Chapter 242
On the ground before Yggdmillennia Castle, rank after rank of homunculi had already formed up in battle formation, gripping all manner of long and short weapons as they waited solemnly for the enemy’s arrival.
Above them, atop the castle, the Masters and Servants had likewise gathered with grave expressions.
Jeanne was among them as well.
Looking down at the pairs of homunculi armed with spears, axes, and other melee weapons, Kiriya could not help but complain.
"It’s already the twentieth century, and you’re still sending them into battle with weapons like those? Couldn’t you at least equip them with firearms?"
Darnic and the other magi showed varying degrees of disapproval when they heard that.
They were magi.
Naturally, conflicts involving magi should be settled through magecraft.
Relying on the crude firearms of ordinary people would only diminish the dignity of their profession.
If word of such a thing spread, they would surely be laughed at by other magi—especially the arrogant aristocrats of the Clock Tower.
Yggdmillennia intended to rise as a prestigious lineage of magical nobility.
They had no intention of lowering themselves to the level of common soldiers.
"Um..."
Fiore fell silent for a moment.
Noticing how awkward the atmosphere had become, she eventually offered an explanation.
"When these homunculi were designed, the primary considerations were the quality of their Magic Circuits and the quantity of magical energy they could produce, rather than... the sort of combat training you’re describing."
She glanced toward the formations below.
"And although they use melee weapons, every one of them is capable of employing a certain degree of Reinforcement magecraft. Their weapons have also been magically enhanced, so they still possess considerable destructive power against magi, familiars, and similar enemies."
"All right."
Kiriya let the matter drop.
His eyes settled on the homunculi below.
There was no fear on their faces.
No excitement.
No anger.
In fact, there was hardly any emotion at all, only calmness.
"So those are homunculi... dolls who aren’t even permitted to possess emotions."
Jeanne shook her head quietly.
Had she encountered something like this while still alive, she would probably have become furious and immediately tried to do something about it.
But she had descended into this world as Ruler.
For the moment, her most important responsibility remained maintaining the order of the Holy Grail War, and there was little she could do about Yggdmillennia’s internal practices right now.
Kiriya complained for another moment before grabbing Astolfo and pulling him off toward a quieter corner.
"Listen, Rider. I’ve got a job for you."
"Master, I have a name!"
The pretty young knight puffed out his cheeks in displeasure.
"My name is Astolfo."
"Got it, Astolfo."
Kiriya answered without the slightest sincerity.
Then he ignored Rider’s resentful stare and handed him several kunai.
"Listen carefully. Once the fighting starts, you don’t need to worry about anything else. Fly toward the Hanging Gardens first and scatter these around it for me."
"Huh?"
Astolfo stared at the kunai in his hands, practically radiating confusion.
"Why?"
"Because I told you to. Why do you always have so many questions?"
One look from Kiriya immediately suppressed him.
"This is important enough to affect the outcome of the entire Holy Grail War, so don’t screw it up okay."
"Oh!"
The moment Astolfo heard that, his chest puffed out proudly.
"Leave it to me! Don’t underestimate one of the Twelve Paladins of Charlemagne!"
Because they were Master and Servant, their exchange had taken place directly through their mental connection.
No one else had any idea what Kiriya had instructed Astolfo to do.
Not that the others had much attention to spare for them.
Something far more important was approaching.
"They’re here."
Chiron’s low voice immediately drew everyone’s gaze toward the sky.
A colossal shadow suddenly emerged from between the clouds.
The enormous structure broke free of the cloudbank and rapidly approached the airspace above Yggdmillennia’s estate.
This time, Kiriya made no attempt to fire another Lightning Release: Rasengan Railgun.
Until Achilles and his shield were dealt with, attacks of that sort would only be wasted.
That defensive Noble Phantasm was simply too unreasonable.
Rustle... rustle...
Something began pouring down from the Hanging Gardens in enormous quantities.
Under the pale moonlight filtering through gaps in the clouds, the falling objects gleamed bone-white, creating an unsettling sight.
"Are those... bones?"
Fiore stared upward in surprise.
"No... those are Dragon Tooth Warriors!"
Darnic’s heart tightened.
"Quickly! Destroy those bones before they activate!"
Clang!
The homunculi immediately obeyed.
Weapons rose as the front ranks rushed toward the scattered bones, intending to smash them apart before anything could happen.
They never got the chance.
Light flashed across the ground.
One bone after another twisted, expanded, and transformed into skeletal soldiers.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
Their upper and lower jaws rattled as though they were speaking in some incomprehensible language.
Then the skeleton warriors raised their bone swords and spears and crashed directly into the homunculus formation.
The slaughter began.
In only moments, the vast numbers of Dragon Tooth Warriors inflicted considerable casualties upon the Black faction.
"Damn the Red faction!"
Darnic clenched his fists, teeth grinding together.
"They deliberately chose the estate itself as the battlefield. Aren’t they afraid of damaging the Greater Grail?"
"They know exactly what they’re doing."
Vlad III looked across the chaotic battlefield with a faintly appreciative expression.
"With the two armies already entangled like this, our side can no longer employ large-scale Noble Phantasms without risking our own forces."
He casually lifted one hand.
Several stakes erupted from the ground and impaled a cluster of Dragon Tooth Warriors in an instant.
"Golems. Advance."
Caster raised his right hand and activated his summoning formula.
The ground throughout the estate trembled as large numbers of stone golems emerged and joined the homunculi in battle.
With the two forces cooperating, the Black faction quickly managed to regain a slight advantage.
"Haaah!"
A sharp feminine cry suddenly rang out.
A slender figure charged into the enemy formation while swinging a massive weapon resembling a war hammer.
Wherever she passed, Dragon Tooth Warriors shattered like children’s building blocks, scattering across the ground in piles of broken bone.
She was the Berserker summoned by Caules—Frankenstein.
Apparently, even that was not enough to satisfy the fury raging endlessly within her.
Fran continued charging deeper into the enemy ranks.
At intervals, she swung her weapon and released powerful electrical currents in every direction, causing dense formations of Dragon Tooth Warriors to collapse in swathes like wheat beneath a scythe.
The bloody slaughter and frantic rhythm of battle only drove her emotions higher.
Her agitation became steadily more severe until she pushed farther and farther into the enemy formation without seeming to notice how isolated she had become.
"Berserker! It’s dangerous! Come back!"
Caules instinctively sensed that something was wrong and tried to call his Servant back.
But Fran was already completely immersed in the battle.
Why would she willingly retreat now?
’Should I use a Command Spell?’
Because the situation had not yet become truly desperate, Caules hesitated.
Before he could decide, another group of Dragon Tooth Warriors surged toward him.
With no time left to think, he hurriedly ordered the surrounding homunculi into a defensive formation.
Elsewhere, Vlad III had already mounted his horse and charged directly toward the densest concentration of Dragon Tooth Warriors.
Wherever his horse’s hooves passed, countless stakes erupted throughout an area dozens of meters wide, each one precisely impaling an enemy.
"Kazikli Bey: Lord of Execution!"
At the rate Vlad was eliminating them, he could have cleared away the entire army of lesser troops within a minute or two if no one interfered.
Unfortunately—Whoosh!
A golden figure streaked across the night sky and a golden spear shot directly toward Vlad III’s heart.
Clang!
Several stakes materialized beside Vlad and intercepted the thrust, forcing the attacker into view.
Vlad’s eyes narrowed as he examined the golden weapon.
"That spear..."
A smile slowly appeared on his face.
"So you are Lancer of Red—the son of the sun god, Karna."
He raised his own weapon.
"And this time, you have come to face me?"
"That is correct, king of a foreign land."
Karna’s voice remained calm.
"For reasons of my own, it falls to me to defeat you. When death comes, I ask that you bear me no resentment."
"Hahahaha!"
Vlad laughed loudly.
"Why would I?"
His smile became cold and ferocious.
"When armies meet upon the battlefield, one side lives and the other dies. That is all there is to it!"
A dark field tinged with deep crimson rapidly spread outward from beneath Vlad, staining a vast stretch of the surrounding ground.
"Come, then, invader."
His gaze sharpened.
"Taste the fury of this land’s king."
Shhk! Shhk! Shhk!
Dense clusters of stakes erupted like volleys of spears and shot toward Karna from every direction.
Karna moved like a meteor.
His golden figure flashed back and forth through the air while his spear swept around him, smashing every stake that approached.
"Naive."
Vlad III smiled coldly.
His ability activated once more.
The shattered fragments of the stakes abruptly collided in midair, twisting and reforming into thorn-like spikes that converged upon Karna from unexpected angles.
Shhk!
Caught momentarily off guard, Karna was struck by several stakes.
Blood poured from the wounds.
Here, upon his own homeland, Vlad III received an enormous enhancement from his legend.
His Parameters rose to extraordinary levels, surpassing even Karna’s in certain respects, while the destructive power of his attacks became exceptionally dangerous.
"I see."
Karna looked down at the stakes piercing his body.
"Destroying them is not enough to render them harmless."
"Hmph."
Vlad’s expression turned disdainful.
"A son of a god?"
His spear tilted toward Karna.
"Is that all?"
Vlad was just about to intensify his assault and completely bring Lancer down from the sky when the temperature ahead of him suddenly began to rise.
BOOM!
Flames erupted around Karna.
In an instant, they expanded into a blazing sphere of fire, its intense heat reducing the stakes embedded in his body to ashes almost immediately.
Even Vlad III was forced several steps backward by the sudden inferno.
"That flame..."
Vlad raised his spear and stared through the blazing heat.
"I see."
A smile gradually returned to his face.
"So this is the blessing carried by the son of the sun god."
The pressure around him intensified once more.
"It seems this battle will not be settled quite so easily."