[OG-Author's Note: I indeed made a mistake regarding the abilities of Command Spells, so I have revised a few plot points.]
[First: The protagonist explicitly used [Demon Armor: Incursio] when he vanished. Second: When escaping the Excalibur blast, he used War Fog + Command Spell body reinforcement + the lingering effects of Ittou Shura, stepping on ice blocks to run away at light speed in mid-air. Modifications are complete. Below is the main text.]
When Raiden Mei regained her consciousness, she didn't see the enemies in the shadows rushing toward her.
After all...
Those enemies were already lying on the ground, turning into specks of starlight and vanishing before her eyes.
However, the blood that had splattered from them remained on the clothes the girl was wearing.
"What... what exactly did I just do..."
At this moment, Raiden Mei felt her heart being gradually eroded by fear.
To be sure, she had long been prepared for battle. having steeled herself mentally, she naturally wouldn't feel a severe psychological burden from slaying Servants who might harm civilians for the sake of the Holy Grail.
For Raiden Mei, the person she truly feared... was herself.
Lifting her wrist in confusion, Mei could see that less than a minute had passed since she arrived in this open area.
In just one minute, she had defeated three assassins far stronger than any human...
If she had accomplished this herself, she would only feel heartened by it.
After all, although Raiden Mei was incomparably gentle, she was also a strong-willed woman who despised being a burden to others.
Having long realized she was dead weight in this Holy Grail War, if she could use her own power to help her companion even a little, she would naturally be happy.
But there was a prerequisite to this—that Raiden Mei defeated these enemies while in possession of her own self-awareness.
She couldn't remember.
The current Raiden Mei couldn't recall a single thing that happened in those few dozen seconds.
Even now, Murasame was still sheathed at her waist.
In other words, the 'me' from just now defeated them without even drawing a weapon?
No, was the person who acted just now really me?
Is there... another consciousness inside my body?
Or do I have dissociative identity disorder?
Once she started deducing in this direction, Raiden Mei realized that the events of that day seemed to be confirmed.
Yes, if I can kill these superhuman Servants while unconscious, then... naturally, I could also attack Kiana, whom I would never want to hurt, while losing consciousness.
And in that dream... where were the people around me?
I was floating in the air, but I didn't see anyone else around... where did they all go!
"Sigh, unbelievable."
Seeing Raiden Mei still gripped by anxiety, her eyes looking increasingly unstable, Aaron immediately activated his final Command Spell.
"By the name of the Command Spell, I order you—Caster, calm down."
"...What was I just doing..."
Forced to calm down by the Command Spell, Raiden Mei looked at Aaron, who had revealed his body, and cried out in shock.
"Aaron! Your body!"
"Oh, it's nothing."
Aaron, who had pulled out the Noble Phantasms along the way, had already stored the weapons piercing his body into his storage space.
Like Gae Buidhe and Gae Dearg, these Noble Phantasms began to dissipate after their masters died.
While they weren't completely unusable, the moment Aaron took them out of his storage space, they would completely vanish within a short time.
Unless he had a way to stabilize their state, the best way to use these Noble Phantasms was to employ them like a certain red-clad Archer—using Broken Phantasm to fire them off as bombs before they disappeared.
Of course, these matters had nothing to do with why Raiden Mei screamed.
The main reason for her shock was that Aaron's body, now released from [Demon Armor: Incursio] and the Honkai Beast transformation, not only had wounds deep enough to show bone, but those wounds were also profusely bleeding.
As a young lady from a wealthy family, she had never seen such a terrifying sight before today.
If not for the blood on her own body when she woke up giving her some degree of psychological preparation, this shocking image alone might have been enough to make her faint.
"Ah, this... small stuff, small stuff."
[Spirit Command: Guts, activate.]
After using Guts again, Aaron felt a sharp pain in his brain.
At the same time, Raiden Mei also felt a stinging pain in her own mind.
"Ugh... it hurts..."
"Phew... it seems the mental connection transmits this sensation as well?"
The reason Aaron dared to let loose in battle this time was partly because he calculated the risk wasn't too high based on the enemy's abilities and personalities, and partly because his mind was linked with Raiden Mei.
Aside from gaining the Galvanism skill from Raiden Mei, the mental connection linked their minds completely. naturally, this allowed Aaron to appropriate a portion of mental energy from Raiden Mei when using his own.
With a higher mental energy cap, the number of times he could use Spirit Commands naturally increased. Relying on the god-tier recovery ability of Guts, Aaron could achieve multiple full-health resurrections as long as he wasn't instantly killed.
But now, he realized that the mental connection had negative side effects to a certain extent.
Because he was using their shared mental energy, the burden from excessive consumption also affected Raiden Mei's mental state.
"Don't think too much. Including us, there are six teams in total. Lancer and Archer have already been taken care of by me. The remaining guys are a bit tricky, but not impossible to deal with."
After draping a clean cloak over Raiden Mei, Aaron spoke softly.
"We can go back in a few days. If you don't want to fight, don't force yourself too much."
"But I..."
Raiden Mei intended to say something, but looking into Aaron's eyes, she swallowed her words and nodded quietly.
Through this incident, I've figured it out.
My mental state isn't right. If I force myself to fight, I might end up dragging Aaron down instead.
If I choose to fight, I might become Aaron's weakness if targeted by the other Servants he mentioned, or something like today might happen again.
I woke up quickly today, but... who can guarantee I'll regain my consciousness next time?
Last time, I almost killed Kiana... and the man who defeated me must have been Aaron.
But this time, if my consciousness is stolen again... the 'Raiden Mei' who loses her self might attack Aaron, the very person who defeated 'Raiden Mei' before.
If it were just that, Aaron would only need to spend a bit of energy to handle the rampant 'Raiden Mei', but right now, there are other enemies here.
If I drag him down while he's in a bitter struggle... that kind of thing... I absolutely won't let that happen!
Meanwhile, after putting on a new cloak, Aaron thought briefly about the current situation and realized he couldn't relax just yet.
Assassin should still have over seventy clones left. It would be troublesome if the Hundred Personas raided their base together. Given Raiden Mei's unstable state, he had to be careful.
He wasn't worried about Raiden Mei being killed by them; he was only worried that the stimulation would be too much for her.
Just a few Assassin clones showing up today caused the Herrscher of Thunder to nearly seize control. If all the Assassins popped up next time...
And besides the Hundred Personas, there were three pairs of opponents he needed to face...
Oh, leaving Matou Kariya aside for now—that guy only gets aroused staring at Tohsaka Tokiomi's Servant. As long as Aaron told him Tokiomi and Kotomine Kirei were in cahoots, the probability of Kariya interfering with him before killing Tokiomi wasn't high.
The problem lay in the fact that Iskandar and Artoria were truly difficult to deal with.
Iskandar goes without saying. [Ionioi Hetairoi] expands too fast. If dragged into the Reality Marble, Aaron felt the probability of being worn down to death was too high.
Most of his skills relied on instantaneous burst damage. Against an enemy like Iskandar, unless he prevented him from deploying his barrier Noble Phantasm, Aaron's fighting style was truly countered by the King of Conquerors' army.
On the other side, Artoria's raw power was formidable. In close combat, her Invisible Air combined with her Instinct and swordsmanship would make things incredibly uncomfortable for Aaron.
Of course, that wasn't the key issue.
The key issue was—this King of Blankets has no martial ethics!
When he was fighting Gilgamesh, he had considered combinations like "an obedient, serious Gilgamesh" or "a Quilt King who cooperates with Emiya Kiritsugu's assassinations."
Leaving the dead Gilgamesh aside, although prepared, he didn't expect the Classmate Quilt King to actually follow Emiya Kiritsugu's orders and fire an Excalibur directly at enemies mid-combat.
The chivalry that constantly hindered Emiya Kiritsugu in the original work seemed completely absent from this Artoria.
If he hadn't confirmed Artoria's status with his eyes, Aaron would have almost thought this was the black tyrant who plucked her ahoge.
Iskandar who counters him, and the unethical Artoria... if these two teams joined forces to beat him up...
Sigh, let's not think about that for now.
Find a place to transplant Lemon-head's Command Spells, then plan from there.
.....................
Several Minutes Later
On the completely destroyed pier, Waver Velvet looked at Emiya Kiritsugu before him and couldn't help but shiver internally.
Even a novice magus like Waver had heard of the fierce reputation of Emiya Kiritsugu, the "Magus Killer."
As a killer specializing in magi, it was said he had crippled over thirty magi.
For a rookie like Waver, if the man had any intention of killing him, Waver would surely be unable to escape.
"Emiya Kiritsugu, Master of Saber."
"Waver... Waver Velvet! Master of Rider!"
Trying hard to perk himself up, Waver shouted at Emiya Kiritsugu as if using his voice to bolster his morale.
"As enemies, for you to suddenly suggest an alliance, what exactly are you planning?"
Glancing at Saber beside him and reading the "I leave the negotiations to you" look in her eyes, Emiya Kiritsugu spoke coldly.
"Caster is too dangerous for both of us. Although he appears to have sustained some damage, I believe neither of us can afford to be careless."
"And right now... heh, Assassin is Kotomine Kirei's Servant, so we can't contact them. Berserker's Master seems to have no intention of communicating with us and has already left. Knowing each other's backgrounds, I don't think an alliance is a bad thing, do you?"
Listening to Kiritsugu's explanation, Waver didn't find anything wrong with it.
Rider had announced he was Iskandar right from the start, and Saber practically revealed her true identity after unleashing the Golden Sword.
With both sides having exposed enough trump cards, if they chose to fight here, it might lead to the previous result.
Earlier, Archer died at that man's hands after being goaded into exposing a weakness while fighting Berserker.
No one could guarantee whether that terrifying man would pull off something so stimulating again.
His concealment methods were no worse than Assassin's, and his strength far exceeded Assassin's. If such an enemy didn't die, any participant in the Holy Grail War with a functioning brain wouldn't dare clash head-on with a strong foe.
But speaking of which, 'Caster', huh... Emiya Kiritsugu, this guy, still hid a piece of intelligence at the last moment.
Damn it, does this guy think I didn't sense the Command Spells, so he's trying to hoodwink me?!
Cooperating with this kind of person is like bargaining with a tiger. Is it really okay to join forces with such a dangerous guy?
"Alright, I accept your alliance request."
Hearing Iskandar ignore his thoughts and agree to the other party, Waver roared at Iskandar in extreme annoyance.
"Hey! I'm the Master!"
................