Chapter 735: One Crisis Subsides, Another Emerges
The sudden siege battle lasted until dawn.
The number of attacking magical beasts far exceeded expectations. Yet with Tomoe Gozen's inexplicable departure, Minamoto no Yoshitsune and Ibaraki-douji severely weakened from their rescue efforts, and Anna, Merlin, Fujimaru, and Sakatsuki away on an expedition, the only Servants left to defend the city were Benkei and Leonidas II.
Human strength has its limits.
As magical beasts fell like harvested wheat, wave after wave, the defending soldiers cycled through shifts until the iron-helmeted, burly Spartan king finally heard the bad news he had anticipated—
"General, we're running out of manpower!"
After months of continuous battle, Uruk's able-bodied fighters had already dwindled rapidly. And in this siege, the gaps left by missing commanders often required ten or even a hundred times more Uruk soldiers to fill.
The magical beast women could endlessly produce offspring, but humans couldn't birth seventeen or eighteen children in a single day. As the disparity grew, the day of reckoning was inevitable.
Tonight's magical beast uprising merely accelerated the process.
But of all times… now?
Leonidas II waved the messenger away and ascended the high walls, silently observing the fierce battlefield.
"It seems that no matter the story, heroes always tread the same path."
Hearing this, Leonidas turned and bowed respectfully. "My king."
"Hmph." White ribbons fluttered as the red-cloaked figure strode past. Gilgamesh, who had left the palace of his own volition, stepped forward and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with his loyal general, gazing into the distance.
Those crimson serpentine eyes beheld the same scene.
Yet their hearts were worlds apart.
"—In the end, it was unavoidable." Exhaling a sigh tinged with regret, Gilgamesh raised his hand. An ancient tome materialized above it, its pages slowly parting.
In an instant, an aura of solemn lethality permeated the air. Leonidas had no doubt that once the King of Heroes activated his prepared contingency, tonight's crisis would be resolved.
But at what cost?
What would the price be?
"Aaaaa—" Just as Gilgamesh steeled his resolve, an ethereal, melodious voice rang out. Under the gaze of both king and general, a familiar yet unexpected figure ascended the city walls.
Azure horns, white robes, and starry cross-shaped pupils of breathtaking beauty.
Though the night was thick as spilled ink, her presence instantly illuminated the ramparts.
Light had descended upon this place.
Perhaps none would notice the darkness concealed within that radiance, but when a single beam pierces the night, none remain oblivious.
"Grrr…" For some reason, the magical beasts halted their charge, growling with unreadable emotion. The soldiers, momentarily stunned, soon traced the source of the song and spotted the figure atop the wall.
"Who… is that?"
"Why does she have horns?"
"So cute… ahem, I mean, how did she get up there?"
"And she's singing… Is this intermission?"
"Care for some evening tea? I'll mix it with Bashmu's blood, and if you're still not sober, I can throw in a complimentary splash of piss."
"Hey, hey, you... By the way, who exactly is this girl?"
"I think... I recognize her?" murmured a soldier who had fought under General Tomoe Gozen, his voice filled with disbelief.
"Isn't she... the head of the infirmary?"
The head of the infirmary? So, a doctor?
A doctor standing on the city walls, singing? What kind of song?
An execution hymn? One to send us off ahead of time?
The soldier's words did nothing to clear the confusion; instead, they deepened the mystery.
Here was a girl in white, utterly out of place on the battlefield, standing amidst the carnage, singing with unwavering focus.
The scene was so bizarre that some soldiers frowned, a hint of irritation creeping in.
"This is absurd. No matter how beautiful the song, what good will it do? Can she really sing these damned monsters away?"
Before the words had fully left his mouth, someone grabbed his collar. Turning, he saw his comrade wide-eyed, pointing ahead in horror.
"L-Look..."
"Look at what? I—" The soldier scowled, but when his eyes landed on the sight before him, he froze just the same.
Before him knelt the monstrous beasts, trembling and prostrate upon the earth.
The troublesome lion-dog Uridimmu, the domineering three-horned lion-dragon Mushussu, the cold-blooded wrathful serpent Mušḫuššu, the mighty sun demon Ugallu... Regardless of their strength or ferocity, they all lay flat on the ground. Even as dumbstruck human soldiers stood mere feet away, some bold enough to poke them with spears, the creatures remained unmoved.
As if nothing—no one—could shake the reverence ingrained in their very blood.
"Something really is different..." Whispers spread through the ranks, and just then, the song shifted.
"Laaaa—"
Like a mother soothing an angry child, yet with a gentleness that brooked no refusal, the voice seemed to say:
You must leave.
And so, with a rustling, uniform motion, the monsters rose row by row. Their crimson eyes still lingered hungrily on the fresh human prey, but when their gazes brushed against the glowing girl on the wall, they flinched as if burned, turning away.
Step by step, trampling over the corpses and blood of their kin, they retreated like ants returning to their nest, vanishing into the depths of the forest, the ends of the world.
Never to return.
A long silence followed before someone dared to speak.
"G-Gone?"
"I... think so."
Even with the evidence before their eyes, the ease with which the horde had been dispersed was almost too much to believe.
Only when Leonidas himself sounded the horn, signaling the retreat, did the soldiers—battered and weary from the night's ordeal—snap out of their daze. Then came the tears of joy.
It was true—the monsters had retreated!
The Monster Front had been held!
"Victory is ours—!"
No one knew who started it, but the soldiers didn't return to the city. Instead, they raised their weapons high, cheering wildly on the blood-soaked battlefield, their voices thunderous.
None of them knew that atop the walls stood not only the girl who had turned the tide, but also their king and a certain female general who had 'deserted' from the very beginning.
"Deserter Ba, seeking the king's forgiveness." The white-haired woman, covered in dust and even her steed panting heavily, knelt on one knee, bowing her head in apology to the Sage King. "It was because Ba did not participate in the battle that the situation became so dire..."
"Spare me your inflated self-importance, mongrel." The Sage King narrowed his eyes, putting away his Noble Phantasm. "A single wretch like you could never have turned the tide of war."
"Yes." Ba Avant pressed her lips together, softly acknowledging.
Though she felt guilty for not fighting alongside her comrades, she had no regrets.
Because the girl she had brought back would allow more soldiers to lay down their arms and return to embrace their wives and children.
For that, even the king's punishment would be worth enduring.
Tap, tap, tap... The Sage King walked past her, heading toward the girl who had truly saved the battlefront, but paused midway.
A whisper, barely audible, drifted on the wind.
"Well done. As expected of the archer I chose."
Ba Avant looked up in disbelief at the king's retreating back, her candlelit eyes brightening. "...Yes!"
As if he hadn't heard her, the Sage King continued toward the girl. "Hey, mong—... Are you alright?"
Ignoring Gilgamesh's awkward address, the girl with azure horns gazed softly at the cheering crowds below the city walls, her starlit eyes gentle.
"I... really like children."
"Naturally." Gilgamesh stood behind her, calmly watching her slender figure.
Under the endless night, the white-clad girl seemed fragile and ephemeral, as if she might vanish at any moment.
"Are you alright?"
"Hmm?" The girl turned her head, blinking in confusion. Her innocent, clueless expression made Gilgamesh stiffen slightly.
"Never mind. Forget I said anything."
The girl in white smiled and nodded, turning back to the celebrating crowd.
Her gaze was tender and doting, though no one noticed her face had grown as pale as paper.
The night was cool as water.
"Hey, Minamoto girl." Amid the crowd, Shuten-douji sprawled on the ground, limbs splayed. The people instinctively gave space to the disheveled, fanged loli and the bloodstained general in white, Ushiwakamaru. "I've decided. Tomorrow, you're coming with me to Uruk's eastern district."
"What for? I'm busy." Ushiwakamaru polished her beloved blade. "If it's some childish game, count me out."
"Hmph, as if I'd beg you." Shuten snorted haughtily. "So, are you coming or not?"
"Fine... if I must."
"Keh keh keh." Satisfied, Shuten lay back, staring at the sky—then froze.
"Ushiwakamaru..."
"What now?"
A gulp—Shuten swallowing hard.
"Don't you feel..." Her voice was hoarse. "Something... flying toward us?"
"Huh?" The Minamoto girl looked up in surprise—then her pupils shrank!
Something dark and massive was expanding across her vision.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion and towering flames drew the attention of all in Uruk. Even Gilgamesh, halfway down the city wall, frowned and turned toward the sound.
Then, in the next instant, his expression twisted in alarm.
"Damn it—!"
Crack.
This was the sound of a spine being snapped.
"Shuten—!!!" Ushiwakamaru's grief-stricken roar pierced the heavens.
As the dust settled, amidst the newly added corpses littering the ground, a young girl clad in twelve-layered robes was lifted effortlessly by a single black-robed hand. With a swift motion of the arm, her neck was cleanly snapped!
Beneath the black-robed figure's feet, Ushiwakamaru coughed up mouthfuls of blood, yet struggled wildly like a furious trapped beast, her eyes brimming with boundless rage and killing intent.
Yet it was all in vain.
"This is..." Tomoe heard her own hoarse voice, accompanied by Leonidas's low sigh.
"Prepare yourselves." The Spartan king donned his war helmet and strode resolutely toward the city gates.
His deep, resonant voice, seeming to reverberate within his chest, calmly announced to all:
"It appears tonight's battle is far from over."