As a Servant, Karna himself is not someone to be feared.
With Tristan and I working together, a Lancer like Karna—even if he is backed by the Holy Grail and shared mana from a million-man army—is someone we could somehow overcome, or at least retreat from without sustaining damage.
However, we were currently in the heart of enemy territory, entrenched while maintaining a large-scale Bounded Field.
Naturally… those fanatics would charge in to slaughter and seize us, regardless of whether a Noble Phantasm bombardment was falling or not.
“Tristan, what is he doing now?”
“It appears he is preparing the release of his Noble Phantasm. If that Mystery is unleashed, this area will surely collapse. Even I cannot block it.”
“I didn’t expect you to. I’m going to forcibly collapse the Bounded Field. We’ll ram the maximum output right into him and then make our escape.”
One cannot expect the same utility here as a Reality Marble.
One advantage of a Reality Marble is that when the field is dispelled, you can freely determine your position to gain a spatial advantage. Unfortunately, Karna and his legion were not currently inside this Bounded Field. This meant it was impossible to set a multitude of traps and then teleport them directly onto them.
However, I could bring us as close to them as possible.
‘…I feel like I returned those spears to Diarmuid for nothing back then, but it’s not like I’m completely empty-handed now.’
Handing Tristan a Fragarach that had completed its release preparations, I tightly squeezed a fruit from the Vampiric Forest, scattering its juice onto the ground. I then began to slowly manifest my summons.
Monstrous beasts comparable to those used during the Clock Tower raid… the Three-Headed Hellhounds, Lava Worms, and Jailers wielding the Black Ropes surged forth. Entities that could be called the origin of the Eight Hot Hells preached by Buddhists began to slowly emerge from the summoning ritual.
Just as the plants had once pierced the hearts of animals to feast on their juice and flesh, beasts now began to rise from the soil where the flora was rotting away.
In the gap between their growling and muttering, space itself began to crack.
[Deus vult! Deus vult! Deus vult!]
“…It’s coming. Get ready.”
“Yes.”
“3, 2, 1… Go!”
Clink!
With that sound, the last flower of the Vampiric Forest withered, and the unbearable heat of the sun concentrated onto a single point.
The point connected like a ray of light to become a line, and the moment that line touched the ground, it spread into a massive plane, forming a single spherical volume.
[O Sun, Abide to Death.]
“Vasavi Shakti!!!”
“Shinra Tensei!!!”
Hot.
It was insanely hot.
Shinra Tensei can repel the physical impact, but it cannot handle the sheer heat itself.
Had they said it was comparable to a nuclear weapon? To try and block a Noble Phantasm with such insane output was a suicidal act, even for someone like me…
“…However, if I can just endure it, the story changes!”
The suicidal fanatics were charging fiercely, but that was their limit.
They too were powerless before this agonizing sun. The same went for any other Servants present; at best, they would merely follow up and attack Karna’s rear after he exhausted his offensive measures. No one could launch an additional attack in this situation.
Tristan cast a worried look toward me. Except for my eyes, which were reinforced to the limit by my Magic Circuits and their unique properties, my other body parts were slowly charring or melting away. The Mystic Code I had specially commissioned from the Puppetmaster was the same.
“Kaleidoscope—Reinforcement!”
At that moment, I applied a second layer of doping.
Like pouring priming water into a pump, cool Prana began to circulate through my Magic Circuits, and the power of Shinra Tensei was further augmented.
Even as my arms melted away, they were regenerated; as blood erupted from my mouth, my internal organs were being replaced anew.
Amidst the ceaseless yellow and red flashes, I could see Karna standing expressionless, radiating brilliance. Seeing him in that state, where his armor had melted away and the spearhead alone seemed to exceed a meter in length, I couldn’t help but feel a surge of exhilaration.
“Now, Tristan!!!”
“…!”
The Monstrous Beasts, half-melted or charred, all began to swell simultaneously.
Normally, ordinary Phantasmal Species would have been completely incinerated by that terrible heat.
“These are monsters summoned from the hottest of hells; they can withstand at least this much heat!”
The cores detonated all at once, and the soldiers standing guard in the vicinity fell like autumn leaves.
And finally, the moment the Noble Phantasm’s output diminished and a line was drawn between Tristan and Karna, the crimson-haired Servant, who had been preserving his strength behind me, stood up.
Instead of a bow, he held a large spherical object. He bit his own lip, smeared it with blood, tossed it upward, and then struck it forward like a volleyball spike.
Clang!
With a metallic ring, it struck directly near Karna’s heart. As a hole the size of a large pasta plate was gouged out, the massive Divine Spear—which had transformed into something resembling a colossal greatsword—vanished along with the flames that had been surging from it to burn the surroundings.
Reversal of Causality.
It was a move that could never be used in a chaotic melee, but for that very reason, it was a cheating game of rock-paper-scissors that guaranteed victory in a 1-on-1 clash between trump cards.
Naturally, since neither I nor Tristan were Bazett, we couldn't achieve a perfect Reversal of Causality.
This was currently a chaotic battlefield. Even if this was the 'trump card' used by Karna, I had no way of knowing where other Servants might be hiding or if they possessed their own 'trump cards.'
“Yes, but as expected, they didn't intervene… This isn't over yet!”
The Spiritual Core must not be allowed to collapse completely. If it did, this Servant, Karna, would surely enter a 'Corrupted' state.
A Servant with such insane Noble Phantasm output being resurrected?
“Not in a million years!”
“Master, other Servants are coming!”
“Buy me some time, somehow! I’m sorry, but that thing is more important than your life right now!”
Before Tristan could even reply, I forced my creaking body to move and reached out toward Karna.
I shouted with a heart more desperate, perhaps, than anything I had ever felt before.
“Bansho Ten’in!!!”
With a dull thud, blood surged up my esophagus.
The Prana I had doped through the Kaleidoscope had reached its limit. I had long since exhausted the fruit of the Vampiric Forest and the Prana drawn from the Leylines. Just absorbing atmospheric mana to maintain my current state was a struggle.
“…So what?!!!”
If I don't get him now, I’m truly dead.
Judging by the thunderous sounds, Tristan was currently risking his life to buy time. If I couldn't capture him in this situation, it would be a total loss, a literal bankruptcy where we couldn't even recover the initial investment. I had to secure the sample known as Karna, the Servant, no matter what.
As I grabbed the collar of the flying Karna and forced down the rising urge to vomit, I opened the gate to the Naraka Path. The massive hand of King Enma reached out and seized Karna's body. Just before the Spiritual Core could shatter, he entered the realm of the Naraka Path, where all states are 'maintained.'
“Saint Quartz… damn it, Tristan!”
There were three Servants surrounding Tristan.
There was the Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, appearing not in solid armor as before but in a rather lewd outfit with goat horns. Then there was Hōzōin Inshun, who was wrapped tightly from head to toe, though his identity could still be surmised. And finally, a woman entirely enveloped in a nun's habit.
She was covered and blocked, but her body was by no means hidden.
On the contrary, by covering herself, she was emphasizing her presence even further.
Wearing a benevolent smile like that of the Holy Mother, she was fending off Tristan’s counterattacks and cornering him with just a single finger while the others attacked with all their might.
…I knew that thing.
Because 'that thing' currently exists back at Chaldea as well.
[Oh my.]
The smiling entity looked toward me.
At that sensual and beautiful appearance… even before I could take a combat stance, I disgracefully felt the sensation of blood rushing to my lower body.
No, perhaps it was only natural.
Unlike Heroic Spirits, whose physiological mechanisms differ from humans… while my body is closer to a sophisticated puppet, it possesses the functions of a human almost exactly for that very reason.
…Kiara Sessyoin began to lick her lips as she watched me.
“…To hell with this.”
The Beast of Pleasure began to approach me.
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