Diarmuid rushed toward Circe at full speed.
Naturally, Circe noticed him.
But Circe possessed the inherent skill High-Speed Divine Words, allowing her to chant extremely quickly.
With a raise of her right hand, dozens of magic bullets shot toward Diarmuid.
Bang bang bang!
The overwhelming barrage made it impossible for Diarmuid to approach.
"Stop struggling! You're too late!" Circe laughed.
The moment her words fell, a loud explosion came from beneath the river.
Boom—
A massive shadow burst through the water's surface.
It was a gigantic demonic beast.
ROAR——
The creature howled at the sky, sending towering waves across the river.
Diarmuid was swept toward the shore by the waves. He quickly leapt out, staring in shock at the monster.
—It was a grotesque beast.
Its upper body was that of a lion, its lower body a goat, and its tail a venomous serpent.
It was a Chimera.
Not only Diarmuid was shocked—even Gilgamesh watching from the sky was surprised.
"That is a Phantasmal Species from the Age of Gods… Caster dares to summon such a thing!" Gilgamesh exclaimed.
"Could Caster be a magus from the Age of Gods?"
Tokiomi Tohsaka looked grimly at the enormous monster dozens of meters tall below.
The Tohsaka family were protectors of Fuyuki. If the Chimera rampaged, it would cause massive destruction to the city.
Tokiomi could not ignore this.
"My King! I humbly request you deliver divine punishment upon this beast!" Tokiomi bowed to Gilgamesh.
Gilgamesh was clearly unwilling.
"That creature is disgusting… I refuse to let its filthy blood stain my Noble Phantasms."
Tokiomi was troubled. He wanted to use a Command Seal to force Gilgamesh—but that would likely shatter their relationship.
So he hesitated.
Meanwhile, Artoria and Irisviel had arrived.
They shouted at Circe, who was disguised as Medea:
"Caster, what are you trying to accomplish by doing this?!"
Circe scratched her head.
To be honest, she didn't know either.
That damned piglet hadn't told her anything.
But once the Chimera had been summoned, her task was essentially complete.
All that remained was to fake her death and exit the stage.
So Circe raised her arms and summoned over a hundred smaller demonic beasts.
"Hahaha! Saber, Lancer—come play with me properly!"
Immediately after, she dematerialized and retreated.
Iskandar charged in with his chariot, mowing down multiple small beasts at once.
But Artoria's arm was injured, and she couldn't use her Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm.
With only Iskandar's chariot and Diarmuid's anti-personnel Noble Phantasm, they couldn't deal with so many beasts and the Chimera.
As the monster army and Chimera were about to charge ashore toward Fuyuki—
Gilgamesh, after Tokiomi's constant urging, finally agreed to act.
He opened the Gate of Babylon and fired three swords straight at the Chimera.
Clang clang clang!
The blades pierced into the Chimera—but its hide was too thick; the effect was minimal.
"How filthy. I won't retrieve those three swords. Disgusting! And I certainly won't dirty my other treasures!" Gilgamesh said with visible disdain.
Tokiomi tried to persuade him further—
But suddenly, a fighter jet approached them.
Originally dispatched by the Self-Defense Forces (an American aircraft) to handle the monster incident, it had been hijacked by Berserker Lancelot, who now attacked them.
Thus, Lancelot and Gilgamesh began an aerial battle.
And just like that, the only one capable of seriously harming the Chimera was occupied.
With no choice, Iskandar activated Ionioi Hetairoi (Army of the King), trapping the Chimera inside his Reality Marble.
They first worked together to eliminate the smaller beasts.
At that moment, Irisviel's phone rang. Since she didn't know how to answer it, she had Waver pick up.
After the call, Waver approached Diarmuid and Artoria.
"Um… the person on the phone asked me to tell you… Saber has an Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm… but it requires both hands to use…" Waver said timidly.
Diarmuid suddenly understood. Seeing Artoria's injured arm, he immediately snapped his yellow spear without hesitation.
With the breaking of the spear, the curse on Artoria's arm was lifted, and it quickly healed.
"Lancer, you didn't have to do that!" Artoria protested.
"It's nothing. We face a common enemy now. I'm glad to do it," Diarmuid smiled.
Artoria was pleased. She admired those who upheld chivalry.
She then fully unleashed her Noble Phantasm at the Chimera.
Waver contacted Iskandar, who dismissed his Reality Marble, releasing the Chimera.
At that very moment, Artoria had finished charging.
Golden magical energy soared into the sky as she swung her sword with full force.
"EX—CALIBUR!!!"
Boom—
A massive golden beam shot upward at a 20-degree angle.
The Chimera was swallowed by the light and instantly vaporized.
Immediately after, Circe briefly reappeared, pretended to die and disperse before everyone, then dematerialized and fled.
…
Meanwhile—
Sola was gripping the rooftop fence, excited.
"Amazing! Lancer won!" she exclaimed.
The next second, she felt sharp pain.
She realized her slender, carefully maintained hand was no longer responding.
Blood began spraying from her arm.
At some point, her arm had been severed.
Having grown up pampered and lacking vigilance, she hadn't even noticed Maiya Hisau approaching with a blade.
"W-why… Lancer…" she turned and saw Maiya's cold face.
"You—"
Smack!
Sola fainted instantly.
Seeing this, Maiya picked up her communicator.
"I've captured Lancer's Master. I cut off her arm. I'll destroy the Command Seals now."
She fired several shots at the severed hand tangled in the fence.
The Command Seals were destroyed beyond recognition.
She then prepared to carry Sola away.
But as she turned—
Whack!
Haruka Kasugano struck her head with an iron rod.
"Ah—!" Maiya cried in pain.
Due to Haruka Kasugano's Presence Concealment, she hadn't sensed him approaching.
However, her physical toughness meant the blow wasn't enough to incapacitate her. She quickly aimed her gun at him.
Haruka Kasugano had originally planned to capture both women at once—but Maiya's skull was tougher than expected.
He had to abandon that idea.
Without panic, he used Enhancement on the iron rod and struck her again, sending her flying.
Maiya crashed through the fence and fell—but managed to grab onto an air-conditioning unit, avoiding death.
She continued firing at Haruka Kasugano.
"Damn, this woman is tough. Whatever—Sola's already mine!" Haruka Kasugano laughed.
And since Sola's Command Seals had been severed, Diarmuid had no idea she was in danger.
Haruka Kasugano first used Healing on Sola, then carried her away.