Gilgamesh stood on the Vimana, looking up at the crushing giant wave.
His crimson pupils reflected the monstrous wall of water.
Yet, his expression remained unchanged.
"Heh."
"Petty tricks."
He stood with his arms crossed, then raised a hand and snapped his fingers.
"Hum."
The hull of the Vimana faintly glowed with a pale golden light.
A spherical shield enveloped the entire ship.
"How could This King's throne be shaken by this level of water?"
Alcides, his entire body wrapped in dark red mud, raised his head and looked towards the giant wave.
From beneath his pelt came a low, suppressed laughter.
"Water... is it."
He slowly raised his hand, aiming at the giant wave.
Dark red magical energy gathered in his palm.
It seemed... he didn't plan to dodge, either.
Olga Marie watched as Gilgamesh and Alcides prepared to take it head-on.
"Not bad."
She said.
"Then... how about this?"
She raised her right hand, her five fingers slowly closing.
"Boom—!!!"
The speed of the giant wave suddenly accelerated.
It wasn't just a simple acceleration; it was a 'superimposition'.
Behind the first giant wave was a second, then a third, a fourth, a fifth!
Five hundred-meter giant waves stacked upon each other, forming a tsunami that blotted out the sun and sky.
"What—?!"
Gilgamesh's expression finally changed.
"Vimana! Ascend!"
The Vimana activated instantly, ascending to the same height as Olga Marie.
Meanwhile, Alcides' figure suddenly disappeared. Accompanied by the shattering of the ground and a blast of air, he appeared directly above Olga Marie.
He reached out his arm towards Olga Marie, seemingly wanting to grab her.
But Olga Marie only glanced at him, and his body acted as if it were bound by something, unable to move another inch.
"What are you trying to do? Use those filthy methods to steal something that doesn't belong to you? Hah, you're truly rotten to the core."
Alcides spoke with difficulty: "You...!"
Before he could finish, his body plummeted toward the ground at an extreme speed, as if dragged down by something from the sky, smashing fiercely into the earth.
"Ugh aaaaaah!!!"
The ground blasted open, kicking up large fragments of rock and dust.
Consequently, the giant wave crashed down, instantly shattering and submerging this canyon and the Gobi terrain.
The giant wave completely flooded the canyon, the water depth exceeding fifty meters.
Gilgamesh's complexion looked somewhat unsightly. Being forced to this extent was a tremendous insult to him.
Hippolyta, already riding her warhorse, stood on another stretch of the Gobi desert in the distance, staring at this vast ocean with lingering fear.
The only one who was probably affected by the giant wave was Alcides.
Just as Olga Marie planned to attack again and finish off the remaining two—
"Snap."
A sharp snap of fingers suddenly echoed between heaven and earth.
It was very light, so light it was almost inaudible.
But precisely because of this snap, the world changed!
The giant wave, the canyon, the Gobi desert, and the sky all vanished.
Replacing them was a forest covered in heavy snow.
Towering ancient trees had their branches weighed down by thick layers of snow, the sky drifted with heavy, feather-like snow, and the ground was covered in knee-deep snow.
A cold wind howled as it swept through the forest.
Besides the sound of the wind, there was nothing else.
Hippolyta pulled the reins. Kyllion reared up and came to a halt in the snow.
She looked around, her golden pupils filled with vigilance.
"Where is this?"
Gilgamesh looked up at the sky where heavy snow was drifting. "An illusion?"
His crimson pupils narrowed slightly.
"Moreover... it's a very brilliant illusion."
Olga Marie didn't react much. Flat, held up by magical energy beside her, bobbed his head with keen interest, seemingly analyzing the flow of magical energy in this area.
He voiced his admiration, "What an exquisite illusion!"
"It didn't just alter vision; even touch, temperature, the flow of magical energy... it changed everything."
"Did it completely overwrite the texture of the world? That's amazing!"
A voice subsequently rang out:
[Ah, thank you very much for the compliment~]
[I am Francois~ Nice to meet you, please take care of me~]
[However, I didn't come here to fight today~ I came to break up the fight~]
[Let's just stop here for today, everyone. The commotion was getting a little too big~]
[If this continues, it will...]
Before he could finish, his voice came to an abrupt halt.
Olga Marie raised her hand and reached into the thin air in front of her.
Her hand, as if passing through a curtain of water, disappeared into the air and reached into some place.
Francois subconsciously wanted to run away.
But it was already too late.
Olga Marie yanked her hand back.
"Plop."
Like fishing a fish out of water.
Francois's entire person was forcefully dragged right out of the air by her.
"Ugh...!"
He fell into the snow, rolling awkwardly twice before barely coming to a stop.
When he raised his head, his face still carried a look of bewilderment.
"W-Why... can you touch me...? This is clearly my illusion domain...!"
"An illusion?"
Olga Marie looked down at him, her pupils reflecting his pale face.
"A parlor trick of your level, and you think it deserves to be called an illusion?"
She lifted her foot and stepped onto Francois's chest.
"Heh."
"Someone like you thinks they're worthy of ordering me around?"
"I..."
Francois opened his mouth, wanting to say something.
But Olga Marie didn't give him the chance.
She bent down, grabbed him by the throat, and lifted him up.
"I don't care what you're trying to do."
"In short—"
"You've angered me."
"Smack."
A vicious slap struck Francois across the face.
The force was so great that it whipped his head sharply to the side, blood bursting from the corner of his mouth.
"W-Wait—!"
Francois wanted to beg for mercy.
But Olga Marie had no interest in listening.
"Smack!"
She backhanded him with another slap.
"Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!"
The chain of slaps, so fast they left behind afterimages, was completed in an instant.
Flat only felt his vision blur.
Francois's two cheeks instantly swelled up like a pig's head, blood flowed freely from the corners of his lips, and many of his teeth had been smacked out.
Bruised, bloodshot, and his skin was split open.
His eyes were swollen into mere slits, his nose was crooked, his lips were split open, and he was dripping with blood.
He was probably only hanging on by a single breath right now.
"..."
Even the sound of the snowstorm seemed to have quieted down.
Flat immediately cupped both his cheeks in terror, racking his brain to recall if there was anywhere he had provoked Olga Marie.
It seemed there wasn't? He instantly breathed a sigh of relief, reverting to his usual unreliable demeanor.
Olga Marie delivered the final slap and let go, tossing the Servant in her hand to the side.
The instant she let go, Francois's body vanished. He was likely emergency-recalled by his Master using a Command Spell.
The surrounding environment also reverted back to the previous Gobi terrain.
"Boring."
Olga Marie shook out her hand.
"I'm tired of this."
She said.
"That's enough for today."
"If you dare annoy me again next time—"
"I'll blow you all up together."
After saying that, she turned around, grabbed the back of the floating Flat's collar, and hoisted him up.
"Let's go."
"Eh? Oh, oh!"
"Hum."
Space distorted.
The figures of the two disappeared from the Gobi desert.
Leaving behind only a mess, as well as three Servants with varying expressions.
Gilgamesh stared at the direction they vanished in, fell silent for a few seconds, and let out a sneer.
"Heh, what interesting mongrels."
He turned and looked at Tine.
"We're heading back."
"Yes!"
Tine hurriedly nodded.
Gilgamesh raised his hand, and Golden Ripples unfurled behind him.
He stepped into the ripples, taking Tine with him, and vanished from sight.
Hippolyta watched them leave, then looked down at Alcides, who was covered in mud in the distance.
She sighed.
"Kyllion, let's go."
The warhorse let out a long neigh and galloped away, carrying her along.
Alcides slowly stood up after everyone had left. Suppressed panting came from beneath the pelt.
He looked down at his hands.
The dark red mud was still squirming.
After a long while, he finally raised his head and looked toward the direction where Olga Marie had disappeared.
From beneath the pelt came a low, hoarse growl:
"Gods..."
"Just you wait..."
"I will definitely... kill you..."
===
T/N: The author has stopped updating this fic, so I'll just gradually post my backlog and put this fic on hiatus.