"Hehe, watch me destroy all your black slabs!"
Controlling the Hippogriff, Astolfo destroyed the black slab in front of him. Just as Astolfo was excitedly rushing to the next slab, he suddenly felt a killing intent.
He saw a Lancer in golden armor, standing directly above a certain slab, scrutinizing him. "Karna?"
"Indeed, it is I!" Standing on the slab, Karna, the incarnation of the sun, raised his spear and calmly said, "I apologize, but please fall."
"You're the one who should fall!" With a soft cry, several armaments appeared from the void, shooting towards Karna's location.
"Finally here? The Black Faction's Assassin!" Wielding his spear, Karna calmly parried each incoming armament.
But his usually calm expression now showed a hint of a smile.
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"Of course, after all, the fact that my opponent is you was confirmed long ago!" Leaping in front of Karna, Shirou, clad in silver armor and wielding a silver-white longsword, gazed solemnly at Karna.
"Atalanta has already been sent into the Hanging Gardens. I'll throw Frankenstein in later when I get the chance, and then find a way to send Jeanne in too."
"Did you hear that, Astolfo!"
"Understood!"
"What!?" Semiramis, who was also paying attention to the commotion and surprised by Shirou's appearance, instantly became astonished. Atalanta had already been sent in by the enemy? How was that possible! She hadn't detected Atalanta's presence at all!
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Just then, several magical arrows, filled with mana, traversed a great distance and instantly appeared before Semiramis.
"An attack? Atalanta?" Startled by the sudden attack, Semiramis quickly erected her Divine Scale to block Atalanta's shots. But just as she was defending, Atalanta's figure leaped from outside the Hanging Gardens, appearing before Semiramis.
"A frontal breakthrough? Where did she come from?!"
Stunned by the rapidly developing situation, even Semiramis was thrown into confusion. She never would have imagined that Shirou possessed an intrinsic spiritual outfit that allowed for invisibility. This, combined with magic that blocked magical energy detection, allowed him to launch a surprise attack on her.
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Looking at Semiramis, who was now close by, Atalanta calmly remembered Shirou's request and raised her bow, pointing it directly at the ceiling.
"Phoebus Catastrophe!"
"Damn it!" Seeing Atalanta unleashing such an anti-army Noble Phantasm in the center of her own Noble Phantasm, Semiramis roared with a furious expression.
But no matter how angry she was, she couldn't stop Atalanta's Noble Phantasm from being unleashed. The magic-filled arrow instantly pierced through the roof.
Then, it transformed into countless arrows of light in the
sky, falling throughout the Hanging Gardens and destroying the structures above! Although Semiramis created obstructions at some important locations with magical barriers, most of the Hanging Gardens were subjected to the baptism of Atalanta's Noble Phantasm.
"Phew!"
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"We're here!" While Semiramis was busy fending off the arrows of light above the Hanging Gardens and unable to operate the cannon emplacements outside, Astolfo swiftly covered the distance, riding the Hippogriff to Atalanta's side.
"Tsk!" Looking at Atalanta and the other two who had breached her defensive mechanisms and entered the Hanging Gardens. Semiramis clicked her tongue in annoyance, then used spatial magic to shift her position.
"Hateful little thieves, I'll take your lives sooner or later!"
"Then don't run!" Shouting a few words towards where Semiramis had disappeared, Astolfo then said to Atalanta beside him, "Fran will follow Atalanta from now on!"
"I'm going to help Jeanne enter the Gardens now. Let's split up here for a bit; I'll catch up later!"
"As fast as you can!"
"Understood!" With that, Astolfo rode the Hippogriff out of the Hanging Gardens once more.
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Glancing at Astolfo flying towards Jeanne's location, Shirou parried a flame projectile from Karna with a horizontal slash.
"You are my opponent now, Karna!"
"It seems I won't be able to help the other Red Faction members until I defeat you!" Taking a step forward, Karna assumed a combat stance, pointing his spear at Shirou. Although Karna's voice was filled with solemnity, from his expression, Shirou saw only intense fighting spirit.
"That's right, in this battle, only the victor among us will claim the future!" Shirou, equally filled with fighting spirit, also raised his longsword, emanating a ready-to-strike aura.
As their battle spirits continuously clashed in mid-air, in the next moment, Shirou and Karna, standing on opposite sides of the slab, swiftly charged at each other. The duel between fire and steel resumed.
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And just as Shirou and Karna's clash recommenced, on the other side, the situation between Chiron and Achilles was gradually becoming clear.
"Alright, you have no retreat, Archer!" Hearing Achilles's declaration echoing in the air, Chiron merely smiled faintly. Then, he shot more arrows at him. However, Achilles approached Chiron with a speed that surpassed those arrows. An archer, limited to long-range combat, was simply no match for a Rider who could reach extreme close range in an instant.
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That being said, Chiron wasn't only capable of long-range combat. No matter how fast he was, his opponent had one weakness. "The right moment, the right coordinates, the right speed!
All I need is these." The arrow's speed was fully understood. The time of arrival could be calculated. The coordinates of arrival could be deduced. Then, all he had to do was grasp the chariot's speed, and it would be easy to deal with.
No matter how much he tried to suppress him with speed, he only needed to shoot arrows ahead of his opponent's movement. This was a method of predicting the future, but it was not a special skill. It was a certain technique achieved solely through relentless practice and a thorough calculative ability to accurately estimate the future.
"What?!" But for Achilles, this was like arrows suddenly appearing right in front of him. When the arrow was just shot, another arrow was simultaneously fired to the coordinates Achilles was about to reach. For Achilles, this was a nightmarish situation. It wasn't that the arrows arrived after Achilles moved. It was Achilles himself moving to the coordinates where the arrows were.
Of course, he couldn't dodge it, because Achilles himself actively ran into the arrows. Blood seeped from his pierced shoulder. The arrow was deeply embedded in the bone. But this was not the most critical situation. Achilles soon discovered that his warhorse, Pedasos, had collapsed.
"What!" Among the three horses pulling Achilles's chariot, two were immortal divine horses. However, only Pedasos was a rare and renowned steed, but not immortal. An arrow pierced Pedasos's forehead.
A horse whose Spirit Core was pierced, even if it was a Noble Phantasm, had to disappear. Facing a situation where his movements were completely seen through, Achilles knew he had to make a change. Thinking this, Achilles abandoned his chariot and landed on the plane where Chiron was standing.
"I have come to learn from your wisdom, Master!"
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