"I guess you didn't invite this guy to the negotiation, Iskandar."
Drako carefully observed one of the strongest Servants of the Holy Grail War, Berserker. If he succeeds in killing him... the experience points he would gain would not be few.
"I don't think he's willing to negotiate," Rider replied.
Nothing but bloodlust flowed from the black knight. Even the swirl of prana seemed as threatening as a moan full of deep hatred.
"So, boy, what kind of Servant is that guy?" Rider asked Waver.
However, the little Master shook his head in amazement.
"I do not know. I just can't know."
"What? You are a Master, aren't you? Should his strengths and weaknesses be visible to you, huh?"
As a Master who has made a contract with a Servant, it is possible to read a Servant's condition with powers of clairvoyance. This is a unique ability given by the Grail that has summoned the Heroic Spirits. This does not work for Irisviel, being a false Master, but Waver, the rightful Master of Rider, is able to see through the abilities of other Servants and compare them to those of Rider, to guide him as efficiently as possible in battle situations. In fact, Waver already possessed a clear understanding of the powers of Saber and Archer. But...
"I told you I can't see it! The black guy is definitely a servant... but I just can't read his attributes!"
Rider frowned in suspicion after Waver's confusing explanation, and looked at the black knight again.
The armor of the color of darkness showed no characteristic trait, and gave no hint of the maker's lineage. -No, it is not just that there are no details that could be seen; everything is blurred.
It wasn't just Rider. Saber and Irisviel had noticed the same thing. No matter how scrupulously one looked, one could not accurately perceive Berserker's figure.
Like an unfocused photograph, the contours of the black armor were always changing, like fog, and you could see it double or triple. Somehow, the material of the armor looked like hallucinations. And it was not the only vision that was affected; also it reached the clairvoyance of the Masters. This must be a unique kind of spell that falsifies a person's true identity. For it was not a skill of the Berserker class.
Drako knew the reason for this.
For Someone's Glory: Not For One's Own Glory, one of Lancelot's Noble Phantasms.
In his Berserker variation, it manifests itself in a kind of dark fog. This prevents the Masters from being able to investigate its parameters. Even if he were to remove his helmet, his face would also be obscured and hidden from the eyes of others.
"It seems we have another troublesome enemy..."
Saber nodded to Irisviel's murmur.
"That's not all. Now with five opponents, we cannot make any careless moves."
In a real battle of all against all, the most reliable tactic is to wipe out those in numerical inferiority by concentrating efforts. Thus, if one were to show his weakness here and now, he might be forced into the worst outcome, a hopeless battle of four against one. In this case, not even Saber would have a chance.
Who will begin to attack whom, and who will seize the opportunity to make this move? And this is true for all Heroic Spirits.
Right now, Rider is not targeting anyone in particular. His purpose at this time will probably be to observe all the Heroic Spirits participating in the War of the Holy Grail. But as someone who does not know fear, he is the kind of man who would respond to anyone's challenge.
Archer clearly sees Rider and Saber as his enemies. It seems that the Golden Heroic Spirit does not find it pleasant that those two call themselves "King of Conquerors" and "King of Knights". His favorite target possibly is the one who provoked him, Rider.
The most troublesome ones in this place were the mysterious Mordred and his Master. Although Drako had already expressed his desire to destroy the Grail, no one could know his true feelings. Besides, he had already demonstrated enough power to kill a Servant, so special care had to be taken with him.
There remains one troublesome person.
Berserker. No one could figure out what the intention of the black knight was materialized here and now. It added to the fuss that no one could take control of the situation. No wise Master would think of condemning his Servant amid this chaos.
No doubt anyone would be equally cautious of Berserker, and even he was no exception. There was no doubt or hesitation in Archer's red eyes; he alone held an absolute rage and intent of murder as he looked down on Berserker.
The disgusting look of the black knight was fixed on him alone, standing on the top of the lamppost; undoubtedly the golden Heroic Spirit could see that.
"You, mad dog, do you expect pity from me?"
The look of the garbage is equally low and unclean. To be the target of this glance is an intolerable misfortune for a nobleman. For Archer, who claims the title of an even greater king than Rider, Berserker's bad manners made him a complete criminal.
All the swords and spears that looked like treasure changed direction. Now his points were entirely aimed at his new objective; that is, Berserker.
"You must at least entertain me when you are broken, you vermin."
A sword and spear fluttered in the air after the disheartening verdict.
Weapons coming out of nowhere fired without warning -this must be why the Heroic Spirit is an archer. But this rough Noble Phantasm was too abnormal. The Noble Phantasm, which should be a treasure for the Heroic Spirit, was being thrown so carelessly, as if you threw a handful of stones.
Yet, the destructive power was enormous. The surface of the road flew as if it had been hit by an explosive blast, and the scene was enveloped by asphalt dust pulverized into particles.
"...Kh!"
Everyone swallowed saliva anyway.
In the thick dust, the shadow of the dark, tall figure wavered in its visibilities.
Berserker was stopped intact. He had merely moved from his starting point, where the road had become a crater. Of the weapons thrown by Archer, the spear is the one that caused this, hitting its target after being slightly delayed. And the sword that should have reached its target a little before the spear had not caused destruction.
The reason for that would be that the sword was in Berserker's hands.
How many had observed the sudden offense and defense? At least Irisviel and Waver could not understand what had happened at that moment. Really - Berserker had grabbed the precious sword, the first attack launched by Archer, without much effort, and with his newly acquired weapon he had deflected the second attack, the precious spear.
"...That bastard, is he really a Berserker?"
Rider responded with a roar to Mordred's murmur.
"For someone who has given up his reason for madness, he is a remarkably skilled fellow."
A Noble Phantasm is a weapon for the exclusive use of the Heroic Spirit that owns it. Another Heroic Spirit holding it in his hands would not be able to handle it properly. Whether by miracle or by skill, it should be impossible to repel a consecutive attack so clearly in only one moment.
But still, more than surprise, apparently it was anger that was concentrated in Archer. All sorts of grimaces twisted his elegant face, stunned into a murderous frenzy.
"- How dare you touch my treasure with your dirty hands... You want to die so badly, you scoundrel!
The air around Archer began to dance again. Like a halo, a golden majesty turns in a circle to show a horde of new Noble Phantasm - now sixteen of them.
Not just swords and spears. There are axes, hammers and halberds. Even items of indefinite use or origin, sharp-bladed weapons of strange shapes.
Each one of them was polished like a mirror, and still possessed an enormous amount of prana flowing from them. None of them is below the level of a divine mystery... All of them, without exception, are certainly Noble Phantasm.
"That, it is not possible..."
That's what Waver thought out loud. And the other Masters and Heroic Spirits probably thought similarly.
A Heroic Spirit doesn't have to stop at just one Noble Phantasm. Sometimes, one can treasure three or four super-weapons that qualify as such. But none could have so many.
And here -Archer is throwing them one after another as if he had an inexhaustible supply of them. And none of them had even been seen in the battle against Assassin the night before.
"Let's see - how far this compulsive little thief can go!"
"Calm down, King of Heroes."
Someone actually dared to interrupt Archer.
Gilgamesh looked at Drako, who had dared to interrupt the king's actions.
"Huh? A commoner dares to interrupt me despite knowing my great status?"
Gilgamesh's gaze was only condescending as he looked at Drako. However, his face revealed shock for an instant when he saw through him with his Clairvoyance.
Gilgamesh Clairvoyance manifested in his Noble Phantasm Sha Naqba Imuru (He who Saw the Deep): The omniscient Omnipotent Star, allows him to discern heavily concealed truths with a single glance, from that of the opponent's True Name and Noble Phantasm to possibly even seeing through a piece of the demise of human history. Even though, for some reason, he maintains his Noble Phantasm limited.
"I was wrong; you are not a mere commoner."
To hear the King of Heroes tell someone that, when he had only considered Enkidu as someone other than a commoner, said a lot about what he had seen in Drako.
"Besides, that sword... how did you get it? Well, it doesn't matter. That's one of the few treasures I don't have. Hand it over."
For a moment, Gilgamesh's curiosity took hold before his personality woke him up.
"I don't wanna."
Drako's response was clear and concise. His smile said it all, he didn't even think much of Gilgamesh.
"Do you dare to defy the orders of this king? Then you must simply die."
"Step aside, Mordred."
Gilgamesh's weapons changed direction once again. His new target was none other than Drako.
At Archer's command, the group of Noble Phantasm floating in the air were set free, charging at the dragon.
A loud roar shook the night air, and a flash of light exploded across the sky.
Who would believe that such destruction could be achieved by throwing swords and other similar weapons? Countless Noble Phantasms rained down on the warehouse district's street that already looked as if it had been bombed.
Still, Gilgamesh's relentless attack did not stop. The Noble Phantasms fell like thunder, fired at the place where Drako was standing, with enough force to disperse anything, and continued to pound and pound and pound. The attack was continuous, even growing in violence. That's because the target, Drako, just wouldn't fall.
Everyone was in shock. Even in a critical situation with a large number of enemies around, everyone shared the same thoughts. Even Mordred could only look in amazement at her Master.
With one hand on his sword, Drako defended himself from the attacks of the Noble Phantasm that were directed at his head, and he just ignored the rest. With such attack power, the weapons should be able to penetrate the armor that Drako wore.
However... Gilgamesh was unable to pierce Drako's armor.
Both the offensive and the defensive were on a par.
Watching these two fight, Saber shuddered. If she was going to advance in the Holy Grail War, she would have to cross arms with these two. But in the face of beasts beyond reason, how should she prepare to stand firm then?
"The golden one seems proud of the number of his Noble Phantasm, but the guy in the armor has the worst affinity with him."
Artoria and Mordred looked at Iskandar in confusion. Even Mordred, who knew her Master's abilities best, did not know what he was thinking here.
"I had heard of a very special skin, but did not expect to see it in a Master's and applied in this way."
As Iskandar calmly commented, Drako did not step back from Gilgamesh's fierce attack. Instead, he was slowly moving forward.
"What do you mean, Rider?"
Artoria couldn't help but ask. Whatever information she obtained was important for future battles.
"In Ancient Greece, there was a divine beast similar to the Ugallu in Babylon. These beasts can "reject" human civilization, acting as a singularity that rejects human civilization itself. This ability remains in their skin, which has been used to create that armor."
A divine beast of Ancient Greece with such characteristics, Mordred was not slow to find out who it was.
"Nemean Lion..."
That's right.
Before Drako marched to Nasuverse, he received a god's visit (mentioned in chapter 226).
This was Aphrodite, who had responded to Drako's proposal, which we will discuss in a later chapter.
------------------------
(Flashback)
Once Aphrodite left Drako's house, he looked carefully at the skin of the Nemean Lion, not feeling sure what he should do with it.
"Should I hang it on the wall as a trophy or something?"
Drako really couldn't think of any other way to put this skin to use.
[Object detected with possibility of becoming a Noble Phantasm]
Sage's voice surprised Drako as he was thinking about what to do.
"What do you mean?"
[In my internal memory there is data from a Noble Phantasm related to the object you hold in your hands. You can turn it into a Noble Phantasm by spending a Fate Point].
"Really? Can I find out what the Noble Phantasm is before?"
Damn, this was much better than Drako had expected.
[Yes, showing Noble Phantasm data]
[Pelt of the Divine Beast
Type: ?
Owner: ?
Range: 1
Maximum number of targets: 1
The Pelt of the Divine Beast is the pelt of the Nemean Lion, obtained by Heracles after exterminating the beast during his First Labor. The beast's skin, through an arduous method, was worked by Heracles into the form of a long, decorated cloth with a distinct pattern.
The Nemean Lion can reject human civilization, so the pelt is invulnerable to attacks delivered by human weapons. However, it will not be ripped apart easily.]
"Wait, isn't this too broken?"
Drako couldn't help but wonder. He was going to leave at birth in just a few days and was going to confront Servants whose greatest powers resided in their Noble Phantasms, most of which were weapons created by humans.
For example, the Gate of Babylon was very powerful, but it was filled with weapons that are part of human civilization. That is to say, only Ea and Enkidu were capable of doing anything to it in case of confronting Gilgamesh.
However, this was not big enough to cover his whole body.
"Can you transform this into armor?"
[It can. However, the extent of this depends on your magical power. Also, it will cost an extra Fate Point].
"Perfect, redeem them right now."
[Using two Fate Points]
[You have obtained the Noble Phantasm: Pelt of the Divine Beast, now called Armor of the Divine Beast.]
------------------------
The violent crackling sound stopped when the last of the sixteen Noble Phantasm fell.
In the void of silence, there was only Drako in the midst of the descending dust. The surroundings, including warehouses and lamp posts, were completely ruined. The dragon was looking directly over him, where Archer was standing on the only remaining lamp post. All the Noble Phantasms of Gilgamesh had been left by the wayside, not a single blade had reached the black armor.
"Since you know what race I belong to, you should also know that you don't deserve to stand on top of me. Know your place, Gilgamesh."
"Damn tone... Are you trying to put me on the same ground as you? Me, who should be on top?"
For the third time, the space around him twisted to materialize horde of weapons...
The next count of Noble Phantasm burners reached thirty-two. This time, even Rider was silent. Drako had withstood a continuous attack of sixteen Noble Phantasms, but there was no way he could withstand twice that number. That was the same for all the other Servants. No one could estimate any longer the limits of the Golden Archer's latent power.
Drako only snorted at the words of Gilgamesh.
"You are only the strongest of mortals. Even I do not consider myself the strongest, and you see that my powers are not weaker to yours, even when I am trapped in this weak body."
Gilgamesh raised an eyebrow, and seemed to think of several things for a moment. Finally, he moved his hand and the thirty-two weapons disappeared as easily as they appeared.
He made a move that surprised everyone, jumping off the lamp post to stand in front of Drako.
"You have caught my attention, but I still do not consider you my equal. Tell me your name."
A smile blossomed on the dragon's face.
"Drako."
You may also Like
Paragraph comment
Paragraph comment feature is now on the Web! Move mouse over any paragraph and click the icon to add your comment.
Also, you can always turn it off/on in Settings.
GOT IT