Mordred's sudden assault caught everyone completely off guard.
Until now, all the Knights of the Round Table they had faced would only unleash their Noble Phantasm as a decisive finishing blow or a last resort to turn the tide. She alone had released hers the moment she appeared, striking the allied forces with a devastating preemptive blow.
And that was only the beginning.
"The time has come! Vermin who dare defy Father—go rot in hell!"
Shouting, Mordred once again raised her sword. The violent lightning that had just swept across the battlefield sparked to life once more upon its blade.
"Wait! Stop! Isn't that Mordred... Hold on, don't fight! Mordred, I'm your sister! Look at us—we don't have to be enemies, right?!"
On the other side, spotting Mordred about to release her Noble Phantasm again, Bavanzi's eyes widened in recognition. She had acknowledged Mordred as her dear younger sister back in London, and she quickly leapt forward, calling out.
—Back when Mordred and Tristan had attacked the village, Arash's long-range sniping had quickly drawn Mordred away into a duel, so Bavanzi never got the chance to talk with her. Later, her hatred had been consumed entirely by Tristan, and she never had the time to think about Mordred again. Now, seeing this familiar figure, she instinctively tried to reach out.
But Mordred only looked at her with the expression one gives a stranger.
"Hah? Sister? Who the hell even knows you?!"
"It was back in London!" Bavanzi pleaded. "We fought side by side! You even saved me once!"
"Tch. Don't get it twisted. The me standing here isn't the me you knew. I don't have those memories. Got it? If you do, then hurry up and die!"
"Wha—?" Before Bavanzi could react, Mordred swung her sword down at her.
"Clarent Blood Arthur—Rebellion Against My Glorious Father!"
As the torrent of magical energy roared forth to swallow Bavanzi, stunned and frozen in place, Artoria dove in from behind, yanking her out of the way and dragging her to safety.
"Idiot! Don't you even know that Servants don't necessarily share memories across iterations?" Artoria scolded. "Didn't Guinevere already say during the strategy meeting that this Mordred isn't the one we knew? Were you just spacing out?"
"Uh... what strategy meeting? I wasn't there!" Bavanzi blinked.
"Oh right, you came along with Morgan after we'd already finished talking about all that." Artoria smacked her forehead in realization.
At that moment, Mordred's voice rang out again from behind them.
"What's with all the jabbering over there? And who the hell is this Father lookalike? Some scheme to impersonate him? Bah, whatever."
She raised her sword again.
"I'll just blow you all away!"
"Again?! Already?!" Even Artoria felt her scalp go numb at how quickly Mordred could unleash another Noble Phantasm.
"I'll stop her!"
Bagst, who had rushed to intercept the cavalry earlier, now returned at full speed. Without hesitation, she leapt in front of Mordred and reached out to grab her.
"I won't let you run wild any longer—"
But before she could finish, Mordred's blazing blade came down first. Violent crimson energy erupted, slamming into Bagst and blasting her straight into the walls of Camelot.
"Damn it..."
Cutting through the surging torrent of energy with sheer force, Bagst quickly stood back up, charging again at Mordred. Indeed, the so-called "Punching Bag Queen" of the Fairy Kingdom lived up to her title. Even after taking a Noble Phantasm head-on, she'd suffered only minor injuries, her combat power barely diminished.
But before she could close in again, Mordred had already hurled out another Noble Phantasm. It annihilated another portion of the coalition army and pinned Bagst once more against the wall, overwhelming her with brute firepower.
"Now's the chance—!"
Seizing the opening, Xuanzang and Taigong Wang advanced, hoping to capitalize on Mordred's output delay. But—
There was no delay. Mordred's blade flashed once more, releasing another eruption of magical energy that blasted both of them away.
Unlike Bagst, however, their defenses could not compare. What was only a minor blow to her was devastating to them. Taigong Wang collapsed instantly, out of the fight, while Xuanzang, despite her high-class Saint Graph, screamed in pain from the strike.
Mordred prepared to finish her off with yet another Noble Phantasm, but Mash quickly entered the fray, raising her shield to block the attack and barely keeping Xuanzang alive. Yet even so, she was clearly at her limit, her stance already faltering.
Seeing this, Bavanzi raised her hand, summoning her imitation bow crafted from Tristan's cursed harp strings, aiming to support them. But when her eyes fell on Mordred, her hands hesitated.
At that instant, an invisible blade of sound slashed toward her. She sensed it just in time and dodged.
Looking up, she saw Tristan standing atop the wall, smirking and beckoning to her mockingly before leaping down again.
"You bastard!"
Her eyes went red at the sight of him.
Glancing once more at Mordred, she hesitated before turning to Artoria.
"Artoria, I... I really don't want to fight Mordred. I've got a personal score to settle anyway, so I'll leave this to you."
Without waiting for a reply, she vaulted up the wall after Tristan, determined to settle things once and for all.
Foolish as she was, she simply couldn't bring herself to face this version of Mordred. So she wouldn't.
If she could at least kill that damned Tristan, that was still helping the cause. No need to overthink it.
From the shadows, Hundred-Faced Hassan and Hassan of the Cursed Arm, who had been preparing to strike Mordred, exchanged a look. Then they abandoned their target and scaled the wall after Bavanzi.
...........................................
"Looks like the plan is going smoothly... In that case, I should withdraw according to schedule."
Having watched the battle unfold, Gawain retreated a few steps after clashing with Guinevere and sheathed his sword.
"What?" Guinevere frowned. "You'd abandon your sister?"
"Sister...? Oh, you mean Mordred."
Gawain was momentarily surprised. He still wasn't used to thinking of her as his sister.
"Mordred bears the 'Berserk' blessing from the King. Once it's fully activated, she can sacrifice her own life force to unleash her Noble Phantasm without limit, like an overclocked machine burning itself out."
He spoke calmly.
"Because of that blessing, she's the perfect rearguard. If we stayed, we'd only hinder her. Letting her go wild alone maximizes her effectiveness."
"So this is farewell, Father. I'll wait for you beneath the King's Tower. If you still refuse to strike me down, then let someone else do it. This is the final battle. There can be no coexistence between us."
With that, he stepped back. A beam of light enveloped him, and when it faded, Gawain was gone.
Not only him—Lancelot, who had been locked in combat with Melusine, also withdrew. Another light fell, and he too vanished.
Now only Mordred remained on the battlefield.
Guinevere hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and sprinted toward Mordred.
At this point, she was still rampaging with unrelenting fury, her infinite Noble Phantasms allowing her alone to fight Bagst, Artoria, Xuanzang, and Mash all at once—not only holding her ground, but overwhelming them.
As for the allied soldiers, they had been nearly wiped out. Under her relentless bombardment, nine out of ten were gone. The few survivors cowered far away, trembling.
"There's no way in... Even Bagst gets blown away by her Noble Phantasm. I don't see how we can beat her... Maybe I should just transform here and now?"
Crouched behind Mash's shield under the rain of radiant blasts, Artoria muttered.
"...I don't know what this 'transformation' is, but didn't Guinevere specifically say to save it for the Lion King?" Xuanzang reminded.
"Yeah," Artoria nodded. "Once I transform, I'm super strong—strong enough to beat even Mordred like this. But it only lasts a short while. If I use it now, I won't have the strength to do it again later."
"Then don't. Leave this to me." Xuanzang suddenly stood. "I'll try talking to her."
"?"
While the others looked on in confusion, Xuanzang stepped forward, calling out to Mordred.
"Do you really want to keep fighting? Even if the Lion King's plan succeeds, the Tower at the End will wipe you out too! Your comrades have abandoned you. Will you still fight alone?"
"Hah?" Mordred frowned, still blasting away at Bagst. "That's what you've got to say now?"
"I'm a sinner. From the very start, I had no right to enter the Tower. Everything I do now is atonement."
"If Father's plan succeeds, the next human order will have no war. Only the one true King within the Ideal City. There'll be no need for fools like me anymore."
"That's enough for me!"
But here, her words faltered. She lowered her head slightly, her voice dropping.
"Yeah... that's enough."
It was unclear whether she spoke to herself or to someone else. Her voice grew smaller, dwindling into a whisper.
"If there's no need for someone like me... then I don't care."
"—Ah. I can't bear to watch this."
A deep sigh suddenly echoed across the battlefield. At the same time, Morgan appeared beside Xuanzang and the others.
"Stand down. Mordred... leave her to me."