"My hand..."
"My King's power..."
"What's going on? Why aren't you dead? Why have the Command Spells failed?!"
"Oh?"
Medea adorably tilted her head, then curled her lips into a captivating smile.
"What a foolish Master. You clearly knew that I am the Witch of Betrayal."
"The Noble Phantasm born from the legends of my life naturally possesses the power to slay its Master."
"Rule Breaker...?!"
Akihito Tomoya was utterly horrified. A Servant could actually use a Noble Phantasm to sever the contract of the Holy Grail.
This was practically impossible, something that defied causality...
What was more, once the contract was broken, a Servant without a supply of magical energy would quickly vanish. For a Servant, this was no different from suicide.
How could such a thing be possible...
"Heh... Hahahahaha...!"
The Witch of Betrayal burst into wild laughter, her unrestrained voice echoing between heaven and earth.
It was filled with the release of long-suppressed hatred, along with traces of desolate anguish.
No one in this world knew me,
Nor did anyone believe me.
The past was like a dream; yesterday was no more.
A lonely, forsaken soul drifted through a foreign land, rootless as duckweed.
Only sorrow was most tormenting, returning to cling to me once more.
Suddenly, a mournful BGM melody began to play, drifting across the entire world.
She grieved. She hummed softly...
Singing a song that no one knew.
"The pain dwelling in my heart made me accept surrender~"
"In the cycle bearing betrayal's name, black flowers bloomed~"
"Sin silently fell into depths both profound and sweet~"
"My heart was branded by wavering flames~"
"Chains that lured forth darkness~"
"I was tightly bound by the same fate~"
"Where deceiving eyes gazed~"
"I fell into sorrow, only to be saved by tenderness~"
"Tearing apart tangled threads, controlled by my hand~"
"A smile that punished crimson lips~"
"A wish like a prayer wept at the edge of the sky~"
"A pact that lured forth darkness~"
"I was firmly bound by endless pain~"
"From the moment I found the truth until now~"
"Chains that lured forth darkness~"
"I was tightly bound by the same fate~"
"Where deceiving eyes gazed~"
The entire world fell silent. Beneath this heartrending elegy, people parted their lips, yet found themselves unable to speak.
Words rose to their throats but went unspoken; silent thunder roared in their hearts.
The beautiful notes seemed almost tangible, as though played by some unknown ancient instrument. They carried the primordial charm unique to Ancient Greek mythology, as if delicate flowers wept pearls and a witch shed tears, weaving together a song of despair.
Listening closely, it unexpectedly recounted the miserable life of the Princess of Colchis.
Within the Heavenly Curtain, the Witch of Betrayal appeared to be smiling like a blooming flower, yet inwardly she was covering her face and sobbing in despair.
People covered their faces in distress, unable to bear watching. No matter how many times they saw it, their hearts trembled violently.
"Sister Medea's life... is truly heartbreaking."
A white-haired little girl whose eyes had been filled with lead by her mother lowered her head and sighed sorrowfully.
"The past cannot be painted in full, the future cannot be seen. Only a secluded dream remains to wound the heart."
The great writer Dazai Osamu sighed with emotion.
"Akihito Tomoya deserves to die!!"
The famous star Saito Asuka was puffing out her cheeks in anger, her tiny jade-like feet stomping wildly against the ground.
Amid everyone's sympathetic condemnation, Akihito Tomoya had become the enemy of the entire world.
The scene continued...
An extremely unwilling roar from a man rang out through the Heavenly Curtain.
"No, I absolutely cannot die here! My grand ambitions have yet to be fulfilled!"
Akihito Tomoya wore a vicious expression as he pulled out a button capable of detonating the entire magecraft stronghold.
"BOOM!!"
A roar like a nuclear explosion erupted, and surging flames lit up the heavens and earth.
Smoke billowed, rubble shot through the air, and the grand, magnificent complex collapsed with a thunderous crash.
The magecraft stronghold that had once been able to contend with the Three Knight Classes vanished in an instant.
Taking advantage of the chaos, he gritted his teeth, clutched his bloody severed arm, reinforced himself with Enhancement Magecraft, and sprinted toward the cellar.
As long as he lived, there was hope...
He was Akihito Tomoya, a mage from the long-inherited Aki family.
Though the family had declined, it still possessed quite a bit of accumulated foundation.
Life was bold and unconstrained. At worst, he could start over from the beginning!!
(Note: Aki Province was one of ancient Japan's administrative provinces, belonging to the San'yodo region and also known as Geishu. Its territory was roughly equivalent to western Hiroshima Prefecture.)
"Oh? So he's from an old family."
Yan Shuangying rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
If the Aki family had not fallen into decline, would Akihito Tomoya still have harmed others for money?
But after a while, he shook his head.
How could someone like Akihito Tomoya ever change?
Only death awaited him!
Medea watched that retreating figure gradually disappear, a faint smile touching her lips.
She was calm and unhurried, utterly composed.
There was an unbridgeable gap between humans and Heroic Spirits, as distant as clouds from mud.
No matter how many methods he had to preserve his life, he could not escape her grasp.
"Crack—."
Tatsuya Ando dashed into the pitch-black underground temple, pulled out a lighter and ignited it. His expression was still somewhat panicked as he ran wildly, breathing hard.
This was an enclosed space like a maze, filled with countless hollowed passageways.
Under the flickering firelight, ancient murals emerged across the surrounding stone walls.
They seemed to sing of the stories of Ancient Greek heroes, overflowing with an ancient and desolate aura that made one's scalp tingle and heart shudder.
"Damn it..."
"The Holy Grail War hasn't even begun. I haven't even gone through a single battle..."
"Why am I so unlucky? Why did I summon such a traitorous thing?"
Within the underground cavern, Akihito Tomoya ran frantically while continuing to curse without the slightest remorse.
He deeply regretted summoning Caster.
If he had gone to the Holy Church earlier and formed a contract with that noble King of Heroes, he would probably have already ruled the world!
It was all Medea's fault. If she had obediently accepted death, he would not have ended up in such a miserable state.
Suddenly, a faint breeze stirred.
—The flame lighting his path went out, and the cavern fell into darkness once again.
Akihito Tomoya was still trembling with fear. Panting heavily, he pressed his back against the mural.
"Click... click-click-click..."
Amid frantic clicking, the flame rose again, illuminating a horrifying sight. The Ancient Greek mural behind him depicted a witch holding a bloodstained dagger, staring down at him with a gloomy expression.
The scene was so lifelike that it carried a suffocating sense of being trapped in a cycle of reincarnation.
It was as though, across thousands of years, an ancient witch was passing judgment upon sins in a later age.
Everything's end resembled the cold, lifeless fatalism of destiny.
The hem of a purple garment stepped forward, approaching with graceful elegance that never went out of style.
But the man was terrified, as though he had seen the Grim Reaper raising its scythe.
"No... Don't!!"
"My life shouldn't end here...!!"
"Medea... spare me, Medea..."
Akihito Tomoya shouted wildly, letting out desperate whimpers that made him seem somewhat pitiful.
"For you, this should be the most fitting ending."
Medea stood with elegant poise, an exquisite smile upon her beautiful, delicate face.
Before Akihito Tomoya's terrified expression, she slowly placed her fair hand atop his head. That icy touch seemed ready to lift off the man's skullcap.
Then...
"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!"
The underground temple instantly echoed with the man's shrill screams as endless blood sprayed forth.
The horrifying stench of blood spread through the air, sending chills down everyone's spine.
Akihito Tomoya's head was severed from his body out of thin air. Medea tore it out alive along with his spine; his living eyeballs still rolled in terror, and his pain-twisted face remained vivid... He could even still think for a brief moment.
"You... vicious witch..."
Utterly despairing, he struggled to part his lips and murmured in a trembling voice.
As surging magical energy gathered, a beautiful radiance blossomed amid Caster's cold smile. In the end, she combined Tatsuya Ando's head with his Magic Circuits and refined it into a powerful Mystic Code.
Medea was somewhat weakened, but she inspected the staff in her hand with satisfaction.
It had the rare Imaginary Number Attribute.
For now, let's call it Akihito's Skull and Spine Staff...
People all over the world were stunned. Along with their delight, they also felt a measure of fear.
Before you continue