After a brief and not very cheerful pause, the situation on the battlefield returned to its previous course. Hassan of the Cursed Arm, Arash, and Hassan of the Hundred Faces took on the patrol knights, while Ritsuka's group engaged Mordred in combat.
"Wade, Mash, Teddy! Mot-chan is very aggressive, be careful!"
Ritsuka, gathering his courage, began to direct the battle.
"Master, I am not Teddy, but Bedivere," the knight politely corrected him.
"Teddy! Behind you!"
As soon as Ritsuka cried out, Bedivere immediately deciphered Mordred's maneuver, who was trying to flank him, and drawing his sword, blocked the attack. However, Mordred's power, amplified by the "Rampage" Gift, was superior, and the knight began to slowly retreat under her onslaught.
"Lord Bedivere!" Mash rushed to help and, raising her shield, pushed the opponent back. But Mordred, possessing almost monstrous strength, simply removed her sword and caught Mash's shield with one hand.
"Do you think I won't notice you hiding there? Why did you decide to attack me if you can't even use your own shield properly? Well, like father, like son!"
Mash didn't understand what she was talking about. The girl knew that as a Demi-Servant, she carried the shield of a Heroic Spirit, but the details of her past remained a mystery, so she had nothing to retort.
"And you are overconfident, Sir Mordred!" Taking advantage of the moment, Bedivere went on the offensive, forcing Mordred to retreat gracefully.
Even against three, she didn't feel outnumbered. On the contrary, she fought them effortlessly, as if playing with new toys.
"Although, wait a minute… is someone missing?"
"Oops. Wade!"
Mordred looked around, feeling that she had missed someone. Suddenly sensing a bloodlust behind her, she blocked Deadpool's attack without even turning around, who had brought down his swords on her with all his might.
"This 'fumbling around' isn't my style. My style is 'short and to the point'!"
"The correct way to say it is 'fumbling' and 'to the point'," Bedivere corrected him.
Rebellion against my beautiful Father!
[Clarent Blood Arthur]
Annoyed by the remark, Mordred, without further ado, unleashed her Noble Phantasm.
"Who fires a Phantasm without warning?!"
Rebellion against my beautiful Father!
[Clarent Blood Arthur]
This time, the projectile flew directly at Deadpool.
"Lord Bedivere! Pool-san!"
Rebellion against my beautiful Father!
[Clarent Blood Arthur]
Pseudo-Phantasm deployment!
[Lord Chaldea]
Finally, Mordred fired at Mash, but she managed to raise her shield and activate her defense.
"Ha! Pathetic. You still don't know who you are?! What a dummy!"
Mordred's scarlet beam collided with Mash's spectral fortress walls, causing a powerful explosion. Fortunately, Mash withstood it.
"Mash! Those two are fine. But Mot-chan's Phantasm…"
"Yes, Senpai. Lady Mordred uses it repeatedly without any limitations."
The Lion King's Gift. Thanks to the "Rampage" blessing, Mordred was free from any penalties after activating her Phantasm. Normally, this requires a colossal amount of mana, and such rapid firing would lead to the immediate disappearance of the Servant due to the depletion of her spiritual core. But she was perfectly fine.
"This is a gift from Father. 'Rampage as you wish,' the name speaks for itself. I'm part of a flying squad and can't stay in the Capital forever. If I don't give it my all, Father will be disappointed!"
For a moment, Mordred's face darkened with bitterness, but she immediately cast aside extraneous thoughts and began to concentrate energy in her sword again.
"In short, she can only blast Phantasms left and right, but her body isn't as armored as that potato gorilla."
Deadpool appeared as if from nowhere. Ducking, he slipped under the blow and literally plastered Mordred's armor with C4 charges.
"Explosion is art!"
He instantly broke the distance and pressed the detonator.
From the point-blank C4 explosion, Mordred let out a short scream. However, her armor, [Secret of Pedigree], was not something that could be blown apart by such a firecracker.
"Hahaha! Funny technique. Stick it on and blow it up from afar whenever you want. But is it strong enough for such a funny trick?"
Of course, the explosion left its mark: the armor was covered in soot and small cracks, but she didn't receive critical damage.
"A real explosion is this…"
Mordred once again filled her sword with mana.
"Watch how it's done!"
Rebellion against my beautiful Father!
[Clarent Blood Arthur]
Another stream of scarlet light. This time, Ritsuka was almost hit, but Mash quickly covered him with her shield. However, after a series of attacks, the girl's strength was waning, and she was breathing heavily, leaning on the edge of her shield.
"Mash, fall back! Wade, Teddy, I'm begging you!"
"My name is Bedivere!"
Since the only "tank" was temporarily out of commission, all that remained was to press the attack. The question was whether it was possible against such an opponent.
"What sadistic developer programmed her with Phantasm spam?! What? 'Take an Archer and Merlin from your friends – and everything will be easy'? Where am I supposed to get them here?!"
Even in such a dire situation, Deadpool continued to yell some nonsense into the void. Bedivere, watching this, thought with sympathy that this red mercenary had completely lost his mind.
"If you're talking nonsense, it means you have 'excess' strength! Maybe I should hit you again?!"
"The correct word is 'excess'!"
Rebellion against my beautiful Father!
[Clarent Blood Arthur]
Another shot. Without Mash, there was nothing to block it. And if he dodged, the projectile would hit Ritsuka.
"Mr. Pool! Is there any way to stop…"
"There is."
Deadpool nonchalantly rummaged in his pants and pulled out a mirror the size of himself. When Mordred's scarlet beam was very close, he angled it.
"You know what the main advantage of Sabers is? Their Phantasms are all so damn spectacular. And the disadvantage?"
The scarlet beam hit the mirror surface and, ricocheting, went high into the sky.
"The disadvantage is that they are all damn lasers. And light, baby, reflects! That's scien-ce!"
Deadpool, pulling out a white lab coat and safety goggles from who knows where, delivered this tirade while the picture around him turned black and white, and an archaic title appeared in the air: [S-C-I-E-N-C-E].
"You reflected my Phantasm? With a mirror? 'Can't be'!"
"The correct word is 'cannot be'. And you have problems with punctuation."
"Waa-a-a-a-a!"
Rebellion against my beautiful Father!
[Clarent Blood Arthur]
Another attempt, but the result was the same.
Enraged, Mordred gave up trying to shoot and simply charged into close combat with her sword at the ready.
"Yasuo is a diagnosis… I mean, light is science!"
Bedivere and Deadpool began to exchange blows with the maddened warrior, barely managing to parry and dodge her swift attacks. Despite the "Rampage" Gift, the endless Phantasm spam began to take its toll – her movements were slowly losing their former sharpness.
"I'll try to neutralize her Gift for a moment. Mr. Pool, attack at this moment!"
"Okay, Teddy!"
Deadpool jumped back, and Bedivere, after a short exchange of blows, grabbed her by the armor with his shining silver hand.
"Take this sword, hand of silver!"
Switch On – Agarthlam!
The silver radiance momentarily suppressed Mordred's blessing. Seeing the signal, Deadpool lunged forward with a joyful cry.
"A-za-cha-ka-ta-pa-ha!"
With this absurd cry, he brought his swords down, aiming at Mordred's side. But she wasn't going to give up without a fight.
"Don't you dare look down on me just because the Gift 'disappeared'!"
As soon as Deadpool closed the distance in a low lunge, Mordred caught her sword with an reverse grip and brought down a blow on his head. But at the moment the blade was supposed to smash the mercenary into the ground, he wasn't there.
"Youngsters, this is just an afterimage," a voice from the void said. "And it's also called 'compensation'."
Deadpool appeared right behind her, not missing the chance to correct his interlocutor. His twin blades immediately slashed the knight's side. It was the very effective blow that Bedivere had barely achieved with the help of his silver hand. And although vital organs were not hit, the wound turned out to be quite serious.
"It tickles!" Mordred snapped.
Clutching her bleeding side, she continued to stand as if nothing had happened, as if she had only been slightly bruised.
"I thought you'd be weaker than that gorilla, but are you guys, the Round Table, eating vibranium flakes for breakfast?! Why are you so thick-headed?!"
Deadpool was angered that even a successful hit didn't bring the desired effect, while Bedivere, due to the consequences of "compensation," was still unable to fight at full strength. However, the situation suddenly improved for the better.
"The flying squads are finished. We're joining the fight."
"And you held on pretty well. We also tried to come as soon as possible."
"Engaging the Knight of the Round Table in combat."
Hassan of the Cursed Arm, the Hundred Faces, and Arash, having dealt with Mordred's subordinates, arrived in time to help. Now the balance of power was clearly not on her side.
"It's time to retreat," Arash stepped forward, addressing Mordred. "If you are truly worthy of the title of knight."
Of course, she wasn't going to just listen to him, but…
"Don't make me laugh! If I return empty-handed, Father will be disappointed. I'm just a pawn that can be discarded without regret. So I'd rather serve Father before I 'die'!"
"Perish!" Bedivere, Deadpool, Hassan, and Arash corrected her in unison.
"Are you kidding me?!" Mordred exploded.
She was already pissed off that things were going badly, and now these idiots were one after another correcting her speech. However, she understood that if she continued to move, she would lose too much blood and wouldn't even be able to swing her sword. There was only one last, extreme option left.
"Don't even think about blowing yourself up," Arash warned her gently but persistently, having deciphered her intention. "I wouldn't advise it."
"If I don't do at least something, Father won't even look my way. So…"
"Shouldn't a knight serve the king of their own free will and choice?" Arash interrupted her. After these words, Mordred's face turned to stone.
"This is my will! My choice! So just die with me!"
"Hmm… I don't think so," Arash continued to speak calmly and reasonably. "It seems you're just dying because your 'king' ordered you to die. Is that what knightly loyalty is? Even if you consider yourself a pawn, you are, first and foremost, a knight, aren't you?"
Mordred froze, confused by his confidence. She was indeed trying her best to attract her father's attention, but in return, she saw only indifference. In the end, she just blindly followed orders, hoping for a single glance.
"You can receive praise for obedience," Arash continued to instruct. "But true love from a master is only deserved by those who act according to the call of their heart."
Doubt flickered in Mordred's eyes. In the end, she cursed indistinctly and put away her sword.
"To hell with you! I'm retreating 'today'. But next time, there will be no more talking!"
"Today."
"Today."
"Today," came the echoes after her.
"Just shut up!"
Enraged, she fired a blast of her Noble Phantasm into the air one last time, deliberately missing, and disappeared.
With Mordred's departure, the Western Village, although suffering heavy losses, avoided complete destruction. When the dust settled, Hassan of the Hundred Faces could finally speak openly to Ritsuka's group.
"The situation was critical, so I kept quiet," she grumbled, turning away with an offended look. "But I still don't recognize you."
"Wait, but we weren't the ones who attacked first?" Deadpool interjected, recalling the beginning of the skirmish. The Hundred Faces flinched but remained silent.
"That's right," Mash confirmed. "We just wanted to find out if you were friend or foe, and we didn't show any aggression."
"You were just scared and attacked…"
"Shut up!" The embarrassed Hundred Faces snapped at her, breaking out in a cold sweat.
"Hmm… Apparently, the fault truly lies with Lady Hundred Faces," Hassan of the Cursed Arm said. "Having a chance to weaken Egypt's influence by kidnapping Queen Nitocris, you attacked the group without even identifying them."
"You too, Hassan of the Cursed Arm?!"
When even Arash confirmed that she was wrong, the Hundred Faces had to capitulate and admit her guilt. Given the secretive nature of Assassin-class Servants, this was the only way to make her open up.
"But since it turned out this way…"
"We can no longer stay in the village," Mash finished Ritsuka's thought.
If the Western Village was discovered, then the Eastern Village was also in danger. Inaction could lead to the Holy City striking first.
"Until now, I was too busy protecting the refugees to think about this…" Hassan of the Cursed Arm rubbed his chin thoughtfully, making a decision. "But it seems it's time to face the truth."
He looked at his allies.
"Lady Hundred Faces, Master Arash. We cannot stay on the defensive forever. Besides, our saviors are surely heading to the Holy City to finish off the Lion King."
And he was right.
Ritsuka understood that constant running would only empower the Lion King and the Knights of the Round Table. As Ozymandias had said, it was the Lion King's actions that accelerated the demise of humanity. Therefore, battle was inevitable.
"There are seven Servants in the Holy City camp, including the King himself," Hassan continued. "We are six. But if we gather all the 'Mountain Elders,' we will have a numerical advantage."
"Mountain Elders." Hassan of the Cursed Arm and the Hundred Faces were bearers of this title. Usually, only one Elder could exist in an era, but due to the distortion of history and the summoning of Servants, Hassans from different eras found themselves in the same time. By uniting them, victory could be hoped for.
"Then we should free 'her'," Arash said, as if reading the Hassans' minds.
"Ah, right. Another of the Elders is languishing in captivity in a nearby fortress."
"Yes, her help will be invaluable."
After the words of Hassan of the Cursed Arm and the Hundred Faces, Ritsuka's group unanimously decided to go to the rescue of the mysterious captive.
***
Read the story months ahead of the public release — early chapters are available on my Patreon: Granulan