"What?!"
WHOOOOSH!!
Two enormous barrel-like constructs materialized directly in the path of Ea's shockwave.
Gilgamesh watched in rigid disbelief as his own attack was swallowed into one "barrel."
An ominous premonition took shape. His expression locked.
BOOM!!
Sure enough, the very next instant, the shockwave erupted from the other barrel, hurtling directly back at him.
His own attack had been reflected.
"Damn--"
The possibility of something this absurd had never once crossed his mind. The King of Heroes was, for the first time, truly caught off guard.
Never in his existence had he imagined being hit by his own Ea.
"GRAAAAGH!!!"
Even the golden armor, renowned for its defensive prowess, was being sheared apart by the bizarre phenomenon.
After all, that was an attack that ruptured space itself, opening dimensional fault lines.
"..."
Looking up at the counter-attacked Archer, Berserker felt... something. Not quite sympathy. Something stranger.
The King had talked the biggest game and then eaten the hardest hit.
The irony was almost poetic.
"Caster just reflected an attack like that with magecraft?"
"That's absolutely insane."
Saber, Waver, and the rest gaped at the spectacular display.
That was an Anti-World Noble Phantasm. Even the restrained version radiated power that shook the heavens.
A "half-strength" strike from the King of Heroes was still far beyond what ordinary Servants could withstand.
Let alone reflecting it outright.
"Hmph! Serves him right!!"
Jonouchi's face twisted into a triumphant sneer, relishing every second.
Watching that arrogant golden bastard eat his own medicine was as satisfying as seeing Kaiba lose his Blue-Eyes.
Whooosh...
As the catastrophic energy dissipated high above, the Most Ancient King was nowhere to be seen.
He wasn't dead. He'd fled.
Having boasted to the heavens only to have his ultimate weapon thrown back in his face, nearly killing him in the process, the "King" no longer had the dignity to remain.
"What a thin-skinned fellow."
Even Saber understood exactly what had happened to that proud Archer.
"Heh. Are we in any position to judge?"
Lelouch couldn't be bothered with Archer's wounded pride.
They'd been counting on someone to defeat the Witch, and that someone had nearly killed himself instead. What a scene.
"It's still rampaging. We need to stop it."
Kenshin looked up at the thrashing Ophelia, growing desperate.
The other problems could wait. Stopping the chaos came first.
At this scale, the casualties wouldn't be measured in ones and twos.
This time, even the Church's cleanup operations would be pushed to their absolute limit.
"Hmph. Didn't expect the Assassin to have a conscience for the common people."
Glancing at him, Lelouch was surprised Assassin cared about civilians.
"Rider, is this really the time?"
"If that thing isn't stopped, this entire city is finished."
Waver knew the rules of the "world of magecraft." The "Mystery" could never be exposed publicly. The Mage's Association would demand accountability.
"Heh. The solution is right in front of us, isn't it?"
Following Lelouch's gaze, Waver looked toward Saber.
"It's fine. I've already contacted Kiritsugu. He'll use a Command Spell to replenish my mana."
"I'll release Excalibur one more time and bury Lancer."
Saber spoke matter-of-factly.
The situation had transcended personal stakes. Even Kiritsugu's pragmatism couldn't watch Fuyuki City burn.
If one Command Spell and one Noble Phantasm release could save people, he would do it.
Even if it left him with only one Command Spell remaining, putting him at a severe disadvantage going forward.
He wouldn't hesitate.
That was his choice.
"By Command Spell, I order--"
But just as Kiritsugu began the invocation from his distant vantage point, the Witch froze mid-rampage.
"What?"
"Stop already!!"
"Damn it!"
"You can't hear me at all?!"
Tearing at his own hair in frustration, Jonouchi could only watch helplessly.
"Mama!!"
"Waaaaah!!"
"A monster!!"
Cries of terror echoed from every direction. Jonouchi's guilt cut deep.
If only he'd been stronger. Then Sakura would never have been driven to this.
"Thank you, Mister!"
Berserker was pulling terrified civilians from collapsed buildings, one after another.
Among them, a familiar face. The red-haired boy recognized the man who always appeared at the park, his mature features impossible to forget.
Shaking his head without a word, Berserker leaped toward the rooftops.
Spear in hand, he faced the colossal Witch.
The boastful "King" had fled. It fell to him now.
As for mana...
He could only hope that the very last of his reserves would be sufficient for a Limit Break to destroy the Witch.
"Stop!"
But a voice cut through, and Berserker turned to look.
Caster was running against the tide of fleeing civilians, shouting at him.
"I'll stop her!"
The absolute conviction in those words gave Berserker pause.
Seeing Berserker hold back, Jonouchi exhaled with relief. He had nothing left. No mana for another "miracle draw."
"Sakura!"
"I know you're suffering inside right now."
"Because you're not the kind of person who would do this."
"I believe this was never what you wanted!!"
Projecting his voice with everything he had, Jonouchi spoke.
He thought of every moment with this girl. Jonouchi Katsuya had not misjudged her character.
"Hey, Sakura..."
"You know what a friend is?"
"A friend is someone who clowns around with you when things are stupid, laughs with you when things are good, and punches you when you're doing something wrong to knock some sense into you."
The words came slowly, naturally. He thought of Yugi. Honda. The others.
"Right now, you've made a mistake."
"So as your friend, I'm going to give you one hell of a punch to set you straight!"
"And don't think being a girl gets you off the hook!!"
Raising his battered, broken Duel Disk, Jonouchi smiled. A smile laced with nostalgia.
"I'm partly to blame for not stopping you sooner."
"So I'm going to shoulder that mistake with you!"
"I'll hold onto you so tight you can't shake me off, and we'll apologize together in the next world!!"
His hand reached for the card still active on the Duel Disk. Slowly. Deliberately.
He knew exactly what would happen when he touched it.
And he was prepared.
Soul Relay!
The bond connecting him and Sakura Kyoko.
A tether called "friendship."
He ripped the card from the Duel Disk. The sustained link began to unravel.
"Sakura... even without this thing..."
"We'll always be friends!"
"So..."
"Let's go together!"
The Witch's body went rigid. Then it began to collapse.
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]