As I watched out for any signs of danger, it was easy to see when the others' battles started. First to clash were Archer of Black and Red Rider. They decided to leave the fortress so that none could interrupt their duel. Finding a good spot in the forest, two of them began their fight, fully showing what it meant to be heroes of Greece.
The second fight was even easier to spot, as at some point, a literal second sun appeared on one of the crumbled walls. In response, a bright blue beam of light split the clouds, striking the 'sun' in full force. I must give it to them, when it comes to visuals, even I, as a mage, might not be able to beat them. But couldn't they find a better spot to fight? Keeping up a spell of this size was no easy feat, even for me, whose reserves are incomparable to a normal mage, and now they decided to use such enormous attacks using fire in the midst of it.
That aside, their fight gave me renewed respect for both Black Saber and Red Lancer. While I still held the belief that I would emerge victorious in one-on-one combat, seeing them use their full strength was eye-opening nonetheless. With Black Rider's assistance, that front should be stable; some of the items he possesses are outright unfair.
Now I only needed to wait for Red Saber and Atalanta to find Red Assassin and start their fight. At the same time, I remained fully attuned to my surroundings, watching out for any unseen dangers that might appear. It took around an hour for two of them to traverse the fortress and reach the throne room, as despite my occupying most of the Assassins' attention, the countless traps and enemies slowed them considerably.
When I saw that what remained of the enchantments on the fortress slowly turned dormant, I also ceased my casting, and after taking one last look at the now ruined fortress, I quickly rushed to catch up with Jeanne before she could confront that Priest.
I entered the fortress and moved through the now-empty corridors, ignoring the few still active traps and enemies. But before I could feel happy that there were no obstacles, a silhouette appeared from around the corner.
-"Yo."-He greeted me.
-"So you won, huh?"-I took a careful look at Red Rider's miserable state.
While already healing, almost all of his body was covered with scabbed blood and bruises; here and there, some puncture wounds were still visible.
-"While my teacher left me in this state, I was indeed able to emerge victorious."
-"I see. Why are you stopping me?"
-"To fight, of course."
-"You know that I'm not part of this War, you don't have to..."
-"I know, I know, but to be honest, I had stopped caring about this War long ago. I won't be able to win with that Priest, so I decided to enjoy what little time I have left. I want to challenge you."
Knowing that there was no chance to resolve this without a fight, I sighed and nodded, creating a crystal spear in the process.
-"Need time to heal?"-I asked.
-"Nah, that annoying writer gave me something just in case."-Rider took out two items.
The first one looked like a glass orb, which, after shattering in his hand, quickly restored his wounds. The second one was a spear; I could feel a powerful magic emanating from it, easily recognizing it as Caster's masterpiece.
-"Come on, show me why that guy cares about you so much!"-With that, Rider rushed at me.
Meeting his attack head-on, we exchanged strikes, gauging each other strengths' while learning our styles. When we distanced ourselves after that first clash, I got a basic grasp on Rider's style. While appearing careless and slack, in truth, he is a well-trained and experienced warrior, never lax in his posture and technique. But his greatest advantage normally was his physique; both his immortality and pure strength could easily overpower those equal to him in skill.
But his natural advantage was all but negated against me. While his immortality was impressive, it was nothing new for someone who fought in the Lands Between, and pure strength advantage was not enough to deal with someone trained by a god slayer.
-"Damn, you truly are something. Well, I guess I have to use it to have any chance, don't I?"-Rider was also able to understand that he was in disadvantage, so before continuing, he put his magic power into the spear, activating whatever effect it was imbued with.
Instantly, I could feel a change in the warrior before me. His eyes glowed with golden light, and his aura changed from human-like to one that felt like a deep sea. A pressure like a ocean bearing on me appeared all around, and even bright flames lighting the corridors dimmed in response.
-"Divinity."-I instantly knew what this was.
-"Yup."-He tried to behave like before, but divinity was not something one could simply use. With every passing second, his face became more and more devoid of any emotion; his humanity leaving him.
I took a deep breath, my eyes no longer showing respect for a warrior, only cold killing intent toward what he was turning into. I twirled my spear, a starry glow appearing at its head.
-"Oh? You are finally serious."-Unexpectedly, he showed a smile, something that should be impossible after being influenced by a powerful divinity.-"That writer was right, you truly detest gods."
-"I do indeed."
-"Heh, I would never expect that someone like you would be so foolish."
I furrowed my brows, not understanding his meaning.
-"Defeat me, and I'll tell you."-He smiled at me and rushed forward.
Thus began the second part of our fight. With divinity, Rider's strength was elevated to the point where I had to fully focus on defending against his attacks. I was able to prevail only due to my superior skills, but as the fight continued, I was able to learn his habits and techniques, buying me time to adjust and regain my footing. I soon began to use my Glintstone sorcery, slowly but surely pushing him back and creating a stalemate.
But even though I use magic without caring for my reserves or the surroundings, he was still unharmed. The stronger his divinity, the greater his immortality was, as such small Glintstone pebbles couldn't harm him, at most just push him back. Some stronger spells were not hard for him to strike down; as such, the best plan of action was to either use a spell beyond his ability to cope with or strike him down with my spear.
Deciding to go with the second path, this time it was I who rushed forward, using magic to keep him pressured while waiting for opportunity to strike. Strike after strike, step after step, no matter the angle or strength, he was able to defend, even counterattacking from time to time, but I persisted with my attacks, finally managing to create an opportunity.
Not wasting any time, I lunged forward, my spear striking without mercy. Rider also noticed his mistake and quickly acted to rectify it, but he was too late. Before one could blink, I plunged my spear deep into his side, easily piercing his immortal skin and drawing blood that now shimmered with gold divinity. I quickly rotated it in my hand, deepening the wound and shredding more of his skin, before ripping it out, making the Rider grunt.
He quickly pushed me back and created some distance to check on his state, but I didn't let him have any respite. I followed his retreat and continued exploiting any opening I was able to find. Soon, many small wounds appeared all around his arms and torso, his priority being to defend his legs for an obvious reason. But while this strategy might be best for normal opponents, it was a big mistake against me.
If one were to look closely, they would notice that Rider's wounds were closing quickly, but rather than healing, a familiar crystal covered them. Rider was of course also aware of his worsening state, but being unable to do anything he could only continue this doomed duel. But with every moment passing, his body grew stiffer and stiffer as the energy was sapped from him. Deep in the blue crystal, gold specks could be seen appearing, showing that even divinity couldn't resolve Originium.
I continued to pressure him, but even when he was weak enough for me to overpower, I never delivered the final strike. Because of this, the fight continued for tens of more minutes, until he was finally unable to continue. Falling to the ground, I watched how he tried to stand using his spear as support, only to be partially encased in the crystal in that state.
-"I won."
-"You did."-He tried to nod, but his head could barely move.-"In your eyes, who did you defeat?"
I looked at him, despite the divinity, I also saw that he hadn't lost himself in this fight. As such, despite my complicated feeling I had to admit.-"A warrior, a hero."
-"Haha."-He laughed, not showing sadness of being bested.-"You wanted to know what I meant before, right?"
I nodded, waiting for him to continue.
-"As someone who seemed like a cold but intelligent person, I never imagined that you would be swayed by emotions to the point that you would be blind to something like that."-He looked at me, the golden glow of his eyes dim but still present.-"Gods are gods, but divinity is only a tool. Why would you detest a tool, crediting sins of its wilder to it?"
I looked at him, not knowing what to say, nor understanding why he would say such a thing to an enemy.
-"I don't know what the relation is between you and my sister, but I hope you can take care of her, she is... She had already lived through enough hardship. That's why, please, don't blindly hate divine."
I was unable to answer his plea. While I wouldn't judge people by their beliefs, I can't say the same for those they believed in. Up until now, I actively ignored that Atalanta was not only a follower, but almost a priestess to Artemis, a god. My hatred must have made Rider mistakenly think that I would detest Atalanta, and I can see why he would think so.
-"I don't fully know that that Priest want to do as I never cared, but I know that it wouldn't be anything good. I wish you good fortune in your battles."-He said, his figure slowly dissolving.
-"I will ensure she is well before this War ends, but after that, I'll leave the choise ot her."
-"That more than I can thank you for."-He smiled.-"If we meet again, the wine and meat will be on you."
-"I promise."-I nodded.
With that, Red Rider was eliminated. I absorbed the remaining crystal left behind and continued on my way; the time that I spent fighting all but ensured that Jeanne and the Priest had already met.
This time, there were no more obstacles, so it took me only ten minutes to reach the battlefield where Jeanne was confronting the Priest. Looking around to understand the situation, I was happy to find out that two of them were at an impasse. Jeanne, lacking offensive power, was unable to do much against the Priest, while he couldn't overcome her defenses. Behind them, a Greater Grail was still dormant, but compared to before, the amount of energy stored within was approaching criticality.
-"Oh? At last, you are here."-The priest smiled slightly at me.
-"Eno!"-Jeanne also noticed my arrival.
Not responding, I looked at the priest waiting for a chance to strike.
-"Don't be so aggressive, but I guess I can't demand this of you. Sigh, I appologise but for my plan to succeed, I need you to stand aside."
I just scoffed at his absurd words, but before I could act, a familiar voice appeared.
-"Master, a good tragedy can't have a sequel, and yet you demand that I still act?"
-"Caster."
-"Right, right."-Caster, who appeared nearby at some point couldn't help but sigh.-"While it goes against my principles, I must agree that you are a great character for my plays, so please allow me to rise curtains one more."
I instantly tried my best to defend against his illusions and mental magic, but after waiting for a moment , nothing happened.
-"My! I wouldn't scoop so low to the point of reusing such boring tropes! Even such an ungraceful story, I would still make it a masterpiece!"- He sounded genuinely angry at my attempt to shield from his attack.
-"Caster, I command you. Bring your play to life. I command you, use all your power. I command, make him return to the glory of the Lord!"-The Priest used three command spells.
From the book in Caster's hands, countless pages erupted, obscuring the surroundings, before gathering next to the Caster into a figure from my deepest dreams and nightmares. He stood there, towering over everyone else, red hair like a bright flame behind his back. An armor of gold complements this picture of a glorious warrior, along with a Greatsword symbolizing his order of gold.
But all that image was but a glided lie, even the sword nothing but a proof of a traitor. His eyes never looked around, solely focused on me, but I couldn't find any emotions in them. He wasted no words, silently rising his weapon, performing a salute as the golden light surrounded him.
Despite knowing that I should prioritize dealing with the Priest, I was aware that I couldn't spare even a moment now. I drove the spear into the ground next to me, leaving it lodged there, choosing to use my two swords for this fight. A familiar starry glow appeared on their edges as I took my mentor's stance opposite him. All around me, Originium Glintstone started to emerge in lumps breaking from the ground, pure magic power lighting the surrounding up in ethereal blue.
-"A destined fight! Hahaha! May this story live through the ages!"-Caster laughed, ignoring that his figure was dissolving with every word.
But everyone ignored him. Jeanne looked at me worriedly, but she quickly returned her attention to the Priest, as her priority was to deal with him. Both Priest and that man never cared for him, while I had my attention elsewhere.
Time seemed to come to a standstill as I focused, knowing well that even at my best, I wouldn't be able to confront that man. Luckily there was no way a Servant could bring that man at half his strength here, let alone at full. Even so, the aura of that man could be more real. Staring at those golden eyes, I felt like I did back then, seeing him leave the gates of Raya Lucaria for the last time.
But before I could fall into my memories again, I saw him move. And like that, our fight started.