The clash of blades grew dim

After the collision of two meteors, one emerald and the other sky blue --

"This is the result of challenging the king, do you understand, Rider?"

Vimana no longer possessed the dazzling splendor of its earlier appearance. Its golden throne bore countless charred scars, and its green wings were also severely damaged. The entire aircraft trembled precariously as it floated in the sky, seemingly unable to maintain its balance.

But regardless, it and its owner are indeed still flying, while on the other side—

The Gordius Wheel of the chariot was now lying on its side on the ground. The Divine Bull that pulled the chariot was not dead, but it had lost its vitality and collapsed helplessly on the sand. Its master, Rider, was bound by several chains that extended from the Yuan Sect and fixed in the air in front of Vimana.

Even though he was bound, Rider struggled incessantly, trying to sever the Chains of Heaven with his sword. However, while the sword was a formidable weapon, it was not a Noble Phantasm imbued with mystique by the world. Archer casually waved his hand, and a Chains of Heaven wrapped around the sword, then tightened its grip. After holding on for only a few seconds, the sword was shredded into pieces, scattering across the earth.

"Your invincible army has been defeated by me, your proud chariots have been shot down by me, and your last weapon has been destroyed by me," Archer rose from his throne as if showing off his victory, strolled leisurely to the edge of Vimana, and met Rider's gaze, saying, "Do you have any more tricks to play to please him?"

"Cough cough," Rider, who had been severely injured in the previous impact, coughed up several mouthfuls of blood. "Hehe, as expected of the strongest Heroic Spirit, he's incredibly powerful."

"Only now do you understand this?" Archer said with an air of self-righteousness. "It's not too late. As a thief I personally judged, you should feel honored."

The Ea was raised, its strangely shaped tip pressed against Rider's heart. With just one more push, this man who had pursued his dream his whole life, even continuing it after death, would vanish.

"Haha," Rider suddenly laughed, as if he was about to say something. Arhcer's movements slowed down as well, because in his eyes, Rider, who was tightly bound by the Chains of Heaven, was already a dead man. His high level of Divinity made it impossible for him to break free. Since that was the case, perhaps the king could bestow some grace and hear what his last words were.

"Your strength, King of Heroes of Babylon, is only your own strength," Rider said, spitting out the blood from his mouth. "A king is meant to lead a nation; if you move too fast, how can others keep up?"

"I thought you were going to say something," Archer sneered, "Those who can't keep up with me are nothing but lowly bastards. My kingdom has no place for incompetents!"

"Besides," Archer changed the subject, "Even if you have a group of subordinates who can keep up, so what?"

Indeed, at this moment, the Army of the King was reduced to only a few remnants, and the desert stained red with blood was silently proclaiming the archer's victory and power.

"There are some things that are difficult for one person to do." Rider gave a cryptic smile.

"Then let your army help you out of your current predicament, huh? They can barely stand up now."

"My army is not just this Noble Phantasm," Rider's smile widened, an expression usually reserved for those who had successfully pulled off a prank. "Even in this era, there are still those with the ambition to answer Macedonia's call to arms!"

"What?"

Archer was startled by this, realizing that Rider, the seemingly useless master, was still missing. He hadn't been captured like Rider, nor had he fallen with the chariot. Since Rider was still alive, it meant he couldn't be dead either. So—

"In the name of the Command Seals! Rider, come to my side!"

A trembling yet resolute voice rang out behind Archer. It was Weber-Velvet. After that earth-shattering clash, Rider, knowing he had lost, had thrown him away to avoid being captured like himself. The direction of the throw was Vimana's flank.

Because Vimana's wingspan was quite large, a large portion of them were in the Archer's blind spot, who was always seated on the throne. Besides, the Golden King, who was focused entirely on the Rider, had no time to pay attention to this mortal mongrel whose name he still didn't know.

So Weber, clinging tightly to Vimana's wings—thanks to its complex design with many protrusions and supports for support—forcefully suppressed his fear and slowly climbed up from behind the throne. Then, taking advantage of Rider's distraction of Archer, he came behind him and activated the Command Seals.

As is well known, Command Seals have the ability to force Servants to execute commands. If used properly, they can even enable Servants to perform actions that are otherwise impossible, such as teleportation.

However, spatial movement also has prerequisites, namely, there must be a clear coordinate indicator. For example, issuing a command such as "appear in Moscow" with Command Seals is mostly impossible, not because of the distance, but because the place name "Moscow" is a vague concept for the mater.

The phrase "Come to me" is completely different. Magecraft relies on self-suggestion, so for Magecraft, "self" is the concept they understand best, making it the perfect guiding light. (①)

The Command Seals clearly performed its function. In a flash of red light, Rider, who was originally bound to the Chains of Heaven, was directly teleported to Weber's side—that is, behind Archer!

With his back completely exposed to the enemy, Archer remained calm. So what if he broke the Chains of Heaven? Leaving aside the question of how much fighting power the heavily wounded Rider possessed, his weapons were already destroyed. Did he intend to shatter his golden armor with his bare fists? What a joke! Being injured by lightning was unavoidable, but if it couldn't even withstand a fist, how could Archer have chosen this armor from among his countless treasures as his battle suit?

So many thoughts raced through his mind, but it was all in a split second. Archer only paused for a moment before turning his head away—he was going to finish off his opponent now. As for that master, considering he managed to surprise him one last time, he would grant him the honor of dying at the hands of a king.

"In the name of the Command Seals! Rider, attack with full force!"

Still fighting to the death? Too bad, it's futile.

"What?"

As Archer turned his head, what came into view was a long Red Spear!

------------------Sometime before--------------------

"Lancer, consider this arm my trophy. If you want to take it, you'll have to pay a price."

"..."

"I don't want to put you in a difficult position, so let's exchange it for that red brush—cough cough, I mean, the Gae Dearg."

"..."

"What are you hesitating for? This is your last Command Seals. I can easily make you commit suicide. As for weapons, don't you still have the Yellow Brush—I mean, the Gae Buidhe? Which has greater strategic value, the Command Seals or the gun? I'm making a losing deal."

"..."

"Well then, you voluntarily relinquish ownership of this Noble Phantasm, and I will hand over this arm inscribed with Command Seals to you. The contract is complete."

------------------Now-----------------------

The crimson spear tip pierced Archer's heart; the armor was like a sheet of paper to it, having no effect whatsoever.

To ensure he had knocked down his opponent, Rider rotated the gun barrel with both hands before quickly drawing it.

"Sizzle!"

Blood gushed out, splattering the golden armor, Vimana, and even the nearby Rider with the blood of the King of Heroes and primordial Heroic Spirit —the noblest blood in the world.

Now it seems, she's no different from anyone else.

The hand that held the Ea fell limply to its side, and the divine sword that had split the heavens and the earth fell down onto Vimana.

"I have won, King of Heroes."

"My army and I defeated you."

Rider declared victory over Arcehr twice.

After being pierced through the heart and twisted several times, with his lungs shattered, Archer was unable to utter a word. He could only barely maintain his posture—a king cannot bow down to anyone!

As its master's life force was drained, Vimana also began to collapse. The initial trembling had now turned into a shaking comparable to an earthquake. Weber could only hold onto Rider's clothes to keep himself from falling.

"After finally defeating the strongest enemy, are you going to be thrown to your death? This ending is just too..."

Just as this thought popped into Weber's mind, Vimana's collapse suddenly slowed down and began to gradually decrease in height until it was to the point where he would not be injured even if he jumped.

Could it be Archer? Blocked by Rider's body, Weber couldn't see Archer and didn't know what kind of eye contact they exchanged at the last moment. In the end, Archer used his last strength to control Vimana, allowing his side to land safely.

"He has this side to him too..."

After Weber and Rider left, Vimana, along with his master, turned into golden particles and dissipated into light.

"We won, Rider."

"Yes, we won."

"But why do I feel it's a bit of a pity that Archer died like that?"

"Because you can finally feel the aura of a king, you can also recognize his demeanor and bearing as a king."

"And you?"

"... We still have to set off after a short rest; the Holy Grail War isn't over yet."

------------------Almost simultaneously--------------

Arhcer is dead!

This information traveled through the Command Seals to Tokiomi's brain, causing a shock that completely dissipated his mental state. Not only did his attacks miss, but the binding barrier also weakened.

How could this be? How could the foremost Heroic Spirit lose? If he lost, how strong must his opponent be? Can I win? No, I'm no longer a Master after losing my Servant, which means the Holy Grail is out of my reach?

Taking advantage of this opportunity Kariya Matou had broken free of his restraints, rushed towards Tokiomi.

------Notes-------

① I made this up because I thought it made a little more sense. Otherwise, during battle, if the Master just used Command Seals to order "appear behind the opponent," wouldn't close-combat types like Saber and Lancer easily defeat Archer, Caster, and Rider, who rely on range and mobility? As for why the Qiegao for a character) could make Saber appear next to Irisviel, I think it's because Alice is the most important person to him, so he devoted a lot of attention to her.

------------------ps---------------------

P. S. 1. I really tried my best to make Rider's victory seem more believable.

P. S. 2. Please, no more obsession with historical accuracy. Don't get hung up on whether Heroic Spirit can switch Noble Phantasm —there are examples of this in the original work, like Saber's Avalon, and Shirou's Projection of the Caliburn and Excalibur could also be considered, right?

P. S. 3. Personally, I think Gilgamesh would still show respect to anyone who could defeat him, so his final actions weren't surprising, right? Besides, he wouldn't stoop to a mutually destructive fighting style.

P. S. 4. But since there's absolutely no traffic and nobody reads it anyway, the explanations above are meaningless... I guess I'm just trying to convince myself.

---------------Behind the Scenes------------

Director Luo: Jizi, you've made your appearance.

Jizi: Damn, it's only four sentences in total, and it's a flashback.

Director Luo: But your role is significant. Your presence directly or indirectly changed the entire plot, didn't it? So although you have few scenes, they are substantial.

Jizi: But if I don't appear on screen, I won't get any popularity!

Director Luo:... Let's not talk about popularity, we can still be friends.