Lin Qi's combat skills were on the weaker side. After all, before crossing over, he'd just been an ordinary student—someone who'd barely been in a fistfight, let alone a real battle.
It had only been a few months since he'd arrived at Chaldea. Even with access to the combat simulation chambers, his progress in swordsmanship or spearmanship had been painfully slow.
Hadn't his earlier fights—when he drew upon Siegfried's power—mostly relied on the sheer strength and performance of that power and his Noble Phantasm to crush opponents?
If Lin Qi had to face a Servant skilled in close combat, there was no doubt he'd be the one at a disadvantage.
Unable to create distance to use his runic magecraft, Lin Qi could only defend desperately under Caligula's relentless assault, forced to trigger his special abilities over and over just to survive.
And those abilities came at a steep cost—great for a few exchanges, but a nightmare in a drawn-out fight.
Still... his opponent wasn't in great shape either.
Barely able to steady himself, Lin Qi dragged his weary body and foggy head, holding out against Caligula's ferocious blows with sheer willpower.
If no one came to help, all he could do was pray that the Berserker collapsed before he did.
"Yo! My valiant ally—I have come to your aid!"
Nero arrived in a flash, swinging her sword at Caligula and finally freeing Lin Qi from his grueling struggle.
"Ye... niece of mine... Nero—ahhhh!"
Caligula's assault faltered for a moment—just long enough for him to chant the same tired line again.
Nero, by now completely numb to it, simply ignored him.
Instead, while keeping her eyes on her uncle's movements, she struck up a conversation with Lin Qi mid-battle.
"You are most brave—your arrival has relieved me greatly! Yet, your swordsmanship was quite the eyesore. When time allows, you must train harder!"
That was her honest evaluation of Lin Qi's earlier performance.
Though Caligula's mind was broken, his body retained instinctive combat memory. He had zeroed in on Lin Qi's weakness in close-quarters fighting, denying him any chance to pull back and cast runes.
Which forced Lin Qi to repeatedly burn through his abilities just to stay alive.
"...That's easy for you to say. I'd need both the time and the talent first."
Shaking his head to clear the dizziness from overusing his abilities, Lin Qi sighed helplessly.
"No talent, hmm? Mmm... that is a problem."
Nero frowned thoughtfully, giving him a quick once-over.
"Tell me, you're a magus, aren't you? Your attire resembles those eccentric magi."
Seriously? You can tell just from this Chaldea uniform?
To Nero's credit, in her experience, magi did tend to dress oddly.
"Well... technically, yes."
Lin Qi didn't bother to elaborate.
If someone who only knew runic and basic reinforcement magecraft—whose formal knowledge was a mess—could still count as a magus, then sure, he fit the title.
"Then there's no problem! Stay behind and provide support! Leave the front to me—just stand back and behold my radiance!"
Nero's confidence was absolute.
Her troublesome uncle was already gravely injured. If she hadn't beaten him before, surely now she could.
No way was she letting this go!
Caligula roared again, repeating her name and lunging like a starving beast.
Nero raised her sword and parried.
And there—the contrast between Nero and Lin Qi was stark.
Even though Nero's raw strength seemed slightly below Lin Qi's, her refined technique and ability to redirect force made her defense far more stable. She couldn't easily counterattack, but she wasn't nearly as desperate as he had been.
Meanwhile, Lin Qi knew his role perfectly.
Now that he was back in his comfort zone, he wasn't about to waste the opportunity—if there was ever a time for runic magecraft, it was now.
With a few swift gestures, glowing sigils formed midair. In seconds, a strengthening rune shimmered and affixed itself neatly to Nero.
"This is... hmm! Impressive! Once this battle ends, I shall return to Rome and name you Chief Court Magus!"
Feeling the sudden surge of power in her limbs, Nero's confidence soared—and she immediately decided to award him a title.
"Uh... let's not. I'd rather not bring down your court's average skill level."
"Modesty ill befits one of my retainers! If I say you have the ability, then you do!"
A textbook setup: the warrior in front, the magus in back, providing buffs and support. Old-fashioned, sure—but undeniably effective.
After only a few exchanges, the battered Caligula finally showed signs of retreat. His body flickered with faint light—he was preparing to spiritonize and escape.
"He's trying to flee! Stop him at once!"
Sensing her uncle's intent, Nero panicked. Without hesitation, she charged forward.
After all the trouble he'd caused her, he dared to run? Even as her uncle, she wouldn't let that slide!
Unfortunately, as a living human, Nero had no means of countering spiritonization.
She could only watch helplessly as Caligula's figure began to fade.
But Lin Qi had anticipated this. He'd been holding a spell ready for just such a moment.
Gravity Seal!
An invisible weight crashed down on Caligula, interrupting the spiritonization process.
His fading form solidified once more.
The effect wouldn't last long—but that brief pause was all Nero needed.
"Ha! Fall before me!"
Her eyes gleamed as she lunged, blade sweeping in a brutal arc from Caligula's left shoulder to his right abdomen, carving deep through flesh and bone.
After enduring countless wounds—especially the initial impalement and now this ruthless slash—Caligula finally dropped to one knee, unable to move.
"This time, even you can't escape, Uncle."
Satisfied, Nero nodded.
"My court magus! Fetch me a sturdy rope! Bind this wayward uncle who crawled up from the dirt—I shall interrogate him myself to see whence he returned!"
Commanding Lin Qi as though he were one of her officers, Nero seemed utterly oblivious to how absurd she sounded.
There were so many things wrong with that order that Lin Qi didn't even know where to begin.
"...Your Majesty, don't you think that's a little... much? And where exactly am I supposed to find a rope on a battlefield?"
He chose the most practical point to address.
"Emmm... true! I did strike a bit too hard. Even if we tied him up, it's unclear how long he'd last..."
Nero frowned, actually troubled by the thought.
"..."
If this weren't a battlefield, Lin Qi would've had plenty to say.
"Hm? What's this strange light?"
Just as she considered regrouping with her army, Nero suddenly noticed her uncle's body glowing with a strange radiance.
It was pale, cold—like moonlight.
"A Noble Phantasm!"
Lin Qi's pupils contracted. Having studied Caligula's data beforehand, he instantly recognized it—and his gut clenched.
Without hesitation, he grabbed Nero's wrist and sprinted away.
"Ahhhh—!"
Caligula stood unmoving, releasing an animalistic roar as the glow in his chest intensified.
Then, at its peak, it burst forth.
[Flucticulus Diana: Moonlight, Devour My Soul (C)!]
A distorted, ghostly full moon blossomed over the battlefield's center.
Lin Qi roughly knew the effect of that Noble Phantasm. Reaching the rear lines of Nero's forces, he halted and acted immediately.
No time for explanations—he unfurled the flag patterned with golden fleurs-de-lis and activated his own Noble Phantasm.
A gentle golden light spread behind him, enveloping Nero and her soldiers—and, inevitably, a few enemy troops caught within range.
Both sides, blood-crazed moments ago, froze at the sight of the ethereal glow.
Then they saw it—the horror that unfolded beyond that light.
Outside the golden boundary, soldiers went mad. Eyes bloodshot, they hacked at friend and foe alike.
Heads rolled, bodies fell—but the killers didn't stop. They kept swinging, smashing at the corpses even after life had left them.
One suddenly went still—not from clarity, but because another maddened soldier had driven a sword clean through his heart.
No one cared about their own wounds. Pain didn't exist anymore. Every man became a beast, slashing, biting, tearing.
By the end, even teeth and nails were used as weapons. The battlefield had become a pit of howling monsters devouring each other alive.
Blood. Madness. Horror.
Even those spared within Lin Qi's protective light—hardened veterans all—trembled at the sight.
Many turned pale, vomiting uncontrollably, weapons slipping from numb fingers.
Lin Qi himself wasn't doing much better. He had underestimated how devastating Caligula's Noble Phantasm would be when unleashed on a battlefield.
The scene tore at his mind, churning his stomach until he nearly retched.
His focus faltered.
And because his Noble Phantasm relied on mental stability to maintain its state resistance, the double assault—Caligula's madness from without and his own shaken will from within—made the barrier waver.
The golden field began to shrink.
Noticing the protective glow dimming, panic spread among the soldiers.
Enemy or ally, it didn't matter—they huddled together instinctively, pressing toward the center where the light still shone.
Lin Qi's face was ashen. The flag's brilliance flickered; pale moonlight leaked through the cracks, touching a few soldiers inside.
They too began to twitch and snarl, their sanity fraying.
Gritting his teeth, Lin Qi forced himself to hold on, swallowing back the nausea clawing up his throat.
Then—
A slender, pale hand rested atop the sacred banner once wielded by Jeanne d'Arc.
"My uncle truly knows how to vex me... another disaster for me to clean up..."
The small red figure murmured, joining Lin Qi in gripping the flag.
From the corner of his eye, Lin Qi could see that Nero's face was nearly as pale as his own.
"Fortunately, one such as you stands among my ranks. Hmm! I've decided—henceforth, you shall be my personal sword-bearing guard! With your quick wit, my noble self shall remain ever safe!"
"...Your Majesty, does that position actually exist?"
"Silence! If I decree it so, then it exists!"
"Let us weather this trial first—your efforts have sufficed. Now, allow me to take over!"
Having sensed Lin Qi's flagging strength, Nero declared this boldly.
In the next instant, crimson light surged from her hand, racing up the flagpole and flooding the entire banner.
[Imperial Privilege]
Though she was not in her Servant form, Nero invoked the very skill she would possess as one.
It was like injecting a surge of life into the flag itself—the golden light deepened into radiant gold-red, steadying the once-collapsing field until it shone firm and unwavering.
...