Inside Artoria's headquarters, five kilometers from the pit.
"Hurry and get inside! Faster! It's dangerous outside now!"
Ritsuka was helping ordinary people enter the city to take shelter.
She had arrived in this Singularity just a few minutes ago. After she, Mash, and Hinako arrived, they immediately encountered Gawain from Artoria's side, who was searching for survivors outside.
Recognizing the shield Mash held, Gawain knew they were allies. However, before they could return to the headquarters to explain the situation to each other, the Unique Barrier collapsed. Countless dragon calamities appeared in various places, relentlessly attacking ordinary people.
As a result, Ritsuka and Mash temporarily set aside their questions about this Singularity and focused on assisting the Knights of the Round Table in rescuing refugees and fighting the dragon calamities.
"Seriously… what's with this Singularity?"
Panting, Ritsuka looked at the swarm of dragons showing no signs of diminishing or stopping. She wiped the sweat from her forehead: "I've never faced a situation like this, even in the First Singularity."
"It's not just that, Master." Mash said seriously, raising her shield to smash several attacking wyverns. "Although they're both wyverns, the ones in this Singularity are far stronger than those in the First Singularity, and they're not easy to deal with."
Even though Mash, who said this, had become much stronger since the First Singularity, her use of Galahad's power was undoubtedly far greater than before.
Supporting Mash's fight with Mana, Ritsuka gritted her teeth: "Damn it, at a time like this, I wish the Director was here. If it was her, she could probably wipe them all out at once—why did she disappear at such a critical moment?"
Ritsuka, Mash, and Hinako had come to this Singularity to support Naoki, who might be facing a powerful enemy. According to Roman's speculation, the strongest enemy in this Singularity would be extremely difficult, even for Naoki, to handle.
But now—
(This situation is already dangerous enough! These numbers… there's no way we can handle them!)
"AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!"
Just as Ritsuka was feeling anxious, a deafening dragon roar suddenly echoed through the sky. Everyone instinctively looked up.
A black demon dragon with massive wings spread wide entered everyone's view.
[Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! This has to be a joke! These readings have to be a joke!]
Almost the moment Ritsuka saw the black demon dragon, Roman's panicked voice came through the communicator.
[This Mana reaction… Forget Servants, even a Demon God Pillar is far from this! This is absolutely not Mana a single individual could possess! Even Natsukawa couldn't pull off something this excessive!]
[Fujimaru! Mash, and Akuta, listen carefully: you absolutely cannot approach that creature. It's not an enemy you can face—not at all! Not in the slightest! If you fight it, you'll be wiped out in an instant!!]
Since the Human Order Incineration began, this was the first time Ritsuka had heard Roman sound so panicked. It showed just how powerful that demon dragon was—the pressure from its immense Mana was palpable even to Ritsuka here.
"I—"
Ritsuka opened her mouth, as if wanting to say something.
But before she could—
*TRING!*
Beyond the horizon, not far away, a blazing red light suddenly shot into the sky. Then, just like the black demon dragon in the air that drew everyone's attention, another being that commanded attention emerged within the blazing red light!
"That's… a giant?"
"A dragon giant?"
Ritsuka and Mash were slightly puzzled as they looked at the giant standing on the ground in the distance—they felt its form was somewhat familiar.
And under everyone's gaze, the dragon giant looked up at the black demon dragon in the air, then suddenly leaped, massive flames bursting from its back as it soared into the sky at high speed! It headed straight for the demon dragon!
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
Huge.
Though this was evident from the ground, the feeling grew stronger the closer they got to Vortigern.
Vortigern's body was too massive. Even after the three merged, the giant dragon-human transformed by Naoki was only a quarter of Vortigern's size.
"Honestly, Arthur, how did you fight him to the point of both of you being gravely injured before?"
With the size of a human-wielded Holy Sword, even if its true name was released, it shouldn't have been enough to harm a monster this large—unless it was a chant.
Arthur's voice came from the Holy Sword.
[Regarding that, honestly, I'm not entirely sure. At the time, my mind was filled only with thoughts of how to defeat Vortigern.]
(Alright, I get it, a subjective burst of power, right?)
(But anyway, a world-saving profession like a Holy Sword wielder seems to have some subjective elements. If we really think about it, it's not entirely unreasonable.)
(However, this might tell us one thing: Vortigern's defenses aren't enough to withstand the full burst of a Holy Sword—so that's easier said than done!)
The level of firepower from releasing a Holy Sword—Naoki could now produce as much of that as he wanted!
"Lia, there's only one thing you need to do next: keep attacking Vortigern with the Holy Sword in your hand, without stopping for a moment. Arthur, always maintain the Holy Sword's output at maximum, don't skimp on your Mana!"
Basically, in this situation, the Mana consumed by both Arthur and Artoria was actually Naoki's Mana.
"As for defense, evasion, and long-range firepower, leave it all to me!"
"I absolutely won't let us fall from the sky!"
[Destruction equipment construction initiated, Mana charging preparation, output permission—300%]
Accompanied by the continuous surge of Mana, around the blazing red body, eight massive cannons formed one by one!
—True Dragon Vein Burning-Type Artillery Weapon · Excalibur!
—Eight units ready to fire!
*SWOOSH!*
Beams of light, intertwined with red and gold, erupted from the cannons!
And with this as the signal, Artoria, as the main pilot, immediately charged! She swung the thirty-meter-long giant light sword in her hand toward Vortigern!
The Dragon Hunt Operation had begun!
This time, King Arthur would definitely defeat Vortigern!