The moment Vlad III's Spirit Origin reaction disappeared, the air on the entire battlefield seemed to freeze for a split second.
But Heracles did not stop.
Heracles turned his gaze back to Mordred in front of him.
"Your comrade did something remarkable," he said in a low, calm voice, "But it doesn't change your fate."
A low growl came from beneath Mordred's helmet.
Of course she saw it. Karna's " Brahmastra Kundala!" incinerated Lancer of the Black Faction, along with everything behind him, into ashes.
This is a good thing.
Lancer defeated the opponent's king.
But the monster in front of them was still standing there.
"Stop talking nonsense!"
Mordred Mana Burst once more, and crimson lightning surged wildly along Clarent's sword. Gritting her teeth, she charged forward, slashing her sword towards Heracles's neck.
Heracles raised his axe-sword in his right hand and held it in front of his chest.
The Clarent struck the side of the axe-sword, sparks flying.
Mordred's arms went numb from the violent recoil, and her heels slid two deep furrows into the ground.
Immediately afterwards, the sound of metal clashing was like thunder.
Mordred was swept away and tumbled twice in the air before barely regaining his balance.
The chest area of the silver-white armor was dented, and cracks spread outwards from the dent.
On the edge of the battlefield.
Kairi Shishigou, with a cigar in his mouth, stood next to a modified SUV.
His hand rested on the car door handle, his gaze piercing through the smoke and the lingering light of magic, fixed on the clash between the two figures in the distance.
Each of Heracles's blows left a new mark on Mordred's armor.
Kairi Shishigou took the cigar out of his mouth and exhaled a puff of smoke.
He's a mercenary.
To work for the Mage's Association, get paid, and complete tasks.
We're not here to die.
"Never mind."
The light from the three Command Spell shone simultaneously on the back of his hand.
"In the name of the three Command Spell — Mordred, give it your all!"
Three, used them all in one go.
A torrent of magic surged into Mordred's Spirit Origin through the contract. Her body instantly expanded to a power far exceeding its limits, and the red lightning on the Clarent surged several times over, transforming the entire sword into a burning pillar of lightning.
Mordred reached out and ripped off his helmet.
The silver helmet spun through the air and flew off, revealing a young face twisted with Wrath.
"Clarent--"
The sword was stained with a crimson light, and flames of hatred and rebellion burned upon it.
"Rebel against my handsome father, Blood Arthur!!"
A crimson shockwave of lightning erupted from the blade, like a roaring dragon, hurtling straight at Heracles.
Heracles did not choose to dodge.
He held the axe-sword upright in front of him, his feet firmly planted on the ground, using the side of the weapon to absorb the red shockwave.
The earth cracked beneath his feet, and the shockwave blew away all the Dragon Tooth Warriors and puppet remains around him.
The shockwave lasted for a full three seconds.
But after the smoke and dust dissipated...
Heracles remained standing in the same spot.
Several burn marks appeared on the surface of the axe and sword, but he himself was unharmed.
Mordred was stunned.
The enhancement of the three Command Spell, plus the full power of Clarent Blood Arthur.
It's useless.
"Impossible!"
Heracles stepped forward.
Mordred's body began to deteriorate rapidly after the power of the Command Spell was exhausted; the full-force burst just now had almost drained all the magical reserves in her Spirit Origin.
She managed to lift Clarent, but the blade was already trembling.
Heracles walked up to her.
You are very strong.
He said those words, and then the axe fell from above.
Mordred blocked the attack with his Clarent.
The sword shattered.
The blade of the axe pierced through the broken fragments of the Clarent and struck Mordred's breastplate directly.
The Spirit Core shattered under that attack.
Mordred's body began to turn into golden specks of light. Her expression froze in a complex way, somewhere between Wrath and relief, in the final moment.
"Father..."
The light spot dissipated.
Saber (Red Faction), Mordred, leaves the field.
Kairi Shishigou threw his cigar on the ground and stubbed it out with the sole of his shoe.
"They're gone."
He climbed into the SUV, started the engine, and drove away from the battlefield without looking back.
He had used up all his Command Spell, his Servant had perished, and he had nothing more to do with this Great Holy Grail War.
Getting back alive is the most important thing.
Heracles sheathed his axe and sword, turned around, and gazed into the distance.
Karna is still there.
The golden spear has been recalled to his hands, and the fire of the sun god burns quietly at its tip.
Vlad III's unfinished battle.
Now it's his turn to take over.
Heracles, wielding his axe-sword, strode toward Karna.
Karna saw Heracles approaching, and also the emptiness behind him where Mordred had vanished.
"Saber has left the stage."
"Hmm." Heracles did not deny it.
"Next up is you and me?"
"Yes."
Karna held his golden spear horizontally in front of him, the tip pointing at Heracles.
I have a question.
"Explain."
What exactly is your rank?
Heracles stopped in his tracks.
"Berserker."
Karna's expression finally showed a subtle change.
"Berserker?"
"Hmm. But the Mad Enhancement has been sealed."
"So you are now a Berserker with full sanity."
That's one way to understand it.
Karna was silent for two seconds.
That's really troublesome.
The two moved almost simultaneously.
The axe and the divine spear collided in mid-air, unleashing a shockwave visible to the naked eye that tore apart the ground within a radius of several hundred meters.
Heracles ' offensive was like a storm.
Each strike of the axe-sword carried a weight capable of cleaving mountains, forcing Karna to parry with all his might using his divine spear.
The gun emitted a sharp metallic screech with each impact, and Karna's arms went numb from the shock.
In pure melee combat, Heracles completely overwhelmed Karna.
Muscle strength A+++ versus muscle strength B+.
This is a gap that technology cannot bridge.
Heracles's every strike was far beyond Karna's limits, Karna could only rely on his precise spearmanship and agility to deflect the excess impact.
Even so, he continued to retreat.
The axe-sword struck Karna's shoulder.
The golden sheen on the surface of the Shemesh Armor flashed briefly, reducing the damage to one-tenth.
Karna swayed slightly, but the skin beneath his armor remained intact.
Heracles frowned.
This armor's defensive capabilities are truly excessive.
Each of his blows was enough to shatter the city walls, but hitting that layer of Shemesh Armor was like hitting cotton with a hammer.
Unless an ace is used, neither side can inflict a fatal blow on the other.
Millennia Fortress.
Mukuro Hoshimiya leaned against the windowsill, watching the battle unfold through the spatial window.
"Trading Vlad III for Mordred doesn't seem like a good deal."
She mumbled something and stuffed the last bite of bread into her mouth.
"Never mind. We'll settle this score soon."
She straightened up and summoned the Michael.
Darnic watched nervously from behind her.
"Archer, you need to--"
"Yes, shut down the flight capability of that Hanging Garden. Solve the problem at its root."
Mukuro Hoshimiya raised the Michael, drawing an arc in the air.
A portal appeared out of thin air in the center of the hall. The other end of the portal directly connected to the interior of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon of Vanity, which was suspended high in the sky several kilometers away.
The interior of the garden can be seen through the spatial door.
Mukuro Hoshimiya inserted the tip of the Michael staff directly into the spatial gate.
"Close".
The concept of closure spreads out from the tip of the staff, passing through the spatial gate, like an invisible ripple seeping into the structure of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
Then, Mukuro Hoshimiya immediately closed the portal.
Inside the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, at least three automatic sensor-type defensive Magecraft arrays activated simultaneously the moment Mukuro Hoshimiya closed the spatial gate.
Magic Light Ball, Binding Spell, Spatial Lockdown Array.
All the attacks landed in the void after the portal disappeared, hitting nothing.
Semiramis stood in the throne room and sensed the change.
It came from the deepest part of the garden, a feeling similar to sudden cardiac arrest.
Her Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
The ability to fly is disappearing.
It's as if someone found the switch to this floating fortress and simply pressed it.
The garden began to sink.