When Artoria (Caster) unleashed her Noble Phantasm, the scenery around everyone transformed in an instant. Every face froze in pure shock.
"What the hell is going on? Weren't we just in the forest?!" Jeanne, who hadn't been granted any Grail knowledge, stared wide-eyed at the shifting landscape.
"So tall… and those walls are gorgeous!" Marie gawked at the sudden appearance of Camelot. Its materials looked even more luxurious and breathtaking than anything in the palace she remembered.
"Senpai, it feels like we've stepped into another world!"
Mash gazed at the twilight on the horizon. The warm orange glow bathed the pristine white walls of Camelot, making the city sparkle like it had been dipped in liquid gold and creating a scene straight out of a dream.
"Weren't we in the middle of the night? How did time suddenly leap to morning? Did Father ascend to heaven or something?"
Ritsuka Fujimaru, who knew zero about magecraft, had no clue what was happening. She watched night flip straight into what she thought was morning and figured some time-accelerating Stand must have kicked in.
"No, this should be… a Reality Marble," Mozart said, sounding like he had at least a vague idea.
"Hm? You actually know what a scene on this scale means?" Siegfried, who was just as clueless about this kind of thing, asked when he heard Mozart might have answers.
Everyone turned curious eyes toward him.
Mozart paused, searching his memories, then finally shook his head at the group after a long silence.
"I only know the scene is tied to magecraft. As for the details, I'm not entirely sure. I only studied it a little before—for music's sake."
"If a real professional magus were here, they'd probably understand exactly how valuable this Noble Phantasm really is."
At the same time, the Chaldea communicators on Ritsuka Fujimaru's and Adam's hands flashed. Back at Chaldea, the place had already exploded into chaos.
"Ritsuka Fujimaru! Adam!"
Ritsuka heard the near-screaming voice of shock blasting from the device.
She was just about to tap to answer when Adam somehow appeared right beside her and covered her eyes with his hand, cutting the call dead.
Adam himself didn't connect to Chaldea either.
"Huh? Adam, what are you…?"
Losing her sight so suddenly made Ritsuka tense. She felt the warmth of his hand around her eyes, and her face steadily heated up. This surprise "attack" left her completely flustered.
Adam's full attention was locked on Artoria (Caster). He didn't notice Ritsuka's reaction—or the rising temperature in her cheeks.
Still watching Artoria (Caster), he told Ritsuka, "Caster's Noble Phantasm might be a little blinding for an ordinary person like you seeing it for the first time…"
Just as Ritsuka was trying to figure out what he meant, a passionate voice suddenly rang in her ear—Artoria (Caster) liberating her Noble Phantasm.
"Star of the True Round Table Assembly!!!"
With her fervent cry, a dazzling white light erupted behind her and instantly swallowed the entire field.
Almost everyone flinched at the brilliant glow. They instinctively tried to shield their eyes, but the moment the light touched them, they felt their bodies change—something inside had shifted.
"Wh-what is this…?" Jeanne stared at her own hands, stunned. She could feel her damaged Saint Graph recovering a little.
"I feel my strength has been boosted," Siegfried said, glancing at the Saint Graph inside him through the two soft, water-balloon-like mounds on his chest.
"This feels as refreshing as sipping afternoon tea while sunbathing in my palace," Marie declared, throwing her arms wide and basking in the comfortable white light.
"Oh, my mind is so much clearer. A flood of musical inspiration just hit me." Mozart, who had been tormented by something messing with his spirit, finally got a brief moment of peace—the clearest few seconds he'd had since regaining control of his body.
[Jeanne Emotion Value +10]
[Siegfried Emotion Value +10]
[Ritsuka Fujimaru Emotion Value +10]
[Mash Emotion Value +10]
[Marie Emotion Value +10]
[Mozart Emotion Value +10]
...
The constant dings of incoming emotion values should have been music to Adam's ears. Right now they just felt annoying—they were getting in the way of him admiring his little wild boar.
Mash's radar suddenly pinged. She glanced thoughtfully at Adam and saw him smiling, eyes locked tight on Artoria (Caster). A sour pang hit her, and her cheeks puffed out like a pufferfish.
The Mash beside her noticed Adam too, but she hadn't caught his current mood. Her head was spinning with a million questions she couldn't wait to ask.
"Adam-senpai, you're here! Um~ Who exactly are these new Servants you just summoned?"
"The Noble Phantasm she released looks insanely strong. And why do their faces look exactly like King Arthur's?"
Adam's appreciative gaze was interrupted. After letting go of Ritsuka, he glanced at Mash without a trace of annoyance and calmly answered.
"You've got a lot of questions. I'll take them one at a time."
"First, Caster's Noble Phantasm boosts everyone's attack power in range and clears any negative effects on them.
"Plus, if she wants, she can layer on some Anti-Purge Defense to help you block one hit."
Ritsuka nodded like it all suddenly made sense—though she honestly hadn't understood much. She only really caught the attack-power boost; everything else just got a polite nod.
"As for who these newly summoned Servants are and why they all look identical?"
Adam's lips curled into a grin he couldn't quite hide. He turned his gaze back to the Artorias on the castle walls. They were charging their Noble Phantasms, getting ready to unleash them together and finally free Lancelot from his obsession.
He was just about to explain that, in a certain sense, they could all be considered the same person—when his peripheral vision caught the extremely quiet, downright abnormal Lancelot below. The sight instantly stole his full attention.
Lancelot had been pinned down by Artoria (Caster)'s earlier attack. Those four slender blue vertebrae of hers were ridiculously effective, locking him completely still.
After all, he was a Berserker under a degree of Mad Enhancement, and he'd just seen King Arthur. From the second he'd bounced over to Adam, he hadn't stayed quiet for even one second.
Could Artoria (Caster)'s attack really have silenced him completely?
Was there some new magecraft mixed in?
Just as Adam wondered, he noticed the eye slit in Lancelot's helmet. The crimson glow that had been there before had vanished, replaced by normal, lightless darkness.
"Hm?"
Adam let out a puzzled hum, frowning slightly as he studied Lancelot.
He wasn't sure if he was imagining it, but he had the feeling Lancelot had returned to normal—or rather, regained his sanity.
While Adam was still wondering, the Artorias had already released their Noble Phantasms.
A few seconds earlier—
"Star of the True Round Table Assembly!!!"
With Artoria (Caster)'s passionate cry, the light instantly covered the whole field, including Lancelot.
Not long ago, her Noble Phantasm had been upgraded in a dream she and Adam had shared, gaining extra abilities and effects. But since it was a dream, the details were fuzzy, and Adam had gotten so used to using her normally that he hadn't connected the dots yet.
As for those new effects?
Lancelot was thrashing wildly, trying to break free from the vertebrae pinning him. But the moment the dazzling white light hit him, his restless body went completely still. His limbs slumped limply.
In the next instant, the chaotic aura around him slowly faded. The crimson light of madness vanished from his eyes. Inside the helmet was Lancelot's utterly bewildered face.
"What's going on? Why am I here? I remember being summoned just now…"
Lancelot looked around blankly and hit himself with the classic three questions: Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?
In his mind, he had been summoned and then immediately lost consciousness. He only vaguely remembered fragments…
He had seen the King…
Wait—King Arthur!!!
Lancelot's eyes lit up with pleasant surprise.
Had he gotten so lucky that the King had been summoned at the same time?
As he scanned the walls of Camelot for that familiar (poorly crossed-out) figure, he saw not only the King he knew best, but also—
A white King?
A King whose build was off, holding a spear?
And one that looked just like the King?
With his mind still not fully sorted, Lancelot's brain short-circuited.
"Four Kings???"
Now he had pieced it together and understood the situation in a flash.
I see. A despicable wretch like me deserves the King's proper punishment.
Just as Lancelot steeled himself to accept it, a spark of insight hit him.
Wait—if I'm currently the King's enemy, then the Master who summoned me (Jeanne Alter) must be the King's enemy too. So wouldn't it be better to stand with the King against the enemy instead of taking punishment?
I do deserve punishment… but maybe after I've helped the King deal with her troubles (the enemies) first?
His left brain said accept the punishment now. His right brain pictured fighting side-by-side with the King again. The right brain won.
Lancelot looked up at the four Artorias on the Camelot platform, their attacks fully charged.
"Wait! My King! I—"
On the walls of Camelot, the four Artorias—
After Artoria (Caster) deployed her Noble Phantasm, the other three instinctively began charging theirs in perfect sync.
Artoria (Lily), right in formation, gripped the Golden Sword of Assured Victory with both hands. She stepped back with her right foot, positioning the blade to her right side…
"Sword of Selection, grant me power!"
With her Noble Phantasm release, the entire blade blazed with brilliant golden light that slowly converged at the tip. Finally the tip flashed with a cross-shaped radiance as the energy peaked.
Artoria (Lily) thrust the sword forward and shouted:
"Caliburn!!!"
Artoria (Saber), standing center stage, held the Sword of Promised Victory before her chest, slowly closed her eyes, and began the release.
"Breath of the gathered stars, the shining flow of life…"
With her Noble Phantasm liberation, the entire planet seemed to come alive. Golden motes rose from the earth and poured into the Holy Sword of the Stars in her hands.
"Be liberated, Sir Lancelot!"
The energy in Artoria (Saber)'s Sword of Promised Victory reached its limit. She raised it high overhead. The light of oath and victory exploded outward, whipping her cape dramatically.
Fully charged, she swung the sword forward with all her might and roared:
"Ex~calibur!"
Artoria (Lancer)'s eyes suddenly glowed with divine light. She slowly lifted Rhongomyniad. The Holy Spear blazed with intense radiance as multiple slender bands of light spun around it.
Unlike the others, Artoria (Lancer) didn't recite anything. Expressionless and silent, she manipulated Rhongomyniad, rapidly collapsing it into a single point gathered in her palm.
She slowly aimed that contracted point at Lancelot and softly called its name:
"Rhongomyniad~"
The three homologous Noble Phantasms, amplified by Artoria (Caster), spiraled together in a dazzling fusion.
They formed a heart-pounding combo technique among the Artorias.
They still hadn't decided on a name.
This earth-shaking energy surged straight toward Lancelot.
The massive attack swallowed him completely. Under the Artorias' careful control, the energy didn't slam into the ground. The instant it touched the earth, it rocketed skyward, forming a colossal pillar of light that pierced the heavens and turned twilight into bright day.
The sheer power even shattered the boundary of Artoria (Caster)'s Reality Marble and burst into the outside world.
————————
Meanwhile, on the Moon.
From the Moon's perspective, the Earth suddenly looked like it had sprouted a giant golden ahoge.
The magnificent sight even reached a certain planet-devouring entity slumbering there. She felt a deep, destined tremor in her soul, and her body quivered slightly, as if on the verge of waking.
————————————
Back on Earth.
Jeanne Alter, rushing this way, also saw the enormous spectacle. Even the haughty Ruler looked grave as she stared at the massive attack, sensing its unstoppable might. A single bead of sweat slid down her cheek.
"This immense magical energy… Just what the—?"
Just as she wondered who could produce such power, she sensed another of her Servants' Saint Graph reaction vanish completely.
"No way! Where's my Servant?!!"
Jeanne Alter quickly tried to contact her closest Servant to the cataclysm—the Assassin, Sanson.
But no matter how many times she called, there was no response, just like with Lancelot earlier.
Jeanne Alter realized what had happened. She glanced fearfully in the direction Sanson had been heading, then at the source of the world-destroying blast, and her eyes widened in horror.
"No way~ Assassin, what are you doing?!!"
——————————
On Adam's side.
Just the aftershock from the three Artorias' combo technique had completely flattened the entire forest, leaving a several-kilometer-wide crater in France. If it stayed that way, future generations would probably study the hell out of it.
As for the target, Lancelot—not even ashes remained.
Lancelot—Defeated.
Artoria (Saber) planted the Sword of Promised Victory in front of her. Her cape fluttered in the wind. Her gaze lingered on the spot where Lancelot had vanished. She silently offered Sir Lancelot 0.1 seconds of mourning, then flicked her cape, turned around, and walked slowly toward her Master.
Artoria (Lily) replayed the cool-as-hell moment of the three of them unleashing their Noble Phantasms together and felt pure excitement bubbling inside. For someone who had only just stepped onto this path, it was an unforgettable thrill.
But as she remembered, something seemed to click. Her brows furrowed slightly.
"Hm? I think I heard Sir Lancelot say something just now. Did any of you catch it?"
Right as the three released their Noble Phantasms, Lancelot had mumbled something, but they had been too far away and Artoria (Lily) hadn't heard clearly.
"Really? I didn't hear anything. Maybe you misheard?"
Artoria (Saber) thought back. Since she had been chanting her own Noble Phantasm, she hadn't heard a word from Lancelot—or even noticed he was speaking.
"Maybe he was saying he had finally been liberated or something."
Artoria (Lancer) offered that offhand guess.
Artoria (Caster), who had heard everything perfectly clearly:
"..."
With her Fairy Eyes, she had captured Lancelot's final inner thoughts in that last instant. She had wanted to say something, but the combined attack had already fired—it was too late.
If only she had included Anti-Purge Defense in the effects…
Ugh~
She let out a cute little internal whimper and chose to stay silent, not telling the other three what Lancelot's last thoughts had been.
"Wasn't that a bit overkill?"
Adam stared at the massive scars left by the Artorias' Noble Phantasms and scratched his head in mild confusion.
The crater was pushing double-digit kilometers wide, and that enormous golden pillar of light earlier had been exactly the same diameter.
In the moment the colossal beam shot skyward, not only had the world inside Artoria (Caster)'s Reality Marble flipped from twilight to bright day—
but the outside world had gone straight from pitch-black night to blazing noon.
[Jeanne Emotion Value +10]
[Siegfried Emotion Value +10]
[Ritsuka Fujimaru Emotion Value +10]
[Mash Emotion Value +10]
[Marie Emotion Value +10]
[Mozart Emotion Value +10]
...
Beside Adam, everyone except Mash had also witnessed the three Artorias' united strike.
As for the expressions on their faces…
***
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