Within the Hanging Gardens, Kotomine Shiro looked up at the floating greater grail. Although his expression remained unchanged, his tone was incredibly excited. He raised his hands high, clenched them tightly, and said:
"Finally! After sixty years, my ideal can finally be realized!!"
Afterward, Kotomine Shiro brought his clenched hands to his chest, closing his eyes to reminisce about his past life.
Ruler, Amakusa Shiro Tokisada. This was his True Name as a Servant, a rebel hero from the end of Japan's Sengoku period.
Known as a child prodigy from a young age, he grew up to be "handsome and elegant in demeanor." His original name was Masuda Tokisada, but he was later adopted by Amakusa Jinbei and changed his name to Amakusa Tokisada. He was a devout Catholic.
In 1630, the Shogunate issued a ban on Christianity, decreeing that anyone who did not renounce their "pagan" faith within two months would be executed.
After a successful initial battle, he won several significant victories. However, this only served to cause extreme panic within the Shogunate, which subsequently adopted strategies of bribery, threats, and full-scale assaults. Finally, due to a lack of provisions in the castle and the relentless attacks of the Shogunate's 120,000-strong punitive army, the castle finally fell.
Amakusa Shiro attributed the sin of the people's Deaths to himself. Before his Death, he cried out in a shrill voice: "Almighty God! I beg of you, give me one more chance! This time I will... I must... take all the goodness of the world into my hands!"
After Death, he became a Servant. In the Third Holy Grail War, he was summoned as a Ruler by the Einzbern family. He relied entirely on the cheating abilities granted by his class skills and the simulated Eye of the Mind (True) and Eye of the Mind (False) abilities from his twin-arm Noble Phantasm to contend with other Servants.
The Einzbern Master fell during the Holy Grail War, but he made contact with the greater grail before it was taken away, gaining a physical body. The supervisor of the Holy Church, Kotomine Risei, secretly brought this saint into the Holy Church. Amakusa Shiro entered the Eighth Sacrament as Kotomine Risei's adopted son, Shiro Kotomine. Taking advantage of his position, Shiro Kotomine collected Holy Relics in the Middle East, preparing for sixty years for the return of the greater grail, all for his wish—the salvation of all humanity.
At that moment, Semiramis appeared behind Kotomine Shiro, looking rather unwell. She said to Kotomine Shiro, "Master, sorry to interrupt your beautiful fantasy, but we are currently in a bad situation."
After speaking, Semiramis produced a crystal ball, which reflected the image of Hades and the others riding five Duel Dragons through the air, gradually approaching the Hanging Gardens.
Kotomine Shiro looked at the image in the crystal. Upon seeing the five Duel Dragons, his face filled with shock as he said:
"Dragon Kind!? And five high-ranking Dragon Kind at that!!"
"The Gardens have already lost the Coffin of Numbers; we have no way to—"
Afterward, Kotomine Shiro turned to look at the greater grail floating before him and said, "I didn't expect the power of the greater grail to be needed so soon."
Standing atop Stardust Dragon, Hades gazed at the Hanging Gardens and said, "Fake saint of the Far East, it's time to wake up from your false dream."
Mordred looked at the Red-Eyes Black Dragon beneath her feet, crouched down, and said with a smile, "I didn't expect that fellow Hades to have such a cool Dragon Kind."
"It truly is unexpected; the methods of the gods are beyond our imagination," Kairi Shishigami said with a serious face as he looked at the Red-Eyes Black Dragon beneath him.
Roar, roar, roar, roar—!!!
Subsequently, the roar of beasts erupted from the Dragon Tooth Soldier deployment chutes of the Hanging Gardens, drawing everyone's attention.
Countless modified Dragon Tooth Soldiers with wings flew out of the chutes clutching weapons, and among them were even Phantasmal Species that could fly, such as Griffins and Wyverns.
Hades dispatched a Dragon Tooth Soldier attacking him with a single sword strike and said:
"Modified Dragon Tooth Soldiers and various flying Phantasmal Species. This is the Double Summon skill, the masterpiece of Red Assassin Semiramis."
"Although Double Summon can summon Phantasmal Species, their bodies are usually only partial phantoms. She must have obtained the power of the greater grail to be able to summon so many Phantasmal Species."
"Everyone, prepare to counterattack," Hades said to everyone on the Duel Dragons.
Upon hearing Hades's words, they immediately gripped their weapons to fight back. As a Master, Kairi Shishigami could handle Dragon Tooth Soldiers, but he was powerless against Phantasmal Species and could only leave them to Mordred.
"Please listen to the beautiful melody played by Astolfo."
Astolfo then took out one of his Noble Phantasms, a black horn. With a flash of light, the horn immediately transformed into a wraparound musical instrument composed of several small horns and bass speakers.
Astolfo took a deep breath and blew hard:
"Wooooooo—!!!"
The loud sound of the horn echoed across the entire sky. The bone-made Dragon Tooth Soldiers were instantly pulverized, while the Phantasmal Species were momentarily dazed, shaking their heads before quickly recovering.
La Black Luna
Rank: C
Type: Anti-Army Noble Phantasm
Range: 1~50
Maximum Targets: 100 people
A horn said to make those who hear its tone flee in terror. While Heroic Spirits with resistance to magic can stand firm, ordinary Magi will find it difficult to endure.
This horn was granted to Astolfo by the good witch Logistilla and was once used to drive away a large flock of Harpies. It is normally a size that can be hung from the waist, but it grows large when used, enough to surround Astolfo.
Once the Dragon Tooth Soldiers were cleared out, the Duel Dragons immediately began clearing the Phantasmal Species before them.
Meteor Sonic—!!!
Scorching Crimson Hellfire Bullet—!!!
Black Rose Flare—!!!
Eternal Sunshine—!!!
Blackwing Noble—!!!
Five different dragon breath attacks were launched simultaneously, wiping out all the Phantasmal Species in an instant.
Subsequently, the five Duel Dragons immediately flew toward the Hanging Gardens at maximum speed.
Roar, roar, roar, roar, roar—!!!
Just as the Duel Dragons were about to reach the Hanging Gardens, a new roar rang out, with a momentum and pressure incomparable to the previous Phantasmal Species.
It was a massive six-eyed green serpent with forelimbs on its belly and razor-sharp claws. Its breath was filled with poisonous purple gas, and its long, massive body coiled around the Hanging Gardens.
Semiramis stepped out at this time, looking at the five Duel Dragons flying in the sky. She lowered her head slightly, a cold sweat breaking out as she said:
"As expected, to deal with high-ranking Dragon Kind, one must use a Divine Beast from among the Phantasmal Species."
Sikera Usum
Rank: B+
Type: Anti-Army Noble Phantasm
Range: 1~20
Maximum Targets: 10 people
Attaches the environmental characteristic of "poison" to a space or to magecraft. When this Noble Phantasm is activated, the magecraft used by Semiramis is also granted the "poison" characteristic.
It has an additional weakening effect on Heroic Spirits with legends of "poison immunity"; conversely, for those with legends of being killed by poison, the damage is doubled. The type of poison can also be freely selected. Visually, it manifests in the form of viciously colored chains.
Once activated, Semiramis can resist any toxin within the Hanging Gardens and can create any poison in the atmosphere. Anything she creates with magecraft, even a small flame, will be toxic. She can even poison her familiars to affect their masters, poisoning the causal lines themselves. With her aptitude as the oldest poisoner, she can create poisons that rival or even surpass that of the Hydra—a lethal poison that even the great hero Heracles and the great sage Charon could not endure. Beyond this, she can summon Usum, a giant poisonous serpent from Sumerian mythology that resembles Dragon Kind and whose toxicity exceeds that of the Hydra. It is a Divine Beast and a child of the Earth Mother Goddess Tiamat.
Bašmu, the great poisonous serpent summoned by Semiramis through the power of Sikera Usum. One of the eleven monsters created by Tiamat in Babylonian mythology. Although it is a type of Divine Beast, the pinnacle of Phantasmal Species, even Semiramis cannot fully summon such a thing in an instant, so only its upper body is manifested.
But now, with the support of the greater grail's power, Semiramis has summoned the complete Bašmu.
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