A torrent of Noble Phantasms shot forth from the golden ripples.
The crimson and black Servants wielded their respective weapons, deflecting the incoming barrage.
The heavy clang of metal colliding rang out continuously.
In just a few short seconds, everyone gained a clear understanding of just how powerful this golden Archer truly was.
His attitude was lofty and untouchable, like a king standing above the mortal world.
He was overflowing with confidence and arrogance.
And he genuinely possessed the strength to back it up.
If there was one flaw to point out, it was probably the insults he kept throwing around.
If they had not seen incorrectly, he had already used the same slur once when he was still far away.
Now that the battle had begun, he was saying it again.
Ordinary people usually used insults as filler words or emotional emphasis. Most of the time, they did not literally mean what they were saying.
This golden Archer was different.
He genuinely meant every word.
What Illya had said earlier had already been a very charitable description.
After seeing him for only a few seconds, everyone sincerely felt that this guy was absolutely unbearable.
"Although Chen often has a few Lungmen curses on the tip of her tongue, compared to this guy, Chen practically sounds warm and friendly."
Croissant muttered quietly.
Every member of Penguin Logistics wholeheartedly agreed.
"But his strength is also very real. At least from what we have seen so far, even Archer and Berserker working together are struggling to find an opening. It looks like their only hope is Archer's Noble Phantasm."
Upon hearing the others mention Chief Chen, Talulah's eyes lit up briefly.
Then, realizing they were talking about her less-than-flattering habits, she quickly changed the subject.
"Speaking of which... what exactly is Archer's Noble Phantasm? That spiral sword? Or is he going to pull out a firearm and fire off something big?"
No one found the sudden topic change strange.
After all, Chief Chen was from Lungmen. It was only natural that not everyone knew her.
But the mention of Noble Phantasms reminded them that they had never actually seen Archer use his.
Naturally, Exusiai immediately thought of the imitation Caladbolg used by both Shirou and Archer, as well as the firearm and ammunition Shirou had used to blast apart a Catastrophe.
The former represented the sort of destructive explosive power she still dreamed of achieving.
As for the latter, she had long declared her intention to buy enough Guardian Guns to use a different one every day, so she was especially interested in anything firearm-related.
Unfortunately, no one present, not even the Reunion members who knew Archer had any idea what his Noble Phantasm actually was.
Well, with one exception.
"Strictly speaking, neither Archer nor Shirou possesses a Noble Phantasm. The only thing they truly have is their magecraft."
Illya did not elaborate further.
For people who had never studied magecraft, the explanation would be far too complicated.
The details could wait until Shirou discovered them himself.
Perhaps they would even have the chance to witness it firsthand someday.
"Hmm... just magecraft?"
After hearing Illya's explanation, Frostnova felt that sounded a little underwhelming.
After all, one was called a Noble Phantasm, a term that sounded grand and legendary.
The other was merely magecraft.
It was only natural to think that way.
Although Shirou could project Saber's Noble Phantasm and even release its true name, the price was enormous.
The last time he had done so, the attack had been weaker than when Saber herself used it, yet it had nearly drained him completely.
His physical condition had deteriorated dramatically afterward.
Had there not been medical personnel and supplies nearby at the time, Shirou might very well have died on the spot.
Because of that, nobody seriously considered it an option.
As they continued discussing the matter, the battle between the three Servants entered a new phase.
The moment Rin seized an opportunity and activated a Command Seal, the golden Archer glanced briefly toward the rear.
Then he let out a scornful laugh.
"I have no intention of wasting so much time on mongrels like you."
As he spoke, he withdrew his right hand from his pocket and raised it slightly.
The instant he swung it down, countless golden chains erupted forward at astonishing speed.
They were even faster than the Noble Phantasms he had been firing earlier.
Archer, who was still in the middle of chanting, could only barely project a translucent purple shield to block the assault.
Then the follow-up barrage of Noble Phantasms forced him to abandon his incantation entirely and search for another opportunity.
As for Berserker, he immediately recognized how dangerous the chains were.
Using his agility, he avoided them at first.
But in the end, he chose to knock away several incoming Noble Phantasms and was caught by the chains as a result.
"Berserker..."
Standing behind Shirou, Illya's expression darkened.
Ordinarily, Berserker would never have been caught.
But in order to prevent those Noble Phantasms from harming them or more specifically, from harming her, he had deliberately intercepted them.
The price was severe.
Chains now bound all four of his limbs and his torso tightly.
"Knowing full well that this is an extremely dangerous Noble Phantasm, yet still throwing yourself into danger for the sake of your Master?"
The golden Archer's confident expression softened for the briefest moment as he watched Berserker's actions.
But it quickly returned to a mocking sneer.
"That courage is certainly worthy of praise. But now that the Chains of Heaven have bound you..."
"...you are nothing more than a target."
The moment he finished speaking, several Noble Phantasms pierced straight through Berserker's body.
"Hah!"
On the other side, Archer immediately altered his strategy.
The only option was to close the distance and engage in direct combat, buying Berserker an opportunity to escape.
Yet Archer understood better than anyone how slim those chances were.
The Chains of Heaven were an anti-divinity Noble Phantasm.
The greater a Servant's Divinity, the stronger their binding effect became.
And Berserker happened to be among the Servants with exceptionally high Divinity.
Although the chances were slim, it was still far better than doing nothing.
The current situation was proving even more troublesome than Archer had anticipated. The enemy had apparently sensed the pressure coming from the black mud as well and had decided to end the battle as quickly as possible.
A serious Gilgamesh was the strongest of Servants...
Even Archer had little confidence in facing him.
The crimson figure rushed forward, wielding his black-and-white twin blades as he rapidly closed the distance between himself and the golden Servant.
"Hmph. Still struggling, are you, mongrel?"
The golden Archer, Gilgamesh, immediately understood Archer's intentions.
But in his eyes, it was nothing more than the futile resistance of a dying man.
The golden ripples shifted direction.
Most of the Noble Phantasms were redirected toward Archer, while a handful swept toward the fleeing Shirou and the others.
The moment their plan failed, Rin grabbed everyone and prepared to run.
That Servant's strength had far exceeded their expectations.
Even Berserker had been subdued.
Staying behind would only make them a burden.
As for the magecraft preparations they had painstakingly set up earlier...
Rin suspected they would amount to little more than fireworks for their enemy's amusement.
It was not as though Archer had failed to attempt long-range attacks before.
But every time, the Noble Phantasms floating around Gilgamesh would intercept the arrows and destroy them before they could reach him.
Rin had no confidence that their hastily constructed magecraft would accomplish anything meaningful.
Rather than waiting around to die, fleeing at least offered a slim chance of survival.
"Ahhh! This is my entire fortune!"
Sensing the danger approaching from behind, Rin threw every gemstone she had left.
A green barrier formed as the innermost layer of defense.
Outside it, the jewels exploded one after another.
Only through that sacrifice did they barely manage to stop the first wave of attacks.
But the next wave arrived immediately afterward.
The green barrier shattered.
The incoming Noble Phantasms continued straight toward Illya.
Gilgamesh's objective had always been clear.
His target was Illya, the Lesser Grail.
Everyone else was, in his eyes, nothing more than insects that could be crushed at any time.
They were not worth his attention.
The only thing that might have surprised him was that this seemingly guaranteed strike would be interrupted by one of those insects he looked down upon.
"Illya!"
They were already far from the battlefield.
Although thick smoke obscured much of the view, it posed no problem for Shirou.
The moment he realized that Illya was the sole target, he acted without hesitation.
He reached out and shoved her aside.
The next instant, a sword tore through his right hand.
Most of his palm disappeared.
The Noble Phantasms that followed immediately afterward continued their assault, ripping apart his right arm piece by piece as they flew past.
"How foolish. I was originally planning to spare your lives..."
Gilgamesh sneered when he saw Shirou suffer the same fate Berserker had suffered earlier.
Unlike before, there was not even a hint of restraint in his mockery.
Then his expression changed.
"...What?!"
An enormous amount of ominous magical energy suddenly erupted from within the forest.
All three Servants closest to it immediately felt a sense of danger.
That brief moment of distraction was enough.
Seeing his Master nearly killed, Berserker broke free from the Chains of Heaven and delivered a powerful kick that sent Gilgamesh flying.
Had Berserker been at full strength, that kick alone might have left Gilgamesh gravely injured.
But the effects of the Chains of Heaven, combined with the protection of his Noble Phantasms, greatly reduced the impact.
Even so, Gilgamesh was launched a considerable distance away.
And that was enough.
Without his focused attacks pinning them down, the two maids grabbed Shirou and Illya, carrying them while fleeing alongside Rin.
Only Berserker and Archer remained behind to hold Gilgamesh back.
"If I had chosen to stay back then..."
Watching the scene unfold for the second time, Illya's brows furrowed deeply.
If she had realized that she was the true target and decided to remain behind...
Would the outcome have been any different?
Probably not.
Because Shirou was exactly that kind of person.
Even if she had refused to leave, he likely would have picked her up and carried her away by force.
Meanwhile, the pain from his injuries and severe blood loss caused Shirou to lose consciousness.
The viewpoint shown to everyone gradually darkened.
It was as though someone had switched off the lights in a room.
"..."
Recalling the bloody scene, Amiya pressed her lips together.
A moment later, Blaze pulled her into an embrace.
Unlike the forceful hugs she usually gave, this one was exceptionally gentle.
Rosmontis joined them as well.
Talulah's side did not react quite as strongly.
After all, they had witnessed things far crueler than this before.
Even the members of Penguin Logistics wore unusually grim expressions.
It was not that they had never seen such things.
But when it happened to someone they knew...
It felt entirely different.
"His right hand... But the Shirou we have been watching still has his right hand, does he not?"
Unable to fully accept what she had just seen, Sora's voice trembled as she spoke.
"That was only because I exploited a loophole to restore it."
Sensing everyone's anxiety, Illya forced herself to remain calm and explained.
"Shirou's original right hand is already beyond saving. There is no way to reattach it."
Soon, a little light returned to the scene.
However, everything remained blurry, as though a filter had been placed over the image.
The sound was distorted as well, but it was still possible to roughly identify who was speaking and what was being said.
Most of it consisted of people telling Shirou not to fall asleep and to stay conscious.
"Is that... Archer?"
After quite some time had passed, a deep male voice suddenly appeared.
Although it was somewhat muffled, Alina immediately recognized Archer's voice.
He seemed to be mocking Shirou, which even made the Illya in the scene visibly annoyed.
Outside the scene, the people from Rhodes Island and Penguin Logistics were not feeling much better either.
Even knowing the relationship between the two, it was difficult not to feel irritated when Archer was still ridiculing him in a situation like this.
Even Alina herself felt that Archer was going too far.
And it seemed the taunting was having an effect.
Even Shirou, the person involved, appeared to be showing signs of being angered awake.
The image gradually became clearer.
They could now see Archer crouching beside Shirou, examining his condition.
Archer himself was in terrible shape.
There was a small hole in his abdomen, and numerous crimson markings writhed constantly around the wound.
After looking over Shirou's injuries, Archer mentioned Saber and Avalon in succession.
Then, as if he had finally made up his mind, he projected a black blade and gripped it tightly in his hand.
Apparently believing that Archer intended to grant him a quick death, Shirou stopped forcing himself to stay conscious.
His body relaxed, and he lost consciousness once more.
The very last thing he saw was Archer seemingly placing the black blade against his right arm.
Then the scene descended into darkness once again.
"So... is he going to give his right arm to Shirou?"
Watching Archer's actions, not only the others, but even Rin and Illya found it difficult to understand what he was thinking.
Only Amiya seemed to have thought of something.
On Rhodes Island, cases involving reattached limbs were not unheard of.
But the only examples Amiya had seen involved mechanical prosthetics.
Replacing a person's arm with someone else's...
No, strictly speaking, the two of them were the same person.
But a human body and a Servant's body?
There were too many things she did not understand.
For a moment, Amiya had no idea what would happen next.
As for everyone else, they were even more bewildered.
The only reason Amiya had reached that conclusion at all was because she had assisted Dr. Kal'tsit with numerous medical cases.
An ordinary person would never think in that direction.