Sensing the gazes surrounding her, Raiden Mei spoke to Aaron through the mental link.
[Caster, I can feel that these Servants aren't strong. If I combine the Teigu you gave me with the abilities I've acquired, plus the food that boosted my strength, defeating them won't be difficult.]
[And if I choose to disengage, then I've successfully escaped the battlefield today. But... what about the future?]
[...You're just an ordinary high school student I dragged into this. There's no need to force yourself to fight.]
[But even an ordinary high school student feels uncomfortable dragging others down.]
Entering a deserted area, Raiden Mei sensed several killing intents locking onto her.
[If you made me duel other Servants, I'd definitely be killed easily. But if it's just these guys... facing Servants with this level of combat power is better than facing those powerful ones, right?]
[...Even if I tried to persuade you now, it would be useless, right? I can't quite understand why your mindset changed so quickly.]
[Because, I just thought of something... but I don't want to talk about it for now.]
Because I can feel now that the 'dream' from that day might not have been a dream.
I really turned into another person and planned to kill Kiana...
Inside my body, there is a consciousness—I don't know what it is—that could seize control of my body at any moment.
In that case, if I don't forge a resilient heart, she will have another chance to slip in.
Aaron has been trying to protect me; perhaps he also noticed something wrong with my body and consciousness...
After Dad was locked up, my life became completely different from the past.
After meeting Kiana, I thought I had a new support, but...
If I keep thinking about relying on others, that thing will sooner or later seize my body again and hurt the people I want to rely on!
Now that an opportunity is before me, if I choose to run away... I might escape this time, but am I going to let everyone protect me forever?
I don't know if that memory is real.
But after I woke up, the weary look on Kiana's face and my stay in the hospital were enough to show that this world isn't as beautiful as I imagined.
What exactly happened in Nagazora City? Why did I lose my memory after parting with Kiana during the day...
There are too many mysteries about me, so many that I can't even deceive myself anymore.
[...Fine, suit yourself. Anyway, the powerful Servants are on my side. Archer, Rider, and Saber are all nearby. Lancer has been defeated by me and sent back to the Throne of Heroes. Berserker should be nearby too. In other words, you should only have to face Assassin.]
[Eh, wait? Isn't it very dangerous on your end then?]
[War Fog is invincible—enough talk. Use War Fog if there's danger, and if you can't run, use Shambhala. Remember that.]
After saying this, Aaron actively cut off the conversation with Raiden Mei.
After buffing himself with the food, the battlefield unfolded exactly like the original work, as expected.
Although Diarmuid, who should have exited later, made an early exit, none of the other Servants who were supposed to gather here were missing besides him.
After Iskandar and Gilgamesh exchanged some trash talk, Matou Kariya, squatting in the bushes, commanded Lancelot to charge out.
The fact that someone dared to call themselves King in front of Gilgamesh had already annoyed him. Now that a wild dog had jumped out to provoke him—under these circumstances, expecting Gilgamesh to choose endurance was obviously impossible.
The enraged Goldie immediately fired his Noble Phantasms at Lancelot below.
At first, it was two. After Lancelot parried them, Gilgamesh increased the number to four. After those were completely blocked, Gilgamesh exasperatedly threw eight. When he failed to wound the enemy again, he used sixteen.
The other Masters and Servants present thought this Berserker was probably done for, but after a rain of Noble Phantasms poured down, everyone discovered...
—Eh, this Servant seems perfectly fine.
But, something was wrong.
"Kiritsugu, something's wrong."
"Yeah... this is getting interesting."
After the sixteen Noble Phantasms were fired simultaneously, the ground where Lancelot stood was completely blown away.
But in that moment, Waver, Iskandar, Emiya Kiritsugu... no, even Matou Kariya, who was squatting nearby preparing to laugh at Tohsaka Tokiomi, felt a chilling killing intent spreading around.
If only that black dog had blocked his Noble Phantasms, Gilgamesh would have been merely annoyed.
After all, he knew clearly that the Berserker blocking the bombardment of 16 Noble Phantasms was fighting with almost all his might. As long as he fired more Noble Phantasms, Berserker would inevitably fall by his hand.
But now, Gilgamesh felt absolutely terrible.
Right after he bombarded the opponent with 16 Noble Phantasms, he discovered...
His connection with some of the Noble Phantasms had been cut off???????
Saber was in the distance and didn't come over. Rider was watching the show and didn't intervene. Assassin was Kirei's dog. Lancer was dead. Berserker was having enough trouble just dealing with the attacks and had no time to steal my Noble Phantasms...
"Caster, you have some nerve!"
Although he didn't know how the opponent did it, Gilgamesh deduced the thief, and a murderous intent unlike any before appeared on his face.
[King, please calm down! If...]
[Tokiomi, you want to say, tell me to calm down?]
[This King's treasures were stolen by a thief. If I choose to 'calm down' at a time like this—how will the other Servants view this King? A King who gets his treasures stolen and then swallows his anger? Such a King is nothing but a joke!]
[This King knows you intend to use a Command Spell—if you dare use a Command Spell to make this King retreat, this King will definitely make you pay when I return!]
[My King... your subject had no such intention.]
Letting out a sigh, Tohsaka Tokiomi spoke to Gilgamesh with resignation.
[Your subject has no right to stop your actions. If you intend to continue the campaign... your subject can only prepare all support work!]
[Hmph, very good, Tokiomi. That is a good subject.]
Gilgamesh, who kept trying to sense the presence at the scene, still couldn't drag out the rat that stole his treasures.
On the other side, realizing Gilgamesh seemed inactive, Berserker actually let out a provocative roar on the ground???
"You mongrel! This King intended to deal with that thief first! Now..."
Behind Gilgamesh, countless golden ripples appeared, far exceeding the previous amount.
"Berserker, Rider, that thief, and Saber who keeps trying to pick up scraps."
"You mongrels who do not respect the King! All of you, go to hell!"
"Gate of Babylon!"
The golden King, erupting with a roar atop the streetlamp, fired countless Noble Phantasms directly at all the areas in his sight.
Matou Kariya, who had originally planned for Berserker to fight head-on, was scared by Gilgamesh's killing intent and immediately used a Command Spell.
[Berserker, transfer to my side and protect me!]
On the other side, Waver... oh, this young magus frightened by his mentor's death, was now directly scared stupid.
"Master? Hey!"
Seeing Waver's state, Iskandar didn't hesitate for a moment and directly deployed his Noble Phantasm, Ionian Hetairoi.
Using the chantless Ionian Hetairoi, Iskandar immediately took Waver and transferred into the Reality Marble, avoiding the sudden attack.
On the other side, seeing the Noble Phantasms shooting toward her, Artoria immediately draped armor woven from magical energy over her body, raised the Excalibur hidden by Invisible Air, and knocked all the weapons away.
"Saber, how do you feel?"
"Not a big problem—but that is because he was merely venting his anger and firing blindly around."
Feeling the numbness in her arm, Artoria spoke to Emiya Kiritsugu with extreme seriousness.
"If that man hadn't failed to aim seriously, I absolutely could not have blocked those Noble Phantasms so easily just now."
"...In other words, has that man's strength reached such a level?"
Provoking all surrounding Servants simultaneously was, in Emiya Kiritsugu's view, an incredibly stupid move.
The problem was, this golden Archer actually had that kind of combat power.
Rider used a Noble Phantasm to hide. On our side, we easily blocked those Noble Phantasms relying on Saber's melee ability and burst speed. Berserker was teleported away by a Command Spell. So on the scene...
Only that Caster remained, right?
Caster hid just now; I assumed he intended to observe the situation from the dark.
After all, his battle with Lancer just ended. Even a confident Servant wouldn't challenge a new powerful enemy with so many people present... okay, except for this Archer; his strength is ridiculous.
But looking at it now, he stayed here... seemingly intending to continue fighting?
To be honest, he's a bit fearless.
Although Servants just return to the Throne of Heroes after death, generally speaking, those who respond to the Holy Grail War summons have wishes they want to grant.
This behavior, almost seeking death, is truly incomprehensible.
And collecting Noble Phantasms... wait, does this mean that any Noble Phantasm he touches gets snatched away by him?
"Saber, if Caster doesn't die this time, then..."
"I understand. I won't give him the chance to touch my sword."
"Hmph, seems I overthought it."
I underestimated her too much before. Always misled by her appearance, my subconscious felt a little girl was unreliable.
But thinking about it carefully, the King of Knights who commanded the Round Table naturally has stronger combat experience than a Magus Killer like me who only knows assassination.
She just didn't have time to shift her mindset to keep up with my tempo. But once this Servant keeps up with me, she will indeed become a Servant who can lead me to victory.
"However, Kiritsugu, I do not suggest you make me use my Noble Phantasm right now."
Staring at the Servant in the sky who was still furious, Artoria spoke solemnly to Emiya Kiritsugu.
"My instinct tells me that man is too dangerous. And even after seeing these Noble Phantasms of his, my instinct tells me he... hasn't used his full strength."
"...Is it exaggerated to that extent?"
"What's more exaggerated is that Caster... is fine."
Looking at the wharf where the dust had settled, Artoria looked speechlessly at the ground—formerly the wharf—completely at a loss for words.
Under that kind of attack, if Caster hadn't been summoned away by his Master, he should have been 100% blown away.
And now...
"No, that's not right!"
At this moment, a crazy thought suddenly popped into Emiya Kiritsugu's brain.
Not just Emiya Kiritsugu, but even Waver, who had been teleported back to this world by Iskandar, wore an incredibly shocked expression.
"Hey, little Master. That attack just now was indeed powerful, but you shouldn't be too scared to speak, right?"
"I wasn't scared! The reason I froze just now is because I felt... Rider, you should know that we Masters can sense each other through Command Spells. And just now..."
"On this battlefield, I sensed the existence of a 'Command Spell.'"
"If I'm not sensing it wrong, Caster... no, the man we call Caster, might not be a Servant at all."
"He might not be Caster, but Caster's Master!"
.......................