The air was thick with miasma leaking from the corrupted demigod, having usurped a newfound divinity.
Alcides, the twisted incarnation of Heracles, stood amidst the rubble, a dark tempest gathering around his towering figure. The fabric of the world seemed to warp as he prepared his trump card.
Witnessing him unleash its power during the course of the war, they instinctively knew what it was.
His Noble Phantasm—Reincarnation Pandora.
If he fully unleashed it, they could only imagine the outcome of the battle.
Sigma knew this was the end of the line. The young mercenary did not hesitate; it was all or nothing at this point. He raised his right hand; the crimson tattoos etched in his skin burned brightly.
"By my first Command Spell, I order you—Saver! Exceed your limits!"
A surge of mana flared in the blanket of the night.
"By my second Command Spell, I order you! Overcome the impossible!"
The second stroke vanished.
"By my third Command Spell, I order you once more! You absolutely must not lose... Ren Yamashiro!"
All three Command Spells then vanished, converting into an astronomical amount of pure magical energy that flooded directly into the Saint Graph of the Servant who had answered his call.
Ren Yamashiro did not look back. Bathed in the crimson glow of her Master's command spells, she felt an unprecedented power as she rushed forward. Her purple irises had turned gold at some point, beaming with such intensity that it perturbed even the former demigod.
To halt the activation of the usurper's Noble Phantasm, she had to go beyond her absolute limit.
She opened her eyes wide.
—Vairocana!
Not just one. She activated the power of nullification in both eyes simultaneously.
The world was enveloped entirely. A blinding, golden light erupted from her pupils, clashing violently against the dark mud of Reincarnation Pandora. The sheer force of her gaze paralyzed the corrupted hero, stopping the activation of his Noble Phantasm by forcefully freezing the mana circulating in his body.
But a mortal vessel, even sublimated into a Servant's Saint Graph, was never meant to endure such burden.
A sickening sound echoed.
Blood violently erupted from Ren's face almost immediately. The unimaginable strain annihilated her optical nerves and ruptured her eyes completely. Her vision was instantly cast into absolute darkness.
Blood was pouring down from her empty sockets as if she was crying tears of red.
Yet her steps did not falter.
Driven by pure, unadulterated tenacity, the blinded Ren lunged forward through the turbulent energy. Before Alcides could fully recover his mobility, her hands found purchase. Her fingers dug fiercely into his hair and drew her body back briefly.
With an incredible sound, she pulled his head down and drove her fist squarely into his jaw.
Once. Twice.
No, countless of times.
She rained down brutal, unrelenting punches without pause, ignoring the feeling of her muscles tearing and blood pouring down her face.
Alcides' eyes narrowed in a mix of fury and faint respect. He did not bother trying to break her grip. Instead, he pulled his massive fist back and drove it forward with all of the strength he could muster.
His fist effortlessly pierced her abdomen in turn, blowing a hole straight through her gut and shattering her spine.
"Ack!"
Ren coughed up a massive amount of blood, splashing the demigod's chest. Her internal organs were utterly obliterated, and her Saint Graph was already starting to collapse. Her consciousness was rapidly fading. "Damn it, just die already!"
But her hands, gripping his hair, did not loosen even a fraction of an inch. She pulled him closer, pinning the towering servant in place.
With all her heart put into it, she summoned the energy to scream one final breath.
"Do it now—Assassin!"
From the shadow created by Ren's figure, the No Name Assassin emerged like a phantom. Her veil fluttered violently as she prepared her to cast her Phantasmal Pedigree.
From her back, a grotesque third arm tore through her robe and shot forward, not aiming for his physical body, but for the phantom she had created.
Before long, the mangled appendage grasped the projection.
Zabaniya: Delusional Heartbeat.
With a sharp, merciless twist, No Name Assassin crushed the false heart.
A dull, heavy sound followed within Alcides' chest. He staggered to his feet. The physical heart within his chest was pulverized in an instant, destroyed by the curse of the Hassan.
It was over in a moment. His figure began to dissolve into golden particles.
Before succumbing to death, he looked down at the blinded, battered woman still gripping his hair, and then toward the Assassin who had struck the fatal blow. A rugged, almost serene smirk crossed his face.
"To be pinned by the sheer willpower of two mortals... and felled by a nameless shadow. Heh. The outcome of this war is nothing short of absurd. Yet... better humans than being defeated by the gods."
With those final words, the greatest hero of Greece dissolved completely, turning into motes of golden dust scattering into the night sky.
With nothing left to support her, Ren slumped forward.
"Saver!"
Sigma lowered his hand and ran to her direction as if life depended on it.
His boots crunched against the scorched earth, with Assassin silently materializing by his side.
They stopped short in the dead center of the crater.
Ren Yamashiro rested on the broken ground. She was half-kneeling, her sightless eyes were closed, and her fists still tightly clenched. If they did not know any better, they'd think she was still alive.
However, without a doubt, she had already drawn her last breath.
Ren Yamashiro was dead.