Connor planted his feet and refused to step back. The rubble under his boots bit at his ankles . Concrete, twisted rebar, scorched asphalt painted a grim picture, but he didn't move.
The cratered block still smoked from the earlier clash; Heracles' absence didn't erase the destruction the battle brought. Ace sat at the center, small and hollow, and Connor couldn't leave her.
"I'll stay back and deal with that guy. You can take care of the servant." He spoke resolutely to Karna.
Karna's face softened into a half-smile. He nodded once, though the motion carried a question — not of loyalty but of prudence. He understood the boy's stubbornness; he did not pretend it was always wise.
Connor stood rigid, every nerve screaming as Lex's cold gaze bored into him. The man who had engineered his existence now watched him like a technician appraising a used tool.
"You were made to be my weapon against him," Lex said icily. "A weapon perfected. You will come back to heel. I'll remind you of what you are."
Connor's jaw tightened. He felt the old anger rise — the lab lights, the drills, Sarah's face as she shoved him out of a window and told him to run. He held Lex's stare and answered simply.
"No," Connor shot back. His fists tightened. "I know what I am. And I choose what I do. Not you."
Lex's lip curled at the defiance. He lifted the ring on his finger; a thin, high-frequency pulse raced from it and rubbed the air like a knife.
Ace folded on the ground, hands clamped over her ears, like a small animal shrinking from thunder. Connor did not hesitate — he stepped forward and put himself between the wave and the girl.
"Stay behind me," he muttered to Ace.
Lex's eyes narrowed. He had expected obedience or panic; neither would do tonight. "So that's how it is. You side with the defective tool over your creator?"
Connor's voice came hard. "I side with people who aren't monsters."
The words landed hard enough to make Lex's expression twitch. For all his control, he was not used to being called a monster to his face.
A hand from his pocket produced a green chunk of rock, cradled in a device that glowed ominously. Connor's chest went cold when he saw it. "Kryptonite."
The word left his mouth like a curse. He took a breath and refused to look away. Lex smiled like a man who'd always expected obedience. "Then you'll be dismantled with her. I can make a better one next time. An obedient one."
Below them, drones dropped from the Vimana, spiraling down on silent rotors. They spread like a net, arc welders, energy canisters, mini cannons swiveling and primed. Connor braced.
Karna sighed, a small sound. He nodded. Whether he thought it wise or not, he accepted Connor's will. The golden warrior's attention shifted outward.
He could have insisted, pulled Connor back and smashed Lex's drones without argument. Instead he offered a calm, measured option that carried the dignity of someone who had accepted similar choices long ago.
Karna raised his spear calmly. His presence radiated unwavering composure, an anchor in the chaos. At the same time, Gilgamesh rose, and the Gate of Babylon roared.
Gilgamesh's amusement cut the quiet. He was lounging as if at a festival, the Gate of Babylon yawning wide behind him like a city's gate.
"You stand boldly, son of Sun." Gilgamesh said. "Few mongrels ever do in my presence. Yet you know what awaits, my treasury eclipses all creation. Even your flames can't do much against the infinite."
Karna's reply was even, simple. "Treasures alone do not decide victory. The warrior holding the weapon does. I'll take you on as is my pride as a Kshatriya."
"Then you will die trying." Gilgamesh clicked his tongue and the air changed. The Gate of Babylon roared. Portals unspooled across the sky, each one a slit into a different age.
Weapons poured out, not falling but choosing trajectories, glancing and darting like composed predators. The first volley pitched outward with ruthless precision.
Karna reacted as if he had trained for nothing else his life. He spun the spear with a motion that was both art and method; golden flame warped the metal.
"Oh Agni, burn them." He muttered softly. A Blazing fire pit erupted around him. Each weapon that struck that field melted and collapsed in a hiss. He stepped forward with each parry, burning foot by disciplined foot into the rain of treasures.
"Excellent. Melt them well. I'll use your divine flames for reforging . My treasury is infinite." The line fell from Gilgamesh as though sharing an afterthought; even his amusement carried arrogance.
Unending waves came. Twice as many. Three times. The sky filled with shining forms, so many they seamed the night. Karna's face did not change.
He moved through the storm, spear flashing, each strike rout and answer — not so much defense as containment. He advanced. He closed distance. He sought the soul of the enemy's command, not merely their weapons.
"You waste your effort," Gilgamesh said with cool amusement. "I do not run out of treasures."
"And I do not stop." Karna's voice was a blade cutting the space between them.
While the heavens rained gold, Lex deployed his machines. A cluster of drones split from the Vimana and spread in quick, efficient arcs toward Connor and Ace.
They were not toys; they were instruments — welders, plasma cutters, energy projectors — designed to break muscle and disconnect wiring.
Connor moved like something already practiced in survival. He dashed forward on instinct, each step cracking the pavement beneath him.
The first drone loomed to flank. Connor met it with a launching punch and slammed it into the ground; the machine crumpled under his force. He barked like he had to, a rope of command for Ace.
"Stay close!" he said, urgent.
Ace muttered barely. "Ok."
Lex watched from above with clinical satisfaction. "Still new. Still sloppy. You think brute strength makes you a hero?"
Connor wiped a smear of blood from his cheek and answered with the simplest defiance he had left. "It makes me someone who can stop you."
Lex sneered. "Naïve child."
He tapped the ring again; the pulse that followed bit at the skull like tinnitus tuned to civic collapse. Ace screamed and collapsed; her body convulsed under the wave. Connor spun, panic slicing his face. "Ace!"
That second was all Lex needed , he unveiled a small device and produced a glowing green rock from a box. The sight of it folded Connor's insides into ice.
"Kryptonite."
Lex grinned as he grabbed the Kryptonite in his armored hand and punched Connor with the force of a meteor.
Boom!
Connor crashed into the ground, tasting metal and bracing against the sickening thud, but he did not falter . He spat out some blood and rose again.
Ace watched it with a confused look. Losing her friend, then about to die, then suddenly getting saved by a boy her age who had suffered a somewhat similar fate under the same man. Her mind was in disarray, trying to figure out what to do.
The drones reformed and tightened. They orbited like a net and began to close; cannons spun into position.
Connor intercepted with motion and will. He smashed the air and tore the machines apart with concussion and bone. One drone splintered under his fist and showered sparks.
But the hits accumulated. One cannon found a seam and spat plasma into his side; he skidded across a shard of concrete and came up coughing, blood in white foam. He pushed through, each step a decision that might be his last.
Karna's fight was different but no less severe. Gilgamesh threw more elaborate treasures: blades that sang of cities, spears that unmade edges of time, relics that ripped at defensive spells.
Karna answered with the spear's bright discipline. He stepped like a line of dawn, each strike a pattern meant to pry holes in Gilgamesh's arrangement. The ground where he advanced ignited with radiance and then fell back to ash.
The Gate of Babylon responded like a well-tuned instrument. Gilgamesh's voice came with the authority of one who owned the narrative.
"Rejoice, mongrel ! To fall before the King's arsenal is a privilege!" His tone cut with mockery.
Karna did not rise to scorn. He pressed on. "Then I will prove that privilege is not enough," he said.
At the center, Ace watched it all through the blur of pain and grief. Every time a cannon launched, she flinched.
Every time Connor drove a fist through a drone, a small flare of relief stirred, and then was smothered by worry — the Kryptonite glowed in Lex's hand, a green certainty of obliteration.
Connor, bleeding and furious, advanced at Lex. The barrier flared, a shimmering wall raised from the ring itself. Connor slammed into it; it creaked but did not hold. He pushed again and the force cracked the shell like ice.
For a heartbeat Lex stumbled; surprise cracked his composure.
"You cannot defeat me." Lex barked, reasserting the posture of the man who built cages.
Connor answered with the damn-near-reckless clarity of someone who knew there was no other option. "I'm not… just defeating you. I'm ending this."
He shoved until the barrier splintered. Lex rocked back under the force — then drones converged, forming a ring of death-guns waiting to re-lock the boy in place.
Connor planted his feet in the ash and grit and said, flat, "Then come on."
The battlefield reached a new level of conflict. Karna pressing toward Gilgamesh's throne and Connor pushing at Lex's line of control.
Both fights felt like the same movement: break the thing that orders suffering and make room for something else to grow.
Gilgamesh scoffed. " Since you refuse to go down , I shall have to obliterate you in a single strike." He reached into his gate to pull out a weapon.
Karna also created some distance. " I will burn your arrogance away. Brahmastra..."
Then everything changed. A pressure slid through the air, subtle at first and then absolute — like the temperature of the world dropping by a degree and the sound of everything pressing down into silence.
The sound of footsteps broke through the silence. A deep, amused voice reached their ears.
"My my, I go out for an enthusiastic walk through the forest to enjoy the scenery, and I stumble upon a fight that can flatten the continent."
A tall man in a red coat and hat walked towards them. Despite the darkness, he had an orange sunglass on. He had a scary looking smile on his face.
Edward, or rather Alucard, the Ruler of this war, had entered the stage.
For a beat the fighting stopped as they stared at the newest arrival.
Gilgamesh's amused expression changed; Karna's grip tightened; Lex's jaw went cold and precise; Connor felt the blood beat in his heart and he straightened up, every sense sharpened.
Edward's smile stayed, patient and bored. The silhouette in red moved forward a small step, and even the battered street seemed to take a breath.
How they reacted to him would decide the outcome of the war.
*********
Karna nodded with his usual calm as the figure stepped into the clearing. His voice was steady, carrying no surprise.
"Ruler."
Edward returned the nod with a half-smile.
"Lancer."
Gilgamesh's lip curled as though he had just tasted something bitter. His crimson eyes burned with contempt.
"You think a creature of darkness can presume to interfere in my battle? Perish for your insolence, mongrel."
With a single flick of his hand, three gleaming weapons shot from the Gate of Babylon. They weren't ordinary treasures—each radiated holy power, weapons forged to burn away corruption. They screamed through the night air toward Edward.
Edward didn't move, his grin widening.
"Well, mongrel king, let me give you a lesson in humility then."
The weapons hit.
BOOM!
A violent explosion swallowed Edward, the ground shattering beneath the impact. Connor instinctively moved forward, but Karna extended a hand, blocking him.
"You don't need to interfere. Ruler can deal with him."
As if answering Karna's words, a sword suddenly spun out of the smoke. It whistled through the air faster than an arrow and carved a shallow cut across Gilgamesh's cheek before exploding behind him in a shower of sparks.
Karna chuckled quietly.
"To think his speed is so fast."
Connor blinked, struggling to follow. Karna explained without taking his eyes off the scene.
"Ruler caught the first sword out of the air and struck down the other two. Then he turned it back against Gilgamesh before the king could react."
The smoke cleared. Edward stood where he had been, not a speck of dust marking his red coat. He looked as if the blast had never touched him. His lazy voice drifted through the clearing.
"Huh, I must have gotten rusty. I was aiming for your arm. Guess I should have gone for the head. Hahaha."
The laughter rolled out of him, low and dark. Connor and Ace shivered despite themselves. Ace's breath caught; she remembered his appearance the night before, when he had stopped her fight with the crazed brute of a girl. His presence felt heavier now, almost suffocating.
Edward noticed the two of them and waved casually as though they were children he caught sneaking out at night.
"Sup, kids. Isn't it past your bedtime? Naughty kids get spankings."
They both gulped in unison.
Finally, Lex Luthor spoke, his tone clipped and sharp.
"If I assume correctly, you are the Ruler of this war? Why did you interfere? That's against the rules."
Edward turned his red eyes on him and grinned, twirling his pistols idly.
"And you broke the rule first by trying to harm another Master after their Servant perished. I don't care what you do in your personal little empire, but here? You follow my rules."
He spun the massive pistols once more and let them fall neatly into his hands.
"Now then, how about we call it a night? I still need to punish a stupid girl who forgot the ground rules I set."
His head tilted slightly as he felt the distant tremors, the faint pulse of divinity trying to claw free from its seal. He sighed.
Lex's eyes narrowed, but he bowed slightly, masking his fury.
"Apologies. We will follow your advice and return for tonight."
Gilgamesh, however, nearly exploded with rage. His voice shook the air.
"You dare ask me to leave like a dog running away? How ridiculous. I shall defeat this monster for his insult!"
Dozens more portals snapped open around him. An endless array of weapons gleamed under the moonlight, each humming with destructive energy.
Edward sighed as if dealing with an impatient child.
"You just can't take a loss, goldy. But you really shouldn't have brought swords to a gun fight. Let's start with regular mode."
He lifted his pistols—Hellsing and Jackal—and fired.
The deafening roar of gunfire filled the air. The pistols, even without his Noble Phantasm, were monstrous weapons. Each shot unleashed a bullet of compressed mana, destructive power equal to high-level spells.
The best part, they fed off the ambient mana around him, allowing for endless firepower. Only the recoil mattered, and Edward handled it with ease.
Gilgamesh's eye twitched. His portals released weapon after weapon, but the steady stream of mana bullets shattered them midair. It was the perfect counter to his arsenal.
Then Sha Naqba Imuru whispered to him, and Gilgamesh's face darkened. The vision showed him an outcome he did not want to accept, his defeat.
Unwilling to accept it, he chose escalation.
The next wave of treasures were not common relics but his finest divine and holy weapons. Each one carried the authority of gods long past. They streaked toward Edward like guided missiles.
Edward shook his head, smirking. He channeled his inner Chinese young master as he spoke. "Courting death." He chuckled at his own joke.
The words came out like a mocking joke, but his presence suddenly darkened. To those watching, he looked like a lunatic, laughing like a predator about to strike.
Then his deep voice carried like a curse through the air.
"By my wrath, let the earth rise in agony!
A thousand spikes, a thousand fates, impale the bones of all who stand against me!
Let your screams feed the hunger of the centuries!"
His voice boomed.
"Noble Phantasm partial deploy—The Impaler King!"
The ground itself screamed. The moon vanished behind dark clouds, and the night turned heavy. Then countless stakes erupted upward, dripping with phantom blood. They rushed toward Gilgamesh's divine weapons like a tidal wave of death.
Despite their holy origin, the weapons faltered. The sheer number of stakes overwhelmed them, splintering and destroying each one.
Gilgamesh's nose wrinkled in disgust. His voice dripped with venom.
"How revolting. Now I am certain of who you are. A mere bloodsucker dares to oppose me? I shall show you why you belong in the shadows."
From his treasury, he drew a weapon unlike the rest—a flaming sword that radiated the light of the sun itself. The air burned around it, heat waves distorting the ground.
"This is the ultimate weapon of Utu, imbued with the Sun's power. Perish before the King's judgement, mongrel!"
He leveled the sword at Edward. Flames burst forth, a torrent so hot the earth itself cracked. It was like standing at the surface of the sun.
Connor shielded Ace with his body, but the heat seared even his Kryptonian skin. Karna planted his spear into the ground, golden light forming a barrier that wrapped around them, holding back the inferno.
Ace buried her face against Connor's chest, trembling. She could barely breathe under the weight of power clashing before her.
Connor held her tighter, but his eyes stayed on Edward, trying to see what the Ruler would do against something even Karna treated with caution.
The flames roared, consuming everything in their path, and Edward stood there at the center of it.
*****
Cliff kun strikes true again. Just like my father's belt.