Tap tap…
Her opponent's footsteps drew closer again… those dim violet eyes now seized the moment, narrowing dangerously.
"..."
Still silent…
"?"
Only then did Semiramis sense something amiss. Why had the other given no reaction at all?
"I'm talking to you! Refuse or agree, at least give me an answer!"
She impatiently leaned closer again… and then—
"Hehe…"
What she heard was the woman's melodious laugh…
"?!"
The Empress froze, body stiff, staring at her in confusion.
"W-why are you laughing?!"
At a time like this, why laugh?! It was as if she were mocking her.
"I laugh at your foolishness, your arrogance… and your simple mind."
The Shogun slowly raised her head, her dim, vacant eyes now fixed upon her. Tilting it slightly, her tone warped into something eerie, each word unsettling. This strange sight sent unease through the Empress. She still hadn't realized—she was already the prey.
"You… you said wh—"
Squelch!!
In the next instant, the Shogun's hand shot out, seizing the woman's arm at point-blank range, yanking her forward. Her other hand, gripping her naginata, drove the blade straight into the Empress's lower ribs!
"!!"
Semiramis's body shuddered. Staring blankly downward at the weapon lodged in her flesh, she slowly raised her gaze again—only to see her foe's mysterious smile.
"You've been tricked. For the proud Empress to fall to the scheme of a mere 'petty god'… isn't that an even greater humiliation~?"
The Shogun's voice dripped with mockery, each word cutting deep. That term—'petty god'—was what the Empress herself had once used for her.
"You… you…!!"
Squelch!
Not waiting for a reaction, the Shogun wrenched the naginata free, then slashed cleanly at her opponent's favored left arm.
Splatter!!
Blood sprayed as the severed limb fell to the floor.
"Ughhhhhh!!!"
Semiramis clutched the wound, shrieking in agony!
Whoosh!
The Shogun followed up instantly with a spinning kick, striking her contorted face and sending her crashing back into her throne!
Crash!
Her bloodied body slammed into the throne, shattering it to pieces.
"You vile woman!!! I'll kill you!!! Bwah—!!!"
Realization dawned on Semiramis—she had been played. Rage surged, twisting her features as she staggered upright. But just as she screamed, blood burst from her lips. She widened her eyes at the wound in her body… its depth so severe her organs spilled forth.
Splurt…
Another mouthful of blood gushed out. She scrambled to press down on the injury, lightning already beginning to consume it. Her once-beautiful visage now distorted into madness.
"Heh… don't blame others for your own folly. Out of 'respect' for you—" her tone mocking, "—I'll meet you with my true self. That way, you'll understand clearly when you die."
In the next moment, an ethereal voice echoed through the hall, making Semiramis look around in alarm.
Crackle…
The violet-haired woman before her had vanished. In her place opened a rift of violet space, from which emerged a pair of giant puppet hands, unfurling like petals to reveal the blossom at their heart.
In the center stood a half-human, half-puppet woman. Her entire body seemed mechanical in structure, its white and violet gradients etched with patterns of Electro. Around her legs draped plates of gray-violet armor, while her exsquivite legs were a seamless blend of flesh and machine. Each joint, each knee, was a flawless ball joint like those of a doll, and her calves and ankles were bound by threads of red string.
Her refined face was identical to the Shogun's, violet hair flowing freely. The horn-like ornaments at her temples framed hair that once had been tied into a single braid—now all undone, cascading down her back, ending in a small knot at the tip. With her hair loosed, she bore a softer, ethereal beauty, radiant as a goddess—yet her expression was cold as frost.
Held aloft by the great puppet hands beneath her, the Shogun floated in the sky like a Buddha. Around her, countless violet particles of Electro condensed into multiple puppet arms, each brandishing a different weapon. On her right side, a massive arm like an armored gauntlet gripped a full-sized Musou Isshin.
This was her true prototype form—the state in which she had been manufactured. Her true body!
Seeing this sight, Semiramis could no longer contain herself. Her mouth fell open, her face frozen in shock. This grotesque revelation that shattered her worldview left her dazed, even making her forget the pain of her wounds.
"You… you're a robot…?!"
Though she had harbored suspicions, the reality was beyond comprehension. She had thought this woman some minor, obscure god. But now—what had seemed fantasy twisted into science fiction, even tinged with cyberpunk!
"A foolish question. Do you not yet understand, seeing this form? Your poisons may be formidable against others, but against me… regrettably, they end here."
In puppet form, the Shogun hovered aloft like a god surveying the world. With a light wave of her hand, the puppet arm wielding Musou Isshin lifted high. Watching her opponent's expression shift—from pride, to fury, to bewilderment—she allowed herself the faintest smile of satisfaction. This was the result she had planned for.
Her clumsy act had deceived the Empress, who foolishly took the bait and dropped all defenses. How pitiful.
"This body made a vow to her—to lead her to victory's end. And you… are nothing more than a stepping stone upon that path."
Thunder roared, mightier than ever before, surging into the blade. Space itself twisted under its power.
"Now, you shall perish!"
Her ethereal voice filled the hall. In the next instant, the blade fell!
Swish!
A violet arc stretched across the hall's full length, carving a deep rift in space itself. The ocean of poison was split in two, the corrupted domain shattering and dispersing into nothing.
"!"
Semiramis vanished instantly, escaping by the narrowest margin. The place where she had stood was cleaved into a chasm, as though an abyss had opened there. The towering throne shattered utterly, the wall behind it marked with a deep scar of the blade.
"You've got to be joking?!"
Now in her true form, Semiramis paled at the sight. At last she understood how Lancer had fallen. To escape with her body intact had been a miracle.
But!
She had not lost yet! She had not lost!!!
The Grail would belong to the Red Faction. To her Master. For that purpose, she would sacrifice anything—even her life!
"Don't get carried away with yourself, Saber!!"
Semiramis's face twisted in rage as she shouted at the puppet-woman before her. She leapt into the air, stepping upon conjured mana stairs, gathering thick azure light into her one remaining hand. Her wounds gushed blood without pause, but she cared nothing for them now. Even if she died today, she would drag her foe down with her!!
Vmmm~!
With her right hand she swung downward!
A massive magic circle materialized, accumulating dense motes of energy before—
Bang! A torrent of condensed magical energy, dozens of meters wide, fired toward the Shogun.
In response, the Shogun spread her innate shield of Electro, clashing against the attack. Then, seizing the moment, one of the puppet arms cleaved down.
The blade's arc split space into shards, scattering the torrent into nothing.
"!"
"Overflow… appear!"
Semiramis did not relent. Chanting, she summoned several massive magic circles, from which poured all manner of venomous creatures: serpents, scorpions, centipedes, and spiders—each one enormous enough to make the skin crawl.
Not stopping there, she cast countless more circles in the skies above, each swelling with dense mana. From them, beams of light readied to converge upon the Shogun.
This grand-scale summoning devoured her mana. Her wounds screamed in pain. But she had abandoned restraint—this was her last strike! Her final act!
Though her power waned, though she was a bow stretched past its limit, she still howled:
"I… the Empress of Assyria, will never be defeated by a woman like you!!!"
Gone was her former arrogance and languid poise. Now only shrill hysteria and twisted fear remained.
[Fiore, can you hear me?]
The Shogun took the chance to send her voice to the girl outside.
"Eh? Shogun! You're okay?!"
Outside, Fiore's heart raced. Hearing the faint, broken call, she frantically responded.
[I am unharmed. I will destroy the gate—withdraw from it quickly.]
"Understood!"
At once Fiore seized Caules with her mechanical arms and leapt back, distancing them from the massive gate.
The next instant—
BOOM!
A violet slash carved across the surface, and the great doors shattered like glass.
Beyond, the siblings saw the hall within—and recoiled. The vast space was crawling with colossal venomous insects, their screeches shrill and piercing. Yet all were held back by the Shogun's barrier.
"Ugh!"
Caules nearly retched at the sight. Fiore, too, paled, her brow furrowed in disgust.
But Semiramis had no mind for the broken gates. Every ounce of her focus was upon her foe. Her swarms of monstrous insects and the forest of beams all rushed at the Shogun together!
Behind the Shogun, the void opened to reveal a vast Eye of Stormy Judgment. From it extended two long puppet arms. Between them crackled gathering lightning—forming a massive Thundering Pulse. Raising the great bow, the puppet arms drew back, aiming squarely at Semiramis.
Electro particles swirled from all around, compressing into the bow's core until a colossal arrow, radiating crushing pressure, came into being.
"Die for me, Saber!!"
Semiramis threw her one hand downward, driving her horde of venomous beasts and beams all upon the Shogun.
"By the Command Seal of Black—I order you, Saber, strengthen every aspect of yourself!!"
At that instant, Fiore invoked her final Command Seal. The last magatama upon her hand vanished in light, its stored power flowing into the Shogun.
BOOM!!
Already immense, the power of Electro swelled even further. The ground quaked beneath the surging current. The air itself blurred in the thunder's distortion.
The Shogun's eyes shone with blinding violet radiance. With a single gesture, the puppet arms loosed the colossal arrow of lightning!
The arrow itself was already devastating beyond measure, and under the Command Seal's blessing, it became utterly unstoppable. It tore through every obstacle in its path—the countless venomous beasts, the dense forest of beams—all fell apart like thin paper pierced by a needle.
"You wretch!!!!"
Semiramis broke into a sweat as the arrow closed in. Instinctively, she raised her treasured shield. But… it was useless!
Her Noble Phantasm!
Her vaunted defense!
Shattered in less than a second, as though it were no more than flimsy parchment. The barrier disintegrated the instant the arrow struck.
The gale whipped her hair wildly, searing her cheeks. She felt it—the wind of death, thunder's judgment bearing down upon her like the verdict of a god.
"This… impossible!!! N—!!!!"
BOOOOM!!!
A storm of annihilation swallowed the throne. A deafening explosion tore through the chamber. Violet light surged upward, shockwaves spiraling into a vortex like a black hole, devouring all debris around it. Seconds later, silence returned.
What remained of the once-grand throne was a few ruined steps. Upon them lay Semiramis, her body ravaged beyond recognition, staring blankly upward at the ceiling of her garden.
Her chest bore a gaping hole, torn clean through by the arrow. Crimson blood flowed down the stair, merging into the scarlet carpet.
Tap… tap…
Footsteps approached. She had no strength left to look. She already knew who it was.
The Shogun, still in puppet form, descended to the ground. Her clear violet eyes looked down upon the fallen woman, reflecting her pitiful state.
"…You have lost."
The words left her lips—simple fact, nothing more.
"I… the Empress of Assyria… to be defeated by a woman like you…"
Semiramis slowly turned her head, straining to see the puppet's slender ankle above its high-heeled sandal. With trembling effort, she raised her hand, reaching to clutch it.
"..."
The Shogun quietly stepped back, letting her grasp only empty air.
Plop…
Her hand fell limp to the ground, motionless.
The Empress of Assyria no longer breathed. Eyes wide open, she died unyielding, unblinking, her gaze hollow.
The Shogun crouched, gently closing the woman's eyes. Then she rose, turned her back, and walked away from the throne that had perished with its mistress. Behind her, the corpse dissolved into azure motes, vanishing into the air along with the swarms of venomous beasts.
Two days remained until the end of it all. And Black's Saber had emerged victorious!!