Hippolyta's declaration was still echoing in the Canyon when Gilgamesh's laughter rang out. It was an undisguised laugh, a mixture of unbelievable absurdity and offended rage.
"Ha... hahahaha! Hahahaha—!"
Tine stood behind him, looking expressionlessly at her own Servant as he acted out. She had already grown used to it.
Gilgamesh finally laughed enough. He wiped away a non-existent tear from the corner of his eye, and his crimson pupils refocused, landing on Hippolyta. The smile on his face rapidly faded, replaced by a calm so cold it was nearly cruel.
"Hey, mongrel."
"Who permitted you to speak to This King in such a tone?"
Hippolyta remained mounted on her Warhorse, her golden pupils meeting his gaze without flinching. She didn't answer; she merely gripped her bow tighter, her knuckles turning white.
"This King thought—" Gilgamesh continued, "that anyone daring to intervene in this farce would at least be a clown with some self-awareness, someone who understands how to please a King."
His voice suddenly rose.
"I didn't expect it to be a piece of utterly foolish dross who doesn't even know their own weight!"
The moment the last word fell, the Golden Ripples behind Gilgamesh expanded. What had originally been only dozens of ripples expanded geometrically at this instant. In the blink of an eye, the entire sky behind him was covered in a golden aura. From every ripple, the tip of a weapon emerged.
"Then atone for your sin with death!"
His arm swept down.
Swoosh swoosh swoosh swoosh swoosh—!!!
The sound of the air breaking merged into a single sharp hum. A golden rain poured down. It wasn't 'a part' fired at Hippolyta and 'another part' covering the rest. It was an indiscriminate, full-range, saturated strike!
Every Noble Phantasm trailed a golden flame like reverse meteors, tearing through the air and slamming toward every living thing in the Canyon. Hippolyta, Alcides, Olga Marie, Flat, and even the Canyon itself were included. The golden torrent tore through the atmosphere, dragging countless intersecting trajectories, indiscriminately covering every corner of the Canyon.
"Kyllion!"
She barked a low command and suddenly yanked the reins. The red Warhorse named Kyllion let out a whinny, its front hooves rearing up as it lunged sideways a split second before the rain of Noble Phantasms fell.
Clatter clatter clatter clatter—!
Hooves shattered the rocks as it galloped across the nearly vertical rock wall. Hippolyta lowered her body, almost hugging the horse's back, turning into a streak of light. Almost simultaneously, three spears grazed her Cape and slammed into the rock wall where she had just been.
Boom!
The rock wall exploded into three giant craters over two meters in diameter, with rubble falling like rain. Hippolyta had no time to catch her breath, for the next wave of Noble Phantasms had arrived. She leaned low and pulled three arrows from her quiver with her left hand, notched them, and pulled the string to its limit—
Swoosh!
Three arrows fired at once, precisely hitting three incoming battle-axes and instantly detonating them. In the next second, a spear shot through the smoke, followed closely by another rain of Noble Phantasms.
Hippolyta's pupils constricted, and she squeezed her legs tight against the horse's flanks. Kyllion whinnied, its four hooves exploding with staggering power as it lunged forward. She also pulled a Round Shield from her back; its edges were inlaid with silver patterns, and the center was carved with the emblem of the God of War.
Clang!
A spear slammed into the shield. Hippolyta's arm jolted as a burst of sparks erupted from the surface of the Round Shield, parrying the spear away. Immediately after came the second, the third—
Clang! Clang-clang!
She swung her shield, her movements so fast they were mere blurs. Each parry precisely struck the side or tip of a Noble Phantasm, using skillful force to divert their trajectories. But there were too many Noble Phantasms, and they were firing from every angle without any discernible pattern.
A battle-axe grazed her shoulder, tearing through her Leather Armor and leaving a bloody trail on her wheat-colored skin.
"Tch." Hippolyta grit her teeth and pulled the reins sharply. Kyllion leaped to the side, its hooves treading on the air, somehow completing a second mid-air turn to dodge three intersecting javelins.
The moment it landed, the hooves crushed the rock wall into a web of cracks before it continued its frantic gallop.
She was fleeing. The Queen of the Amazons knew better than anyone that against a saturated attack of this density, taking it head-on was equivalent to suicide. And her gaze was fixed on Alcides throughout. That man with his head wrapped in Animal Skin was her true target!
On the other side—
Alcides swung his Longbow in a full circle like a giant club, smashing it violently against the rain of Noble Phantasms coming his way.
Clang—!!!
The explosive roar of metal clashing made one's eardrums ache. Numerous Noble Phantasms were sent flying, tumbling through the air and stabbing into the distant rock walls all the way to their hilts. Using the recoil, Alcides spun his body to the side, his Longbow sweeping across to knock away even more Noble Phantasms.
Bang bang bang!
There were no flourishes in his movements—just pure strength, pure speed, and combat instincts so pure they were brutal. He moved like a tireless killing machine, shifting through the rain of Noble Phantasms. Immediately after, he raised his Longbow and simply pulled the string.
Vroom—
Dark red Magical Energy condensed, compressed, and underwent a qualitative change on the string.
Swoosh—!
A beam of dark red light erupted from the bowstring. The beam split after being fired, becoming a hundred thin red lights that precisely met every Noble Phantasm attacking him.
Bang bang bang bang bang—!!!
A chain of explosions. The collision of red and golden light exploded into a ring of fire around Alcides. Smoke rose, obscuring his figure. And within that smoke, the dark red Magical Energy Fluctuations... grew even stronger.
As for Olga Marie, by the time those Noble Phantasms capable of piercing city walls were within ten meters of her, they were caught as if by an invisible giant hand and then crushed. The metal twisted, deformed, and disintegrated, turning into tiny fragments that rustled as they fell.
There wasn't even an explosion.
Flat was protected inside the Force Field, his head tilted back and his mouth agape.
"Whoa..." He let out an unconscious exclamation. "This is just too..."
"Too what?" Olga Marie asked without looking back, her right hand still raised, two fireballs hovering above her palm.
"Too cool!" Flat clenched his fist hard. "As expected of the President of the Earth!"
Olga Marie's mouth twitched. "...Just shut up and watch the battle."
"You got it!"
Flat decided to give up on thinking. The President was just too 'carry'!