Shirou, who returned from the Fairy Kingdom

To counter one of the oldest Golden Kings, he also equipped Enhangwen with flight capabilities and a ram.

……

……

“Um… Artorius, I meant I wanted to see someone, but I didn’t ask you to use something like this…”

Ruler—Jeanne d'Arc stood at the bow of the chalk warship, tugging at the red-haired boy's sleeve, anxiously gazing down below.

Fifth-century Britain actually had this kind of vehicle...

By the way... is your Noble Phantasm really legal?

—————————————————————

Volume 5, Chapter 215, "The Sign of a Woman's Difficulty," continues to exert its influence.

As the Holy Grail War intensifies, Ruler becomes increasingly perplexed by the current situation.

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

The seven-on-seven Heroic Spirit War does indeed require a judge, but Joan of Arc felt that this was not the mission she had been given.

Deep within the saintess's heart, something was urging her on; it was less a sense of mission and more a sense of crisis.

Why did the "Red" faction attack itself?

Are they plotting something?

When Joan of Arc saw the massive aerial fortress of the "Red" Assassin, her anxiety reached its peak.

Even after reviewing the history of all Holy Grail Wars, that Noble Phantasm is far too extraordinary.

The Hanging Gardens of Vanity made Joan of Arc wary.

It seems I need to go and meet the "Red" Masters who have never shown up before.

Then, Joan of Arc told Shirou her thoughts.

"I'm planning to meet 'someone' tonight."

"Who?"

"There is someone I must meet lurking in this Holy Grail War. I don't know who that person is, nor am I sure if they are a Servant or a Master, but I must go and meet them."

The saint's words were cryptic, yet they possessed a strange and persuasive power.

Shirou sensed the absolute will that Jeanne d'Arc held.

I see, she really does resemble Artoria...

"I understand. Then I'll see you off."

"what?"

Joan of Arc blinked in confusion, and then—

A pure white airship, wreathed in golden light, appeared above the two of them.

"What...what is this?!"

Joan of Arc was dumbfounded.

Although its size and weight are far inferior to "Vanity Fair's Hanging Gardens", in terms of mystery, the two are equally matched.

Unlike massive aerial fortresses that prioritize defense and suppression, Ehangwen places greater emphasis on mobility.

In the original Arthurian history, it was a high-speed yacht that could only travel on water.

However, in this world, it has been given flight capabilities and a ramming bow, making it a completely different thing from the original Noble Phantasm.

The key point is... the "Red" assassin has kept the Hanging Garden as her trump card until now, while Shirou casually took it out as if he were saying, "Ah, I think I have something like this."

"The Hanging Gardens of Vanity" was the basis for Jeanne's judgment that the "Red" faction was secretly engaging in illegal operations, but after seeing Shirou pull out this thing, she couldn't help but doubt herself.

"Alright, let's stop standing there and go upstairs."

"Wait...where are you touching, Artorius! I can do it myself!"

Joan of Arc angrily covered her buttocks and then jumped onto the spaceship.

Shirou propelled the Chalk machine away from the ground and accelerated from zero to supersonic speed in an instant.

Ruler had no similar experience before, the most she had ever done was fly on a plane. The sudden acceleration made her stumble and lose her balance.

Shirou reacted quickly and hugged her from behind.

"Are you alright, Ruler?"

"………………Goo!?"

The saintess stared in astonishment at the young man who had embraced her and was asking her questions, her fair cheeks gradually turning bright red.

……

……

Semiramis immediately noticed the chalk spaceship approaching from afar.

"That's... tsk... what a troublesome master and servant!"

Semiramis thought she would be the sole ruler of the Romanian skies, but she never expected that Aika Sajou would be able to infiltrate her magic workshop.

Moreover, her servant—that arrogant red-haired boy—also possesses a Noble Phantasm that allows him to fly.

It's impossible to say that Shirou's behavior wasn't provocative.

Although Semiramis was so angry that she almost bit her lip until it bled, she did not fall for the other party's trick.

My immediate priority is to cover Shiro and the "Red" Heroic Spirits who have already left the Hanging Gardens and are marching towards the City of Milenia.

Semiramis decided to ignore the "Black" swordsman who had provoked her.

She has already formed a secret alliance with Ayaka Sajou. Although Saber is unaware of this, he shouldn't be foolish enough to challenge her.

"Then, I'll prepare the grunts now."

Assassin stood at the bow of the ship in the Sky Garden, gazing down at the forest that would soon become a battlefield.

Then, she gracefully flipped her palm, and a large, black pot appeared in mid-air.

The overturned crucible showered yellowish bone fragments onto the ground like rain. The bone powder, once buried in the soil, grew wildly like plants, eventually forming skeleton soldiers with heads and chins resembling lizards.

Dragon Tooth Soldier.

Compared to Servants, they are extremely fragile.

However, as long as the caster is still around, they can continue to produce almost endlessly, which is more than enough to deal with the androids of the Thousand World Tree.

Semiramis looked at her layout with satisfaction.

At the edge of the dark forest, the Yggdrasil clan and its followers seemed to have finally taken action.

Unlike the small-scale conflicts of the past, this place has battlefields, soldiers, weapons, generals, territories that must be seized, and a "king" that must be annihilated.

With only a short time remaining before the decisive battle aimed at complete annihilation, Semiramis quietly awaited that moment.

"...?"

The Empress blinked: Why has something been glowing around us since just now?

She turned to look, and then saw the chalk spaceship hurtling towards her... no, crashing into her.

"what?"

After enhancing her eyesight with magic, she saw the "Black" Swordsman standing at the bow of the spaceship.

"What...is this guy thinking?"

Semiramis was dumbfounded.

From the perspective of a regular Holy Grail War, Shirou's highly mobile hall "Ehangwen" is undoubtedly a Noble Phantasm that exceeds its rank (EX).

However, it still doesn't compare to the Sky Garden.

The two are different in size; the Sky Garden is more than ten times the size of the Sky Garden and weighs at least a hundred times more.

Shirou takes control of the spaceship and crashes it head-on into the floating garden—

As a result, the sky garden may suffer minor damage, but on the other side, there will only be plane crashes and loss of life.

"Tsk...Are you crazy, Saber! Do you want to die that badly?"

While maneuvering the Sky Garden into an emergency evasive maneuver, Semiramis used a sound transmission magic spell to angrily curse Shirou in the distance.

If it were a sniper targeting Assassin, who was the master, it would be understandable. But what's with launching a suicide attack on your own initiative?

"Why are you hiding?" Shirou countered.

"Wasn't it because you bumped into me!"

Semiramis turned pale with anger: "You clearly have artillery capabilities, why do you insist on using ramming!?"

"No, I don't want to compete with Caster in firepower. I'm not stupid."

Shirou was well aware of just how powerful the aerial gardens were.

There were more than ten strong magical reactions that could be sensed. Although the single-shot firepower was probably on their side, it would be difficult for Enhangwen to break through the opponent's barrage and defensive spells.

"Compared to this, why are you hiding... Is there some reason why you can't afford to be harmed, Assassin?"

"Well……!"

Semiramis was taken aback.

This kid... he's really sharp...

The Sky Garden is crucial to tonight's operation; there can be no mistakes whatsoever.

This is why Semiramis only sent Dragon Fang Soldiers to fight against the "Black" faction, instead of deploying the Hanging Gardens into the battle—she clearly possessed the firepower to unilaterally crush the enemy.

Did the "Black" Swordsmen even notice this?

Assassin gasped.

The Sky Garden completed its evasive maneuver, and the Chalk ship grazed the lower part of the fortress before crashing into it, without damaging the core.

Semiramis gripped the railing, bracing herself for the impact while glaring at Shirou with wide, almond-shaped eyes.

"Alright, now it's my turn to fight back!"

Evaporate in my glory, and regret your recklessness!

The Black Coffin of Ten and One (Tiamtum Umu)!!

At the Empress's command, the defense mechanisms of the Hanging Gardens were activated—

The twelve rectangular black panels, each over twenty meters long, that float around the sky garden now serve as main cannons, firing light bullets that tear the sky apart.

The Sky Garden is equipped with the counterattack technique "Ten and One Black Coffin".

The enormous black coffin, created based on the eleven magical beasts supposedly born from the legendary monster Tiamat, fires luminous projectiles with the power of a meteorite falling from the sky.

"————————!"

The Sky Garden unleashed a furious attack on the spaceship and Shirou, as if pouring out the Empress's wrath.

The red-haired boy standing at the bow of the ship remained calm and watched as the light bullet, which could easily shoot him down, approached him.

Although these light projectiles did not reach the "anti-city" level, the firepower of an A-level "anti-army" weapon was enough to vaporize the vast majority of heroic spirits with just one shot.

Finally, just as the light bullet was about to engulf him and his spaceship, Shirou activated the main cannon.

Like the Hanging Gardens, the power source and main cannon of the Chalk Ship is not some kind of Noble Phantasm, but genuine magic.

That was none other than the divine-level grand magic, the Holy Lance Longominiad, wielded by Fairy Queen Morgan.

The light of the Endless emanating from the core of the spaceship did not shoot forward in a straight line, but instead transformed into a spiral of magical light.

Like a flowing river of light, the Holy Lance's energy coiled around the spaceship, deflecting all the light projectiles fired from the Sky Garden.

"..."

Semiramis frowned, her expression grave.

Although it can't be called a defeat, it was the first time that his annihilation spell had been blocked by magic.