Chapter 166 – The Final Battle?
"Haizz... it seems this time Lord Jason has really messed with the wrong guy."
Hector sighed in exasperation as he rubbed his forehead.
"Sensei, Hector-sensei, think of something! Where's your invincible NP?! Hurry up and throw it out and wipe all of them out already!!!"
Blackbeard stood next to Hector, shouting non-stop.
"Don't make things harder for an old uncle like me, Mr. Blackbeard. As you can see... I can't do it anymore."
Hector clutched his left arm, the one holding his spear.
A gaping hole was visible in his arm, with blood flowing relentlessly from the wound.
"Besides, even if I forced myself to use my Noble Phantasm, I'd be instantly sent off by that girl."
"Yaho~!!! Now that I take a closer look, there's a super cute Bishoujo here! Petite, hehehe, way too adorable..."
The moment Blackbeard's eyes landed on Draco—two beams of light shot straight at him!
"Áaaaa!!!"
Blackbeard staggered and fell, the beams grazing right past his cheek.
"This feeling of danger... this suffocating pressure... combined with that cute little face... fufufu... unexpectedly, this isn't so bad after all..."
"Mr. Blackbeard, while I don't mean to interfere with your aesthetic preferences, considering the situation, could you take things a bit more seriously?!"
Hector took a defensive stance.
Failing to eliminate the enemy Master before their reinforcements arrived—that was the critical mistake.
The situation on the Berserker's side wasn't looking any better either.
"Ugh ugh aaaaaaahhhhhhh————————!!!"
The man swung his axe, his eyes glowing with a frenzied red light.
From his mouth came unsettling sounds that made people uneasy.
The axe-sword in Heracles' hands blocked the opponent's attack.
"Another Heroic Spirit driven by rage, huh..."
The belt of the god of war on Heracles' waist emitted a faint glow.
In the very next second, the opponent's axe was blasted away, and the enormous axe-sword loomed directly before the Berserker!
"BOOM————————!!!"
Even though he used his weapon to block, his entire body was pushed back dozens of meters.
Before he could grasp what had just happened, the towering figure of Heracles appeared right in front of him.
Heracles gripped the axe-sword tightly and raised it with both hands.
The muscles in his arms swelled again, and an overwhelming surge of mana poured from both arms!!!
"Break free from the shackles of this body!"
"GUAAAHHHHHHHHH——————!!!"
Berserker screamed madly, unable to resist Heracles' overpowering strength, his entire body was forced down to the ground.
His hands gripped the axe hilt, but the blade of the axe-sword sliced into them, and blood streamed uncontrollably from his arms.
"It's blood! It's blood! It's bloooooood!!!"
The moment he saw blood, Berserker let out an uncontrollable roar.
On the bloodstained axe in his hands, deep crimson veins began to surface?!
In an instant, a massive surge of mana erupted from his entire body!
That blood-red axe swung up like a hurricane, turning into a whirlwind of death heading straight for Heracles.
Seeing this, Heracles immediately released his axe-sword, leaped into the air, drew a great bow from his back, and aimed straight at the eye of the blood storm.
"Whoosh————————!!!"
Three feather-fletched arrows shot through the air!
The first arrow was instantly knocked away by the whirlwind, the second and third were also deflected.
However—the moment they were repelled, the arrows transformed into three Stymphalian birds!
They spread their wings and circled the storm, flapping to release countless razor-sharp feathers!!!
"Clang clang clang————————!!!"
With the sound of relentless collisions like heavy rain, the force of the whirlwind gradually weakened.
At that moment, Heracles in the sky gripped his bow with both hands and struck down hard!!!
"BOOOOM——————————!!!"
A thunderous explosion! The ground shattered, sand and rock flying everywhere!!!
As the dust settled, only Heracles' figure remained on the battlefield.
The Berserker with the blood axe lay collapsed on the ground, his body pierced through by countless feathers, turned into a tattered corpse. The blood axe in his hand had fallen silently to the earth.
"Em...Gooo..A...."
The red light in his eyes slowly faded, and his body dissolved into nothingness, vanishing into the air.
Heracles walked forward calmly, his eyes seeing the fallen warrior off on his final journey.
"Rest in peace, Heroic Spirit who has fallen into madness."
...
Both sides had witnessed this battle end in just a flash.
Heracles' strength was clearly far superior to that Berserker's.
"Senpai! Heracles-san has defeated the enemy's Berserker!!!"
Mash immediately reported to Ethan, who had just caught up.
"Oh? So this is the new Servant that Master summoned?"
Johanna observed the towering Heracles from head to toe.
"He looks very reliable."
"Tch, if that opponent had been handed to me, I could've finished him with a single Noble Phantasm—nothing worth bragging about."
Mordred sneered with disdain.
"Hmph, I'd only need half of my strength."
Jeanne Alter crossed her arms and spoke proudly.
"Then I'll use thirty percent of mine."
Mordred responded.
"Then I'll use twenty percent."
"I only need ten percent!!!"
"Then I'll... I'll..."
Jeanne Alter didn't know how to counter, nearly starting to count on her fingers.
"...Hold on, hold on!!!"
Ethan quickly stepped between the two, preventing the argument from escalating.
If they kept bickering like this, one of them might end up joining the enemy out of spite.
"First, we need to deal with the remaining enemies and quickly retrieve the Holy Grail. Repairing the Singularity is the most important task right now."
Ethan explained helplessly.
"Even if your Master didn't say so, I would've done it anyway."
Mordred scowled as she looked at Ethan.
"Isn't it because your Master left me behind here? If I had gone with you, the Holy Grail would've been retrieved a long time ago."
"Fine, I'll go retrieve the Holy Grail first, just watch me!"
Jeanne Alter, seemingly having found a way to beat Mordred, immediately grabbed her flag and charged forward.
"Damn it! Don't you dare steal my prey!!!"
Mordred also drew her sword and dashed after her.
"AAAAA! This is the greatest crisis of Blackbeard's life!!"
Blackbeard clutched his head and screamed in agony.
"It's too late to run now anyway. Everyone, get ready to fight."
Hector had long since abandoned the idea of escape, ready for a do-or-die battle.
"Mary, looks like it's going to get troublesome."
"Sure does, Anne. But that's just part of the fun of a pirate's life."
Anne and Mary stood ready to receive the opposing assault.
"...At the very least, we must hold our ground here."
Molay stood up again, even though his arm had been crushed. He was still determined to fulfill his promise to Jason.
His eyes were fixed on Heracles, who was steadily approaching with overwhelming pressure.
...
At the same time, aboard the Argo ship out at sea, Jason watched the scene unfold from afar, shouting furiously:
"Medea! Medea!!"
"What is it, Master Jason?"
Medea Lily immediately stepped forward.
"Can't you see we're clearly at a disadvantage here?! Hurry up and recall Heracles right now!!!"
"I sincerely apologize, Master Jason."
Medea Lily bowed her head deeply.
"Heracles has been defeated."
"WHAT————?!"
Upon hearing that, Jason stomped in fury.
"No way! My Heracles is invincible, how could he be taken down!!!"
"As unbelievable as it is... his signal has indeed disappeared."
Medea Lily reported the truth honestly.
Watching their forces losing ground on the shore, Jason clenched his teeth and shouted in anger.
"We clearly eliminated the Moon Goddess and her followers. We only needed to find the Ark to harvest everything—so why the hell are these people showing up now!!!"
Amid Jason's near-despairing screams, Medea Lily's expression darkened.
"Master Jason, at this point... it seems we've already lost."
"Hurry up and use the Holy Grail to summon more Servants—call out anyone remotely useful! And you, you need to get out there and fight too! As long as we still have the Holy Grail, I haven't lost yet!!!"
Hearing those desperate shouts, Medea Lily's face twisted into an awkward expression. She shook her head.
"I'm sorry, Master Jason. I'm completely useless. I can't even summon any more Servants in time."
"Useless! Just keep cowering in fear—if I had known, I wouldn't have let you on the ship in the first place!!!"
Jason shoved Medea Lily aside and rushed into the ship's cabin, where the Holy Grail sat at its center.
"Summoning a Servant is no big deal! Just watch me summon Heracles again and smash those intruders into pieces!!!"
As he smugly grasped the Holy Grail, a thick surge of black mud suddenly erupted from it.
"——————————?!"
Terrified, he tried to throw the Holy Grail away, but his hand wouldn't come free.
"Medea! Medea!!!"
Panicked, Jason tried to run out of the cabin, only to find Medea Lily already standing at the door, blocking his way.
"Help me!!!"
Watching Jason slowly get swallowed up by the black mud pouring from the Holy Grail, Medea bowed her head.
"I'm sorry, Master Jason..."
The sweet, harmless-looking girl gazed calmly as Jason was slowly consumed by the dark sludge.
"You… witch… traitor… witch… die, die, just die, damn you, damn you, damn you——————!!!"
Even as Jason struggled with all his might, he couldn't escape the black mud. His body was gradually pulled downward.
"I'm sorry, Master Jason. Actually, the Ark has already been found. But I didn't expect that offering the goddess and the Ark as sacrifices would lead to... this…"
"Hahaha..."
From within the mud of the Holy Grail came a distorted laughter, echoing like it was reverberating from the depths of Jason's mind.
"Master Jason, you were the one who received everything… only to quickly betray it all. That was the only way for you to survive."
The cabin fell silent—Jason's screams were gone. Only whispers echoed from within the Holy Grail.
"But I'll still make use of your Saint Graph a little longer… Even if those futile efforts only serve to expose your own ugliness. No matter the form, the Holy Grail is still the Holy Grail."
The staff in Medea's hand began to glow.
"Holy Grail, supreme artifact to realize my wish…"
"Manifest! Remember! The one summoned here is among the Seventy-Two Pillar Demon Gods!!!"
Suddenly, the black mud spreading across the deck began to violently writhe, as if something inside it was growing rapidly.
...
"Haah——————!!!"
Mordred's Clarent struck and knocked away the spear in Hector's hands!
"Die, you coward!!"
Seeing the sword about to come down, Molay quickly raised his shield to block the blow.
Surprised by the intervention, Hector looked at him in disbelief.
"...I really didn't expect you to save me."
"The teachings of the Templar Order forbid abandoning comrades!"
Molay pushed back with all his might, forcing Mordred's weapon away.
"This is also to fulfill my wish in life! I must overcome this trial!"
"Hmph, all talk!"
Mordred infused her sword with mana and resumed the clash against Molay and Hector.
"Ugh aaa!!!"
Blackbeard frantically dodged Heracles' relentless attacks.
No matter what he tried, he couldn't land a hit on the monster before him.
Having seen Heracles defeat a Berserker firsthand, Blackbeard knew full well he stood no chance.
While retreating, he nearly crashed into Hector, who had lost his weapon.
"Sensei, what do we do now?!"
Blackbeard called out desperately to Hector.
"Sorry… I think this time, we're really done for."
"Don't say that!!!"
Hearing Hector sound so defeated, Blackbeard quickly looked elsewhere.
Mary was also being pushed back—she couldn't handle Jeanne Alter at all.
Anne, trying to provide cover fire, was being blocked by Mash, and Tonbi occasionally swooped in to harass her as well.
The whole group was being driven back, retreating toward the Argo ship nearby.
"At this point, we have no choice but to rely on Lord Jason and Medea."
"Medea-chan~~ please save me~~~"
"Boom——————————!!!"
Suddenly, a massive explosion rang out as an enormous surge of mana burst from the distant Argo ship.
Right after, an ugly pillar of flesh covered in eyes shot up into the sky!!!
A tiny figure appeared in midair, her voice ringing out loudly:
"Come forth, Thirty-Third Pillar—Forneus! Use your power to bring an end to their journey!!!"