To Rin Tohsaka's ears, Mordred's declaration was undeniably problematic.
What kind of sane person would strive for the goal of being eaten? Yet, Mordred's words just now genuinely sounded like she wanted Zuke to devour her.
For a moment, Rin couldn't tell whether Mordred meant "eat" in the literal sense or something more metaphorical.
But, based on common sense, Rin assumed Mordred's "eat" probably referred to an emotional or symbolic "consumption"—not the actual act.
After all, no matter how you looked at it, eating people was just too grotesque. She couldn't even begin to imagine such a scene.
However, this time, Rin was completely wrong.
Mordred absolutely meant "eat" in the literal sense.
"...So, you've retained memories from the Singularity, huh?"
Hearing Mordred's explosive opening line, Zuke couldn't help but chuckle, immediately understanding the situation.
He hadn't expected Rin to summon Mordred of all people—their compatibility didn't seem particularly high.
Frankly, after seeing Illya's Servant was Sitonai, he had half-expected Rin to summon Ishtar or Ereshkigal instead.
In Fate/Grand Order, those two goddesses had manifested by possessing Rin's body—a situation somewhat similar to Sitonai's.
So, finding out Rin's Servant was Mordred left Zuke genuinely puzzled.
But what surprised him even more was that this Mordred—summoned by Rin—actually remembered the Singularity he had experienced before.
Servants were merely projections of the Heroic Spirits recorded on the Throne. When these summoned Servants perished, their memories weren't necessarily retained by their original selves in the Throne of Heroes.
Thus, it was common for the same Heroic Spirit to be summoned across different worlds and timelines without any recollection of prior summonings.
Unless a particular summoning left an exceptionally memorable experience, the original Heroic Spirit might deliberately retain those memories.
"Your blatant favoritism toward Gawain over me? Oh, that's something I'll never forget."
Mordred grinned, her gaze sharp as a beast's—eerily reminiscent of the "Rampage" blessing Lion King had once bestowed upon her.
"This time, I'll make you acknowledge my worth!"
During the Singularity, Zuke had devoured Gawain but spared her. To Mordred, that wasn't mercy—it was an insult that only fueled her competitive drive.
As a result, that memory had been etched into the original Mordred in the Throne. Unless something changed, every Mordred summoned from now on would remember it.
Her goal now was simple: force Zuke to recognize her value. And until he did, she wouldn't let him off the hook.
With a fierce cry, Mordred vanished—only to reappear right in front of Zuke, her massive sword swinging down at his skull with brutal force!
The sheer power behind the strike dwarfed anything Leysritt's axe could have mustered—after all, Mordred was a proper Servant.
But in the face of 10,000, the difference between 1 and 2 was negligible.
No matter how much stronger Mordred was than Leysritt, to Zuke, her attack was still little more than a light scratch.
CLANG!
The sharp blade struck Zuke's forehead—only to produce a metallic clang, failing to even budge his head an inch.
"What the—?!"
Mordred's eyes widened. She had known Zuke was strong—Gawain's fate in her memories had made that clear—but the fact that her attack couldn't even pierce his skin sent a chill down her spine.
"Tch… Fine! If that's how it is—I'll settle this with my Noble Phantasm!"
Originally, she had planned to test the waters first. But this single exchange had made the gap between them painfully obvious.
She had come here to prove her worth, yet she couldn't even leave a scratch on him. That was a blow her pride couldn't tolerate.
And this situation… it infuriated her in a way that reminded her of "him"—her so-called "Father."
In life, she had desperately sought King Arthur's acknowledgment, only to fail at the very end—even becoming the one who destroyed Camelot.
For a brief moment, Zuke's face seemed to overlap with Artoria's in her mind.
The roar of her wounded pride left no room for hesitation.
"CLARENT BLOOD ARTHUR—!!"
The "Radiant Sword of the King" in Mordred's hands erupted with a blinding crimson light, condensing into a monstrous wave of energy that she hurled straight at Zuke.
In an instant, the entire street was bathed in red.
Rin could only stare in stunned silence as Mordred unleashed her Noble Phantasm without even consulting her.
She had known Mordred was impulsive, but this level of recklessness was beyond her expectations—what kind of Servant fired off their ultimate attack without so much as a heads-up?!
And more importantly…
Even though Mordred had unleashed her Noble Phantasm—an A+-rank Anti-Army attack—directly at Zuke…
The results were far from satisfactory.
"Well? How's that for taking a Noble Phantasm head-on—?!"
Having poured nearly all her energy into the attack, Mordred panted heavily as she glared at the thick dust cloud obscuring the street.
The entire road had been obliterated—at the very least, the Holy Church would have another mess to cover up.
They'd probably have to bribe the gas company into calling it another "gas explosion" or something.
But the next second—Mordred's triumphant smirk froze.
Because as the smoke cleared…Zuke stood there, completely unharmed.
To be fair, "Clarent Blood Arthur" was indeed a formidable Noble Phantasm—its A+ rank was proof enough.
But Zuke had already bathed in an A++-rank "Excalibur" blast during the previous Holy Grail War.
And compared to back then, his current strength had grown by hundreds of times.
"Naughty brats who don't listen… need to be properly disciplined."
Zuke grinned, his gaze locking onto Mordred with unmistakable danger flickering in his eyes.
To be continued…