Chapter 13: Disobedient Children Must Be Harshly Whipped
Mordred shook her head; the words Shirou had just spoken were immediately thrown to the back of this rebellious brat's mind.
"I don't care about any of that! I only need to listen to Father King! Go to hell!"
With her mind completely closed to reason, Mordred raised the royal sword high. This should have been a sword that proved the right to rule, but because it echoed the girl's hatred, it had transformed into an evil blade.
Space twisted, and a thunderous sound reverberated among the mountains.
Originally, "Clarent" was not a sword that Mordred could wield; it was a blade that existed to prove the right to the throne—a sword that could only be lifted by "one who would be King."
However, Mordred, who usurped this blade from King Arthur's treasury, claimed it with overwhelming power.
She didn't choose it because it was a sword worthy of a King, but simply because she wanted the power it possessed.
As a "catalyst" to amplify the power of a ruler, she had turned the finest royal sword into an evil one.
Later, Mordred wielded this sword in the Battle of Camlann, wounding King Arthur at the cost of her own life.
The royal sword, held high above her head, bloomed with a brilliant, dazzling crimson radiance at this moment. It even contained a trace of golden light—a glow that should absolutely never have appeared there—but Mordred had no time to concern herself with such details. In her eyes, there was only the enemy standing before her.
"To my magnificent Father King—I launch my Rebellion (Clarent Blood Arthur)!!!"
The blade shattered, and a massive torrent of magical energy surged forth, turning into a beam of red light that shot straight toward Shirou.
Facing Mordred's senseless attack, Shirou shook his head lightly, sighing at the stubbornness of this child, and pulled out an "Excalibur."
It was not the Holy Sword of the Planet, but the one belonging to Saber. Shirou had deliberately checked it to ensure he didn't accidentally grab the wrong one and kill the girl.
The holy sword, which bloomed with dazzling golden radiance at every moment, released a torrent of light with unprecedented momentum as Shirou poured a massive amount of magical energy into it.
The two surging beams of light clashed, and the resulting force caused the earth to tremble violently. The air was burned away, and a searing, raging wind swept across the landscape.
"That sword is..."
Mordred's pupils constricted slightly as she looked at the holy sword in Shirou's hand in astonishment.
How could she not recognize the appearance of the Holy Sword?
Mordred's heart was filled with confusion as to why this red-haired man possessed her Father King's holy sword.
She gripped her sword tightly, making the red energy grow even more violent, and a furious roar escaped her throat.
"Haaaah...! Once I take you down, I'll interrogate you properly...!"
In the back, Gudako, Mash, and the others watched the battlefield nervously. The aftermath of the clash between those two Noble Phantasms was simply too terrifying; no one dared to get close.
"Will this really not affect the village..."
Mash looked at the battlefield ahead with concern.
"It should be fine... Shirou-senpai will control the power. We just need to be careful not to get caught in the blast."
Gudako comforted Mash.
Mash looked at Gudako suspiciously, feeling as though she trusted that "Shirou-senpai" an awful lot.
However, upon noticing the light in Gudako's eyes, Mash roughly understood what she was thinking.
Her senpai always wanted to obtain powerful Heroic Spirits as partners. Although Shirou-senpai was not a Heroic Spirit, his strength was even greater than those of the Heroic Spirits, which naturally made her feel such a strong longing.
As Mash was thinking about these things, the battle ahead had reached its conclusion.
Mordred had been releasing the power of her Noble Phantasm with great exhilaration; it had been a long time since she had fought someone so freely.
However, after a while, Mordred began to feel that something was wrong.
"Is that guy's magical energy inexhaustible!?"
The mana within Mordred's body was nearly bottomed out; she had reached the point where she would have to start burning her own life force.
But when she looked ahead, that red-haired man was completely relaxed, as if the consumption of magical energy were completely inconsequential to him.
Just as Mordred felt this incredulity, the light of the holy sword, which had been fighting her on equal footing, suddenly intensified.
"Wha—"
An unimaginably massive amount of magical energy was crushing down on her in a way Mordred could not resist at all.
Excessive, bloated—the amount of mana was simply too vast; even the hand with which Mordred gripped the royal sword could feel how immense the opposing power was.
A never-ending raging sea of light; the shining light of the stars.
So beautiful, so dazzling, like something precious.
She didn't even have the leisure to perceive the overwhelming heat; it was the light of the stars in the sky of the Age of Gods.
There was simply no chance to resist; the light released by the royal sword in Mordred's hand was reduced to a mere wisp.
Even if she burned out her own life, there was no way to contend with that man—Mordred felt this profoundly.
Powerless, Mordred thrust her sword into the ground, using it as a cane to barely support her body and remain standing, looking at Shirou in disbelief.
"You bastard, who on earth are you...!?"
"I've heard that question so many times my ears are practically calloused."
Shirou did not waste time. After throwing the holy sword back into his Unlimited Blade Works, he arrived in front of Mordred in an instant. With a casual flick, the armor she was wearing, constructed of magical energy, dissipated, leaving only her somewhat slender frame underneath.
She looked even more "impoverished" (lacking in the chest) than Saber.
In the girl's wide, astonished eyes, the clanking sound of chains echoed out of thin air, and four silver-white wedges extended from the void, wrapping around and restraining her limbs.
"W-what do you want to do?!"
Mordred was instantly struck with panic, waving her claws and trying to break free, but she found that even after straining until her face turned red, she could not break the bindings of these golden chains.
"Damn it... sneaking an attack on me, you're so despicable! If you have the guts, let me go and fight me hand-to-hand one-on-one!!" Mordred glared at Shirou indignantly.
"To speak to your elder with such an attitude; you really aren't very obedient."
As Shirou said this, he came behind Mordred and raised his right hand.
BOOM—!
A deafening clap of thunder rang out in the sky; dark clouds gathered and swirled. A bolt of lightning descended from the center, landing in Shirou's hand and transforming into a golden long whip.
Using this lightning as a whip, Shirou—as Mordred struggled in vain to move under the restraints of the "Enkidu"—raised the thunder whip high in the air, right before her wide, incredulous eyes.
"Disobedient children must be harshly whipped.
I won't stop until you admit your mistakes."
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