As Arthur and Karna clashed in their titanic battle, another brutal confrontation was unfolding nearby.
Mordred, Clarent in hand, advanced like a storm incarnate. Each strike she delivered made the ground tremble; each roar that escaped her throat carried the fierce pride of the rebellious daughter of the King of Knights.
Before her stood Achilles, the swiftest warrior of Greece, a hero forged to be invincible. He moved with a lightness that was nearly impossible to track, the spear in his hands spinning as if it were an extension of his body. When Mordred struck with raw power, Achilles responded with precision and speed, turning each assault into a spectacle of superhuman reflexes.
Clarent swung in a deadly arc. Clang! Achilles' spear intercepted it.
Mordred spun and struck again, but the Greek hero had already shifted—her blow hitting only air.
She roared, frustrated, striking again, but Achilles was already behind her, forcing her to retreat instinctively.
"Damn it…!" she spat, teeth clenched.
At that moment, an arrow whistled through the air, forcing Mordred to raise Clarent to deflect it. The thunderous impact rang out as Atalanta's divine arrow struck the ground, scattering sparks of golden light around.
"Tch!" Mordred hissed, eyes narrowing toward the hunter.
Atalanta stood her ground, unyielding. Even after releasing her Noble Phantasm, she continued firing ordinary arrows, each imbued with lethal precision. Individually, they were insufficient to fell Mordred, but they forced the rebellious knight to split her focus between Achilles and the relentless rain of projectiles.
It proved to be a greater challenge than Mordred had anticipated.
Achilles exploited every opening. When Mordred raised Clarent to block an arrow, he lunged with his spear. When she twisted to evade, he was already repositioned, pressing her relentlessly.
"Well done, miss!" he called amid the clashing metal, eyes never leaving his opponent. "Keep covering me!"
Mordred roared in reply, smiling.
"You really need two against one to face me!?"
Achilles' eyes gleamed with a cold light.
"If you were weak, Mordred, I wouldn't need her help. But don't lecture me on honor while you fight like a wild beast yourself."
Mordred retaliated with a vertical strike that split the ground in two. Achilles spun in midair, his spear tracing a silver arc that barely deflected her blow. Before she could recover, Atalanta's arrow struck the side of her armor, staggering her.
It was only a scratch, but enough to create an opening.
Achilles didn't hesitate. He lunged straight ahead, lightning fast, his spear striking Clarent with devastating force. The impact sent a shockwave, scattering debris in all directions.
Mordred was pushed back several meters, dragging her feet along the ground, yet she maintained her stance. Her eyes still burned with excitement, a defiant smile forming between clenched teeth.
"Is that all you've got?!" she shouted, panting yet resolute. "I will crush you both!"
Atalanta nocked another arrow, green eyes fixed on Mordred as she fired again.
Achilles spun his spear and advanced once more, confident that with the hunter at his side, this battle was far from over, and together, they could gradually suppress the power of the daughter of the King of Knights.
The ruined hall seemed incapable of enduring another second of this fight.
---
Arthur and Karna continued their duel, weapons colliding at a pace that no ordinary human could sustain.
Each impact generated shockwaves that shattered what remained of the walls, while the floor had become nothing more than a field of smoking craters.
Arthur's smile was amused. The swords in his hands gleamed as he exchanged blows with Karna, behind him new weapons forming in a whirlwind, ready to strike.
Karna, in turn, remained serene amidst the chaos. His body enveloped in flames, he showed no sign of fatigue; each step he took made the air crackle, each spin of his spear accompanied by a flash of fire. He faced not only Arthur but the entire arsenal at his disposal—and still, he was unshakable.
The weapons collided in succession, a storm of golden sparks against scarlet embers. The sound was deafening, yet amidst the inferno, both warriors smiled, like fighters who had finally found a worthy opponent.
The air itself burned between them. Every breath seemed to ignite the already-devastated battlefield.
Arthur suddenly halted his advance, his ruby eyes gleaming as if they held the dawn and dusk at once. With a serene smile, he spoke to Karna:
"Shall we finish this now, Karna?"
The hero landed lightly on the ground.
Karna bowed his head slightly, smiling calmly.
"Very well. Let us end this fight."
Arthur extended his hand. The two swords he wielded dissolved into points of golden light, returning to the Gate of Babylon. In that instant, a singular weapon emerged—something no sane person would normally call a sword.
EA.
The Sword of Rupture.
Silence hung heavily in the air. Even the echoes of Mordred's battlefield seemed to fade as Arthur raised the weapon. The triple cylinders of the blade began to spin slowly, each movement reverberating with a primordial roar, as if the cosmos itself awakened within it.
Arthur chanted in a light, resonant voice, as though demanding all to hear:
"I shall tell you the beginning."
"Heaven and Earth divided, the void praised creation…"
"My Sword of Rupture cleaved the world!"
With each word, EA vibrated more intensely, as if absorbing the very essence of existence. The surrounding space warped, the air trembled, and reality itself seemed on the verge of tearing.
"Mortar of the stars, the celestial inferno heralds creation's celebration."
"Now you shall die and fall silent…"
The cylinders spun in every direction, producing a sound that seemed not of this world.
Across from him, Karna raised his arm in defiance. His stance conveyed acceptance, but not surrender. His voice rang out solemnly:
"I expected nothing less from the one known as the King of Heroes…"
"Brahma, guide me… This is my final battle!"
His flaming spear ascended to the heavens, divine power accumulating until the entire space was engulfed in golden and red light.
At the same time, his armor seemed to burn and vanish from his body.
"Once again, feel my Noble Phantasm!"
"This spear has feasted on my armor and yet hungers…"
"Satisfy your hunger with this single strike!"
The air burned around Karna.
Karna roared:
"VASAVI SHAKTI!!"
At the same moment, Arthur shouted with authority, swinging EA at Karna as if delivering the final judgment:
"ENUMA ELISH!!"
The two forces collided.
It was as if the universe itself had split in two.
The explosion was not merely light and sound—it was cataclysm.
The ground shattered, the walls of the floating fortress broke into cascades of stone and metal. A wave of destruction expanded in all directions, as if the heavens themselves had fallen.
Even in its apocalyptic glory, Vasavi Shakti, a weapon capable of anti-god destruction, was consumed. EA, the sword that ruptures existence itself, overpowered it with inevitable brutality, opening a rift of energy that surged against everything in its path.
From afar, Jeanne, still fighting, witnessed the expanding shockwave. Even hundreds of meters away, her knees trembled. The banner was raised in her hands, resolve clear in her heart: she would unleash her Noble Phantasm, no matter the cost.
"If I don't… we will all be swept away!"
But before she could act, Arthur appeared before her in a flash of golden light, carrying an unconscious Mordred over his shoulder.
"Let's get out of here now!" Arthur murmured, his voice deeper than ever. "I got a bit carried away—if you stay here, you'll die."
Without waiting for a reply, Arthur grabbed Jeanne and Chiron simultaneously and immediately dashed off. Within seconds, he was flying away from the floating fortress, leaving the epicenter of destruction behind.
Meanwhile, the remaining Servants recognized the danger. The location was too close to the Holy Grail. If the wave of destruction reached the Greater Grail, all would be lost.
Shiro Amakusa raised his voice desperately, brandishing his hand with the Command Seal.
"With this Command Seal, I order you! Heroic Spirit Achilles! Release your Noble Phantasm at full power and protect the Greater Grail!"
"Understood!" the warrior's voice echoed firmly.
Though still injured from fighting Mordred, Achilles appeared instantly with his chariot, Atalanta aboard. Blessed by the Command Seal, he surged toward the Holy Grail, roaring:
"Akhilleus Kosmos!!"
Achilles' closed world expanded like an indestructible dome, enveloping the Holy Grail in absolute protection.
Arthur and Karna's apocalypse collided against this barrier, shaking the entire space.
---
A/N: Maybe I made this chapter a bit too grandiose?
"Hmph. If you really want to be useful, then entertain me, try to throw those pathetic power stones at me. Let's see if even your insolence can amuse a king."