Lord El-Melloi II watched the tens of thousands of troops surrounding them, a quiet swell of emotion rising in his chest.
To think… I'd see a scene like this again.
But this time, I can help him, too…
"Ionioi Hetairoi, is it?"
In her black robe, Ophis swept her gaze across the desert plain of the Reality Marble.
"So this is a world sustained by Iskandar together with his soldiers… then yes. It is different."
On one side stood an army of tens of thousands—an entire host of Heroic Spirits, with many heroes among them. On the other stood a single girl, alone and upright. The contrast was stark.
And yet the girl did not so much as flinch.
"Everyone, listen—her Ea can break through a Reality Marble! Don't let her get the chance to use it!"
Seeing Ophis's calm, dismissive expression, Lord El-Melloi suddenly remembered something and barked the warning through clenched teeth.
BOOM!!!
The instant the words left his mouth, a crimson spear and two arrows shot out together, slamming into Ophis and detonating with the force of a nuclear blast.
"I'll handle cover fire. The red one is Mr. Emiya, right? Want to do it together?"
Lowering his bow, Archer EMIYA stared at Ophis—still completely unscathed—and shook his head.
"No. I have another assignment."
"Is that so? Can't be helped—then I'll take this side."
Arash said it with a smile as warm as the older brother next door.
"Hmph. If I'm leaving my back to you, that's reassuring."
The corner of EMIYA's mouth lifted. Prana flared around him as he sprinted toward Ophis, twin blades in hand.
But someone was faster than even him—a purple afterimage.
The purple-haired girl with twin spears came for Ophis in a straight line. Ophis didn't move, as if she had no intention of responding at all.
Then, in the next instant, the Dragon-Serpent girl's gaze wavered. Her brow lifted slightly—and a violent surge of prana erupted as she sprang backward, narrowly avoiding the purple-haired girl's strike.
Watching it all, Lord El-Melloi let out a smile of pure relief.
His theory was right.
Before Ionioi Hetairoi was deployed, they had activated Unreturning Formation—a space of chaotic, layered structure that carried an "other-space" aspect—back in the original world. Then, within that formation, they had unfolded the Reality Marble.
Based on data Dr. Romani had gathered, whenever Ophis used that phasing ability, her existence vanished abruptly—meaning her true self was likely slipping somewhere else.
If it was an inherent pocket space like the Gate of Babylon, Lord El-Melloi would have no way to deal with it. But if it was something like "outside the world"…
Then "outside the world" of a Reality Marble was simply the place that existed before it was deployed.
In other words, if they set that "outside" to be the maddening, twisted space structure of Unreturning Formation, then even Ophis would be affected.
And now, it seemed Lord El-Melloi's strategy and prediction were correct.
If this were Ophis's true self, she could ignore it all and throw herself into the real outside of the world. But this Servant body could only simulate that ability—it couldn't reach such absolute tyranny.
Maintaining a projection inside this Reality Marble while also being trapped within the chaotic bounded field of Unreturning Formation was simply too much strain.
Of course, she could force her way out of the Reality Marble first, then leave the Formation and return to reality as if nothing happened, but—
That wouldn't be fun, would it?
"Excellent. Excellent. To devise such a method of breaking it… it is acceptable. Consider it a reward, for now."
A spark of exhilaration stirred in Ophis, and she chose to remain in this world.
My phasing… one second, at most? Fine. That's enough.
"Now isn't the time to get distracted."
The purple-haired girl—Scáthach, Queen of the Land of Shadows—didn't let up just because Ophis retreated. Twin spears in hand, she pressed in.
Clang—
A strange, black longsword caught the crimson spear's thrust.
"Oh?"
Seeing Ophis take up twin blades, Scáthach smiled with proud amusement.
"You intend to contest skill with me?"
"It is true. I do not like fighting people this way."
Ophis answered with a placid smile.
For a "power-saving" girl who wouldn't move a whole hand if a finger could solve it, a battle that demanded the whole body was, indeed, a nuisance.
But it was only that—dislike.
Even before, Ophis had possessed close-range ability enough to contend with the divine armament Enkidu. And now…
"But I am an all-powerful king. A bit of martial skill is nothing."
Martial skill was a technique distinct from both technology and mystery—passed down since the Age of Gods, never erased by the decline of mystery or the rise of science. It could harmonize with both, and when honed to its limit, it could even kill gods.
But if it was "mere" physical technique—devoid of any deeper principle or occult strangeness—then to Ophis it was simply muscle movements and weapon combinations.
Yes.
The instant it was displayed before her, Sha Naqba Imuru could analyze it completely.
Steel rang as blades crossed. Scáthach's eyes widened—there was her own shadow in Ophis's movements.
"How interesting. If I could take you as my disciple, it would be quite something. A shame that, for now, we can only speak with blades."
A feral smile split Scáthach's face as her spears became a storm, crashing down on Ophis.
"The enemy is the King of Heroes, unmatched by ten thousand men—and the ones fighting at my side are heroes worthy of being etched into history. Each and every one is more than qualified. Our allies have pinned the enemy's feet; now, charge, my army! Show the world our tyranny!"
"Ohhhhh!!"
Seeing Scáthach thoroughly lock Ophis down and deny her any opening to unleash the Gate of Babylon, Iskandar raised his sword and led his army in a full charge.
In the middle of clashing with Scáthach, Ophis flicked Enki, Swords of the End backward to block Artoria's slash. In the next instant she became a shadow, slipping away from incoming arrows—then appeared behind Gawain and brought her blade down hard, only to be stopped. She phased out again at once, evading Lancelot's strike by a hair.
Landing back on the sand, she fired a quick round of Noble Phantasms to buy herself a sliver of space—and for once, Ophis frowned.
With her phasing partially sealed, and so many fighters swarming her at once, it was… troublesome.
In that case—she would use that.
"LET MY BODY BE ENTRUSTED TO YOU, AND MY FATE TO YOUR SWORD."
She dodged Arash's pursuing arrows and began to chant softly.
"What—?!" Artoria, close at her side, felt a chill spike through her.
"Don't let her finish!"
But it was too late.
"COME FORTH FROM THE WHEEL OF RESTRAING—GUARDIAN OF THE SCALES."
A violent surge of magical energy erupted. Sand and dust blasted skyward, forcing the Heroic Spirits back several steps. Even Iskandar made his army halt for an instant.
"This can't be…"
From afar, where Mash and Lily guarded her as she watched, Ritsuka heard Dr. Romani's shaken murmur.
High above the Reality Marble, the phantom silhouette of an Ouroboros flashed past—then dove straight into Ophis's position.
Long before this, Ophis had fully analyzed the Holy Grail's system and modified it. As long as she paid enough magical energy, she could use the Grail's power to summon Heroic Spirits that didn't belong to this Holy Grail War.
And the one she summoned was—
The raging prana gradually subsided. Ophis stepped out of the sandstorm alone, looking—at a glance—unchanged.
But Dr. Romani's voice trembled.
"This is… the King of Heroes—the King of Heroes' Saint Graph composition is changing—no, it's expanding!"
"What's happening, Romani?!" Lord El-Melloi demanded, teeth clenched.
"I—this is either a possession summoning targeting herself, or something like a re-summoning of the Saint Graph… in any case, that King of Heroes has performed a second summon of herself on top of her original Saint Graph, and the Saint Graph has changed. She now has both the Archer and Caster Classes—and on top of that, a Saint Graph that has unquestionably reached the level of a Divine Spirit!"
"So that means…"
Staring at Ophis as her eyes slowly opened, Ritsuka whispered.
"The King of Heroes from before was only one facet of her. This is the form closest to her true self… which means this enemy is the real King of Heroes—Ophis!"
With a shaking voice, Dr. Romani gave them the answer.
---
T/N: LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO not even close, its just anoither % anyway
uhhhhhhhhh uhhhhh thinking right right, they triggered the second phase because of their cheating smh, didnt even lower the boss's hp but already second phase
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