Late at night, Ritsuka was just about to head out when her expression sharpened at a sudden, significant burst of magical energy in the distance.
But before she could head there, an uninvited guest arrived at her door.
"You are..."
Hearing this, the red-haired young girl standing outside the gate curled her lips upward crazily, her expression becoming incredibly bloodthirsty.
"Beatrice. Remember my name, because it will be the last person's name you'll ever remember in your life!"
She walked into the courtyard carrying an axe-sword. The two-meter-long weapon looked quite bizarre compared to the height of its wielder.
In an instant, a chilling killing intent swept over like a tidal wave.
"Are you here to eliminate me...? Since you've appeared, then the Holy Grail War is about to begin, isn't it?"
Ritsuka's face remained calm, her eyelids lowered as her murky gold eyes stared at the petite girl not far away.
Beatrice was stunned. "Hey, hey! That's all the reaction I get? Shouldn't you be more intense, or at least resist a little?"
Ignoring the person at the gate, Ritsuka instead looked toward the direction where the magical energy had erupted in the distance.
That way was the only path to the Matou household. Sakura... Ritsuka turned her head and looked at Beatrice, who had just entered the courtyard, and slightly raised a hand.
"Perhaps it's because I've grown accustomed to loss that I don't feel much of anything about your appearance."
Beatrice's lips twitched. Looking at Ritsuka, who seemed to see through everything with her calm expression and half-closed eyes, she felt a sense of annoyance. This situation where it seemed she had given up resisting made her—
—feel even better!!
Her mouth split into a wide grin as Beatrice swung her axe-sword and vanished from her spot, the snow on the ground exploding and flying backward.
Ritsuka's slightly raised right hand suddenly clenched. In a brilliant glow, an identical axe-sword appeared. At the same time, she widened her stance and swung the axe-sword upward from below, like hitting a baseball.
Bang—!!
The gate of the Emiya household was smashed to pieces. Beatrice, sent flying by the single blow, shot out onto the street outside the Emiya Residence and crashed straight through a wall into the neighboring yard.
That was an abandoned residence; the people living there had moved out long ago, so Ritsuka didn't have to worry about collateral damage.
Having sent Beatrice flying with one hit, Ritsuka strode forward as a sonic boom suddenly erupted ahead.
An axe-sword shot out from the thick dust, hurtling toward her like a hidden weapon.
Finding the right angle, Ritsuka tilted her body slightly, and the weapon grazed past her. She shifted her gaze back to see the red-haired, twin-tailed young girl with a contorted face.
"Cough, cough, cough... You bastard, who on earth are you?!"
"A normal person. Just a mere normal person who is gradually becoming Alcides and Emiya Shirou."
Putting on the Belt of the War God Ares, Ritsuka was enveloped in divine aura, which she then channeled entirely into her axe-sword under her control.
With a powerful step, a crimson shadow blurred across the street amidst sonic booms. An axe-sword even sharper than before slashed horizontally. The murky light of the axe directly ripped off the walls, and nearly half the courtyard was sent flying into the sky by the single strike.
Beatrice narrowly dodged the blow; Ritsuka's speed was even more exaggerated than hers.
Moreover, her own speed had slowed down significantly!
"What's going on?! That appearance... and my body?"
Wearing a form-fitting top, a blood-red sacred cloth around her waist, and her scarred left arm covered, she wore trousers and leather boots that crunched on the snow. Holding the axe-sword in her right hand, she carried a long cloak she had just taken off in her left.
Tossing the cloak aside, Ritsuka also removed her cumbersome headscarf and then directly faced the person holding the Heracles card.
Regarding Beatrice's question, Ritsuka said indifferently, "This appearance? It's nothing much, just a nameless Heroic Spirit and an Avenger who rebels against the gods."
"I've finally waited for it—the chance to join the Holy Grail War... You're the first."
After using the Hydra's venom to lower all of Beatrice's attributes, intense pain would soon manifest in her opponent. This was Ritsuka's chance.
"How does it feel, this pain engraved upon me?"
"Uwaaaaaah...!"
Ritsuka grabbed Beatrice's head with her left hand and slammed her violently onto the ground. The Hydra's venom corroded her body, and screams echoed incessantly.
Heracles was undoubtedly Greece's greatest hero, but Beatrice was merely a fake borrowing his power. She couldn't possibly withstand the venom corroding her entire body—that pain, like countless beasts gnawing at one's nerves, was something that even Chiron found agonizing.
The Noble Phantasm Twelve Labors was adapting to the Hydra's venom. Beatrice writhed on the ground, looking as though she might pass out at any moment.
Unfortunately, Ritsuka wouldn't give her the chance to continue adapting. She activated the Noble Phantasm she possessed—
A Noble Phantasm exclusive to Alcides!
Alcides, also known as Heracles or Hercules, is Greece's most famous god of strength.
The most famous experience of his life was the Twelve Labors impossible for humans to complete, which gave birth to his exclusive series of Noble Phantasms, all of which were quite extraordinary.
Alcides' original class was Archer, but due to irresistible factors, he transformed into an Avenger—a rebel who turns against the gods, hating the deities who were supposed to bring him glory and swearing revenge upon them.
"—Why was I born to suffer so many hardships?"
"—Why was I, who should have been a king, reduced to a plaything of the gods?"
"—Why were my children killed by my own hands in a sudden fit of madness?"
Because of the gods!
The gods who look down on mortals with contempt, disdain, and arrogance, bringing down numerous calamities for their own selfish desires.
Under the influence of various factors, Alcides discarded his high Divinity and the immortality granted by the Twelve Labors, causing his own status attributes to decrease.
But because of this, he obtained complete Noble Phantasms corresponding to the Twelve Labors.
That is to say, he exchanged the [Twelve Labors] for the [Twelve Glories].
The 'divine beast cloak' and 'War God's Belt' used by Ritsuka both came from the [Twelve Glories], which is a powerful, multi-functional Noble Phantasm.
But at this moment, the Noble Phantasm taking effect was neither the [Twelve Glories] nor [Nine Lives], which symbolized Alcides' unparalleled martial arts.
Instead, it was the hidden third Noble Phantasm that could only be activated because he had been distorted into an Avenger.
"—Reincarnation Pandora!"
In an instant... destiny, hope, and everything changed. Things were exchanged, and the power within Beatrice that was constantly adapting to the venom abruptly vanished.
"Eaaaaaaaah—!!"
A heart-wrenching scream echoed. Beatrice rolled on the ground in agony, her massive strength smashing against the earth and gouging out huge craters.
With a sudden, explosive strike, the out-of-control Beatrice, her eyes bloodshot, slammed a fist into Ritsuka's stomach, sending her flying.
After tumbling and quickly steadying herself, Ritsuka felt the consumption of magical energy within her body. The fist mark on her abdomen had already quietly vanished. The power known as the [Twelve Labors] easily adapted to that punch; Beatrice could now hardly wound her.
Even the pain brought about by her immortality received a second layer of relief.
"Seizing a Noble Phantasm, even being able to plunder it on a conceptual level—it truly is an incredible Noble Phantasm."
Walking into the courtyard, the frantic noise had already ceased. The pain of the rampaging venom had caused the girl named Beatrice to fall unconscious, and the Heracles card lay on the ground beside her.
Picking up the card and neutralizing the Hydra's venom, Ritsuka ignored the unconscious Beatrice. Whether she killed her or not made no difference to her.
Being able to plunder Noble Phantasms from Magicians who hold them through class cards was something beyond Ritsuka's expectations. However, if it were possible, the situation thereafter would undoubtedly be much better. After all, a Noble Phantasm can be said to be the trump card for a servant.
It is something that can overturn the tide of battle and reverse victory and defeat.
To be honest, if one could snatch away a Noble Phantasm during battle, that power would be almost outrageously excessive.
"Ugh, is it a hallucination?"
Patting her cheeks, Ritsuka put away the card. The side effects of the spell suppressing her pain had appeared again; her vision was filled with dizziness, and everything gradually began to distort.