How come the Ace of Cups isn't considered the Holy Grail?

Fortunately, similar to Medusa's inherent skill [Super Strength: B], Hercules' A+ level strength also allows him to double the power he unleashes in an instant.

However, when faced with the attacks of the New Universe Knights, he could only barely resist them, and his body was frequently covered in various cuts from the blades.

Fortunately, Hercules, who had lost his reason due to his berserk state, did not back down because of the pain, and instead tried to trade blows with the New Universe Knights, but all of his attempts were easily blocked by the shield in the opponent's hand.

"Berserker!"

Looking at Yutari, who was standing at the back like her, Ilya realized that the New Universe Knights seemed to be even stronger than Hercules. Although she found it hard to believe, she didn't just stand by and watch.

She decided to try to find a breakthrough from Youdu, so she reached out and pulled out a few strands of silver hair to perform magic.

"Wreckage, give you life! (Shiapeist, Leben!)"

Her silver-white hair crisscrossed, creating an intricate outline like a woven craft. Above Illya, several bird-like familiars were constructed from scratch.

Golden Needle Magic.

This is the alchemy that Ilya inherited from her mother. It is the gold needle technique of the Einzbern family, which allows familiars made from metal wires or their own hair to spontaneously capture and attack enemies.

The autonomous floating turret-type familiar 'Storche Ritter,' created using a spell called 'Angel's Poem,' is the same little bird that is currently fluttering around Illya.

"Go, kill that wretched guy!"

Ilya pointed at the ferryman opposite her, and the white stork knights flying around her received the command, instantly streaking across the sky and flying towards the ferryman.

In theory, Ilya doesn't need to speak when giving commands to the White Stork Knight, who is her familiar. However, she felt a surge of anger when she saw Yuwatari 'daydreaming' on the other side. Even though she knew he couldn't hear her, she still had to hurl a few curses at him to show how much she hated him.

Facing the several white stork knights attacking him, Yuuto simply used his magic spellbook to launch a barrage of magic bullets, which directly shot them all down.

His nonchalant attitude, as if he had casually kicked away a pebble, infuriated Ilya, who stomped her foot angrily, but for the moment she couldn't think of a better solution.

……

On the other side, Yuuto told Rin Tohsaka about the current situation, but he didn't mention that he met Illya and Berserker when he went to the Emiya residence. He only said that he met them by chance while he was wandering around outside.

After Rin Tohsaka lamented that his bad luck was almost unbelievable for a Servant with EX-level luck, she stated that she was ready to use Command Seals to support him at any time.

Since she wasn't actually there, despite her reluctance, all Rin Tohsaka could do now, except use Command Seals to support the fight, unless she could arrive on the battlefield within minutes.

'That's enough, don't worry, Master. As a Master, you're already more than excellent! And—'

Seeing that the New Knight had already severely injured Hercules with a simple slash, he decided to end this pointless battle quickly and decisively took a card from his hand and sent it to the graveyard.

'When did I ever say I was on the losing end?'

"Activate the effect of [Elemental HERO Neos Knight] in your hand, discard it from your hand, and increase the attack of [Elemental HERO Neos Knight] by 2500 before the end of the turn!"

At this moment, the already formidable power of the New Universe Knights surged once more!

Inside the arena, a pair of white wings, seemingly capable of blotting out the sky, flashed across the New Universe Knight's body. Then, a glint of light flashed in his eyes, and the blade in his hand tore through the air in front of him, producing a series of ripping sounds, and slashed towards Hercules with an irresistible force.

With just a normal combat strike, he unleashed a slash with power equal to that of an enemy Noble Phantasm.

"Roar--"

The fact that the opponent, who was already like someone with cheat codes, suddenly became even stronger was naturally unexpected for Hercules. However, he could no longer retract the axe blade he had already swung. Faced with the slash that was like a beam of light coming at him, Hercules could only rely on his powerful body control to twist his body into a strange posture.

Sa——

After a single sound like the wind being torn apart, the ground behind Hercules was shattered by countless blade-like marks, the surrounding walls collapsed, and the entire road was left in ruins as if it had been ravaged by a raging storm.

His right arm, along with half of his face, was completely severed by the blade. If he hadn't leaned back with all his might, he would have been cleaved in two diagonally by the blade.

The axe blade in his hand flew out during the attack, smashing through someone's wall and landing in their yard.

That's right, they bumped into each other near the Emiya residence, not in some remote, deserted wilderness, but in a residential area.

The sounds of the axe blade clashing against the knife blade, along with Hercules' roar, were enough to wake the people nearby from their sleep, and they all wanted to come out and see who was making noise in the middle of the night.

As lights began to appear in the surrounding houses, neither side in the arena showed any intention of stopping the fight.

After all, this isn't a single-player game that you can pause at any time. How can you just stop playing with someone halfway through?

Not to mention that even if one side wanted to stop, they would have to worry about whether the other side would take advantage of the moment they stopped to launch a surprise attack, so no one intended to be the first to stop.

The New Knights seized the opportunity while Hercules was still recovering and swiftly advanced, continuing to slash with their swords. Hercules roared and, even without his weapon, met the New Knights' blades with his fists.

Even though Hercules transformed his body into armor capable of negating any attack below rank B under the effect of his Noble Phantasm [God Hand], he was still easily cleaved in two by the blade in the hands of the New Knights, like butter meeting a hot knife through butter.

The sharp blade sliced ​​open Hercules' neck, blood gushed out, and he was cleaved in two by the blow.

Anyone who saw this injury would definitely say it was fatal, right?

Unfortunately, this common sense does not apply to Hercules. With his Noble Phantasm, The Twelve Trials, he has a total of 12 lives, which allows him to automatically revive his body after death.

Whether his head or limbs are severed, or even if his body is cut into pieces or burned to ashes, he can still be resurrected and will be immune to any attacks he receives after being resurrected.

If killed by a slash, one becomes immune to slashes; if killed by a Noble Phantasm, one becomes immune to Noble Phantasms...

Furthermore, since Illya, as the Master, is an Einzbern homunculus with magic circuits throughout her body, he only needs half a day to recover a life thanks to her immense magical power.

It can be said that as long as it is not killed twelve times in a short period of time, it will never be eliminated.

You Du was naturally aware of this as well.

Seeing Hercules' body, which had been split in two, reassembled on the ground, with the missing parts being filled by proliferating flesh, until the black giant stood beside Ilya again, Yudo simply summoned back the New Universe Knights and looked at the street next to them with Ilya.

It seems some uninvited guests were drawn here by their recent battle...

The person who came knew that he had been discovered, so he simply walked out.

"Hey! It looks pretty lively here!"

The blue-clad spearman, carrying a scarlet demonic spear, walked out of the street, grinning at the two wary figures around him, revealing his sharp fangs.

"You wouldn't mind taking me along, would you?"

Chapter Sixteen: The fish caught kept getting away.

Cú Chulainn was drawn there by the loud noises and shouts of a fight.

With his A-level agility, he could leap across great distances in just a few breaths.

So when he heard the sounds of battle that interested him, he headed straight there without hesitation.

When he arrived, he saw a Servant who was most likely Berserker being killed by a white Servant who was possibly Saber, with a magician standing behind them who appeared to be their respective Masters.

He was still regretting that if he had arrived earlier, he might have been able to catch the good thing of fighting the two heroes.

Tsk, why can't these dead legs run any faster?

Well, since most Heroic Spirits are beings that have died, it's perfectly fine to call their legs "dead legs"!

This is Joan of Arc in the Ganges.

Fortunately, the Berserker who was later killed seemed to have some kind of Noble Phantasm or skill related to resurrection. To Cú Chulainn's amazement, he regained his body and stood up.

'Unfortunately, because of that guy's Command Spell, not only could I not unleash my full power, but I also had to retreat halfway through the battle... Ugh, what a frustrating mission!'

Recalling Kirei Kotomine, who had ambushed and stolen his original Master's Command Seals, and then used Command Seals to make him his Servant, Cú Chulainn clicked his tongue in annoyance.

This is why he wants to fight alongside two Servants; otherwise, even if he is a fighter who enjoys battles and craves deathmatches, he would probably only choose to fight one opponent.

It's just that we don't have the conditions right now.

Since we can't focus on quality, we'll have to focus on quantity!

and……

"Besides me, there are others, right?"

Cú Chulainn boldly met the gazes of the people present, carrying his spear and looking towards the other side of the road leading to Emiya's residence.

"Hey! You over there, stop hiding and come out so we can all have a good fight!"

Goodness, we even have our own Conqueror in World War V?

Upon hearing Cú Chulainn's words, which were filled with a strong sense of déjà vu, Yuuto's expression turned somewhat strange.

He knew, of course, that Cú Chulainn wasn't the only uninvited guest; after all, they made absolutely no attempt to conceal their presence—it was as obvious as someone breathing behind his neck. However…

Will a kind-hearted citizen, Mr. Jin, actually appear next?

Everyone looked in that direction as Cú Chulainn had said, and when they saw the Emiya residence in that direction, Yuuto began to guess the identity of the newcomer.

It's probably Saber.

Without hesitation, the person appeared before the crowd.

The first thing that catches everyone's eye is her smooth, golden hair, and then... she is a woman.

Very good, it's Saber, Artoria without a doubt.

After all, in the Fifth Holy Grail War, only Gilgamesh and Artoria had blonde hair, so basically after seeing blonde hair, you only need to simply confirm the gender.

Artoria, clad in armor and seemingly wielding an invisible weapon, stood solemnly before the crowd. Her serious expression only flickered with a hint of surprise when she saw Illya, but she quickly returned to normal.

"I wasn't hiding; it's just that as a knight, I shouldn't interfere in other people's battles, which is why I didn't show myself immediately."

"Oh, who knows?"

Cú Chulainn clearly didn't trust Artoria's words. He chuckled, shook his head, took the magic spear from his shoulder, and brandished it in front of everyone, excitedly saying...

"But none of that matters, one more is always good. So... are you planning to make the first move, or will you make the first move?"

Seeing Cú Chulainn already in a fighting stance, radiating battle intent and seemingly ready to charge at any moment, Illya withdrew her worried gaze from Heracles, frowned, and said unhappily:

"Who said I wanted to fight you? Honestly, I've been running into a lot of weirdos today."

He's either Caster, who likes to shoot people out like cannonballs and whose summoned familiars can kill two Berserkers in one hit, or Lancer, who bites people indiscriminately like a mad dog.

Indeed, after seeing the crimson magic spear on Cú Chulainn's shoulder, most of the people present guessed his class.

While it could also be a smokescreen, Lancer is currently the most likely candidate compared to other classes.

After glancing in the direction Artoria had come from, Illya roughly guessed that she was a Servant summoned by Shirou Emiya.

She had originally intended to go find him, but now she had lost the desire.

"This is boring, Berserker, let's go back!"

"Hey, hey, hey, are you guys trying to desert your posts?!"

Cú Chulainn protested against Illya's attempt to leave.

How is this any different from when he caught three fish while fishing, and one of them jumped back into the sea and escaped?

However, Ilya paid no heed to him. She simply sat on Hercules' shoulder, and before leaving, she gave Yudu a deep look. With a powerful leap, Hercules vanished from everyone's sight.

Cú Chulainn couldn't stop him, but he could chase him. However, he wasn't sure he could catch up, and he might also let the other two 'fish' escape.

"Tch, what a willful little girl... But you two won't be able to escape like her. Come and fight me!"

Having chosen to cut his losses, Cú Chulainn turned his gun on the New Knights and Artoria.

Faced with his challenge, Artoria, who had just been summoned and hadn't even had a chance to exchange a few words with her Master, was somewhat impatient, but still gripped her weapon tightly.

After all, this was near her Master's house, so she couldn't just let the enemy roam around here.

We must defeat them as soon as possible!

Compared to Artoria, who had ample reason to fight Cú Chulainn, Yuuto seemed to have little will to fight. In any case, he had already achieved his purpose for coming today and had even unexpectedly fought Berserker, which consumed a lot of his magic power.

Thinking of his earlier action of pointing the gun at the New Universe Knight, Yuto suddenly had a good idea, so he coughed twice and said.

"Ahem, you can fight if you want, but have you forgotten the unspoken principles of the Holy Grail War? If you want to fight, go somewhere else!"

As he spoke, he pointed to the houses around him where lights were gradually coming on.

"This is not a suitable place for fighting!"

"Tsk, you magicians always have so much trouble... In that case, how about we find an open space nearby?"

Remembering that Kirei Kotomine had also told him to keep it a secret, Cú Chulainn frowned and made a suggestion to the New Knights and Artoria.

The New Universe Knight remained silent, simply nodding as instructed by Yuuto.

Artoria, who was thinking about how to get rid of the other party, naturally wouldn't refuse.

Thus, the three 'Servants' with considerable martial virtue headed towards the nearby open space together, while Yuwatari, who was mistaken for the Master, stayed behind under the pretext of giving these ordinary people a hint.

After Cú Chulainn and the others had gone far away, Yuuto immediately found a corner, transformed into his spirit form, and returned to the Tohsaka Mansion, releasing the summoning of the New Universe Knights on the way.

As for those ordinary people?

This kind of thing should definitely be handled by calling the church; after all, that's what they do.

Meanwhile, on a deserted open space, Cú Chulainn, who had just gotten into position for battle, stared blankly at the spot where the New Universe Knight had disappeared.