"It seems we are doomed to fight," Sigurd sighed, gripping his bde tightly. "We have met, but we each serve our own masters."
"Perhaps this is our fate," Brynhildr replied coldly, her blue-fmed nce raised.
The two Servants cshed, the air between them filled with the sound of steel meeting steel. However, despite her relentless assault, Sigurd focused solely on defense, his movements deliberate arained.
It was evident, he still couldn't bring himself to fight her seriously.
---
"Kill!"
Oher side of the battlefield, Iskandar masterfully maneuvered the Gordius Wheel, evading coorditacks from Chihiro and Zhang Jiao, while simultaneously pushing toward Darius III.
Seeing the King of querors approach, Darius III roared furiously.
"Ouuuugh!!!"
The Dead War Elephah him bellowed in respos massive trunk sweeping toward the chariot with terrifying force.
Iskandar expertly dodged the attack, his chariot rolling through the battlefield like a bolt of lightning. But the motion was so sudden and violent that Waver, sitting ihe chariot, g to the edge for dear life, his face pale as he struggled to keep his posure.
Cirg around the massive beast, Iskandar jumped onto the back of the Dead War Elephant, sword drawn, ready to front Darius III directly.
The two warriors cshed atop the colossal creature, their ons colliding with brutal force.
The War Elephant of Death, sensing dahrashed wildly, its trunk filing and its massive body twisting in an attempt to shake Iskandar off.
Though Iskandar's strength aerminatio him steady for a moment, the violent movements of the beast nearly caused him to lose his footing. He stumbled briefly, giving Darius III the ce to strike a heavy blow.
Unlike Iskandar, Darius III seemed to have a symbiotiion with the Dead War Elephant. He remained perfectly banced, as if the beast's chaos couldn't touch him.
---
At that moment, Artoria finally ehe fray, her golden bde cloaked in invisible winds.
She directed her efforts toward aiding Iskandar.
After witnessing the seemingly immortal nature of the Undead Legion, she cluded that the greater threat was Chihiro's group. With Emiya Kiritsugu absent, she made her own decisions.
Artoria charged onto the battlefield, her bde slig through swathes of undead soldiers, and La instinctively followed behind her.
Though his sanity was ed by madness, La's unwavering loyalty to his king shohrough. Like a silent shadow, he covered Artoria's blind spots, ensuring no harm would e to her.
Meanwhile Heroic Spirit Kiritsugu kept his distance, clearly unfortable with the open battlefield. Instead, he opted to lurk, waiting for the perfeent to act.
---
"Tokiomi!!!"
On another part of the battlefield, Kariya found himself face-to-face with Tokiomi.
Even though he knew he was no match for the seasoned magus, Kariya stepped forward with gritted teeth.
Surpassing Tokiomi had bee a personal demon he couldn't ignore.
Kariya waved his hand, unc the kettle strapped to his waist. A stream of water shot out, f into a sharp arroed toward Tokiomi.
This was water magecraft, the true iance of the Matou family.
Though Zouken had twisted and corrupted Kariya, the old bug hadirely ed his training. Uhreat of his survival, Zouken had forced Kariya to learn the long-lost magecraft of the Matou family.
The core of water magecraft was "absorption." It could return power to the caster's body, entangle enemies, or even serve as a duit for binding teiques.
Unfortunately, Kariya was still a novice. For now, he could only use it for basic water manipution.
"Hmph, how pathetic."
Tokiomi barely regarded Kariya's attack as a threat.
With a casual gesture, he summoned fire magic. A burst of fmes collided with the water arrow, evaporating it instantly. The fmes then surged forward, engulfing Kariya.
"Ughhh!!!"
Kariya screamed as the fire ed him.
Tokiomi paused for a moment, flicted. He hadn't inteo use such overwhelming force, but the earlier video of Kariya nearly killing Aoi still lingered in his mind.
After a brief hesitation, he allowed the fmes to recede.
The scorched earth revealed Kariya lying motionless on the ground, his clothes charred and his body covered in severe burns.
---
"Gulp, gulp…"
Kariya, still scious despite his injuries, shakily retrieved a healing potion from his pack.
The liquid's effects were immediate. Heat radiated from his body as the burns healed in seds.
Though his physical wounds were gohe trauma of nearly being burned alive remained. Kariya y on the ground, trembling as the memories repyed in his mind.
If he couldn't overe this fear, he knew he'd never be able to surpass Tokiomi.
---
"Ouuuugh!!!"
On the tral battlefield, the battle between Iskandar and Darius III tinued.
Despite Iskandar's determination, the Dead War Elephant thrashed violently, eventually flinging him off its back.
The King of querors mao grab hold of the reins of the flying-hoofed thunder bulls pulling his chariot, narrowly avoiding being trampled.
Now uo engage Darius III directly, Iskandar resorted to a hit-and-run strategy, using his chariot to keep the war elephant occupied.
But this tactic couldn't st forever.
Iskandar's forces were dwindling, while Darius III's Undead Legion remained as strong as ever.
Even with Artoria and La assisting, it was clear that the tide of battle favored Darius III.
As long as Darius III remained, his magic supply ehe Undead Legion's immortality.
---
Yet not everyone shared Iskandar's honorable approach.
"Bang!"
A gunshot echoed across the battlefield.
Heroic Spirit Kiritsugu, who had been lying in wait beh the sand, finally made his move.
This was a desert battlefield, after all, and sand provided perfect cover for his stealth.
Kiritsugu's first attack recise—a deadly in Bullet aimed at Tohsaka Tokiomi.
Had it okiomi's magic circuits would have been shattered, leaving him crippled at best, dead at worst.
But Chihiro's forces had anticipated this.
"Whoosh!"
Several es of Hassan of the Hundred Faces emerged from beh the sand, intercepting Tohsaka Tokiomi and pulling him out of harm's way.
The remaining es formed a protective barrier around Tokiomi, ensuring no further attacks could reach him.
"Emiya Kiritsugu…" Tokiomi muttered, his face pale.
The near-death experience reminded him of the earlier video where Kayh had been ambushed in simir fashion.
For a moment, Tokiomi shuddered at the thought of what could have been.
---
"EX—CALIBUR!"
A sudden beam of golden light tore through the battlefield.
It was Artoria, unleashing her Noble Phantasm against the Dead War Elephant.
The radiant explosion reduced the beast to ashes in an instant.
Darius III had jumped clear just in time, nding otlefield unscathed.
But his face twisted in fury as the War Elephant of Death reemerged from the ground, fully restored.
"This thing is immortal too?" Artrowled, her frustration evident.
---
The battlefield desded further into chaos as both armies cshed.
Iskandar, seeing no other choice, tightened his grip on the reins. "If brute strength is what it takes, then so be it!"
He spurred the Gordius Wheel forward, charging toward the War Elephant of Death with all his might.
The sacred beast pulling his chariot, the flying-hoofed thunder bull, bristled with lightning and lu the undead beast.
The two massive creatures collided, each struggling to overpower the other.
The thunder bull held its ground, its hooves sparking with energy as it absorbed the War Elephant's immense force.
But Iskandar didn't stop there.
Swinging his sword with all his might, he struck at the War Elephant's trunk.
"Puff…"
***
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