Chapter 96: Revenge Battle Against the Avenger
"...Too late."
He had made only a single movement, and that useless arrow became useful against Alcides.
The action was abrupt, even absurd.
Alcides placed great trust in the capabilities of modern heroes, but his past experiences had never included such a move. Alcides knew clearly that, regardless of the means used, he absolutely must not be hit by this arrow.
If he were hit by this arrow, it would be over.
Alcides had not looked down on that human before. Since he possessed the means to harm him, he was a "threat." The King of Knights with her Holy Sword was a "major threat to be handled with care."
However, it was only when the light bullet left the string and lunged toward him in the midst of frozen time that Alcides fully comprehended the gravity of the situation.
That dagger was useful to Alcides because it was the manifestation of someone's Divinity.
It wasn't just the dagger's ability; Emiya Shirou had just perfectly fused the Divinity constituting it into other Noble Phantasms, which was why it worked against the Nemean Lion's pelt.
—'If given enough time, does this human theoretically have the ability to make every single sword lethal to Alcides?'
The conclusion to that question could not affect the objective reality of the present.
Emiya Shirou stood magnanimously on the high platform, which was cracked from Alcides' attacks, maintaining the zanshin of his follow-through after the arrow's release, looking down at Alcides whose movements began to shift. The biggest difference between their first encounter and today's battle was that, due to someone protecting his side, he now had time to operate.
Despite having similar abilities, Alcides could tank the Hero King's rain of Noble Phantasms, yet he could not touch the specialized objects created by this human; they were like viper venom. If Alcides guessed correctly, the human could even gift the generated items to others. Such a thing... a symbol of betrayal that was essentially a forbidden substance to Servants, a "poison that is not poison."
Alcides detected a grave error in his own judgment.
By the same logic as the Hydra, while Emiya Shirou's combat ability was not on the level of the King of Knights, if given enough time, he too was a "major threat to be handled with care." Conversely, if the King of Knights were to duel him alone, she wouldn't even be able to leave a
scratch on Alcides. Although there was a hierarchy in their combat power, in terms of specificity, the relationship should be viewed in reverse.
But now, regardless of nature or threat level, Alcides had no time to worry about such things. What he needed to think about was... how to intercept the strike before his eyes!
The flash grew larger and larger in Alcides' vision, swelling with a high-pitched cry, a violent roar.
A strike that instantly surpassed the speed of sound—the shockwave generated by a flash that reduced the distance between them to nothing—easily flew past and shattered the glass of the nearby church, just like Alcides' own arrows.
The charging time was sufficient.
A weapon that originally wouldn't have taken effect suddenly became effective—thus, with Alcides caught off guard, a strike comparable to a Noble Phantasm posed an extremely serious threat to him. Before the red light bullet could plunge into Alcides' right chest, the cloth with mysterious patterns almost immediately wrapped around Alcides' bow.
In the nick of time, the giant bow swung instinctively in a kesa-giri stance. Alcides deflected the crimson light bullet—which could have carved a massive hole in his flesh—to the side, his face twisting with the effort.
A C-rank Noble Phantasm is equivalent to a Strength A attack. Even if it wasn't a C-rank Noble Phantasm, as long as the Noble Phantasm rank wasn't at the absolute peak, he could barely deflect it by utilizing the [Goddess of War's War Belt], though it was a struggle.
Was it over?
Alcides did not think so, for he had seen this arrowhead once before.
Emiya Shirou atop the platform did nothing, merely watching calmly. In less than a second, the sound of cutting wind came again from Alcides' side; an object was charging straight at him.
—The correct way to fire the Demon Sword Hrunting is to gather all of one's prana into a single arrowhead; its power, speed, and hardness are proportional to the output of prana.
—The enemy must first withstand an attack capable of killing the earth, but that is not the end; a prana-filled Hrunting is extremely difficult to destroy—the strike that kills the earth is endless.
It wasn't growth. He was simply exerting his original power.
Between the first battle and this encounter, with only the interval of a single meeting, it felt to Alcides as if he were fighting a different human.
Because he was accompanied by a woman. Because he had obtained information on Alcides.
He was weaker than Alcides, but in this battle, he had led Alcides into a rhythm he couldn't react to, and now Alcides had nearly lost the opportunity to nock and fire his bow.
"Stymphalian Birds."
The giant bronze birds, slender and shaped like arrows, all gathered into one mass and flew autonomously toward Alcides' flank, where the sound of collision rang out nearby.
The [Stymphalian Birds] constantly prevented Hrunting from entering Alcides' danger zone, taking responsibility for blocking it every single time, emitting a piercing, thunderous bang every second.
The two autonomous-type Noble Phantasms clashed violently outside Alcides' field of vision.
Alcides regained his freedom through this, allowing him to examine the situation, only to find that in the same amount of time, the human already held a second, identical Demon Sword in his hand.
The prana scent in the Demon Sword was one-third full; no matter how excellent Alcides' pure archery skills were, it was impossible to stop him before the sword was fired. After all, the girl, possessing great chivalry, stood bored by his side with an expression that said she would cut down any arrow she saw coming.
...If the number of Demon Swords continued to increase, a reserved Alcides would be gradually dragged to his death. Neither the War Belt nor the animals could resolve the situation. A great flood would block Alcides' vision as well; Alcides had to ensure he could see that Holy Sword when the opponent's True Name was liberated.
Alcides had to use his most familiar Noble Phantasm to resolve the situation, but the seamlessly cooperating Shirou and Saber had long anticipated this. Knowing they had a countermeasure, the solitary Alcides had no choice; the initiative had slipped from his hands.
Assuming the stance to unleash [Nine Lives], Alcides' prana rose sharply.
The process of battle is a process of gradually raising the stakes. Since they had forced out Alcides' Noble Phantasm, they needed to be prepared to endure it; this pressure was mutual between Alcides and them.
Alcides had not liberated any Noble Phantasm requiring a True Name outside of the [King's Order] series until now precisely because he knew the maximum firepower of that Holy Sword. If he were caught in the recovery lag of a move and unable to immediately unleash his next "Noble Phantasm Seizure," he would suffer immediate defeat. However, as things stood, he could only bet the outcome on a battle of Noble Phantasms.
What Alcides truly wanted to unleash was not [Nine Lives]; as long as the strategy they prepared was flawed, he could win easily.
However, seeing "that strategy," Alcides couldn't help but let a low mutter escape his lips.
"So you're going with this move."
It was indeed simple and crude.
After all, it was merely "violence" that overwhelmed Alcides in both quality and quantity.
The gale-like wind enveloping the Holy Sword in the girl's hand began to disintegrate. The noisy prana fluctuations expanded outward in an instant, revealing the true form Alcides had always wanted.
However... during this time, Emiya Shirou's bow was aimed dead-on at Alcides. Alcides could not judge whether the spiral arrowhead—which could change depending on the situation—represented a True Name liberation or a Broken Phantasm.
The Star-Holy Sword—it wasn't that Alcides couldn't steal it, but rather that he couldn't steal it now.
[Reincarnation Pandora (The Usurper of the Heavenly Winds)] is a True Name liberation-type Noble Phantasm that requires shouting the name and consuming prana; it is an ability that uses up one opportunity of True Name liberation to perform a seizure.
He could not win against the Star-Holy Sword with the current Nine Lives; at that point, he would have to switch to Reincarnation Pandora to seal it.
But Alcides could not steal the True Name of Emiya Shirou's Noble Phantasm; his Noble Phantasms were merely byproducts not bound to a Spirit Foundation.
The moment he chanted the True Name to steal the King of Knights' Excalibur—Alcides would be wide open.
He could steal it, but he would die. If he didn't, he would be swallowed by the brilliance of the Star-Holy Sword.
The worst-case scenario Alcides had envisioned came true; he silently halted his movements.
...This battle could no longer continue.
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