Shirou Emiya and Rin Tohsaka did not expect to encounter another group of opponents at this time—Ilya from the Einzbern family—and after introducing themselves, they inadvertently provoked her into attacking.
However, without the flanking support of Red A, Artoria was now bearing the full brunt of Heracles' assault alone.
The demigod, who had appeared in the world with a Mad Enhancement, had been erased by madness, leaving only the most primitive desire to destroy and an immortal, powerful body. Every time his stone axe fell, it smashed a massive crater into the ground, and the fierce wind made it impossible to open one's eyes.
Shirou Emiya's immature magical circuits could not provide her with sufficient magical energy, making her increasingly strained under the continuous assault, gradually falling into a disadvantage without the slightest chance to catch her breath.
When the stone axe was raised high again, wrapped in an earth-splitting, immense force, it struck down at the top of Artoria's head. The girl, exhausted of mana, closed her eyes, ready to use all her strength to parry.
The expected intense pain and tearing did not come for a long time, but a deafening sound of metal clashing exploded in her ears.
The scorching air lifted her sleeves and blew them away. When she opened her eyes, Heracles' pupils, reddened by madness, also suddenly contracted. He stared at the figure that had appeared from nowhere beneath his axe blade.
His figure was imposing, even taller than Heracles. His matte black Seiko power armor was covered in battle scars, and the white cross emblem emitted a golden radiance.
Sigismund:
"In the name of the Emperor, ancient hero, please cease your attacks."
[True Name: The Emperor's Angel (Sigismund)]
[Class: Legion/Legion (Saber/Saber)]
[Innate Skill: Unmatched Swordsmanship A++]
[Sigismund is considered one of the finest swordsmen of the Astartes Legion, undefeated on the battlefields of a hundred worlds, never losing a duel.]
[Innate Skill: Blessing of the Emperor A]
[As the first Emperor's Champion, Sigismund received a special blessing from the Emperor, granting him additional resistance and attack power against Chaos and heresy, as well as a certain prophetic ability to predict enemy movements in battle.]
[Innate Skill: Avatar of Loyalty A]
[Sigismund's loyalty is absolute, unwavering. Even in the face of the original Dorn's wrath, this loyalty makes him immune to mind control and charm effects, while enhancing his willpower and resilience in combat.]
[Class Skill: Magic Burst A]
[Class Skill: Magic Resistance B]
[Class Skill: Magic Burst A]
[Noble Phantasm: Black Sword — A+]
[Noble Phantasm: Sword of the Imperium — EX]
[Noble Phantasm: Eternal Crusade — A]
---
At an altitude of thousands of meters above Fuyuki City, the red light of the setting sun dyed the clouds a fiery red. At that moment, space suddenly warped like shattered glass, and pale blue spiritual particles exploded like a galaxy. A Lord from the Chaldea Security Organization appeared in the empty sky.
A feeling of weightlessness instantly overwhelmed her body, and Mash subconsciously wanted to use her shield to protect the Lord, but Goldie grabbed her wrist first.
They looked at each other, and instead of half-panic, Goldie breathed a sigh of relief and showed a completely relieved expression.
In the next second, a golden radiance sufficient to illuminate the entire cloud suddenly tore through the sky, and the magnificent and splendid boat, Vimana, broke through the wind and hovered steadily beneath them.
Gilgamesh glanced at the two who had fallen inside, reached out with his long arms, grabbed Goldie and Matthew by the scruff of their necks, and confidently lifted them onto the boat like kittens.
"Ah~ With Gil-kun, this is really the most reassuring!" As soon as Goldie stood firm, she patted Gilgamesh on the shoulder very familiarly, smiling so widely that her brows and eyes were crooked, looking like she was hallucinating a certain Blackbeard.
A flicker of helplessness flashed in Gilgamesh's burgundy eyes, and he scolded her in his usual arrogant tone with a serious expression:
"Even if you are the master who saves humanity, you cannot address this king with such a childish title, you fool."
Before the words fell, a light but flawless blade softly tapped Goldie on the head.
He casually straightened the hair on his forehead that was being ruffled by the wind, raised his eyes to look at Fuyuki City, distorted into individual dots beneath his feet, a contemplative look in his burgundy pupils.
If nothing else, most of this uniqueness was caused by his reckless actions during his tyrant period, causing this mess.
Therefore, Gilgamesh, who did not possess such a form of play, did not hesitate to use his clairvoyance, but unexpectedly saw a chaotic future—just like Gilgamesh in this world.
But the sight that should have been omniscient and omnipotent was covered in a chaotic, surging mist—just like his other "self" in this world, the path ahead was hidden by unseen forces.
However, unlike his tyrant period, he pierced through the surface of the mist and clearly saw that the future had already converged into two distinct forks:
One was a cold, dark galaxy, burning away all warmth—the mechanical pioneer transforming into the Emperor ruling over humanity, the Iron Curtain covering half the galaxy;
The other was a seemingly dazzling and bright path to the root—the arcane pioneer establishing the Sixth Law of humanity, rewriting the laws of the universe, ending all the suffering of the world, and leading humanity to the perfection of the highest evolutionary truth.
Even just a glance at the fragments of this shattered future made the wise king feel an uncontrollable shock in his heart.
The degree of distortion in this world had long surpassed ordinary singularities, almost indistinguishable from a pruned anomaly.
At that moment, the power of the same origin suddenly resonated.
His "clairvoyance" instantly connected with his other self in this world, and his vision flickered with a crash, clearly freezing on the bank of the Weiyuan River—a pier leaning against the Fuyuki Bridge, quietly watching the river, waiting for Locke's return, his other "self."
And holding a black sword and clad in power armor, he easily defeated the unknown heroic spirit, Heracles.
---
Heracles, as the most outstanding demigod hero in Greek mythology, was also associated with a powerful cushion (crossed out) in the Moon's worldview. From an ordinary perspective, from the moment of his summoning, this Holy Grail War should have been stabilized.
It was a pity that Ilya, the master of the Einzbern family, one of the three founding families of Fuyuki, did not know what monsters had appeared in this Holy Grail War.
Ilya collapsed on the cold ground. Her ruby eyes, once full of cunning and pride, now held only complete astonishment and sluggishness.
Watching Sigismund in his gravity armor and wielding a two-handed black sword, he easily killed Heracles with his wondrous swordsmanship.
"Ancient and powerful hero, I feel your hegemony and ambition. But if I want to protect her and fulfill her long-held dream, relying solely on the bestial intuition left after madness is not enough."
He slowly pulled the greatsword from Heracles' body, a trace of undisguised regret in his heart—that he could not duel a hero with full sanity, one who had passed through the twelve great labors of a true warrior.
He seemed completely unaware of Heracles' twelve resurrection abilities. He sheathed his sword, turned, and slowly walked toward Shirou Emiya and Rin Tohsaka, who were already stunned and frozen in place, and said in a deep voice:
"The Emperor?" Rin Tohsaka and Shirou Emiya asked in unison, their faces full of undisguised surprise and bewilderment. They had never heard of this unfamiliar and majestic title.
"We cannot address the Emperor by his honorary name, but the one you are looking for is our Emperor—or, in other words, the Emperor of our youth."
The one they were looking for?
Shirou Emiya and Rin Tohsaka suddenly looked at each other, both seeing the complete shock in each other's eyes, and then simultaneously blurted out, their voices trembling with disbelief: "Locke?"
"Indeed."
Before the words fell, a roar that shook their eardrums sounded behind him.
Heracles, who had just completed his physical recovery through the Twelve Labors, his crimson pupils blazing with incredible fury, his massive body wrapped in immense force capable of tearing up asphalt roads, charged at Sigismund's back like a hurricane.
Sigismund didn't even turn around. He simply raised his sword with a backhand to block the strike. The black greatsword clashed with the stone axe, a deafening sound of metal clashing exploding. The shockwave enveloped them both, lifting debris and fallen leaves from the ground, and the glass of shops on the street instantly shattered.
Heracles staggered back from the recoil, his arms trembling violently, nearly dropping his stone axe. But Sigismund stood motionless, like a mountain nailed to the road, his posture so relaxed it seemed he had merely blocked a breeze.
He slowly turned his head and looked at the demigod before him, twisted and completely consumed by madness, with absolute clarity in his calm voice:
"I see. It's a resurrection spirit. But it doesn't seem infinite. There must be a limit tied to your twelve legendary labors, right?"
As he finished speaking, he twisted his wrist to deflect the force of the stone axe, then spun and delivered a powerful side kick, accurately striking Heracles in the chest and abdomen.
The demigod's massive body, as if hit by a cannonball, instantly flew backward, crashing into the stone wall beside the street, smoke and dust rising into the sky.
Sigismund casually put the dark sword, stained with divine blood, back into its sheath. The radiance of spiritual energy around him gradually faded, and his figure became translucent, like a spiritual body about to dissipate.
"It seems ordinary sword blades can no longer inflict effective damage on you." His gaze swept toward the smoke and dust, and he calmly said, "Leave the rest to another."
[True Name: The Emperor's Angel (Vulkan He'stan)]
[Class: Legion/Legion (Lancer/Lancer)]
[Innate Skill: Relic Guardian A]
[Innate Skill: Fire Mastery A++]
[Innate Skill: Master Smith A]
[Innate Skill: Guardian Spirit A]
[Noble Phantasm: Spear of Vulkan — A+]
[Noble Phantasm: Gauntlet of the Forge — A]
[Noble Phantasm: Cloak of the Caesarean — B]
The moment Sigismund's translucent figure completely dissolved into the wind, the smoke and dead silence of Fuyuki's streets were torn apart by the scorching air waves of an explosion.
Lava-like crimson fire shot into the sky. The sound of heavy power armor stomping the ground was like a war drum. The lava-like power armor of the Salamanders Chapter, engraved with every battle scar on its surface, majestically emerged in the scattered debris.
He was the father of the forge and the most sacred guardian of the relics of the Salamanders—Vulkan He'stan.
He raised his hand and removed his helmet, revealing a determined, scar-covered face. A pair of eyes, seemingly burning with lava fire, stared at the enraged Heracles in the ruins.
Holding high the Spear of Vulkan, flowing with primordial sacred fire, in both hands, the flames at the tip of the spear instantly soared several meters. A deafening battle cry, like a volcanic eruption, exploded through the streets:
"Bathing in the fire of war, I invoke the anvil of battle! Witness the wrath of the Fire Dragon!"