Ancient Starlight-The Fierce Battle Continues!

"Clap, clap, clap..."

Amid a round of applause,

"Just as expected of Kotomine Kirei. You actually noticed me?"

At the same time, within the forest, the wounded Risei Kirei staggered through the gap Lorelei and Rin had blasted open and arrived near Rin.

"Rin!"

Hearing the call, Rin hurriedly turned toward its source. When she saw Risei Kirei covered in wounds, she ran over in shock and supported him.

"Grandpa Risei? What happened to you?!"

"Cough, cough, cough. Long story short, Rin, get back to the train. Someone attacked me on the first day, stole the Holy Relic I recently found in Ireland, and summoned a Servant! I've been imprisoned by him for two days. I only managed to escape while he was away just now."

"What?! No wonder I haven't seen you these past two days, Grandpa Risei."

At that moment, Lorelei noticed the commotion on Rin's side as well. She turned and walked over to ask.

"Rin, what happened?"

"Lorelei, I'm afraid I won't have time to help you eliminate the Child of Phul next. Grandpa Risei brought news—someone on the train summoned a Servant. I have to get back now. Sakura and Fujino are in danger!"

Lorelei nodded upon hearing that. A magecraft circle flashed in her hand, producing a small vial of medicine, which she handed to Rin.

"Mm, go back first. Once I eliminate the Child of Phul, I'll immediately return to help you. This is a secret medicine of the Bartholomello family. It replenishes magical energy. Take it."

Looking at Lorelei, who proudly handed her the medicine as though granting a favor, Rin did not fuss over it. She knew Lorelei was being tsundere again. After casually taking out a gemstone and handing it to Risei Kirei, she rushed toward the train without looking back.

"Grandpa Risei, crush that gemstone. It can create a temple that will last for half an hour..."

Risei Kirei held the gemstone and blankly watched Rin and Lorelei depart in opposite directions. Hearing Rin's voice carried on the wind, he unhesitatingly smashed the gemstone against a nearby rock.

Kotomine Kirei looked at Dr. Heartless before him and revealed a mocking smile.

"Dr. Heartless, will you come with me, or shall I cut off your limbs and take you with me?"

Hearing Kotomine Kirei's words, Dr. Heartless merely shrugged silently, then turned to look in the direction where the fire giant had vanished.

"It seems you've made your choice!"

As he spoke, Kotomine Kirei took a test tube from his pocket and casually tossed it onto the ground.

Moon Cell Essence, Kotomine Kirei's supreme Mystic Code, flowed out from the test tube.

At the same time, Lainas beside him also unfolded a magecraft circle and took a suitcase from within it. As the suitcase opened, Trimurti, a variant of Moon Cell Essence, transformed into a humanoid maid and appeared at Lainas's side.

"Slash!"

The mercury beneath Kotomine Kirei's feet extended at his shout, transforming into a sharp blade that slashed toward Dr. Heartless. At the same time, Trimurti followed Lainas's will and arrived behind Dr. Heartless, sealing off his retreat.

Facing the Moon Cell Essence slashing toward him, Dr. Heartless stood there without the slightest concern, as though he had completely given up resisting.

Suddenly, an extraordinarily long spear appeared out of nowhere. Sparks flew as it blocked the attack for Dr. Heartless.

Kotomine Kirei narrowed his eyes at the suddenly appearing figure. Tall and powerfully built, the man wore pitch-black armor, while dark-red magic patterns covered his exposed skin. His frenzied expression, paired with his snow-white hair, made him look even more savage and demonic.

Kotomine Kirei vaguely had an answer in mind, but he had no idea who the man before him was. However, if Rin had been here, she would certainly have recognized him through that spear.

This Servant was Finn MacCool, descendant of Nuada, the Celtic god of war, and commander of the glorious Fianna Knights. As Ireland's protector, he had defeated countless invaders and monsters, creating numerous heroic legends. His status was sufficient to place him alongside Celtic's great hero, the Child of Light, Cú Chulainn.

"Oh? So this is a Servant?"

A voice suddenly entered the battlefield. Lord of Celestial Mechanics Marisbury looked at the Servant before him and walked off the train into the battlefield without hesitation.

"Marisbury, are you interested in Dr. Heartless too?"

"No, Kotomine Kirei. I'm interested in this Servant."

"Then Dr. Heartless is mine, and this Servant is yours."

In just a few words, the two Lords decided the fate of the master and Servant before them as casually as if dividing a dish. Indeed, the pseudo Holy Grail War had been held many times over the years, and the strength of many Servants summoned in such wars was well established. Under normal circumstances, a Color rank Magus was generally enough to contend with an ordinary Servant appearing in a pseudo Holy Grail War.

What the two men, who regarded Finn as a Servant from a pseudo Holy Grail War, did not know was that he was no ordinary Servant in their understanding. After Aiga's enhancement, he was worlds apart from the Servants that appeared in pseudo Holy Grail Wars.

Section 74: Chapter 72: Ancient Starlight—The Fierce Battle Continues! (Please Subscribe!)

Looking at the spear that had pierced through Moon Cell Essence, Kotomine Kirei could not help muttering.

"No. Something's wrong with this guy! Lainas, get away!"

Kotomine Kirei clutched his pierced arm and used Moon Cell Essence to move beside Marisbury.

"This guy isn't right. His strength is almost comparable to the Servant I encountered in Fuyuki City back then. Be careful, Marisbury."

Marisbury nodded calmly, then controlled several fist-sized iron meteorites floating behind him. They bypassed Finn and shot toward Dr. Heartless behind him.

Although Aiga's enhancement had stripped Finn of his consciousness and plunged him into complete madness, his battle instincts, forged through countless fights, remained. He leaped up in an instant and effortlessly swung his spear, knocking all the meteorites away.

"Spear of Venus!"

At that moment, Rin, who had unfolded her Starlight Form and been waiting nearby for an opportunity, finally found one. Without hesitation, she gathered starlight into a spear of light and launched a fatal strike at Finn's head!

As the Spear of Venus struck Finn's head, Finn fell to the ground.

Rin patted her chest and let out a long breath.

"Thank goodness it's only a pseudo Holy Grail War. They actually summoned even Finn. Seriously, good thing he's a Berserker-class Servant with no reason left."

Rin mistakenly believed Finn to be a Berserker-class Servant summoned by the pseudo Holy Grail War.

Dr. Heartless walked over to Finn's "corpse" with a smile and revealed the Command Spells on his hand.

"Finn, use your Noble Phantasm."

These many lives gathered in the palm of this hand! The water scooped up by Finn's hand was said to possess astonishing healing power—this very legend became a Noble Phantasm, activated by Dr. Heartless's Command Spell.

As the Noble Phantasm activated, the wound on Finn's head healed instantly. He rose again and let out a wild roar at Rin.

"Please continue the battle, you two Lords, and Rin Tohsaka."

"Damn it!"

Rin barely dodged Finn's attack, then swiftly rose into the sky. Her expression darkened as she watched Finn charge toward Kotomine Kirei and Marisbury below.

Just as Finn's spear was about to pierce Kotomine Kirei again, Lainas, standing by the train door, poured most of her magical energy into Trimurti. Trimurti instantly accelerated and blocked the strike at the very moment the spear was about to penetrate Kotomine Kirei.

"Oh, little girl, then you should leave the stage first."

Dr. Heartless smiled at Lainas, but the words he spoke were deadly.

Following Dr. Heartless's words, the withered trees nearby came alive. Countless branches thrust toward Lainas.

Inside the cab of the Mystic Eye Collection Train, the acting train manager, a direct subordinate of the True Ancestor Rojestian, looked at the conductor and auctioneer.

"They're trying to damage the train again, these people! Leondra, Roden, from now on, anyone who attacks the train is our enemy!"

Lainas leaned against the train door, helplessly raising her hands in a futile attempt to comfort herself. Yet she knew that her fate would soon be the same as those people she had previously mentioned who had committed suicide.

At that critical moment, the train's suddenly deployed defensive magecraft bought Rin precious time. Rin dove down from the sky at high speed and arrived before Lainas at the instant the train's magecraft barrier shattered.

"Ancient Starlight—Wings of Light Deploy!"

Hundreds of beams of light collided with hundreds of branches. The powerful, ancient starlight instantly suppressed the Child of Phul, not only shattering the branches but also pulverizing a vast stretch of withered forest around them.

This was the suppression of "Mystery" brought about by Rin's complete Starlight Mode. Using an idea proposed by Da Vinci, a scientific genius, she collected the ancient light emitted by distant stars, allowing Rin's "Mystery" to rise to a level comparable to the Age of Gods!

Rin turned around and jokingly said to Lainas behind her.

"Lainas, I spent more than half a year saving up this starlight. How are you planning to compensate me?"

Still shaken, Lainas looked at the withered forest Rin had pulverized and gave her a grateful look.

"Thank you, Rin!"

"You're welcome. I'm going to help Kotomine Kirei and the others. Take care of yourself."

When Da Vinci had first proposed the idea, it truly took more than half a year to accumulate enough starlight for one strike. But as Rin improved, it now took only about a week to store enough for one attack.

Rin took out the secret medicine Lorelei had given her and drank it in one gulp, then flew toward Kotomine Kirei and Marisbury. Da Vinci really is a person who can do anything!

Kotomine Kirei controlled Moon Cell Essence through his Magecraft Crest while connecting his magical energy to Trimurti. Controlling both Mystic Codes at once, he struggled to hold back Finn's attack.

"Marisbury, are you done yet?! I can't hold out much longer!"

Marisbury raised both hands and unfolded a magecraft circle, continuously chanting an incantation made up of Latin.

"I'm done. Let the stars fall!"

The sky instantly darkened. Stars shone brightly across the heavens, like Van Gogh's starry night. Then Magic Bullets formed from starlight descended toward the ground one after another.

At the same time, Rin coordinated with Marisbury's Great Magecraft and activated Wings of Light Deploy.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

As the Magic Bullets struck the ground, countless withered trees ignited. Finn returned to Dr. Heartless's side, struggling with all his might to block the Magic Bullets falling from the sky and the attacks from Rin's Wings of Light.

As the smoke cleared, surprise appeared on Kotomine Kirei's face, slightly pale from blood loss. Looking at the unharmed Finn, he shouted.

"How is this possible? How can a mere pseudo-Servant take a Great Magecraft head-on without a scratch?!"

"Kotomine Kirei, I'm afraid this isn't a pseudo-Servant. I don't know what method that man used, but Finn's Spirit Origin has definitely been enhanced!"

Marisbury turned his head to look at Rin in midair.

"Then this is a true Servant?"

"I don't know either. Maybe he's something between a pseudo-Servant and a Servant."

After taking the time to stop the bleeding in his arm, Kotomine Kirei asked Rin.

"Rin, can you buy me some time?"

"No problem!"

After answering Kotomine Kirei, Rin summoned a Flame Sword in her hand and dove toward Finn. With a flick of the blade, she thrust at Finn's heart. Marisbury also raised his hand and chanted more than three sections of Magic Bullets, firing them at Finn.

Kotomine Kirei removed his glove. Magecraft light shone in his hand, then he thrust that hand into the ground and began chanting without pause.

Rin's Flame Sword was easily shattered by Finn, who then kicked her away and dragged Dr. Heartless aside to evade the incoming Magic Bullets.

Rin climbed up from the ground, glanced behind her at one wing that had been shattered while blocking Finn's kick, and complained.

"This is completely unscientific! He's lost all reason, so why are his martial skills still this strong?"

After venting her complaint, Rin used magical energy to restore her Wings of Light. Then, with a flap of her wings, she formed two Flame Swords in her hands and charged at Finn.

Meanwhile, Kotomine Kirei was crouched on the ground, covered in sweat and chanting with intense concentration. However, this Great Magecraft required him to be in peak condition to cast. After the consecutive fierce battles, his magical energy was already far from intact.

At that moment, Lainas also recognized Kotomine Kirei's condition. Summoning her courage, she walked to his side, placed a hand on his shoulder, and sent her magical energy into his body.

"Thank you! Lainas, take this, Dr. Heartless..."

Chapter 73: Kotomine Kirei's Great Magecraft! (Please Subscribe!)

"Mercury!"

Mercury was a word that represented not only quicksilver and the planet Mercury in English, but also the Roman god of messengers, livestock, thieves, commerce, transportation, travel, and sports—one of the twelve chief Roman gods.

With Kotomine Kirei's loud shout, a massive pillar of mercury erupted from the ground behind Finn. Then, with lightning speed, two enormous pythons formed from mercury tightly bound Finn to the mercury pillar.

Legend had it that Mercury once threw his staff between two snakes that were biting each other, causing them to reconcile immediately. Thus, the Double Serpent Staff was regarded as a symbol of communication and reconciliation. It also symbolized that in business, there were no eternal friends or eternal enemies, only eternal interests. In the West, people believed the Double Serpent Staff could make business negotiations proceed more smoothly and ease conflicts between both sides.

A flash of magecraft radiance passed over Finn's body. The Double Serpent Staff turned back into mercury and returned to the earth, yet Finn remained frozen in place, utterly motionless, as if he had been completely hypnotized.

This was the beginning of the true effect of Kotomine Kirei's Great Magecraft, which borrowed the concept of Roman mythology to recreate the staff of the divine messenger.