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Rule Breaker.
The English designation is literally "Rule Breaker"—which translates directly to exactly what it sounds like.
If one desired a more dramatic and evocative Noble Phantasm title, the poetic translation would be "All Spells Must Be Broken" or "Talisman of Betrayal."
This Noble Phantasm represents the crystallized materialization of Medea's essential divine nature as the Witch of Betrayal—the very core of her legend and infamy.
Unlike the combat-oriented Noble Phantasms wielded by other Servants for direct offensive power, Rule Breaker is purely ability-focused, possessing almost zero performance value as an actual weapon in physical combat.
Its physical form is also extremely fragile and can be shattered easily.
However, the moment the ornate blade of this ceremonial dagger pierces any object, all magical energy and contracts affecting that target will be instantly and irrevocably "broken" and nullified.
Whether it's an object reinforced and enhanced by magical energy, a mystical contract based on magical binding, or even a life form born entirely from magical energy—Rule Breaker can forcibly reset all of them to their original state before any magical energy was ever applied.
In other words, all contracts and bindings based on magical foundations will be immediately nullified and rendered void.
And life forms created or sustained purely by magical energy will be instantly annihilated from existence.
Of course, within the balanced gameplay mechanics of the Holy Grail War, it's impossible for the Noble Phantasm to be that absurdly overpowered without restrictions.
At the very least, you can't simply make an opposing Servant disappear permanently just by stabbing them once with the dagger.
However, Rule Breaker can directly and permanently sever the mystical contract between a Servant and their Master.
In the Fifth Holy Grail War timeline, Medea had relied extensively on precisely this ability to forcefully contract and control multiple Servants simultaneously under her command.
Unfortunately for her, there had been a traitor mixed in among her collection who ultimately betrayed her trust.
So if Medea were to compile a definitive ranked list of the people she hated most in all of existence, first place would undoubtedly go to the goddess Aphrodite who cursed her entire life.
Second place would belong to a certain red-clad Archer who strongly prefers not to reveal his true name for personal reasons.
As for Jason? He should just roll away as far as humanly possible and never speak to her again.
In short, Rule Breaker represents the ultimate anti-magic Noble Phantasm in Medea's arsenal.
All magecraft, sorcery, and mystical bindings will be nullified and rendered completely ineffective in its presence—no exceptions, no resistance possible.
However, this Noble Phantasm possesses one critical and fundamental flaw: it cannot affect other Noble Phantasms whatsoever.
Whether it's a Noble Phantasm manifested as a physical tool or weapon, or a Noble Phantasm sublimated from legendary deeds and heroic achievements—Rule Breaker has absolutely zero effect regardless of how low-ranked the opposing Noble Phantasm might be.
This inherent limitation was precisely why Max hadn't pulled out the dagger initially during the opening phase of combat.
On one hand, the Noble Phantasm's physical form was quite fragile and could be easily damaged or destroyed in the chaos of battle.
On the other hand, he'd wanted to keep a trump card hidden and secret for a critical moment.
And finally, Max had genuinely suspected that this particular tool might not have much practical effect against Vritra specifically.
The facts immediately proved that Max's tactical conjecture had been absolutely correct.
Although Vritra's current manifested dragon body was composed of massive amounts of condensed magical energy, the fundamental problem was that it existed as a proper Servant's natural form—not something artificially modified or created through external magecraft.
The dragon form wasn't a limitation or transformation imposed on a humanoid base. It was purely and authentically Vritra's true nature.
Thus, when Rule Breaker's blade struck Vritra's scales and pierced through, the dragon felt like she'd merely been bitten by an annoying mosquito.
Although the mystical contract binding her to Kenneth was technically severed for a brief moment, Vritra could simply reconnect and re-establish the so-called contract at will—as long as she wasn't beaten into complete submission and stripped of all ability to resist.
So as darkness flashed across the sky and brilliant sunlight returned, after mockingly ridiculing Max's failed attempt—
Vritra's raised dragon claw showed absolutely no hesitation, directly swiping toward Max's position with devastating force as he attempted to burn through the dragon's flesh with concentrated black flames.
However, what happened next occurred so fast that perception could barely track it.
Just as Max was preparing to dodge via super-acceleration and Vritra had barely begun raising her massive dragon claw—
A simple, unadorned arrow suddenly pierced through the sky at that precise moment, striking Vritra's right claw with pinpoint accuracy.
Instantly, it felt as if all sound in the world had been violently plundered and stolen by this single arrow's passage.
The catastrophically violent explosion that followed directly engulfed Vritra's entire right foreclaw, reducing the limb to scattered ash and charred fragments.
"That HURTS! But how incredibly STRONG!" Vritra roared with a mixture of pain and genuine excitement. "To possess destructive power comparable to an A-rank Noble Phantasm with just a casually fired arrow! Brave warrior, state your name so I may remember you!"
"Arash. Just an ordinary Archer you could find anywhere." The voice was calm and humble despite the devastating attack.
To be completely honest, even when fighting against Gilgamesh in his golden splendor, Max genuinely didn't want to face off against these absolutely pure and straightforward Heroic Spirits.
They were simply too pure in their approach—you had absolutely no tactical solution available other than direct frontal confrontation and hoping your stats were higher.
They were like perfectly balanced hexagonal warriors on a stat chart—possessing literally no exploitable weaknesses whatsoever, while simultaneously having absurdly high baseline statistics across the board.
Just like Arash here. Although his Strength parameter appeared to be "only" B-rank and his Endurance "merely" A-rank, and his signature Noble Phantasm could technically only be used a single time before killing him—
The fundamental problem was that he possessed a skill called "Robust: EX".
This meant that the structural strength and durability of his physical body was genuinely immeasurable and off the charts.
A casual arrow shot by Arash could reach destructive heights that a certain dual-sword-wielding Archer could never achieve in his entire lifetime of practice.
Such arrows could effortlessly level an entire mountain range with a single shot.
At the same time, Arash also possessed the skill "Arrow Construction: A", which meant that arrows personally handcrafted by him would automatically exhibit A-rank Noble Phantasm-level destructive strength when fired.
Of course, this ability consumed significant magical energy to activate, so after losing his contracted Master earlier in the war, Arash had only managed to craft exactly three arrows total.
However, three arrows of that caliber were already more than enough to change the entire battle.
After exchanging formal names and acknowledgment with Vritra as warrior tradition demanded, Arash immediately nocked his second precious arrow onto his bowstring.
His target was crystal clear and obvious: the small wound opening that Max had blasted through Vritra's armor plating just moments earlier.
A distance of five thousand meters. A wound the size of a grain of sand. An impossible shot by any normal standard.
Yet Arash showed absolutely no hesitation, directly releasing the arrow the instant he raised the bow.
In that moment, another catastrophically violent explosion erupted.
Accompanied by massive chunks of flying dragon flesh and spraying blood, Vritra's upper torso—which had been as sturdy and immovable as a small mountain—was actually carved down by more than half its total mass.
The enormous dragon heart was instantly exposed to everyone's eyes, pulsing with magical energy.
Seeing this perfect opening, the streaming chat immediately exploded with excitement:
[Nuclear]: WHAT KIND OF NUCLEAR TACTICAL STRIKE WAS THAT?!
[Realized]: I've finally realized the truth—the strongest class in the Holy Grail War is actually Archer! They're all CHEATERS!
[Feet]: Max you old bastard, did you fill in Arash's stats with your FEET?! Tell me honestly, is THIS the damage an Archer WITHOUT A MASTER can output?!
[Exposed]: THE HEART IS EXPOSED! HURRY UP MAX!
[Lily]: Oh my god, Lily is charging in too!
[Good]: Yes! This is perfect! No need to find Kenneth anymore, just KILL THE DRAGON!
Indeed, with the dramatic exposure of the dragon's vulnerable core heart, Max immediately launched into action.
Naturally, Vritra could not simply remain passive to this mortal threat. She raised her remaining left dragon claw, intending to swat away Max who was rushing straight toward her exposed heart.
However, as a delicate scent of white lilies suddenly wafted through the blood-soaked air—
Lily, clad in gleaming silver-white armor, appeared at that exact moment holding her golden Sword of Selection and forcefully parried the gigantic descending dragon claw with both hands.
"You WON'T touch him!" Lily's young voice rang out with absolute conviction.
"Hmph! You only blocked one of my claws, little knight! How will you possibly block my dragon breath?!" Vritra's maw opened wide.
"You oversized fat SNAKE! This humble servant has been annoyed by your existence for FAR too long!"
"What—?!"
Accompanying Shuten-douji's voice, which had suddenly appeared directly beside Vritra's head, the dragon also let out a sound of genuine unconcealed shock.
The very next second, as the blade in Shuten-douji's hands suddenly extended and grew to massive proportions—
The enormous sword descending from the sky at that precise moment directly pierced clean through Vritra's opening dragon mouth, firmly pinning the upper and lower jaws together and preventing any breath attack.
And Max seized this perfect coordinated opportunity to ignite the maximum output of black flames in his clenched fist—
Then blasted the concentrated fire directly toward the exposed, pulsing dragon heart!
"Perish in the flames of enmity and vengeance!"
[Teamwork]: PERFECT TEAMWORK!
[Coordinated]: THAT WAS SO CLEAN!
[Finish]: FINISH HER!
[Core]: Direct hit on the Spirit Core!
The black flames engulfed Vritra's heart completely.
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