Silver snowflakes drifted down like countless dancing butterflies.
The sun hung high in the sky, casting a cold, clear light that painted the pristine snowfield with strokes of gilded radiance. In the distance, the indistinct outlines of castles loomed. Beyond that, the boundaries between heaven and earth, north and south, blurred into obscurity.
Stepping onto this snowfield was like stumbling into a mystical fairyland—a silent kingdom of fairy tales. The scenery was so crystalline, so untouched by any impurity, that it seemed to embody the very form of a pure soul.
Yet, the arrival of uninvited guests shattered this tranquility.
The wind and frost cut like blades, and the dazzling aurora stung the eyes of the Heroic Spirits. When their vision finally cleared, what greeted them was an endless expanse of swords littering the ground, reflecting the same icy glow as the snow.
Reality Marble · Unlimited Blade Works.
A miraculous magecraft that condensed a mental landscape into a single incantation, primarily relying on projection magecraft with alteration magecraft as support—after concluding the Thunderous Heavenly Palace, this was the second 'course' Sakatsuki had prepared to entertain his guests!
"So this is Sakatsuki's plan. We've fallen into his trap." Semiramis, ever the demigoddess of the Age of Gods, quickly grasped the situation as she surveyed the perilous surroundings and Sakatsuki in the distance. "He was waiting for Ruler to unleash her Noble Phantasm, waiting for us to gather in one place so he could wipe us all out in one stroke."
"But why didn't he use this magecraft from the start? Wouldn't it have been even more powerful combined with that lightning-spewing spell?" Mordred asked. The Empress responded to such a naive question with a cold scoff.
"Are you an idiot? This is Sakatsuki's mental landscape. Do you really think he'd want to stuff something that dangerous inside himself?"
"Who would do that?!" Before Mordred could erupt, Jeanne d'Arc stepped forward, raising her holy banner once more, her tone grave.
"Be on guard—a new assault is coming!"
No sooner had she spoken than the snowfield began to hum. One after another, noble blades rose from the ground, adjusting their trajectories midair until they were all aimed squarely at the heroes. Under the suffocating pressure that threatened to steal their voices, the black-clad youth raised his hand with eerie calm.
"Commence the attack."
The wind instantly filled with the shrill cries of sharpened steel. Thousands upon thousands of blades, heeding their master's command, shot forth without hesitation, each vying to outpace the others in a relentless, suicidal charge toward Jeanne and the others.
The light seared her eyes. In her dazed state, Jeanne felt as though she had been thrust back onto the battlefield of her past, where enemies lying in wait roared with earth-shaking fury, intent on mercilessly snatching away their lives and delivering them to their doom.
To protect her comrades—that was the duty of the Ruler, the duty of the holy maiden.
But—
Her banner was on the verge of shattering. If this continued, Ruler · Jeanne d'Arc would lose her strongest shield, leaving only that forbidden Noble Phantasm...
The battle would not pause for Jeanne's hesitation. Countless blades were already upon them, and the first to ignite was a comforting blaze of flames.
The undying blade swung, and under Karna's exquisite control, a fiery line dozens of meters long unfurled majestically. The scorching heat melted ordinary weapons into molten iron, and even replicated Noble Phantasms were drained of their mystery, wobbling before crashing to the ground.
"Then, leave the other side to me!"
Mordred roughly wiped away the bloodstain on her cheek—a wound left from battling shadow Servants—and gripped her sword tightly, roaring as she swung upward!
Crimson lightning split the snow and wind like a giant's thick arm, effortlessly smashing aside all obstacles in its path. Accompanied by the girl's bold laughter, the crimson lightning twisted into a clenched fist and punched forward, destroying countless armaments. With her strength alone, she cleared the battlefield as far as the eye could see.
On one side, the son of the sun god ignited flames, preventing any weapon from advancing half a step. On the other, the rebellious knight summoned crimson lightning, effortlessly crushing the storm of blades. Though the two Servants performed admirably, Jeanne d'Arc's expression remained grim, for the light refracting across this snowy plain was not merely from snowflakes:
"Empress, do you have any way to break this Reality Marble?"
"Of course not," Semiramis immediately delivered the disheartening verdict. "To dismantle a Reality Marble, aside from exhausting the owner's mana, the only other option is to use a Noble Phantasm specifically designed for it—an Anti-World Noble Phantasm."
"Anti-World Noble Phantasm? Empress, I recall your 'Hanging Gardens of Babylon'..."
"That is indeed an Anti-World Noble Phantasm. As long as I stand upon the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, I am the absolute ruler—" The empress dragged out her words irritably. "But Sakatsuki has already trapped me within his world, meaning my authority is nullified."
"Hey, so you're saying there's no way at all?!" Mordred growled impatiently. "Damn it, my mana isn't infinite! Where's some golden bastard or arms-dealing fox when you need them?!"
"Incidentally, after entering the Reality Marble, my connection to the leyline was severed. I'm currently resisting using pre-stored mana," Karna interjected calmly, ignoring Mordred's rambling. "At this rate of expenditure, I estimate I'll vanish from mana depletion in about two minutes."
"Is that something you can say so nonchalantly?!" Jeanne paled. The current situation couldn't afford to lose another Servant. "If it comes to that, I could use a Command Spell... Ah."
The saint's words cut off abruptly. Semiramis and Mordred glanced over curiously, only to find Jeanne covering her mouth, wearing a guilty expression as if she'd misspoken.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, let's return to the matter at hand," Karna replied instead of Jeanne. "To address the immediate crisis, my suggestion is to kill Sakatsuki by force before everyone's mana is exhausted."
"Agreed."
"...Understood."
"Same."
From the start of this decisive battle, Sakatsuki had already demonstrated his absurdly vast mana reserves, so the group automatically dismissed Semiramis's first proposal and unanimously approved Karna's plan.
Now, the only way to escape was to defeat the master of this Reality Marble.
"Then, let's begin."
At Karna's command, Sakatsuki, who had been maintaining his distance, once again caught sight of the sacred golden light. Like the headlights of a speeding chariot, it drew closer and closer—
"Oh? Going for a desperate strike?"
Seeing this, Sakatsuki didn't hesitate either. Countless blades within the snow-covered domain moved at his will, no longer scattering in all directions but converging into a single torrent, following the same trajectory to clash head-on against Jeanne d'Arc and her charge.
Clang, clang, boom!
A platinum steel dragon lunged—its scales the edges of blades, its head a sharpened sword tip, its roar a symphony of countless weapons colliding!
"Ugh—grrrr!" Jeanne gritted her teeth, her hands trembling uncontrollably as the violent force transmitted through her holy banner nearly snapped her wrists.
The banner's endurance had reached its limit, no longer able to fully withstand the damage. The tide of blades summoned by Sakatsuki was not something mere willpower could resist. Fortunately, as radiant heroes, they possessed Noble Phantasms that matched their indomitable spirits.
"Tag in, Mordred!" Jeanne's banner dimmed before her as the wings of a seraph unfurled behind her. "By the final Command Spell—unleash your Noble Phantasm, Saber of Red!"
"Got it!" The rebellious knight surged forward, her sword crackling with thunderous light.
"I am no king, but one who walks the king's path! For the king's peace, I shall drive all enemies away!"
"The chant changed...?" Sakatsuki frowned in the distance, but before he could ponder further, Mordred swung down her mighty blade.
"Clarent Blood Arthur!"
Without a doubt, this was a full-powered Noble Phantasm release. The sword, wreathed in colossal flames, cleaved forward, unleashing a torrent of light that surged straight ahead—unyielding, unbreakable, and unstoppable—utterly obliterating the steel dragon.
A single slash shattered ten thousand blades.
Countless sharp fragments scattered, slicing through the heroes' armor and cutting their skin. Yet none paid heed to such trivial wounds. Heads held high, they watched with bated breath as the combined might of the Command Spell and Mordred's full magical energy cleaved through all obstacles in its path. Amidst the endless cacophony of destruction, the attack surged straight toward the young man's face.
Defeat him! Strike him down!
Their heartbeats roared in their ears. Whether it was Jeanne, the Empress, or Mordred, they all knew—this was their final chance. Their last hope to defeat the Blue Faction, claim the Holy Grail, or save the world.
If even this attack couldn't overcome their foe, they would be torn apart in endless fury, reduced to withered bones frozen within this mental landscape.
No matter their reasons, no matter their ideals—at this moment, Jeanne and the others shared a single, unified wish: to defeat Sakatsuki and shatter this deadly Reality Marble!
His calm facade crumbled under the radiance of magical energy. Facing Mordred's anti-fortress Noble Phantasm head-on, Sakatsuki's instincts screamed at the highest alert. Yet even so, he didn't take a single step back. As his icy mask shattered, the expression that surfaced on his face—was a smile.
"My king, someone claims they will banish me for your peace."
"Hmph, ridiculous."
An aura colder than ice and snow descended, embedding itself into the black armor like dried blood and an inextricable curse entwined together. The golden-haired, golden-eyed king appeared beside the young man, casting a disdainful glance at the horrified Jeanne d'Arc and her companions below, as well as the surging torrent of magical energy rushing toward them.
A crushing force erupted from the holy spear in her hand—terrifying and majestic, carrying a thousandfold reverence, ten thousandfold sanctity, and a millionfold ferocity!
Like an unceasing storm at the edge of the world, and an unerasable calamity.
"Unleashed from the ends of the earth, the storm's fury that rends the heavens and connects the land—Rhongomyniad!"
The world trembled. A torrent of black light surged from the tip of the spear, shattering the crimson lightning born of hope with the might of the apocalypse. Undiminished in its destruction, it reversed course like an ironclad judgment and verdict, surging toward Jeanne and her allies like a tidal wave.
The end had come!
"O my banner, protect my comrades!" A golden-haired figure stepped forward, raising the holy banner once more to shield her allies.
BOOM!
The light of the holy spear struck the golden barrier cleanly. This time, Jeanne's pupils constricted—she clearly heard the crisp crack.
It was the sound of the wooden flagpole breaking. For a fleeting moment, it seemed as though the souls of countless comrades appeared before her, smiling as they patted the girl's shoulders one by one, telling her—This is as far as we can go.
When the fury of the storm spear subsided and the dark clouds in the sky dispersed, Jeanne reached out helplessly, but her hands grasped nothing. The white banner embroidered with fleur-de-lis fluttered midair before scattering into golden motes of light.
"Jeanne…" Semiramis, watching the saint who had always shown kindness and composure, widened her eyes slightly.
Unnoticed until now, the holy maiden was already weeping.
—The final day of the Holy Grail War, within Sakatsuki's Reality Marble.
Jeanne d'Arc's Noble Phantasm—Luminosité Eternelle—shattered.