At this moment, no one had time to mourn the loss of a Servant. No one even noticed the sudden change in Irisviel's body—except Emiya Kiritsugu. Because the pitch-black hole had grown even bigger. Out of it came a huge body, plunging into the Mion River and splashing up towering waves. In one bite, it swallowed Gilles de Rais whole.
The giant octopus had appeared.
The Servants fighting the tentacles nearby were all caught in the blast.
King Arthur showed no fear. She released the Wind King's barrier again, blowing away the massive waves.
Alexander the Great's ox cart sent out a giant lightning strike, then dashed forward at top speed, piercing straight through the waves.
Lancelot rushed back at once, putting himself right in front of Tia as a shield.
The giant waves came crashing down, but Lancelot stood firm. With both hands gripping Arondight, driven deep into the ground, his eyes stayed locked on the front.
Tia was touched, her gaze falling on Arondight. Some thoughts suddenly came to her.
"Not yet, Tia, wait a little longer. The true form of the god hasn't appeared yet. This giant octopus is just a shadow. Its real body hasn't arrived."
Tia suddenly heard Senji Muramasa's voice and couldn't help but ask in her heart.
But if I forge him a weapon, wouldn't that make it easier for him to cut down this shadow?
"A mere shadow like this, the Knight of the Lake can take it out with just one Noble Phantasm."
But I want to keep him here! If he uses his Noble Phantasm, he'll disappear like Diarmuid!
"Tia, if you hand over a forged Holy Sword to him now, then the moment he touches it, it will no longer belong to you. If he disappears, the sword you forged will vanish too. And once I disappear as well, you'll never get another chance to forge the Holy Sword."
Not necessarily. What if he doesn't disappear?
That's right. The thought suddenly struck Tia: if she gave Lancelot a Holy Sword forged with Senji Muramasa's power, maybe it would force a bond between them, letting him stay.
It was just her own sudden idea, with no proof at all, and nothing like it had ever happened before. Still, Tia did have something to compare it to. Senji Muramasa didn't think it was possible, but Tia thought—what if it really worked?
After all, in the Fifth Holy Grail War, weren't there Servants who managed to remain even after the war ended? In a way, maybe it was something similar.
And to be honest, Tia had a bit of a selfish reason too. She couldn't help looking forward to the day Lancelot met Gray.
Gray—the grave keeper of King Arthur, and Waver's future student.
"Tia… you seem to know the future?"
Huh? Ah… well… yes. I once saw the future, and ever since then I've been doing everything I can to stop those tragic futures from happening. Sadly, I can't see it anymore, so I don't know what will happen in the futures I've already changed.
"I see. So you've changed the future. I never thought my descendant would be this remarkable. But… with you changing the future, aren't you afraid of being…"
Before Senji Muramasa could finish, the giant octopus lashed out another tentacle. Tia, still standing there talking with him, looked like she was spacing out to everyone else.
After shielding her from that giant wave earlier, Lancelot had charged ahead to slash at the octopus, alongside King Arthur and Alexander the Great.
But when he saw Tia about to be struck by the tentacle, he rushed back at once, shouting, "Master! Watch out!"
Then, with a single swing, he cut the tentacle clean through.
"What?" Tia snapped out of her talk with Senji Muramasa and jumped in shock. "What the hell!"
She looked at Lancelot beside her, still a bit shaken. "Lance, thanks~"
"Master! This is no time to forge Noble Phantasms. Get away from here now!"
Tia nodded.
Senji Muramasa didn't warn Tia because he had already seen Lancelot coming over, but the last part of his sentence was cut off by Lancelot's loud shout, so Tia didn't hear it. It was that shout that snapped her out of it and made her realize Lancelot had saved her again.
"Sigh… I hope you don't regret what you decided today."
Regret? Why would I regret keeping Lancelot here? And what did you say just now? I didn't catch it.
"If you didn't hear it, then forget it. Just do what you want to do."
Tia pouted, feeling like Senji Muramasa knew something but wasn't saying.
Fine, if he won't say it, then whatever. No matter how much the future changes, it won't stop me from avoiding those tragedies, because I know who they'll happen to.
At that moment, Gilgamesh, who had been watching from above, finally moved.
"What a boring show. Just a mere divine projection, not even worth my effort. But… that blacksmith is quite interesting. Seems like… something strange happened," Gilgamesh said as he piloted Vimana closer to Tia.
But getting closer to Tia meant entering the range of the tentacle attacks, not that Gilgamesh cared. Vimana automatically launched attacks at the tentacles.
"Blacksmith, what else are you hiding?" Gilgamesh sat on Vimana, looking down at Tia with pride as he spoke.
Tia froze, suddenly realizing Gilgamesh might have already figured it out.
But when facing Gilgamesh, Tia felt pressured. She couldn't bring herself to act all formal and submissive—she was a modern person used to equal conversations, and she wasn't a hardcore Gil fan either, so she had no idea how to talk to him normally.
Then, all of a sudden, Tia felt something strange happen. Her whole body seemed out of control. Her facial expression, her movements—none of it was hers anymore.
She could still see, but that was all.
"Gilgamesh, King of Heroes, this old man is nothing but a humble blacksmith, sent here by the will to slay gods in this Holy Grail War. It just so happens that one of the Masters this time is my descendant, so naturally, I took over her body."
Senji Muramasa appeared and spoke to Gilgamesh in Tia's place.
"So you really are the God-Slayer, and a blacksmith-class Servant at that. Then why haven't you gone to kill that filth?" Gilgamesh's tone shifted, speaking seriously to Senji Muramasa.
"That's not the true god. The real body hasn't come yet. It's not time for me to act. These illusions—those famous Servants here can handle them. Honestly, if we're talking pure fighting power, I might not even be stronger than them. It's just that I was given a special god-slaying ability as part of my mission."
(End of The Chapter)
----
You can read 30 chapters ahead on patre on
patr eon.com/JYouyi
Pssst, Free tiers can read 2 chapters in advance