In Britain, the Noble Phantasm: Divine Key

But the key point is that Penthesilea is not the only enemy he faces now...

Hercules glanced out of the corner of his eye at the man sitting on the throne; that man was the real enemy.

If he wastes too many resurrection opportunities on Pentessilia, his chances of winning against the red team's Rider will become very slim.

Hercules clenched his fist inwardly, a sense of helplessness welling up in his heart for the first time. If he could obtain the complete [Twelve Trials], he wouldn't be in such a passive position now.

The current [Twelve Trials] only grants him immunity to all attacks below Rank B and eleven resurrection opportunities. If he were in his full state, in addition to resurrection and damage reduction, [Twelve Trials] should have a third effect—resistance.

This effect renders attacks that have been taken from Heracles once ineffective a second time. Furthermore, if Heracles takes fire damage and recovers, his fire resistance is increased. No matter how powerful a Noble Phantasm is used to kill Heracles, it becomes useless after his resurrection.

In addition to his Twelve Glories, he also possesses a Noble Phantasm, which is immortality, a gift from his mentor Chiron. If he had this Noble Phantasm, his situation would be much better.

Unfortunately, perhaps because the Counter Force felt that the effects of these two Noble Phantasms were too overpowered, he didn't manage to bring either of them down.

However, if his Master is willing to use Command Seals as a price, he should be able to retrieve one of the Noble Phantasms.

However, because the essence of this magnificent composite temple is actually an inherent barrier, he lost contact with his Master the moment he stepped into it.

"What's wrong, Hercules? Are you hesitating? This isn't like you." Ozymandias looked down at Hercules with a nonchalant smile. "In mythology, you're a great hero who overcame all seemingly impossible obstacles to reach your goal. Now you can't even overcome this little difficulty?"

Without any warning, Ozymandias's expression suddenly turned cold: "If that's the case, you'll disappoint me greatly."

"You are no longer worth my time."

He leaned back in his chair and said in a stern tone, "Go, Berserker. The stage for your revenge has been set. Now, unleash your fury."

"Roar!!!!"

Berserker roared like a beast, his eyes, filled with murderous intent and madness, fixed on Hercules.

She knew that, despite exuding the same aura in some ways, the man before her was not the Achilles who had once humiliated her.

Even so, we absolutely cannot let this guy who killed her clansman and forced her sister to humiliatingly hand over her belt go!

Unforgivable! Unforgivable! Absolutely unforgivable!

Only with bloodshed can their dignity be reclaimed!

"It's time for you to pay the price for what you've done, Hercules!!"

A massive amount of magical power converged on Penthesilea like a storm, and the blood mist surrounding her body instantly became much denser, resembling a churning sea of ​​blood.

"【Hero, may your days end in my resentment!!!】"

Penthesilea's claws covering her arms shone brightly as she charged toward Hercules with a raging aura of madness and killing intent, like a prehistoric beast bursting forth from the wilderness, ready to tear everything in her path to shreds!

"This feeling... is a special attack!"

Seeing Penthesilea coming towards him, Hercules's expression became slightly serious. If he were to be hit by this attack, he would lose at least two lives!

Just as he was about to unleash his Noble Phantasm, another massive surge of magical power suddenly rose up.

"[An evil dragon falls from the sky, the world is about to enter its twilight, fall—Fantasy Greatsword: Balmung!!]"

A dim, yellowish sword beam, as if the world were ending, descended from the sky and slashed straight at Penthesilea. Caught off guard, the latter had no choice but to take the hit.

"Ahhhhh!!!!"

Penthesilea roared hoarsely, his claws clashing with the sword's edge, unleashing a fierce magical storm that ravaged the surrounding area into a barren wasteland.

Unfortunately, due to insufficient preparation, Penthesilea was slightly outmatched in the end. The concept of [End] contained in the sword's edge almost tore her in two. Fortunately, at the critical moment, the power of Hades Osiris once again came into play, pulling her back from the brink of death.

This time, however, Pentessilia did not recover to her full state as before; a rather deep sword wound remained on her right arm.

"Sorry I'm late."

Siegfried stood before Hercules, holding a silver greatsword, surrounded by lingering magical energy.

Hercules looked at the white-haired youth in front of him with a slightly complicated expression. He naturally knew the other's real name: Siegfried, the hero who slew the evil dragon. He was like a walking wish-granting machine, constantly fulfilling the wishes of those who prayed to him, but in the end, he was killed by his best friend who stabbed his only weakness.

And now, Siegfried has turned his back to him again.

Is this trust?

Hercules, who had been betrayed by the person he trusted most, knew all too well how difficult it was to still trust others without reservation after experiencing such a thing.

"You've worked hard." Hercules slowly exhaled a long breath and stepped forward to stand beside Siegfried. "Let's fight together, ally!"

"Phew, I finally made it." Gorde wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. Although he didn't know the situation inside the temple, he could clearly feel that Saber had just unleashed her Noble Phantasm, which undoubtedly meant that she had joined the battle.

Fiore, who was sitting in a wheelchair nearby, finally breathed a sigh of relief and loosened her clenched fists.

Danik stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the fierce battle on the grassland, a slight, pleased smile curving his lips.

The situation is now very clear: they have gained an absolute advantage. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, this Holy Grail War will undoubtedly be a victory for the Black faction!

With the help of the Holy Grail, his tragic wish, his obsession, and his destiny can all be fulfilled!

With the Holy Grail, he can continue his family line and remove the label that the Mage's Association has placed on him!

Your bloodline has been contaminated and can only last for five generations at most.

Even after eighty years, Danic still vividly remembers the scene when the magician said those words to him in an incredibly cold tone. Because of those few words, he lost everything: his sworn brother who patted each other on the shoulder and sang songs of friendship, the woman who shyly confessed her love to him and was supposed to be his partner—all of them left him. Even his last pride as a magician was ruthlessly trampled underfoot by the Magic Association.

But it doesn't matter. All of this became his motivation. He silently accumulated strength and waited for seventy years. Now is the time to turn all his efforts into results!

The next step is to prepare everything, resources and environment, for the future of the Yggdrasil race and for the future of its descendants.

From this day forward, Yggdrasil will become an existence above the Mage's Association, and the Yggdrasil clan will become a super-powerful family surpassing the three major families. They will be the ones to set the rules of the magic world!

At this moment, Danic felt as if a stone had finally been lifted from his heart. With his obsession dissipated, he felt much more at ease and his perspective broadened.

"Well!"

Koles suddenly groaned and knelt on one knee, his hand tightly clenched against his chest, his forehead covered in a thick layer of cold sweat.

"Koles, what's wrong with you!?" Fiore was startled by her brother's strange behavior, and the others couldn't help but show surprise in their eyes as well.

“It’s Berserker…” Koles said through gritted teeth, his voice strained, “Something’s happened to her!”

Chapter Thirty-Three: The Strange War

Looking back now, I had a feeling that "something was wrong" from the very beginning.

Joan of Arc stood atop the hill, silently gazing at the distant, smoke-filled battlefield.

A battle of seven riders against seven riders—this was indeed an emergency situation that absolutely required calling upon Ruler.

But Joan of Arc was certain that the Holy Grail had given her for a purpose that was not like that.

Something is urging me on; it's less a sense of mission and more a sense of crisis.

Something irreversible was happening. The moment Joan of Arc saw that enormous aerial fortress, her anxiety reached its peak.

What was it? What was wrong? She racked her brains trying to find clues, but to no avail.

The decisive battle between the Black Jade and Red factions should be about to begin. From Ruler's perspective, it doesn't matter which faction wins, as long as they can make the right wish to the Holy Grail. She wasn't worried about that at first.

Because both sides are led by magicians. Although magicians are beings who deviate from common human morality, they do not make any heinous wishes. Their hopes have always been only to reach the Root, or other things related to the magic path—in any case, their wishes are almost always reasonable.

But the Red faction's attack made her suspicious. The Black faction's attempt to win over Ruler was understandable, as it was merely an action taken to win the Holy Grail War.

But the "Red" faction is problematic. Ruler can't understand their reasons for wanting to kill him, since the harm of doing so far outweighs the benefits.

What exactly is their goal...?

Rumble, rumble—!!!

On the vast grassland, artificial life forms, puppets, and dragon tooth soldiers are fighting each other, staging a tragic battle. The land is a mess, riddled with large, cratered holes, as if it had been hit by a meteorite.

Jeanne gazed at the desolate battlefield, intently watching the fortress floating in the sky, the black dragon, and the giant pyramid standing on the earth... Even though the Holy Grail War had been held several times, such beings were far too unusual. Such things might not appear even once in dozens of Holy Grail Wars, but three of them appeared in this Holy Grail War at once, which made her, as the Ruler, feel immense pressure.

Suddenly, an inexplicable impulse surged within her, and she subconsciously turned her gaze to a grove of trees beside the battlefield.

She didn't know what was there, but since the [revelation] had given her guidance, all she had to do was follow it.

"It's time to take action."

Ruler, holding the holy banner, charged toward the battlefield.

The massive number of Dragon Tooth soldiers immediately turned and charged toward her, ignoring the androids and golems that were fighting, and targeting her alone.

"really......"

Joan of Arc brandished her banner, smashing the dragon-tooth soldiers blocking her path to pieces. Although as a Ruler, she was to avoid actions that would directly affect the outcome of the Holy Grail War, she couldn't always stick to her principles since the other side was on the opposing side.

With a sharp roar that could tear the battlefield apart, Ruler charged toward his destination.

Ruler wasn't the only one who sensed something was wrong; Anan also felt somewhat confused.

Judging from the current situation, the Red team's actions have undoubtedly failed. The number of Dragon Tooth Soldiers is decreasing rapidly, and the situation of the Servants is also not optimistic. If this continues, they will only face defeat.

In this situation, retreating in time to cut losses would be the wise choice, but the Red team showed no intention of retreating at all. They had already lost the [Ten and One Black Mansion] and twelve EX-level magic arrays, and even the Sky Garden, whose main structure was almost dismantled, was still putting up a stubborn resistance, showing a posture of fighting to the death.

Could it be that Amakusa Shiro Tokisada, seeing that all was lost, was planning to take a desperate gamble?

Yanan frowned slightly. Although logically such a thing was indeed possible, based on his understanding of Amakusa Shiro Tokisada, he believed that a man would not do something so irrational.

Since the beginning, a sense of disharmony had been lingering in his mind, as if he had overlooked something very important, but when he tried to recall it, he couldn't find anything.

What exactly did he overlook...?

Just as Anan was deep in thought, a hurried voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts:

"Rider, are you free to use your hands now?"

“Gold?” Yanan raised an eyebrow slightly. “What happened?”

Since Serenika had already been defeated, he made a magical contract with Gold in advance in order to maintain contact.

"It's Berserker! Something's happened to her!" Gold exclaimed urgently. "According to Koles, Berserker is in very bad shape and could be killed at any moment!"

Is something wrong with Berserker?

Anan paused for a moment. Now that both the red and black Servants had entered the battlefield, who else could pose a threat to Berserker?

He frowned slightly and said, "Then why don't you use Command Spells to summon her back?"

“I used it, but it didn’t work!” Gold said helplessly. “Coles has already used two Command Spells, but I don’t know what happened on Berserker’s side, the Command Spells are completely ineffective.”

Anan's expression immediately turned serious. Command Seals have an absolute effect on Servants. Apart from special Noble Phantasms like the Grand Radiant Temple and the Aerial Garden, almost nothing can prevent Command Seals from taking effect. What exactly did Berserker encounter?

Tell me the location of Berserker!

After learning Berserker's current location, Anan told Nidhogg what had happened and told her to continue dealing with the Sky Garden before leaping down from the sky and landing on the ground.