dividing his attention three ways, Kanjuro's gaze swept toward the Caster who was frantically summoning monsters. "Gospel of Mark, Creation: Abyss Silence!"
He pointed a finger in Gilles's direction, and the space there abruptly collapsed, forming a miniature gravitational singularity that erupted with terrifying suction! The monsters Gilles had summoned were forcibly pulled and twisted by the singularity before they could even fully form, finally being sucked inside without even being able to let out a scream! Gilles himself stumbled and was nearly pulled in, retreating in a panic with an even more ghastly expression.
"Gilgamesh! Your arrogance is worthless! You mongrel!" Kanjuro parried a tricky thrust from Diarmuid and threw a backhand punch. Dark magical energy condensed into a massive fist print, directly blasting several incoming original prototypes back. They crashed into Gilgamesh's defensive Noble Phantasms with a thunderous bang. "A pathetic creature who can't even fully control his own power and can only rely on his ancestors' heritage—you think you're worthy of posturing before me?"
"Kanjuro—!!" Enraged, Gilgamesh began to spin his enkidu once more. This time, he held nothing back, as the three cylindrical blades emitted a hum that seemed ready to tear the world apart! However, Kanjuro had already anticipated this.
"Gospel of John, Suggestion: Mana Rampage!"
An extremely subtle mental shock was delivered, not to attack Gilgamesh directly, but to interfere with his fine control over the massive magical energy of enkidu! The rotation of enkidu suddenly faltered, and the previously stable magical output instantly became chaotic. The spatial turbulence around the blade burst out uncontrollably in all directions, instead enveloping Gilgamesh himself and forcing him to divert his energy to stabilize the Noble Phantasm, causing his offensive to slow down!
·· 0 Request Flowers 0 --- "Iskandar! You sanctimonious hypocrite!!" Kanjuro's figure was like lightning, appearing instantly at the side of Iskandar's chariot. A dark spear condensed in his hand, and he thrust it ruthlessly toward the spokes of the gordius wheel! "With just a little guidance from me, you turned into a beast that slaughters civilians. You call yourself a king?!"
Iskandar roared and swung his sword to parry, the dark spear and the Sword of Cypriotes clashing with a burst of blinding sparks. He felt the mockery in Kanjuro's words striking directly at his heart, and his internal rage grew even greater, but his offensive became slightly disorganized due to his emotional fluctuations.
Relying on his own strength and Jeanne's selfless protection, Kanjuro actually managed to hold his ground under the siege of the numerous blackened Heroic Spirits! He not only met them with powerful force but also used precise and malicious words to constantly provoke the most fragile scars and obsessions within each spirit's heart, disrupting their coordination and state of mind!
His battle was not just a collision of power, but an ultimate crushing of psychology and will!
The Saint of Winter hovered high in the sky, coldly watching the melee below. She saw that Kanjuro's arrogance had not diminished even under siege; he even showed a trend of utilizing the spirits' individual obsessions to divide and conquer them. She understood that relying solely on these flawed remnants of Heroic Spirit souls would likely make it difficult to truly "purify" Kanjuro... 0 0
She slowly raised her hands, and more of the Holy Grail's black mud converged toward her. The massive phantom of the Holy Grail behind her became more solid, as if it were truly about to descend upon the world.
"It seems I need to employ a deeper level of power..."
The entire sky over Fuyuki City grew even darker due to the further condensation of the Holy Grail's power, as if the apocalypse were imminent. The Saint of Winter, Justeaze, hovered within the Grail's pillar of light. Witnessing that Kanjuro had not collapsed under the siege of the blackened Heroic Spirits but was instead using ruthless methods and heart-striking words to disrupt their wills, a minute hesitation—like a program calculation error—finally appeared on her face, which was usually as calm as a ten-thousand-year-old icy lake.
"Individual unit 'Kanjuro', threat level re-evaluated... exceeding estimated threshold. Executing clearance protocol: Authorizing increased energy output for Heroic Spirit remains, forcing integrated attack mode."
Her cold voice was like a shot of adrenaline injected into all the Corrupted Servants. The black mud churning inside the Holy Grail violently surged as if boiling, and denser, purer dark magic transformed into several torrents, pouring into the saint graphs of Iskandar, Gilgamesh, Gilles de Rais, Diarmuid, and Hassan-i-Sabbah!
Buzz—!
The aura of the reinforced Servants suddenly skyrocketed!
Iskandar's gordius wheel swelled up, wrapped in thunder composed of black mud. He roared, and behind him, the phantom of an entire Dark Legion seemed to roar as well. His desire for conquest was twisted and magnified, turning into pure will for destruction. "Crush him! My Legion!"
The ripples of the Gate of Babylon behind Gilgamesh expanded several times. Countless Noble Phantasms wrapped in black mud blotted out the sky like a swarm of locusts, and the rotation of enkidu stabilized, radiating an even more chilling sense of tearing. "Mongrel! Bear the wrath of this King that topples the heavens!"
The monstrous creature summoned by Gilles de Rais became larger and more twisted, emitting a nauseating abyssal aura. He himself hid behind the monster, frantically chanting blasphemous incantations, directly targeting Jeanne d'Arc, trying to dismantle her defenses.
Diarmuid's twin spears transformed into two deadly black bolts of lightning, their speed and power surging. The spear tips cut through the air, leaving corrosive black trails.
The Hassans' figures moved through the shadows, faster and more concealed, thrusting deadly daggers from incredible angles.
Facing this reinforced attack surging like a tidal wave, the Wall of Light Jeanne d'Arc maintained trembled violently, and the black flames flickered erratically. She let out a muffled groan, a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of her mouth, clearly under immense pressure.
At this moment, Kanjuro's eyes completely turned cold. It was a frigidity that had lost all amusement and mockery, leaving only pure indifference and the meaning of termination.
"A boring death struggle," he murmured to himself, as if pronouncing judgment. "It's time to end this farce." Five.
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