"Allow me…to fulfill my final duty as a Servant of Black."
As Chiron's exhausted voice trailed off from where he lay collapsed upon the earth, a brilliant golden light flashed suddenly from the distant heavens.
Achilles sensed imminent danger racing toward him. He instinctively moved to dodge, but it was already too late.
Even for Greece's swiftest hero, there was no longer any chance to evade the gleaming, golden-silver arrow hurtling straight toward him.
"Gaaahhh—!!"
Agony twisted Achilles' features as he watched helplessly. The shining arrow pierced clean through his right heel, the source of his immortality stripped bare before him.
"If Sagittarius, drawn across the sky, is truly none other than myself, then from the very start, my bow has always been drawn."
"The Noble Phantasm had already activated—no need for its true name."
Chiron's eyes were gently closed as he calmly explained to Achilles, even now patiently teaching his pupil one last lesson. Even in these final moments, he performed his role as Archer of Black impeccably.
"My star has struck precisely where it needed to. The rest—I leave in your hands."
As Chiron spoke these final words, his body dispersed into shimmering golden particles, gently drifting skyward on the breeze.
"Teacher…you really gave me one hell of a lesson!"
Achilles clenched his teeth bitterly as he stared after the dissolving form of his mentor. With the utmost respect, he bowed deeply toward the spot where Chiron's figure had vanished.
Even in defeat, even after such cunning planning, Chiron remained Achilles' most respected teacher. Indeed, he had delivered a valuable lesson.
Due to possessing his Noble Phantasm, [Andreias Amarantos], Achilles had grown careless, forgetting the lesson Chiron instilled in him from the start—to always remain vigilant against all enemies.
After all, from Achilles' perspective, an opponent incapable of bypassing the defense of [Andreias Amarantos] was unworthy of being considered a true foe.
Why should I fear an opponent who can't even pierce my defenses?
That had been Achilles' mindset.
That was why Chiron had warned him repeatedly from the beginning—"On the battlefield, losing focus is unacceptable for a true warrior."
Indeed, even [Andreias Amarantos] had its fatal weakness—a fact Chiron constantly reminded Achilles of since their days as teacher and student.
Now Achilles could no longer disregard attacks from Black Servants. But after tonight's battles, just how many Servants of Black remained alive to threaten him?
---
"Ridiculous! How could my [Hanging Gardens] be bested by some mere Caster who does nothing but craft golems!"
From atop her throne, Assassin of Red's eyes blazed furiously with rage.
And the reason was simple.
The towering giant had grown unimaginably, so immense it practically blocked the very sky. Its terrifying form stood directly before the [Hanging Gardens], its head alone now reaching a tenth of the Gardens' total size. Beneath the shadow of such a colossal figure, anyone would feel unbearably tiny.
The [Hanging Gardens] hovered hundreds of meters above the ground, yet this titan simply gazed downward, meeting the fortress eye-to-eye. Without hesitation, it pulled back its massive fist and swung it heavily toward the Gardens.
The very air surged toward the giant's hand, compressed by the monstrous force of its strike.
Though its movements were ponderously slow, speed meant nothing to such an immense being—the [Hanging Gardens] couldn't possibly evade an attack of this magnitude.
If this giant moved even a single step, the devastation to the world below, and the Servants still fighting there, would be catastrophic.
BOOM—!
The entire floating fortress lurched violently from the impact, its barriers cracking ominously under the enormous pressure.
A few more blows like that, and the Gardens' defenses would collapse entirely, leaving them utterly vulnerable to the giant's rampage.
Assassin had already received instructions from her Master:
To destroy this giant completely, its head and its core had to be shattered simultaneously the very moment its feet left the ground.
That crucial piece of information had been given to her by Shirou Kotomine's [Revelation]. Immediately after his battle with Jack the Ripper and retrieving the Grail, Shirou had relayed the giant's weak point to Assassin.
Yet even knowing the giant's vulnerability, Assassin found herself unable to destroy it.
A magical cannon?
If magical blasts could have easily eliminated this giant, it never would have stood here now, threatening the Gardens in the first place.
Poison?
It was merely a summoned golem. Poison would have no effect. Even corrosive substances would be little more than scratches to it—perhaps even less than that. Completely ineffective.
[Tiamtum Umu]?
Their destructive power could level armies, each strike equivalent to a meteor strike from the heavens. Yet like the magical cannons before, they could not deal a decisive blow against this rapidly regenerating and growing creature. At best, they only slightly slowed its relentless advance.
She had never imagined she'd be driven to frustration by a mere golem. Assassin had believed only Servants could stand against her. Who would have guessed her arsenal, terrifying enough to wipe out entire cities, would be rendered useless by a rapidly growing golem?
In truth, Assassin had already realized the correct method to defeat the giant.
But by the time she understood what needed to be done, she'd lost the opportunity to simultaneously destroy the giant's head, core, and sever it from the ground.
The earth continuously fed energy into the giant, and in return, the giant protected the land beneath. This mutual reinforcement made it nearly impossible for the Gardens' attacks to meaningfully damage the ground.
Her plan to concentrate overwhelming firepower to destroy the ground beneath the giant's feet—creating a gap in its power supply—was sound. But the giant had grown exponentially in more than just size. Its durability and offensive strength were now astronomical.
Previously, a single magical blast would have effortlessly reduced the golem to rubble. Now, the same blasts could only pierce partially through its massive form—and it regenerated faster than she could destroy it. Attacks became futile, merely prolonging an endless cycle of regeneration and injury.
A single strike was no longer enough to pierce its gargantuan frame entirely.
To obliterate this ever-expanding monstrosity in one decisive strike would require an extraordinary sacrifice.
As another powerful tremor reverberated through the Gardens above, Assassin of Red knew she had run out of time to hesitate.
In the next instant, her figure vanished from the throne.
She disappeared from the [Hanging Gardens] entirely.
---
bonus chaps
100 stones -> 1 chapter
200 stones -> 2 chapters
300 stones -> 3 chapters
and so on
discord.gg/wisetl
patreon.com/wisetl