Part 227: Circuit Overload

Video: Lightning Swordsman (mirror)

Music: Lightning Swordsman







Saber has yet to be able to close in on her enemy that freely swings his longsword.







"!"
She bites her lip.



She cannot waste any time.
She surpasses him in power.
She can overpower him if she uses her magical energy and her sword as a shield.
Just one blow.
She can overpower him if she can withstand just one blow.

It can be her arm or leg.
If she does not allow the wound to slow her, there will be no second attack.
She can surely slash Assassin after she receives his blow.



But…
If the attack is to come for her neck, she cannot overpower him.
All of this Servant's attacks are of that kind.
All are meant to take her life.
Retreat is the only defense against them.
She cannot move forward because of the enemy's technique, and the geographical disadvantage does not allow her to move to either side.



She must reach the temple alive.
The two are fighting Gilgamesh even at this moment.

They might die if she is late.
No, in the worst casethey are already…
"Kuhahhhhhh……!"



She runs.
She rushes upward, yelling as if to deny the ominous thought.







"Hm."
For some reason, Assassin swings his sword not at the charging Saber, but at the swinging sword.



"…Impressive. As expected from Saber's sword. I thought it would be able to take a few blows, but it was bent after just one…!"
Sparks fly off.
The swords try to push each other away.



"Assassin blocked my sword…?"
Assassin's sword is fragile.
It is a good sword that can even cut steel, but it is made by a human. It cannot even be compared to her sword that is not made by men.
His longsword would be pulverized if he used his power to strike back at the oncoming attack.
That is why Assassin has parried the attacks and pushed back Saber by attacking her body instead of her sword until now.



But Assassin blocked this attack.
Assassin's sword cannot block Saber's attack no matter how strong he is.
The longsword that blocked Saber's attack is bent.
There's no way it's as sharp as it was before.





'I can beat him? Can I beat him without a scratch…?'
Saber asks herself while she pushes back Assassin's longsword.
That question becomes an opening.
There is a reason why Assassin blocked her sword.
She is standing in that position before she realizes it.

Music: Stop

"……!"
Their positions are different.
They are now standing on the same level.
Before she realizes it, Saber has been forced to fight sideways.



""
A chill runs up her back.





Music: Footsteps of Destruction

"Assassin, you…!"
Saber stops pushing.
She can push him back.
She can push Assassin back with her strength, then follow up with a finishing blow or run up to the mountain gate.

Butit will be the same either way.
"That" attack will come the instant she pushes him away.
It will end once he executes his technique. It does not matter if she runs up to him or if she turns her back and runs up the mountain.
So she cannot push him.
She can only loosen up and match Assassin's push.

"Are you sure you want to relax like that? I can push you back now."
Assassin stares at Saber in satisfaction.
There is no inhumane emotion there.
The swordsman is just fascinated by her eyes, trying to find some way out of this hopeless situation.

"……! So this is why you damaged your own weapon…!?"
"Of course. I wanted to put an end to the match.
I thought this would bring out the Saber I saw previously. Do not think about what comes after this battle while we are still fighting."
""
She gasps.
Assassin's words are not to insult her, but

Video: Releasing the Seal (mirror)



"……!?"
The compound is burning.
Sounds of swords clashing and breaking.
It is the sound of battle between Gilgamesh and Emiya Shirou.



"Hm. It seems the banquet is at its peak. This is no time for you to be staying here."



"Assassin!"





She puts power into her arms.
She puts magical energy into her sword to push her enemy back.
…But she cannot do it.
She will die once she does so.
She will fall into Assassin's trap once she gets away from him.

"Ku"
She grits her teeth in frustration.
She puts magical energy into her sword without a plan.
Then…

Music: Stop





"Why the hesitation? There is only one thing for us to do."
The swordsman's voice is clear.

"……Assassin?"



"From the very beginning, we were only summoned to fulfill our roles.
As I protect this gate, you have something to protect as well.
Then there is nothing to think about.
And Saber. You are not the only one who is in a hurry."



"I apologize for my impoliteness. We certainly do not have time."
She releases the magical energy in her sword.

"Nu……!?"
The merciless force pushes Assassin back.
He slides back about two meters.
Saber does not move, even though she is within Assassin's best range.
She does not run up to the mountain gate nor does she charge at Assassin.









She releases the seal.
Showing her sword, Saber confronts Assassin.
There is no hesitation in her eyes.
She will use all her powers if need be.
Her eyes state that she will use all her strength to defeat the enemy in front of her.





There is nothing to talk about now.
The fictional swordsman readies his sword.



"Let us."
He greets his greatest enemy with his strongest technique.



Music: Wandering Shadow



"Geez, this is too disgusting…!"
She grumbles as she breathes hard.
Every step brings a chill as if she's treading on piles of insects.
If she stops moving, the taint on her skin begins to solidify and consume her.



So she's getting used to this work now.
She is so tense that she'll stop moving once she stops treating this as work. But at least there is no mental damage this way.



"……Ha, haa, ah"
But she cannot endure it with just willpower.
Her temperature rises with each step.
The meat on her legs attacks her nerves instantly. Even if she flings it off, the poison has already entered her system.





A normal person would stop moving after two steps and would fall into the sea of decay.
She does not know what would happen after that.
She doesn't even want to consider whether she would be suffocated or absorbed into the poisoned flesh.
Her mind is too overcome with heat even to think about it.

"Guhman"
She braces her staggering feet and keeps moving forward.
…Rin did not enter the pool of mud without a plan.
She swallowed two jewels and is using all of the magical energy she saved up to defend herself.
If this curse is a crystallization of pure magical energy, she should be able to repel it with strong magical energy of her own



"Kuthis is… bad"
…Her vision wavers.
Her guess was right, but her scale was off.
The swallowed jewels are as good as a paper shield against the curse.
This is not something a human can fight against.
No human can ward off this curse.
…In here…
One's belief in oneself is the only support of their life.

"Ahgugeez… Jumping into a sea of fire is colder than this."
With her jewels' protection, jumping into a sea of fire would be no problem.
As soon as she complains…





"!"
She gets angry at herself and sets her mind straight.

It's not true.
She cannot be complaining.
She concentrates on the sounds behind her.
…She cannot see the two anymore.
She doesn't know if Shirou moved the battleground away or if he's just cornered.
Either way, it seems the fight has gone to the compound.

"Just a bit more. I'll finish this quickly, so…"
She runs.
It's only as fast as walking, but she frantically moves her feet.
She pushes her way through the tainted meat.
Her breathing ragged, she reaches out.



She climbs up.





She can feel the mountain of meat.

Nasu must still be in porn writing mode.



"……? Wait… could this be…?"
She puts her finger on the red ground.
…It is the same as the black mud, but it has form.
It is something that should not exist in this worldsomething that came out of the Holy Grail and took form using magical energy.

"…Servants… This is exactly like the Servants…"
She murmurs in blank amazement.
…She tries to think what this could mean, but then stops herself.
This isn't the time.
There is only one thing she must do right now.



"Found him."
Within it all…
Matou Shinji is there, hidden amongst the flesh.

Video: Faker (mirror)

Music: The Golden King









"Ku……!!!!"
I throw away the destroyed sword and prepare for the next attack.
"Ha, haa, ha"
I catch my breath in an instant.
I can't project with ragged breath, and I'll just be skewered if I don't have a weapon.

"Haa, guh!"



This battle is not a battle against him.
This is a battle against my body.
I will die once the speed and precision of my projection go down.





"Hahthere is no time to rest!"
"……!"
In reponse to his voice, a straight sword points at me.
The loaded Noble Phantasm is released at fatal speed



"Trace…!"





"What is wrong? Your quality is going down. You cannot even call it a replica if it will break in one blow."

…He laughs.
He's obviously enjoying this.
There's no way for me to defend myself if he releases all of the Noble Phantasms behind him.
But he releases them one by one, as if to test how much I can take.



I can only imitate the shape.
I can't construct the ability inside of it, so it gets destroyed with one blow.



Two. I'll at least need two weapons.
But I'm having trouble projecting one weapon, so it's impossible for me to project two at once…!



He must have liked seeing me roll around, as he looks delighted.

"Haa."
…I catch my breath.
It's fine as long as he's enjoying this.
There's still a chance for me to win











"Possession experience, sympathy complete."
I swallow it and continue with the process.
Kanshou and Bakuya cannot block his Noble Phantasms.
Archer should be able to with his technique, but I don't have that much skill.

There's only one way for me to block the Noble Phantasms.
I need to offset them with the same exact ones!







…But the circuit to channel it is about to break.
The end is near.





When he gets serious, I have to project the same number of Noble Phantasms as him to stay alive.
But my body will die if I project that many.





"Oh. You made a lot this time. 10, 15, 17… I see. You reproduced all the Noble Phantasms you can see."
"What?"

"Do not take me lightly. What sort of hero would I be if I could not see through a magus? I can easily tell how many spells you are working on."
""

His words are unexpected.
The king of heroes that possesses thousands of Noble Phantasms can figure out my magic just by looking at me?

Video: Sword Bullets (mirror)



"Then let me grade them.
WellI will not allow any one of them to stay in this world, no matter how good they may be."
Gilgamesh raises his hand.















"Ahga……!!!!"



I can't block all of them.
Even if I project seventeen Noble Phantasms, I can only give form to them one at a time.
Even if I can form them in succession, I am no match for him as he can release all of them at once!



I hear him laughing behind the swords.
Twelve more enemy Noble Phantasms!

"But you sure are foolish.
You know you cannot beat me, so you try to regain the Holy Grail. That decision is correct. You are not even a match for me."



"!"
My fingertips are burning.
The magical energy I emit and the heat from the crashing Noble Phantasms burn my fingertips mercilessly.
Seven more Noble Phantasms!

"But then, why not just kill Shinji?
It is a sure way to stop the Holy Grail. I am sure you two had a way to kill him without going across that mud.

He has a point.

Heh. Such hypocrisy to try to save him. As expected from a lowlife!"





…It's burning out.
My circuit is completely burning off.



I don't have enough. I can't match this man with this small circuit!





Does that mean…
I'm making a mistake?



Music: Stop





Video: Unreadable (mirror)





"You said you will save the girl, right?"
He laughs while the sword roars.
I eliminate the three remaining blueprints in my circuit and concentrate on reading his sword.







"Then show me. Show me what you can save with your imitations!"













A storm of chaos.
The wind emitted from his sword even blows away his own Noble Phantasms as it comes at me.