Chapter 237
"He’ll be all right... right?"
Jeanne had already retreated some distance away.
As she watched the clash before her, a battle that seemed torn straight from the Age of Gods, her small hands unconsciously clenched into fists.
As Ruler, she was supposed to remain impartial. She should not favor either side in this Holy Grail War.
Yet right now, one thought kept rising stubbornly in her heart.
She wanted Kiriya to win.
Unfortunately, after witnessing the sheer destructive power Saber of Red had unleashed, even Jeanne could no longer feel completely confident in him.
That had been the full release of a Noble Phantasm wielded by one of the legendary Knights of the Round Table.
Every second of waiting felt unbearably long.
And, frustratingly, no Revelation came to her.
At last, the blinding light of the collision began to fade, and the raging torrent of energy gradually dispersed.
Jeanne immediately looked toward the center of the battlefield.
What she saw brought both relief and concern.
Kiriya was alive. In fact, he did not appear to have suffered many visible injuries.
The problem was that the attack had clearly consumed a great deal of his strength.
Saber of Red was also still standing.
And judging from the increasingly savage aura surrounding her, Mordred was far from finished.
"I hate to admit it, but you’re damn good, kid."
Blood streaked Mordred’s face, while her armor had been torn open in several places, exposing vicious wounds beneath.
She supported herself with Clarent and grinned at Kiriya.
"To fight me, one of the Knights of the Round Table, to this extent... your strength and your will are both worthy of respect."
Mordred took a breath and raised her sword toward him.
Rather than weakening her, the pain only seemed to bring out more of her ferocity. A delighted, almost demonic smile spread across her face.
"And that’s exactly why beating you will be worth it!"
Hidden some distance away, Kairi Sisigou scratched his head in frustration.
Through their mental connection, he complained.
"Saber, you really are reckless. This Holy Grail War has barely started, and you’ve already burned through one Command Spell. Are you sure you want to keep going?"
As a cautious and experienced Master, Kairi clearly did not approve of his Servant wasting resources this early.
Especially when there was still that suspicious priest lurking in the background.
Mordred herself had been the one to notice something strange about Amakusa and warn him in the first place.
"It’s not every day I meet an opponent this fun."
Mordred answered without hesitation.
"I’m not letting him go now."
"Besides, anyone this strong is obviously going to be one of the biggest threats in the whole war. Taking him out early is worth the cost, isn’t it?"
Realizing that Mordred had already made up her mind, Kairi could only go along with it.
"Fine."
The resignation in his voice made Mordred’s grin widen.
’Hahaha! Master, you really are a great guy.’
"Get ready. I’m going in again."
"So you still want more?"
Kiriya steadied his breathing and raised his sword, already preparing to deliver an even stronger version of Afterglow!
"Knight of Treachery really is the perfect title for you. You’re impulsive as hell."
Just as another enormous clash seemed inevitable—
The earth suddenly began to shake.
Violently.
It felt as though some colossal creature beneath the ground was trying to tear free of its restraints.
"What the—?"
Mordred looked around.
"An earthquake?"
Kiriya and Jeanne, however, both reacted at once.
Their expressions changed, and they leapt to the tops of nearby trees, staring toward the northwestern sky.
Then they saw it.
Something enormous was slowly rising beyond the horizon.
Higher.
And higher.
"That..."
Jeanne’s Ruler abilities immediately identified what she was seeing.
"That’s a Noble Phantasm?"
"Whoa."
Mordred jumped onto a treetop as well and stared at the magnificent structure ascending into the sky.
"That thing is huge!"
Then realization dawned.
"So that’s what the priest and Assassin have been building this whole time?"
She gave a low whistle.
"Damn. That’s impressive."
"It is indeed a Noble Phantasm, and an extremely high-ranking one."
Kairi’s voice sounded through their connection, far more serious than before.
"Is that bastard planning to fly that fortress straight into the enemy headquarters?"
"Huh."
Mordred’s opinion of Amakusa improved slightly.
"He’s got more guts than I thought."
Then she asked, "So, Master, what now? Are we going up there?"
"Heh."
Kairi laughed.
"You clearly don’t want to, so stop pretending you’re asking for my opinion."
"That priest and Assassin both give me a bad feeling. The less we deal with them directly, the better."
"We’ll fight this Holy Grail War our own way."
Mordred laughed inwardly.
’Not bad, Master.’
’I was worried that giant thing might scare you into falling in line.’
’Now that’s more like the Master of Mordred.’
"But how are we supposed to get there?"
She watched the enormous fortress moving through the sky.
"At the speed that thing’s flying, the battle might already be over by the time we catch up."
Kairi gave a confident chuckle.
"No problem."
"I found a helicopter in Sighișoara."
"It’ll do."
"Whoa, Master. Nice."
Mordred sounded genuinely impressed.
"Well, I am a mercenary."
Kairi’s tone remained composed, though the corner of his mouth unconsciously lifted.
"Information gathering is part of the job."
"All right, I’ll meet up with you."
Mordred nodded and was about to leave when Kiriya’s actions caught her attention.
"What the hell is he doing now?"
Jeanne was equally confused.
Kiriya had suddenly created a Shadow Clone.
"Kiriya-kun..."
Before she could ask, Kiriya cut her off.
"No time. I’ll explain later."
His eyes remained fixed on the enormous airborne fortress.
"Just watch."
A vast amount of chakra began gathering in his palm.
It spun, compressed and quickly formed into a pale-blue Rasengan.
At the same time, the Shadow Clone placed both hands over it and began infusing chakra nature transformation into the sphere.
The Rasengan changed almost immediately.
The pale-blue chakra transformed into flowing plasma, streaks of lightning crawling across its surface as an intensely destructive aura spread outward.
"Lightning Release: Rasengan Railgun."
To ensure that the attack carried enough power, Kiriya poured more than eighty Kakashis’ worth of chakra into it in one go—nearly a quarter of his total reserves.
The resulting power was terrifying.
"What the hell is that?"
Mordred instinctively took a step backward.
Just looking at the violent sphere of plasma sent a piercing sense of danger straight through her.
Jeanne was forced back two steps by the turbulent electrical energy radiating from Kiriya’s hand, staring at it in shock.
Then, under the stunned gazes of both Servants, Kiriya raised his right hand and aimed the Rasengan Railgun toward the flying fortress.
During those few moments, the enormous structure had already passed almost directly overhead.
Mordred stared at him.
’Is he seriously planning to shoot that thing down?’
She could hardly believe it.
The fortress was hundreds of meters in the air.
Kiriya paid no attention to what either of them was thinking.
His entire focus was locked onto the target.
He held his breath, steadied himself, and prepared a welcoming gift for Amakusa Shirou Tokisada and the Queen of Assyria.
Whoosh!
The instant the electromagnetic field reached full charge, the Lightning Release: Rasengan Railgun was accelerated to seven or eight times the speed of sound.
In the blink of an eye, it reached the underside of the Hanging Gardens.
Like a streak of light—It pierced across the sky.
If that attack landed cleanly, the magnificent flying fortress above them was about to become an extremely expensive pile of scrap.
But at that exact moment, something unexpected happened.