"Who the hell are you, anyway?"

Although Ruler's participation gave them a two-on-one numerical advantage on the battlefield, it was still far from enough.

Even so, they continued to challenge the Goliath-like golem.

Facing the golem's powerful gusts of wind, Saber, raising her demon sword, blocked the attack head-on. Ruler seized the opportunity to leap into the air, swinging his holy banner with all his might and striking the giant's knee. The joint shattered instantly, and the giant was forced to stagger backward.

Then, as if targeting this gap, the Noble Phantasm that had just disappeared into the distance returned to the battlefield.

Like a shooting star, the [Hrunting] left a crimson trail in the night sky, striking the golem directly in the back before emerging from its abdomen, spraying out a large amount of sand from the wound.

Before Saber and Ruler could even breathe a sigh of relief upon seeing the crumbling golem, what happened next still exceeded their expectations—

Despite having its abdomen pierced, the golem, its upper and lower bodies barely held together, swung its stone sword at Saber, who was closest to it. As Saber dodged the golem's attack, she glimpsed the scene of the golem's wound instantly healing completely.

"Healing... Magecraft...!?"

Even the usually taciturn Saber unconsciously showed a look of astonishment.

"No, that's not right. It's a blessing from the earth!"

Ruler's expression turned serious as he noticed the magic flowing from the ground towards the golem.

As "Primordial Human" with an autonomous, Reality Marble, their mere existence transforms the surrounding environment into another world.

In the amusement park, there are no people bleeding or injured. In other words, any injury he suffers would be considered as "never having existed in the first place."

"We must defeat him as soon as possible! If the surrounding environment continues to be transformed into paradise, he will become immortal!"

The amusement park currently only covers the area surrounding the Millennia Fortress, but its extent will expand over time. The larger the amusement park becomes, the more powerful the golems will grow, eventually reaching a point where even a combined attack from everyone present will be unable to reverse the situation.

"How can we defeat this thing?"

Archer's voice suddenly reached Ruler's ears.

"That golem is very similar to Servant; both rely on Spirit Core to maintain their existence. So, its heart and brain could be considered its weaknesses."

The golem's heart contains its core. That core originally belonged to a boy named Roche Freyne Yggdmillennia, and Ruler could clearly sense that the golem's magical power flowed around this core.

Furthermore, because its head also contains Spirit Core, even if the bullet only pierces the heart, it will be impossible to kill it instantly due to the Spirit Core in its head.

Even more problematic were the two feet firmly planted on the ground. The golem was constantly drawing upon the vast magical power flowing from the earth through its feet.

If it cannot be killed instantly, the blessing of the earth will heal its wounds, rendering their efforts futile. Furthermore, its regenerative abilities are increasing over time. Therefore, a swift victory is necessary to defeat it.

"So, to defeat him, we need to sever the blessing of the earth and destroy his heart and brain simultaneously? That's just too much..."

Ruler uttered words that even he himself found despairing.

The colossal golem is not only an A+ rank Anti-Army Noble Phantasm, but also a rapidly growing warrior. Attacking its three vital points simultaneously is extremely difficult.

Simply attacking won't work; you need to unleash a powerful offensive Noble Phantasm.

"So, there's still a possibility, right?"

Saber astutely spotted the flaw in Ruler's statement.

"Possible? Yes, but it's extremely difficult. Even your Noble Phantasm can only destroy one of them, can't it?"

"Yes, after the attack just now, even Archer's Noble Phantasm is now being watched closely by the enemy, so a 100% hit rate cannot be guaranteed. As you said, this is an extremely difficult battle..."

It's fair to say that the explosion of Caster, whose danger level is steadily increasing, is gradually pushing them to the brink of destruction. As time goes on, the chances of victory are decreasing until they are finally helpless.

"Then let me buy you some time to consider a solution."

"... Saber, what did you say?!"

Ruler could hardly believe his ears. Fighting a golem alone? Even if he was a great hero, it was far too presumptuous.

Saber walked up to the golem alone, raising the demon sword in her hand. "Rest assured, it's nothing compared to Fafnir."

"... Understood, then please hang in there a little longer."

Seeing Saber's resolute back, Ruler, who had no time to think further, nodded and stepped back, while Saber took a step forward.

Using swordsmanship honed on the battlefield, Saber parried the golem's reckless swing. The stone sword, having missed its target, slammed into the ground about two meters away from Saber, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The golem was clearly not discouraged by this defeat.

The raging attack was no longer aimed at Saber alone; instead, it shifted its target with an aura of intent to destroy everything in its path.

The earth groaned, trees were torn apart, the ground collapsed, and hard boulders were reduced to scattered pebbles.

After an unknown amount of time, the golem stopped its attack to check on Saber's condition.

The cool night breeze quickly dispersed the dust that had been obscuring their vision, but once the obstacle was gone, neither the golem nor Caster, who was inside the golem, could find Saber.

Where is he? Is he buried underground? Or has he already returned to the Throne of Heroes?

Things certainly didn't turn out the way Caster had predicted.

This level of attack is insufficient to defeat a dragon-slaying hero, especially since Saber was not harmed by the puppet's attack at all.

Amidst the ferocious destruction before the golem, Saber used the smoke and dust to plunge her demonic sword into the golem's stone sword, and then used that as a foothold to leap to a position beyond the reach of the stone sword.

Now, taking advantage of the golem's momentary pause, Saber, having kicked away the stone sword, leaped in front of the golem. Without uttering a word, the twilight-colored magical energy released from her unleashed Noble Phantasm instantly illuminated half the sky.

"--[Fantasy Greatsword: Balmung]!"

The demonic sword, amplified by the strike, released the True Ether hidden within its hilt, transforming it into a twilight-colored sword aura that instantly shattered the head of the golem right before them.

Even with its head destroyed, the golem, which had begun to sway, did not fall. Instead, it raised its other hand, which was not holding the stone sword, and smashed it directly at Saber, who was in a dazed state due to the release of her Noble Phantasm. By this time, the golem's head had been mostly repaired.

"As expected, attacks that only damage the head have no effect."

Saber, who had been slammed to the ground, stood up nonchalantly. By the time he raised his greatsword again, the golem's head had already regenerated.

"As expected, my [Adam] is no match for you, Saber."

Caster's voice suddenly echoed across the battlefield.

"So please don't blame my methods; I was just making a reasonable judgment based on [victory]."

As soon as the words were spoken, the golem, which had intended to continue its attack on Saber, suddenly changed its course. It seemed to have changed its target under Caster's command.

The golem leaped over Saber's head and headed towards the Millennia Fortress behind her.

"... What is he going to do?"

Not only Saber, but everyone present who witnessed this scene shared the same question, except for one person—

"Stop it, Archer!"

Fiore's voice rang out, but it was too late. The giant possessed an undeniable speed, and its enormous size combined with its stride made it difficult to keep up.

Under the previous massive attack by the Red Faction, the barrier Millennia Fortress had been completely destroyed, leaving the entire fortress exposed to the golem like a naked girl. When the golem arrived at the Millennia Fortress, it disregarded everything and directly raised the stone sword in its hand, plunging it fiercely into the interior of the fortress.

At the same time, the sniper shots from Chiron all landed on the golem!

But--

"Hmm?"

Saber, who was chasing the golem, suddenly slowed down, and a hint of surprise finally appeared on her face, which had remained unchanged even when facing the golem.

"Is mana supply becoming difficult? If so, then I have achieved my goal."

Caster's voice rang in her ears again, and Saber looked up to find the puppet had reappeared before her. Its towering figure resembled Goliath, the giant with boundless power described in the Bible.

(The protagonist is going to show off in the next chapter!)

Chapter 254. "Who exactly are you, you rascal?"

As the smoke cleared, the damage to the puppet from the previous attack by Chiron had been fully healed. Seeing that Siegfried's pursuit of it had suddenly slowed down, Caster inside the puppet nodded slightly.

"Is the supply of magic power becoming difficult? That means I've achieved my goal."

Caster's previous manipulation of the golem to attack the Millennia Fortress was not a reckless outburst of emotion. What seemed like a nonsensical act was actually intended to destroy the Black faction's trump card.

That was one of the "secret weapons" prepared by the [Black] faction to win this Holy Grail War.

The idea was to use the magical energy within the android's body as a "battery" to supply the [Black] faction's Servant to break free from the Master's limitations and unleash their full potential. However, now that Avicebron has directly destroyed the reservoir, the damaged "battery" can no longer provide magical energy to the [Black] faction's Servant as effectively as before.

In other words, all Master in the [Black] faction now need to provide their contracted Servant with the magical energy to sustain themselves and fight.

After destroying the Millennia Fortress, the puppet began to survey its surroundings, finally fixing its gaze on Fiore, who had just escaped to the vicinity.

Immediately afterwards, the puppet raised its right hand—the very weapon that had just destroyed the Millennia Fortress.

"...!!"

Fiore was completely stunned. At this moment, the puppet was radiating unmistakable killing intent. As a "spectator" who had witnessed the puppet's battle up close, she knew all too well the power it had displayed—a mere mortal like herself would have absolutely no chance of withstanding this attack from the puppet.

"This is terrible! Don't just stand there, run!"

Rider grabbed the stunned Fiore by the shoulder, used the collapsing city wall as a fulcrum, and jumped down without hesitation.

To the east of the Millennia Fortress lies a towering cliff. Jumping off the wall would result in a fall of over a hundred meters.

"Have you considered mitigating the impact of falling from such a height, Rider!?"

A biting wind swept past her, and Fiore, regaining her senses, protested vehemently. Rider, however, smiled confidently.

"Of course! Alright, come on, Hippogriff!"

As it hurtled through the air, a sword reflecting a black luster suddenly appeared in front of the path that the Hippogriff, which was originally intended to carry Rider and Fiore who were in freefall, was about to take.

"It's no use."

"Huh... huh...?"

Rider and Fiore witnessed the Hippogriff, unable to change its flight path in time, crash head-on into the puppet's weapon. With a piercing scream, the already wounded Hippogriff fell vertically to the ground without any struggle.

As a price—no, perhaps nothing at all—the stone sword that had been broken by the Hippogriff had been restored.

Caster, who had already discovered that Rider would use the Hippogriff to escape the battlefield, was naturally on guard against this move. After dealing with the Hippogriff, Caster stopped paying attention to Rider and Fiore's situation.

A cliff hundreds of meters high—even Servant jumping from that height would not be safe, let alone Fiore had already lost the ability to walk.

The puppet, having shifted its focus, quickly locked its gaze on Gordes, the Master of Siegfried, who was preparing to flee not far away.

"Help... help me... help me, Saber!"

Upon seeing the giant puppet approaching, Gordes turned and quickened his pace, trying to escape its attack range. However, perhaps due to his haste, Gordes tripped over a stone that suddenly appeared under his feet, causing his obese body to tumble and fall several times on the ground before landing some distance away.

Gordes sat up from the ground. Watching the puppet draw ever closer, his heart filled with terror, he disregarded his physical pain and the preciousness of the Command Spell, and summoned his Servant: "In the name of the Command Spell— "

"It's no use."

At this moment, Caster, absorbed into the golem's body, looked at Gordes beneath the golem, attempting to summon Saber, and felt an unwavering certainty—

My attack will end this fat man's life before he can even finish reciting his Command Spell.

Upon discovering that he possessed the opportunity to personally eliminate [Black] Siegfried side, from the Holy Grail War, even Avicebron, with his untroubled nature, couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement.

"It's over..."

At that moment, Siegfried arrived just in time behind the puppet.

"Let's leave here, Saber!"

At Caster's command, the puppet unleashed its attack—a shockwave, a deafening roar, and the air vibrated as remnants of magic scattered around.

In that instant, everyone on the battlefield focused their attention on the enormous figure that was faintly visible amidst the smoke and dust.

"That was close, we almost missed it!"

At that moment, a sigh of relief came from beneath the puppet's stone sword, leaving everyone present utterly astonished. But the one who was most terrified at that moment was probably Avicebron.

"How... is this possible..."

The tangible sensation emanating from the puppet made Caster realize one thing: [Adam's ] attack had been blocked.

As the roaring began to subside and the dust gradually dissipated, the enormous figure of the puppet became clear, and at the same time, it revealed itself...

Gordes's obese figure remained slumped on the ground, his posture completely at odds with the elegance he proclaimed as Magecraft, but at least he was unharmed.

The stone sword that the puppet had previously swung was blocked in front of Gordes.

"Caster's... Master?"

Directly beneath the stone sword stood Wang Xiaoming, who had deflected the attack with his spear. Although the ground beneath his feet had been cracked by the impact of the previous strike.