"LE MONSTRE EN FEU! - Devour me, Hate."
A column of black fire erupted and reached the sky, piercing through the clouds. After a few seconds, a humanoid figure emerged from it, slowly moving forward. The only thing that was clearly distinguishable was a pair of all-white eyes, staring directly towards its target: the Grand Lancer.
"Jeanne? I-is that... you?"
Galter asked in shock, his voice trembling a bit. Salter looked at the figure equally surprised and creeped out. No answer came out. Remus looked on, slightly intrigued.
"It seems you have undergone quite a transformation, weakling. But do you think it will change anything?"
Lifting his right arm, he summoned a dozen spears and launched them towards what one could only guess was now Jalter. With no reaction, she merely raised her hand and the weapons were burned to a crisp. Then, in a flash, she appeared in front of Remus, who barely had time to dodge as a massive fire engulfed the area.
He tried stabbing her from behind with the crimson spear in his left, but she twisted her body rapidly, now wielding something long and also envelopped in flames, which likely was a sword, and grazed him.
Backing away and looking down, Remus noticed that the nick had burned through his armour and his clothes. He could feel the unbearable heat even with no direct contact. Before he could make sense of what was going on, Jalter appeared once again in front of him, going for another slash that he had to parry with his great spear.
"What's going on? How can she suddenly be so much faster? Could it be that her flames are so hot that they burn through the very fabric of space and time?!"
As Remus thought this, he saw something he deemed impossible: the extreme temperature seemed to be able to slowly but surely melt his spear. Enraged, he applied more force, breaking the deadlock and pulling back. Summoning back his army, he had several Pseudoservants rush her, but she simply expanded her flames and burned them to ash.
Dodging several lances, she unleashed a column of fire that carved through the Roman soldiers. Fabius Maximus, the man who defeated Hannibal, led a charge towards their enemy with his unbreakable shield. Jalter, however, sliced right through the very concept of this Noble Phantasm like a knife through butter before dissecting him. Just then, Remus appeared behind her.
"Jeanne!"
Galter shouted, worried. Jalter blocked the sneak attack with ease.
"What's... the matter... "King"? Afraid... to face... me... head on?"
The voice, although distorted, was undeniably Jalter's. Salter repelled and defeated the soldiers piling towards the injured Galter.
"Are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm applying a tissue-regenerating fabric to my wound. I'll live."
"Good, now how about contributing to the battle?"
"Yeah, just taking a breather..."
"Stop worrying so much about her. She's still her, as you've heard. And she's holding out."
"I know... but I was looking at some readings... her Mana is off the charts, but if this goes on it will burn right through her Saint Graph... if only we could intervene..."
"... I'm sorry, I couldn't do a thing. My attack was useless and now we lost our chance."
"Don't sweat it, what's done is done. Now our mission is to clear Jeanne's path while we wait for reinforcements to arrive."
Galter concluded, standing up and readying his bow. Salter nodded and charged up her Mana Burst.
Cleaving through the army, they relieved Jeanne from the constant onslaught, allowing her to block a volley of spears hurled by Remus.
"You peasant! Why won't you just give up?"
"A...fra...id?"
With a powerful blast, she disassembled the attack, before rotating and creating a fiery spiral that elevated her to the same level as the Grand Lancer, before throwing a dark fireball at him. Remus avoided it, but the blast hit the ground and released such a powerful shockwave that he was sent flying higher.
Using flames as propulsion, Jalter attempted to pierce through him, but he parried her sword with his spear, before manifesting a lance in his right arm and concentrating a large amount of mana in it, stabbing Jalter with it.
Unperturbed, she raised an arm and grabbed his face, as his skin immediately began to sizzle. Remus let out a sharp scream of pain and attempted to break free, but Jalter held on tight. Suddenly, his army disappeared again and its energy gathered back in his crimson spear, unleashing a wave of energy that forced Jalter back.
Remus, now bearing burn marks on his face, released once more his most powerful Noble Phantasm.
"ROMA INVERSA!"
Concentrating all her flames, Jalter let loose an attack so great that it blocked out the sun for a moment. The spear's path was momentarily halted.
"Is she trying to burn through my reality?!"
As Jalter let out a guttural scream from the effort, she was pierced by another spear flung at her by Remus.
"Give it up already, weak peasant!"
With a final attempt, Jalter unleashed all her remaining energy, and just before the spear could hit her, a shield-like structure and a red column of energy appeared in front of her, stopping the weapon.
Remus looked down and stared at the two culprits, breathing heavily from the effort. As the flames left Jalter and she fell down exhausted, a portal appeared, making her teleport safely to the ground beside Galter, enveloped in a black robe. Galter placed his hand on her head.
"You did well, Jeanne."
"I couldn't end that bastard..."
"You really thought you could kill me? I am a Divine King, the rightful ruler of the greatest empire in history; nothing and no one can stop me. Now I shall end your resistance once and for all!"
Remus proclaimed angrily as he surrounded them with his army. Before the three heroes could be overpowered, a sudden storm of weapons showered the battlefield with a golden light. Everyone looked up to the figure floating in the sky. Donning his golden armour, Gilgamesh smirked as he looked down at his opponent.
Salter sighed in relief.
"Took him long enough to arrive, just like someone else I know."
"At least he saved our ass."
"Unlike a certain rabid dog."
"Shut it, witch."
"What's the matter, would-be king of Rome? Your loud squaking makes it appear that you are losing your co-"
Suddenly, Gilgamesh's smile vanished as he disappeared into a portal, only to reappear next to Nero's body.
"Mmm? What's the matter, "King of Heroes"? Was she someone dear to you?"
Gilgamesh turned her around, looking silently at her bloodied form, her eyes closed and her mouth open, desperately gasping for breath as if life was hanging on by a thread.
"How truly pathetic, you lay claim to the world and still you care for someone so weak and pitiful, Old King of Uruk? And here I thought that at least you could understand me... Instead, you're just a weakling like the rest of them.
In the end, you're nothing more than a mongrel."
Gilgamesh slowly got up and looked at the ground.
"Tell me, do you like this hill? Although battered, some parts of it still retain a certain splendor, a noble dignity, the colour of flowers even. Given some time, it could rebuild itself and go back to its former glory."
"What are you saying? Have you gone mad? Did I break you?"
"I am merely asking if you like this place. It's only fair...
since it will be your grave."
Gilgamesh created a dome of portals around Remus and shot out thousands of Noble Phantasms. Remus quickly spun around multiple times, deflecting every attack, and just a second later Gilgamesh appeared behind him, trying to stab him.
Remus blocked him, only for the King of Heroes to fully open the Gate of Babylon behind himself and unleash a constant tempest of shining death on his opponent. As Remus ducked and waived, his army was rapidly decimated, along with everything else surrounding the battlefield.
Galter immediately teleported himself and his two friends further away and set up an automatic defense mechanism.
"The hell is he trying to do? Kill us?"
"He's not thinking clearly, you stupid dog."
"No, that's not the case."
"Huh?"
"He may be furious, but he's approaching the battle very strategically. Every hit is designed so that even if he doesn't hit Remus, he still kills someone else, weakening his army and therefore his power. Yet every attack is strong enough that Remus can't simply ignore it."
As Remus dodged an axe flung at him, Gilgamesh took the prototype of Gae Bolg and launched it. It landed in the heart of one of Remus's generals. Lightning sprang out from a portal, devastating the ground below. Before Remus could regain his footing, a blinding light irradiated the entire field.
"MERODACH!"
As Remus prepared to block the attack confidently, he realised that this was not the same attack he had faced in their previous encounter. This was a fully powered, enhanced by spells and artifacts and rage Merodach. He decided to just dodge it, but an enormous portal appeared, making the giant slash disappear for a moment, before a new one manifested right in front of him, releasing the attack.
Though not seriously damaged, Remus stammered back as the Gate of Babylon kept going to its full force, reducing the earth in a wide radius to pure dust along with all enemies. As Remus created a protective shield of spears, Gilgamesh teleported behind him, trying to stab him. Remus turned and blocked the attempt, only to hear once more:
"MERODACH!"
As Remus was sent flying back once more, chains surrounded him and closed in from all directions, binding him tightly. Gilgamesh created several layers of domes of portals, coffins of death that he unleashed while charging once more the sword in his hand.
"MERODACH!!!"
As the dust settled, Gilgamesh, breathing heavily, noticed that all soldiers had disappeared, realising immediately their power had gone back to Remus. While severely weakened from the start of the battle, the weight and power of an entire reality can't easily be shrunk down. Remus, with a bit of effort, broke out of the Chains of Heaven.
Before Gilgamesh could reopen his Gate of Babylon, the Grand Servant was already in front of him, his sword inching ever closer to his heart. And yet... nothing happened.
Remus looked surprised as all of a sudden, no one was standing in front of him.
Looking back, he saw a figure had come in and moved Gilgamesh away, who was just as shocked as him. But what caught his attention was not how this figure had appeared, but who this figure was. Gilgamesh looked at him too.
"You are..."
"You... You! You!!! YOU!!!"
"I was informed that I was needed here. I understand the reason now."
"You... vile... disgusting... pig..."
"I'm here, brother. It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"ROMULUS!!!"