[You’ve secured Scáthach? That is indeed excellent news!]
“Taking Diarmuid as well was a nice little bonus. How is the situation on your end?”
[Robin’s arm is mangled, but we managed to pull through! Billy has been desummoned, though… I suppose that was the plan from the beginning?]
“Precisely.”
Billy the Kid and Robin Hood.
Both were excellent Servants capable of pulling their own weight. However, in a large-scale battle against enemies who defied all conventional scales of power, one required Servants who could do more than merely 'one person's share.' Altera was no different in that regard.
Summoned via the Reanimation Jutsu after seizing Leif Lainur’s summoning circle, she was a formidable force capable of raining down attacks fueled by near-infinite prana. Yet, she possessed one fatal flaw.
“Altera cannot deploy her Noble Phantasm. And among our current Servants—excluding Nightingale—Billy possessed the lowest Noble Phantasm output. He lacked the precision and power to land a pinpoint strike on the Mad King.”
This was a war without an obvious answer, a battlefield resembling a chessboard where sacrifices were mandatory.
Knights and Pawns. An unfavorable formation. If one had to choose, the pawn must be discarded to preserve the knight. And if one could steal the opponent’s knight in the process, so much the better.
[But looking at the results, we’ve taken a loss. The enemy only lost a mediocre Servant, whereas two of our primary forces have been removed from the board!]
“If you look at it in isolation, perhaps.”
However, I had a specific reason for being so persistent about recruiting Scáthach.
“…Kh-ack!”
“Hmph. You endure well.”
“This… much… is nothing…!”
“Good. Then shall we continue for a bit longer?”
Countless Rune scripts—constructed with far more sophistication than anything Touko Aozaki could manifest—were etched across Diarmuid’s form.
I had heard that Chiron, the mentor of Greek heroes, was a polymath who reached the pinnacle of not only martial arts but also medicine, poetry, and astrology. Scáthach was the same.
Under normal circumstances, even for her, dismantling a restraint forged by tampering with the Command Spell system should have been impossible. Yet, by utilizing Gae Dearg—its ownership transferred from Diarmuid to her—she was meticulously stripping away the skin and the constraints of the Command Spells, stitch by painful stitch, without damaging his spiritual core.
Of course, Diarmuid continued to convulse, likely due to Medb attempting to force her commands upon him… but since his core had already been wounded and his limbs shattered, the restraints failed to trigger effectively.
“Nightingale would be horrified if she saw this.”
“That physician? If it is a medical procedure, I assume there would be no issue.”
“One would hope.”
After giving a brief reply, I watched Diarmuid, who was slowly beginning to recover, and began to run the calculations in my head.
My link to Altera still existed as a faint thrum, but since the Reanimation Jutsu cannot be dismissed unless she is sealed or the technique released, the Mad King had likely taken her with him. Billy was gone… which left our remaining roster as Nightingale, Robin Hood, Karna, the God Spear Li Shuwen… and now Scáthach and Diarmuid. Plus myself and Alcatraz.
On the other side, Diarmuid had defected. If we looked at the pure 'numbers,' the Mad King’s side was at -1, while we were at -2+2. Net zero.
‘Only if you look at it as a simple game of numbers, that is.’
I was driving the Motored Cuirassier at maximum speed, but as the Mad King showed no sign of pursuit, I lowered the output and turned toward Scáthach.
“Let me ask you plainly. What are our odds against the Heroic Spirits on the Mad King's side?”
“Excluding that Cu Chulainn brat, I can defeat most of them. In a one-on-two scenario, it would be difficult, but manageable. In a one-on-three, I lose. And the Mad King…”
“…He would be impossible.”
“He is a difficult opponent even for me. We must force him to fight not as a ‘Warrior,’ but as a ‘King.’”
“Medb is unlikely to let that happen.”
“Yes. That bitch is the crux of it.”
Scáthach spoke with a grit of her teeth.
“View it as a fish biting its own tail. We cannot dispose of Medb without killing the Mad King, and if we cannot slaughter her legion and the Servants under her command, there is no hope of victory.”
“Is dealing with them through this kind of guerrilla warfare…?”
“Better not to even dream of it.”
Urgh, as I thought.
Honestly, the previous operation was a gamble based on sheer luck that just happened to pay off. Statistically, it was more likely to fail. It just so happened that Diarmuid was the one who appeared before me, and I won by holding back… even then, if Scáthach hadn’t appeared, I might have been killed.
“Is it possible to supply me with prana through your Rune Magecraft?”
“It is possible, but it will be less efficient than supplying it through your own Mystic Code.”
“…This feels like being caught in a truly annoying forced-loss scenario. Medb, that brat… to create such a troublesome Singularity…”
No, perhaps this was the guidance of a Demon God Pillar.
The King of Demon Gods would be fully aware of my strengths and weaknesses. If he had whispered a bit of suggestion or guidance to Medb? Voila! A Bounded Field is complete, rendering the most troublesome opponent unable to do a single thing!
“…Well, that isn’t the important part.”
If it’s Cu Chulainn… if it’s Medb, how will they react?
Their goal is the conquest of the entire American continent. Now that the President King's faction has been annihilated, the only remaining force is Alcatraz’s resistance. Us. How would Cu Chulainn move, not as a warrior, but as the ‘Mad King’? What if the Mad King assesses not the losses we sustained, but the loss they incurred?
“Naturally, it would be an all-out war.”
There is a saying that a massive army has no need for complex military strategy.
The Celtic warriors they are mass-producing are at a level where it takes ten of them to barely stand against a single Servant. They are mere fodder without Noble Phantasms, but if dozens, hundreds, or thousands of them swarm at once, there is nothing that can be done.
The President King, who could have mass-produced counter-units on our side, has already had his head taken. Even if we rally the remaining mechanical infantry, the other side has a steady supply of soldiers being churned out by the Holy Grail. We are in a position where we can only consume resources until we run dry.
Strategy and tactics? The Mad King doesn’t need to worry about such things. He just needs to throw that absurd numerical advantage at us, and Alcatraz will naturally fall into a crisis.
“So, how do you plan to respond to the enemy’s total offensive?”
“Let me ask one more thing. Since communication with Chaldea is currently cut, we can’t receive proper supplies. Are there any other stray Servants on this continent? I need every scrap of combat power I can get.”
“No. All Servants are concentrated either in Alcatraz or Washington. Is that the answer you wanted?”
“Correct.”
Then there was only one answer.
“We will launch an invasion from our side. The longer we delay, the more disadvantageous our position becomes. We will take the heads of the Mad King and Medb before they can bolster their numbers any further.”
*
Upon returning to Alcatraz, Scáthach, Diarmuid, and I were met with an enthusiastic welcome.
Though the fact that Altera and Billy had not returned was regrettable, I had stated from the start that Robin, Billy, and Altera were to be used as decoys and expendable assets, so the others seemed to cheer primarily for the success of the mission.
However, once I put the decapitation strike on the table for suggestion, the reaction flipped instantly.
“I object, Commander.”
The first person to voice opposition was Nightingale.
“Reason?”
“The odds are nonexistent. It is nearly impossible to defeat the Mad King even with our current full strength, and in the enemy camp, there are Servants receiving fame boosts along with Celtic legions fighting under advantageous conditions. We must conduct a purely defensive war, forcing the enemy to bleed their forces dry.”
“I won’t deny that. But even if we force them to bleed, they have several blood bags hooked up for this war. As long as the Holy Grail—that cheat key—exists, we are the ones being forced to take the losses.”
“But do we have a chance with our current Servant roster? I have my doubts.”
Robin Hood added.
“The one who greeted Billy and me… was that Indian Archer. To be blunt, I don’t know if even Karna would have a chance. That handsome fellow's king on the other side seems to be at that level as well. Even if they somehow ended up in a stalemate, that's still two Servants tied up. Don't you think it's too dangerous?”
“But there isn't a situation where we can obtain more Servant power than we have now. There are no more stray Servants, and there’s no way to improve our circumstances. Above all, if we fight a defensive war, we'll be fighting on land devoid of prana. Once our magical energy runs out, our only future is being overrun by the enemy.”
[But you have no vision for defeating the Mad King. Answer me, Master of Chaldea—do you have a ‘guaranteed’ way to defeat the Mad King?]
“I have two. Precisely speaking, one way to ‘kill’ the Mad King, and one way to ‘win’ against him.”
“I would like to ask about the probability, Commander. And the exact methods.”
Nightingale pressed for details.
The method to kill the Mad King was… simpler than one might expect.
“Simple. I’ll imprison him within my Chibaku Tensei.”
“No, that is impossible.”
“Scáthach?”
“No matter how he was created, his Saint Graph is Divine-Spirit class. Even I could likely find a way to escape if I were trapped in your Planetary Devastation; do you not think that man, who is clearly stronger than I, would simply plunge Gae Bolg into his own body to escape?”
“I don’t deny it. In fact, Angra Mainyu almost escaped Chibaku Tensei in that exact way.”
However, if I could somehow keep the Mad King pinned with Chibaku Tensei, the Celtic side would lose their most powerful asset.
“The Mad King’s escape is a given. There’s probably an 80% or higher chance. But I state with confidence—if we are in a land and atmosphere rich in prana like Washington, a land at the level of the Age of Gods, then not only the Mad King, but my own condition will be at its peak. In such a state, I can hold him for at least five minutes.”
“Do you believe ten minutes is enough for us to clear out the Celtic Servants?”
“And the ‘Holy Grail’ as well.”
Since communication with Chaldea is currently down, it's impossible to know for sure… but if we receive Chaldea's support and use the remaining resources of the Grail to retract the Celtic Age of Gods and summon other Heroic Spirits? No matter how Divine-Spirit-class the Mad King’s Saint Graph is, he won’t be able to withstand that volume of force.
“But there is a flaw in that plan. It’s a very simple doubt: if the opponent also has the Holy Grail, can we really win?”
“No matter how foolish or wicked Medb might be, she is a woman of Ulster through and through. I doubt a woman of such renown as an Heroic Spirit would fall for such a basic lure.”
The Heroic Spirits voiced their skepticism one after another.
“True. I think so as well.”
“Hm?”
“If Medb… has any resources left in the Holy Grail, that is.”
“…That’s hard to understand. The ability to blanket the entirety of Washington in the texture of Age of Gods Ireland is a feat of the Grail. Furthermore, all the prana spread across the American continent has been gathered there. Do you think Medb would squander that uselessly?”
“To be honest… I didn’t have any certainty before. But frankly, I can say I have it now.”
Everyone looked puzzled.
“Scáthach, what is Medb’s personality like?”
“…Is that even a question? You should know it well enough by now.”
“I’m asking just in case… well, for example, if Medb found someone else’s ‘possession,’ what would she do?”
“Naturally, she would take it for herself. If the owner asked for it back, she would kill them or brainwash them into her captive, and then she’d try to take everything else they owned. She is a woman whose greed knows no bounds.”
“…And conversely, if her own property was taken?”
“She would do anything to keep it. She’d try to reclaim every lost scrap, snatch it back from whoever stole it… basically, she’s a human who thinks everything in existence belongs to her. An obvious question.”
“That’s why I’m saying it.”
“…”
“Trust me. In this operation, Medb will ‘never’ be able to use the Holy Grail.”
I spoke while recalling the underlying rules of this world.
No matter how high the Age of Gods level, and no matter how potent the Holy Grail, there are things that are possible and things that are not. And given Medb’s greed, she will never be able to employ the Grail in a struggle against us.
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