Chapter 95: Rematch with Alcides
Raging, azure flames.
The sorcerous fire, which dyed the surrounding roads in its own hue and incinerated all life, spread through the air, triggering secondary explosions.
"Again!?"
"Wait a minute!?"
Clan Calatin cowered in a corner outside the membrane of flame enveloping the road. Following the hellish mist, their skin now stung from the lashing explosive winds. Like a spectral image, a single silhouette remained within the fire-ground where no one should have survived.
The azure borders silhouetted a human form holding a bow up to shield his face.
Thirty percent of his skin had vanished. The surface was ulcerated, stripped of its original function, its original color unrecognizable. Even if Alcides had prepared countermeasures against Broken Phantasm in advance to avoid a fatal wound, there was no such thing as emerging unscathed.
Had Alcides operated them manually, it might have been different, but the attack speed of the bronze birds in their autonomous state could not match the flight velocity of the two men's arrows. Thus, the detonation of the Broken Phantasm wasn't far off; Alcides was caught right on the edge of the blast.
However—suffering only this much damage was negligible. After all, with Alcides' level of Spirit Foundation, even if his limbs, blood vessels, and even his eyeballs and brainstem sustained small-scale damage across the board, his Spirit Core would not collapse. In less than a few seconds, he would still possess normal combat capabilities.
The azure curtain behind him suddenly dispersed, leaving only countless flickering flames clinging to the ground. Alcides lowered the hand that had been held before his hide.
Two figures stood above Alcides.
To be precise, that wasn't originally "above" Alcides; rather, it was the position where Alcides had originally stood before being struck down by the demon. The Cerberus was gone. Alcides had long since been knocked to the ground.
The originally boundless, pitch-black night now allowed a sliver of moonlight to spill down. The moonlight reflected a noble, silver glow.
The girl was clad in silver armor. Golden threads of hair scattered in the solemn wind. The faulds of her armor swayed gently in one direction with the gusts. In her hand, she had drawn a transparent sword. Her exquisitely beautiful face gazed calmly at the scene below.
At her side stood another person. A youth very familiar to Alcides.
"We made it in time."
He spoke as if feeling lucky. Alcides looked up, eyeing them as he spoke:
"You should have come a little later. Had you done so, you could have sat back and watched as the Golden King and I fought, then seized the chance to take our lives more easily."
"There was no need for that."
Although Alcides was technically facing the human, the girl immediately replied in his stead. Looking at the girl shielding the man, Alcides shook his head stolidly.
He raised his bow.
The man immediately mirrored the action. The blue Saber also maintained her sword-drawn stance, forming a delicate balance between the three.
In truth, reaching the current situation while only taking half a hit from a Broken Phantasm was the combined result of both sides' tactical maneuvering. If they had charged in for close-quarters combat while Jack the Ripper still possessed fighting strength, it would have been better for Alcides.
Emiya Shirou could not charge in. Because if the distance were too short, he wouldn't be able to use Broken Phantasm.
That being the case, he originally should have let the blue Saber charge in. But in reality, that would have been a mistake. Not only would it interfere with the Broken Phantasm, but Artoria Pendragon could only cause damage to Alcides when releasing the Invisible Air; however, in that scenario, Alcides would not hesitate to seize her [Excalibur].
Alcides took the opportunity to ponder why they were subconciously making correct judgments, preventing him from using [Reincarnation of the Pandemonium - Pandora]. If the reason was a desire not to hinder each other or a reluctance to fight in the mist, that would be the best-case scenario for Alcides. However, if the reason was an extra layer of wariness toward Alcides' specific abilities, it would be very bad indeed.
Insight honed as a human. Combat theory to find a way out. Danger-avoidance ability to predict the opponent's moves.
When these same abilities appeared in someone else, Alcides felt for the first time that this skill was excessively troublesome.
"Even though you avoided the engagement by retreating last time, do you now say there is 'no need'? The outcome between that human and me is already decided. And even you cannot defeat me, King of Knights."
Without letting any thoughts show on his face, Alcides' demeanor remained as usual.
"Since you once made a vow as a Servant, if you do not wish for the subject of that vow to come to harm, there is no need to obstruct me."
Alcides spoke words that differed in nuance from "bite the nuisances to death."
"Don't worry. This time, I know what I'm doing," the red-haired youth said quietly.
And so, Saber stood watch placidly, with no intention of leaving.
In the gaze Alcides noted, there was no fear belonging to a loser. He had seen this look before, in beings like Hippolyta; he had also seen its exact opposite, in the kings who welcomed him.
"No choice, then..."
Alcides showed a fleeting, admiring smile.
"Then I shall not hold back. Since we are enemies, we need only exhaust our means to make the other disappear forever."
Deliberately transforming this into explicit killing intent, Alcides raised his bow.
In the next instant, dark meteors shot from the fully drawn bow, turning into a torrent that swept toward the rooftop. Every shot carried the massive prana that filled Alcides' entire body. They weren't aimed at the Saber, but slammed all at once toward the human behind her.
This was the second battle.
With his physical durability, a single hit would mean instant death. Alcides knew this. In fact, Emiya Shirou truly made no move to dodge.
'Saber, I'm counting on you.'
While he stood his ground, the silver silhouette split the arrows in his stead. If Alcides' attacks were compared to surface-to-air missiles, she was the heat flare, dispersing the onslaught all at once.
Just like Alcides, Emiya Shirou raised his bow. Because of Saber's help, the surging offensive did not harm him; like a reef in the tide, she left him room to shoot. Nocked on that bow was a silver sword with a twin-spiral structure.
Though he did not know what Noble Phantasm it was, Alcides, having countermeasures, did not fear Broken Phantasm much. Thus, Alcides fired a new round of arrows with full force.
The King of Knights could not hurt him; if she continued to intercept Alcides' arrows head-on, she would only be worn down to death. If she recklessly deployed her Noble Phantasm, it would be stolen.
For Alcides, as long as he could withstand Emiya Shirou's attacks, such an opportunity to steadily trade one person away was a once-in-a-thousand-years chance. And this strike was one Alcides believed he could take.
Not counting the split arrows, Alcides had only fired three full-draw shots from just now until this point, yet the storm-like rays continued to pressure the King of Knights, nearly forcing her back. It was then that Alcides noticed.
The sword that had become an arrow—the prana injected into it was rapidly increasing. It didn't look like it was going to undergo Broken Phantasm. Prana on the level of a True Name liberation was being condensed within the blade, gradually rising like a tide, forming a bullet of light in the hands of the upright youth.
Alcides needed only one look to know it was a man-made object; it could not harm his hide.
...In that case, there should be no problem.
Both sides should still have been in the tug-of-war phase, yet like a grain of sand overlooked on the ground, an inexplicable urgency welled up in the heart of the one who had already fired his arrows. Unlike the previous encounter, Alcides could easily pressure Saber into defending; conversely, Alcides' arrows could not easily break through to the man because of the presence of an extra nuisance.
A curved dagger appeared in Emiya Shirou's hand as he held the string; immediately afterward, it shattered with a roar.
Prana coalesced into form.
Only at this moment did the fatal premonition arrive a step late, stabbing violently into his heart.
'This arrow... I cannot take it!'
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