"Flourish, Benishidare!" (Red Weeping Branches)
Aiming the Zanpakutō at Diarmuid, Ailin called out its true name, unleashing its Shikai.
As Ailin called out, the Zanpakutō shimmered with a pink light, and vibrant blossoms bloomed along its blade.
At first glance, such a Zanpakutō seemed to lack any offensive power.
However, Benishidare's ability was considered quite exceptional, even among lieutenant-level Zanpakutō.
Benishidare's ability was categorized as a wind-type.
Upon release, Benishidare released a large quantity of pollen.
This pollen was harmless to humans.
However, this pollen could adhere to an enemy's weapon, absorbing spiritual pressure and blooming, making the weapon covered in blossoms, and losing its basic attack ability as a weapon.
This was another form of "disarmament."
As the pink pollen drifted, Diarmuid, struggling to cope with the barrage of weapons from Ailin's Unlimited Blade Works, had no spare attention to deal with the pollen.
Furthermore, Diarmuid's "Instinct" didn't sense any danger from the pollen.
However, just because Diarmuid didn't sense danger didn't mean his Noble Phantasms didn't.
Pink petals began to bloom on Diarmuid's two spears.
By the time Diarmuid noticed, half of his longer spear was already covered in blossoms.
"Not good!"
Although Diarmuid didn't yet know the effect of these petals, he knew Berserker wouldn't do anything pointless.
Immediately, Diarmuid evaded several incoming Zanpakutō and swiped his yellow spear, Gáe Buidhe, across his red spear, Gáe Dearg.
Sizzle!
Gáe Buidhe, the "Yellow Rose of Mortality," possessed the ability to "nullify all magecraft," rendering any effect caused by magical energy ineffective.
Under Gáe Buidhe's power, the pollen covering Gáe Dearg was instantly cleared.
However, as the saying goes, a doctor cannot heal himself.
While Gáe Buidhe could dispel the effect on Gáe Dearg, it couldn't dispel the effect on itself.
Soon, Diarmuid's Gáe Buidhe had completely transformed into a ceremonial staff covered in blossoms.
Boom!
When Diarmuid used the ceremonial staff that Gáe Buidhe had become to block an incoming Zanpakutō, it was immediately sent flying, spinning through the air before embedding itself in the ground.
Fortunately, even with only his shorter spear remaining, Diarmuid wielded it with impeccable skill.
And because he now wielded the spear with both hands instead of one, his strength had actually increased.
Previously, the Zanpakutō could force him back, but now, they could only impede his advance towards Ailin.
However, while Diarmuid couldn't advance towards Ailin, Ailin casually strolled towards Diarmuid.
As he approached, whenever he encountered a Zanpakutō embedded in the ground, Ailin would pull it free and unleash its ability, attacking Diarmuid.
Dotonbo's rising stone pillars, Daijimaru's swirling sandstorms, Hōzukimaru's spinning blades, Hōzanryū's gusts of wind…
It was only because Diarmuid had been empowered by Kayneth's Command Spell, significantly boosting his strength.
Otherwise, under the barrage of Ailin's Zanpakutō abilities, Diarmuid would likely have been pierced and slain long ago.
Even so, Diarmuid struggled to defend himself.
He had no idea what ability Ailin's next drawn Zanpakutō would unleash.
Moreover, as time passed, the enhancement from the Command Spell began to fade.
Without the Command Spell's boost, Diarmuid found it even more difficult to defend against the weapons hurled from Ailin's Unlimited Blade Works.
Often, Diarmuid was forced to accept minor injuries to avoid attacks aimed at his vital points.
…
Inside the villa, Kayneth's eyes blazed with anger.
That damned Berserker's Master was truly just letting Berserker attack him, without coming himself.
This fellow had absolutely no awareness of being a magus.
Or rather, Kayneth highly doubted whether such a fellow was even a magus.
Could it be that this fellow had that much confidence in Berserker?
Did he not fear that he would use a Command Spell to amplify Lancer, defeating and eliminating Berserker?
However, when Kayneth arrived in the courtyard and saw Diarmuid, forced onto the defensive and bearing numerous injuries, he had to admit that his opponent had drawn the strongest trump card in this Holy Grail War.
Before searching for Berserker's Master, Kayneth had used a Command Spell to empower Diarmuid, hoping he could hold out longer.
He hadn't expected that even with the Command Spell's boost, Diarmuid would be in such a sorry state within minutes.
Kayneth's expression twisted.
All of this was because of that damned fellow.
If Berserker's Master had also come, Kayneth was one hundred percent certain he could kill Berserker's Master, securing victory in this battle.
But now…
Seeing Diarmuid's desperate struggle, Kayneth, despite his disdain for Diarmuid, knew he had to rely on him this time.
If Diarmuid fell, and Berserker's Master was magnanimous, he might be spared.
But if the Master decided to be ruthless, Kayneth didn't believe he could survive Berserker's attack.
With that in mind, Kayneth raised his right hand.
The Command Spells on the back of his hand glowed crimson.
"Lancer, I command you with a Command Spell, unleash your strongest power, and defeat Berserker!"
"Lancer, I command you again with a Command Spell, unleash your strongest power, and defeat Berserker!"
Command Spells were the most crucial element of the Holy Grail War.
The Greater Grail, created by the three founding families using Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern of the Einzbern family as a vessel, could connect to the Throne of Heroes, summoning the projections of Heroic Spirits, known as Servants.
Although they were merely projections of Heroic Spirits, they undoubtedly possessed the consciousness, personalities, and methods of those Heroic Spirits at a specific point in their existence.
Each Heroic Spirit had their own personality, and upon being summoned, they might clash significantly with their Master.
This was clearly detrimental to the magi's intent to use Servants for battle.
Therefore, Makiri Zolgen created Command Spells, capable of controlling Servants.
Using Command Spells, magi could forcibly compel Servants to obey their orders.
Of course, for incompatible pairings, Command Spells were a means of threatening the Servant.
For compatible pairings, Command Spells were an enhancement for the Servant.
Expending Command Spells to issue the same order would amplify the Command Spell's binding power.
Even Kayneth could see the vast difference in strength between his Servant and Berserker.
In this situation, a single Command Spell's enhancement wouldn't be enough to significantly improve Diarmuid's situation.
Therefore, Kayneth expended both of his remaining Command Spells at once.
If he survived this, Kayneth decided he would immediately withdraw from the Holy Grail War.
This war was far too unkind to magi.
Especially since the Masters in this Holy Grail War were completely un-magus-like.
During a war, which Master would be so foolish as to let their Servant roam free?
Did he not fear being ambushed and killed by another magus while his Servant was absent?
…
"Roar!"
Empowered by Kayneth's two Command Spells, blue magical flames erupted from Diarmuid's body.
With a mighty roar, Diarmuid brandished Gáe Dearg, sending all the attacking Zanpakutō flying. He then circled around Ailin, retrieving the restored Gáe Buidhe before charging towards him.
"Such speed!"
Even Ailin was momentarily startled by Diarmuid's sudden burst of speed.
At this speed, simply hurling lieutenant-level Zanpakutō from Unlimited Blade Works wouldn't be enough to keep up with Diarmuid.
Even the throwing speed of captain-level Zanpakutō posed little threat to Diarmuid in this state.
Therefore, Ailin dispelled the dozens of blackish-red spatial ripples above him.
Against Diarmuid's now greatly enhanced speed, Ailin truly had a Zanpakutō best suited for this situation.
A new spatial ripple appeared before Ailin. He reached in and drew a Zanpakutō.
After drawing the Zanpakutō, Ailin murmured.
"Bankai—Jūryoku-tō, Fujitora!" (Gravity Blade - Wisteria Tiger)
As Ailin called out the Zanpakutō's true name, the Zanpakutō rapidly transformed, revealing its true form.
It became a wooden staff sword.
It resembled a blind man's walking stick.
This was a captain-level Zanpakutō Ailin had created based on Issho, also known as Fujitora, an admiral from the world of One Piece, incorporating the ability of Kōga Kuchiki's Zanpakutō, Muramasa.
Gently drawing the Zanpakutō from its scabbard, Ailin swept it horizontally around him.
"Gravity Blade—"
Boom!
As Ailin swung the blade, the gravity within a radius of dozens of meters around him suddenly intensified. Aside from the ground where Ailin stood, which remained untouched, the area within a twenty-meter radius around Ailin abruptly sank four or five meters, as if struck by an invisible force.
Diarmuid had been circling Ailin within this range, seeking an opening to attack.
He hadn't expected Ailin to possess such an ability.
Under the immense gravity, Diarmuid was forced to his knees, struggling to raise his head and look at Ailin.
"Damn it, I didn't expect you to have a gravity-controlling Noble Phantasm. But if you think this is enough to defeat me, you're sorely mistaken!"
Struggling against the immense gravity, Diarmuid slowly rose from the crater. Then, he channeled immense magical energy into his two spears.
"Take this, Berserker! This is my final attack, fueled by my Master and myself!"
With a roar, Diarmuid hurled his two spears at Ailin.
BOOM!
BOOM!
The two spears, carrying immense power, shot towards Ailin.
Judging by the magical energy Diarmuid had unleashed, the power of these two hurled spears exceeded the scope of a B-rank Noble Phantasm, reaching a level comparable to Iskandar's "Via Expugnatio," an A+ rank.
Of course, Diarmuid's attack wasn't at its strongest.
He had gambled everything on the abilities of his two spears.
Gáe Dearg, the "Crimson Rose of Exorcism," possessed the ability to dispel any effect caused by magical energy.
Ailin's Gravity Blade - Fujitora was indeed powerful, but if Diarmuid used Gáe Dearg to pierce the ground, he could dispel the effect of Ailin's gravity attack.
After all, Ailin hadn't yet seen Fujitora in person, so the current Gravity Blade - Fujitora's ability was mostly derived from Muramasa.
The Bankai of Gravity Blade was to integrate the ability of dozens of slashes from Muramasa into a single strike.
One swing of the blade was equivalent to dozens of slashes from Muramasa.
Facing Diarmuid's final attack, Ailin didn't evade. He raised Gravity Blade - Fujitora and swung it at the two incoming spears.
"Gravity Blade—Raging Tiger!"
"Roar!"
With Ailin's swing, the formless gravity seemed to condense into a tangible tiger, carrying immense gravitational force as it collided with Diarmuid's two hurled spears, creating a deafening roar.
Boom…
The formless gravity distorted the air, creating an abstract, twisted image between Ailin and Diarmuid.
While Gáe Buidhe and Gáe Dearg weren't distorted by the gravity, the magical energy Diarmuid had imbued in Gáe Buidhe was torn apart by the immense force.
However, Gáe Dearg, with its "magic-breaking" attribute, remained unaffected by the gravity, even though the magical energy coating its blade was torn apart by Ailin's Raging Tiger. It continued its trajectory, piercing Ailin's Raging Tiger and hurtling towards him.
But such an attack was insignificant to Ailin.
With a flick of his staff sword, Ailin deflected Gáe Dearg, sending it spinning through the air before it embedded itself in the ground.
Clang!
Gáe Dearg's fall plunged the hearts of both Diarmuid and Kayneth into an abyss.
It was too strong!
They hadn't expected that even with the power of two Command Spells, Diarmuid would be so easily defeated by Ailin.
But in truth, it was perfectly logical.
In terms of base parameters, Ailin far surpassed Diarmuid.
And in terms of Noble Phantasm ranking, Gáe Dearg and Gáe Buidhe were only B-rank Noble Phantasms.
The Zanpakutō Ailin had just used, "Gravity Blade - Fujitora," was an A-rank captain-level Zanpakutō.
The disparity in both Noble Phantasm and strength was simply too great to be bridged by two Command Spells.
Kayneth gritted his teeth.
Before participating in the Holy Grail War, he had merely considered it a line on his resume.
But he hadn't expected that, having come, he wouldn't be able to leave!