"Hmph, what is that bastard Tokiomi plotting again?"
Watching Eva-01 battle Rider's army from afar, Archer suddenly said that. He must have already seen through the scheme.
"Your Majesty worries too much. That should be a familiar summoned by Caster."
Though only Archer, Saber, Irisviel, and Weber were present, a fifth voice suddenly appeared. It startled Weber into jumping backward, apparently intending to habitually hide behind Rider. Only then did he realize Rider was not beside him. None of the others could be called friends from any angle, and his expression became wonderfully colorful as he found himself utterly isolated.
"Please do not worry, Mr. Velvet. There will be no assassination tonight." The voice now sounded directly behind Weber, startling him into falling forward again before scrambling back to his feet.
"Who gave you permission to speak before this King in such a manner?"
Perhaps unable to bear that boring prank any longer, Archer spoke up. At his words, Jizi could only reveal herself before everyone.
To observe Rider's strength clearly, Jizi had needed to enter the Reality Marble itself—poor Tokiomi was clearly the Master, yet Gilgamesh would not even share his vision with him. Thus, Jizi, who had not intended to get involved, could only flash to the others' side the instant Rider deployed the barrier and be swept inside with them.
Afterward, she had remained in stealth. Only after some time did she realize it was pointless and consumed Mana, so she found an opportunity to show herself.
Also, scaring cute boys was not fun at all!
"Assassin..."
Seeing the Servant kneeling on one knee before Archer in salute, Saber let out a meaningful murmur.
"May I ask what counsel King Arthur has for me?"
Saber had originally wanted to question her about kidnapping Irisviel, as well as the aura she had released in the forest that day to indirectly stop Lancer from fighting Saber. But seeing Jizi's deliberately obedient posture, Saber found it difficult to speak—this Assassin was clearly a victim of a transaction between Magi, a disposable pawn laid out to secure victory for Archer's side. Even if Saber asked, she would only receive a meaningless answer like, "My Master's orders."
But since she had already spoken, she could only continue with another question.
"What proof do you have that this is Caster's demon?"
Jizi turned toward Saber, rose, and bowed. "My Master ordered me to track Caster's whereabouts many days ago, so I am quite familiar with his Mana signature. Your Majesty has dealt with that madman as well. If you sense carefully, you should be able to distinguish it."
Hearing that, Saber used some Mana to enhance her senses and examined the massive monster charging into Rider's formation. Sure enough, she detected traces of Caster's foul Mana—though in truth, Jizi had deliberately attached a piece of flesh cut from one of the Sea Demons she had slain in order to mislead the others.
"Caster, that heretical fiend... but why would it appear—"
Saber stopped halfway through her next question, because she quickly understood—Assassin's faked death had been meant to truly conceal her in the shadows, making it easier to gather intelligence on the other factions. Since she now dared to reveal herself, there could only be one reason: she had already learned everything she needed to know.
Thinking that this elusive woman might have been watching all of Saber's actions these past days sent a chill down Saber's spine—though her Master had been doing much the same. And because of Kiritsugu, Saber also knew they had pitifully little intelligence on Rider's side. That seemingly boorish red-haired man had been constantly moving through the sky on the Gordius Wheel, making him difficult to track. Even the Magus Killer could do nothing about it.
It seemed Assassin had run into the same trouble as Kiritsugu. But tonight's banquet had presented the perfect opportunity for her to gather information on Rider, forcing her to abandon the disguise of her death.
Once Saber connected those dots, it became obvious who had lured that so-called "Caster's demon" here.
The little favorability Jizi had earned earlier by playing music vanished completely once Saber learned the truth. Of course, Jizi herself did not care what Saber thought of her. She would rather spend that effort raising Little Rin's favorability.
Setting aside the calculations of those watching from the sidelines, let us turn our attention to Rider, who was commanding his army against Eva-01.
Based on the information gathered from Archer's brief clash with Eva-01, this enormous monster possessed strength and speed befitting its size. It was also wrapped in a sturdy defensive barrier that only weapons with high Divinity could penetrate. Charging it head-on without thinking would certainly come at a terrible cost.
Fortunately, that monster did not seem to have much of a brain—just like the madwoman who summoned it. Jizi: "Achoo!" It acted recklessly and without any apparent thought.
And Rider's true identity was none other than the renowned military commander Alexander the Great. When it came to commanding armies, there were few within the Throne of Heroes who could stand on equal footing with him.
Moreover, the troops he commanded were his former companions, elevated to Heroic Spirits alongside him. Their loyalty was absolute, their courage unwavering, their morale high. Any order—as long as it came from their King's mouth—would be carried out with utmost efficiency.
By comparison, Rider actually held the greater advantage.
The Macedonian army advanced in neat formations, marching in unison to meet Eva-01's direct charge. The front-line soldiers were easily scattered, but once Eva-01 plunged deep into their ranks, layers of resistance slowed it down until it finally came to a halt.
Rider swiftly gave the order. Countless spears flew at Eva-01 like a swarm of locusts blotting out the sky, but they all struck the A.T. Field and failed to harm it.
"Hmm. I didn't expect its defense to be so tough."
Rider rested a hand against his chin as he pondered atop the Gordius Wheel. He had thought that if the defensive wall could block Archer's Noble Phantasms, then its coverage should be limited. Yet the A.T. Field had no blind spots and covered every direction, and its performance was extremely high. His side had no anti-Divine Noble Phantasms either... hmm?
"Speaking of Divinity—" Rider suddenly had an idea.
Eva-01's situation was not particularly good at the moment—it could even be described as utterly terrible. As for why—
Eva-01 in berserk mode had indeed displayed a certain degree of thought, but its thought process revolved around "protecting the pilot," or more narrowly, "protecting Shinji Ikari." With no pilot inside, its behavioral patterns had shifted into two modes: "attack targets displaying hostility" and "attack targets within sight," with the former taking priority.
Thus, whenever Eva-01 charged a formation, the soldiers there would cease attacking and scatter, while the formations on the opposite side would attack with all their might. It would then abandon the soldiers at its feet and charge toward the other side—repeating this cycle endlessly. Though the arrows and spears could not breach the A.T. Field, Eva-01 had no energy supply. Every action, including maintaining the A.T. Field, consumed tremendous energy—which manifested as Mana in the Type-Moon World. If it kept its defenses up while running around like this, it would probably soon cease functioning from lack of energy.
If you cannot find it by searching the book title, try searching for the author instead. It may have simply been renamed!
It was clear that the glow of the A.T. Field surrounding Eva-01 had already weakened considerably.
"Now's the chance!"
Sensing the tremendous threat, Eva-01 abandoned its pursuit of the little men beneath its feet and turned toward the source of the sound. A bull-drawn chariot crackling with lightning was charging straight down from the direction of the sun, its target Eva-01's head.
DUANG!
After a deafening impact, the A.T. Field shattered into colorful fragments that scattered away, disappearing before they reached the ground.
"ROAAAAAAR!"
Lightning born from Zeus's power struck Eva-01 directly in the head. It dropped to its knees with a pained howl, its enormous hands pounding the ground again and again, flinging up countless rocks and clumps of earth—this tantrum-like attack proved more effective than its previous reckless charges, and many soldiers were smashed into bloody pulp by massive chunks of dirt.
"Just as I thought..."
After observing Eva-01 for some time, Rider had formed a hypothesis. If attacks lacking high Divinity could not harm it, then perhaps using an even higher level of Divinity to neutralize or suppress it could produce an effective attack.
The possibility was worth trying. Rider himself possessed sufficiently high Divinity, and the divine lightning released by his chariot originated from the authority of Zeus, lord of the gods. As expected, using it to attack dealt tremendous damage in a single blow.
Yet though the attack had worked, Rider's expression only grew more severe. Eva-01, lashing out wildly in pain, had stirred up a small sandstorm across the yellow-earth plain. The blowing sand blocked his army's vision, preventing its ranged troops from continuing their assault. For the same reason, he could not blindly charge into that mass of wind and sand.
"Hmm. It was seriously wounded just now, and since it is trapped within the Reality Marble, it cannot receive Mana from its Master. If it keeps struggling for a while longer, it should destroy itself—but after boasting so grandly earlier, failing to personally finish off this monster would damage this King's prestige."
"That should be enough."
While Rider was agonizing over his image, Jizi, watching from afar, had already decided to end this farce.
In the original progression, Rider had used his Reality Marble to summon an unparalleled army and sweep away around a hundred Assassins, leaving Tokiomi shocked and deeply regretful that he had carelessly sent Assassin to her death.
But on this route, Eva-01's appearance had stolen the show. Even the invincible Golden King had suffered a hidden loss at its hands. If such a creature then lost to Rider, Tokiomi would surely gain a deeper understanding of this war.
At the very least, he would no longer think that having Archer made him invincible. At the same time, he would value Jizi's abilities more and would not casually sell her off to die.
Kirei Kotomine, who had synchronized his vision, had already reported everything to Tokiomi. Eva-01's energy was also nearly exhausted. Rather than let it be worn down and die like that, it would be better to give it a spectacular ending.
Jizi had not issued Eva-01 any orders earlier because there had been no need, not because she could not. Though its berserk state might lower its compliance rate, Jizi, as its summoner, could still influence Eva-01's actions.
"So then... the final act is about to begin. Who will claim the kill?"
"What?!"
Still considering his next move, Rider suddenly sensed a change in the battlefield.
The monster hidden within the sandstorm was no longer charging about blindly. Its movements had calmed, but not because it was exhausted. It was gathering strength, preparing to unleash a final, desperate blow.
Rider did not dare lower his guard. He hurriedly ordered his army into formation. Muscular men holding shields over two meters tall stood at the front, with spearmen and archers behind them. The moment the wind and sand cleared, a sky-filling barrage would rain down. Rider himself tightened the reins, and thunder rumbled beneath his chariot's wheels—
It was coming!
The huge figure gradually became visible through the yellow sand. At the instant before the King of Conquerors gave the order to attack, it leaped more than two hundred meters into the air. At that trajectory, it would land right behind the battlefield, where the spectators were standing!
Caught off guard by this move, Rider could not turn his chariot around in time—even if he could, Eva-01's weight combined with the immense speed of its fall would create kinetic force that no one could withstand. If the Gordius Wheel rammed into it, the result would undoubtedly be chariot and rider destroyed—though Eva-01 itself would probably be smashed to pieces as well.
Knowing it could not win, had it simply chosen a decapitation strike? Did this monster possess that level of intelligence? Or had someone given it an order? But within this sealed Reality Marble, could a command from outside really reach it?
Though Rider had many doubts, the situation did not permit careful thought. He accelerated at full speed toward the rear—not to attack Eva-01, but to save his Master.
As for everyone else, sorry. They would have to fend for themselves.
Lightning carried the chariot forward at tremendous speed, but the enormous shadow had already reached the spectators overhead. Who would be faster?
PS
PS1. As for Eva-01's combat ability, I do not think it is worth getting too hung up on it. First, this was not the real Eva-01, only a replica. It had no pilot, no power cable, and was not even fully equipped. Second, the Type-Moon World places greater emphasis on the mysterious side—what, EVA has mystery too? That is true, but it is ultimately still a product of black technology. It would suffer some disadvantages when clashing with power systems like Mana. Third, the Emperor was highly intelligent... all right, that reason is a bit forced, but it is not completely unreasonable.
As for high Divinity countering low Divinity, I made that up—though it does make sense, right?
PS2. Anyone who played multiplayer Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G and farmed Daimyo Hermitaur will understand Rider's tactic mentioned in the text.
PS3. Because UBW ended, I felt I should do something to commemorate or celebrate it, so I posted an A-route chapter... After watching the final episode, I somehow found myself with some thoughts. Maybe I will write some nonsense to share...
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