"I 'pinpointed' Finn Mac Cumhal, and now the winning 'finish' is in my pocket, get it, Finn?!"
Leaving the completely defeated Finn Mac Cumhal behind, Deadpool reveled in his triumph, continuing to spew silly rhymes on "Finn." Diarmuid belatedly rushed to his master's aid, but Nightingale blocked his path.
"I couldn't protect my lord... Am I destined to become a fool again, who betrayed his master's expectations?!"
Tormented by regret, Diarmuid gripped his spears and aimed them at Nightingale, desperately trying to break through to the fallen Finn.
"No. It was a fair duel and a fair fight. Formally, it was considered a two-on-two team match, but in the end, Deadpool faced Finn one-on-one and won. It's not your fault that the master is defeated."
Surprisingly, Nightingale wasn't just sticking to her guns this time; she was speaking quite reasonably. Diarmuid, hearing her words, mentally chastised himself for being too fixated on duty, but he didn't lower his spears.
"Even so, we are on the battlefield! A knight has no right to lower his weapon, even if the enemy points out his weaknesses. You, the head of medical services, surely have similar beliefs."
Nightingale nodded and raised her multi-shot revolver.
"That's right. I'm not a fighter, but as the senior nurse, I won't back down an inch until I eliminate all wounds and bacteria. And I will definitely amputate your queen – the main infection of this war, to heal this world."
The knight with the spear and the fanatical Berserker, despite their different classes and destinies, had definitely found common ground in some ways. Meanwhile, Deadpool, completely ignoring Finn, who was scattering sparks of light, crept up to her and whispered:
"Hey, sis? See that mole under his eye? It's actually a tumor. It needs to be cut out."
"What?!"
Diarmuid involuntarily touched his "Mole of Love," and Nightingale, taking Deadpool's words at face value, with an extremely serious expression, took out a scalpel and a bone saw.
"I knew it! There's strange energy coming from that mole! It's obviously a malignant neoplasm that charms innocent maidens! I will remove it! I will cut off and heal your shameful luck with women! This way, you can atone for the sins committed during your life."
This mole was Diarmuid's active skill – a powerful curse that only high magic resistance could ward off. It was because of its charm that Finn Mac Cumhal's wife had once run away with him.
"And that's what I'm saying!" Deadpool chimed in. "In 'Fate/Zero,' that Solau or Slime, or whatever her name was... she didn't even try to resist. She fell for that spot, ignored her loser husband, and followed you around like a puppy. Tsk, tsk, tsk... A dangerous tumor, I tell you."
"[H-hey! Mr. Pool, don't you dare mention other works and eras in vain!]"
Romani immediately chimed into the communication channel, trying to prevent potentially dangerous revelations from Deadpool.
"It seems... I remembered something very unpleasant..." Diarmuid muttered.
Although the current incarnation of the Servant shouldn't have had memories of those events, Diarmuid shivered from the phantom pain of past suffering.
"Diarmuid... he's actually a specialist in women's hearts," Ritsuka remarked.
"Senpai! Diarmuid-san will hear! Even though he's an enemy, still..." Mash added.
Ritsuka's and Mash's words finally turned the atmosphere into an evening of sympathy for Lancer.
"N-no! Don't pity me! This is my fate, and I have accepted it. Besides, I am your enemy! I don't need your pity!"
Coming to his senses, Diarmuid gripped his spears tighter – the deadly magic Crimson Rose, Gáe Buidhe, and the death-bringing Yellow Rose, Gáe Bólg, preparing for the final battle. However, his fighting spirit crumbled to dust the moment someone placed a hand on his shoulder.
"A worthy knight of the spear. A true Lancer. But we cannot retreat either. Accept my sword."
Saber Alter, who had been enthusiastically exterminating Celts until then, approached him from behind. Sensing something vaguely familiar in him, she patted him encouragingly on the shoulder.
"Eh? S-Saber?"
In this era, he saw her for the first time. And even in the memory of a Heroic Spirit, Alter's image was absent. But her presence itself was so recognizable that the most nightmarish memories surfaced in his mind.
"Aaaaaah!"
With a piercing scream, he dissipated, as if fleeing in the wake of his master.
"Huh? What happened to him? Self-destructed without even engaging in battle?" Ritsuka stared in confusion at the spot where Diarmuid had just stood.
"It must be that seeing Saber Alter awakened a trauma in him that he would rather forget forever," Mash surmised.
"I'd run too if I were him," Deadpool chuckled. "For those who don't know, check out the sixteenth episode of 'Fate/Zero.' Even the original Saber would fall into depression, and Kiritsugu was quite the bastard."
"Mr. Pool! Stop broadcasting into the void about other titles! Please, never do that again!"
"It's spelled 'never,' smarty-pants. Learn some English. Buy a self-teaching book for dummies..."
"Fou! Fou-ou!"
The stream of inappropriate advertising was cut short by Fou's sudden intervention. (Good job, Fou!)
Having dealt with the Fionn squad, Ritsuka's group hoped the plan was progressing successfully and that Geronimo had managed to eliminate Queen Medb.
However, they soon realized the problem. Their task was to lure out the Celtic Servants, but besides Finn's knights, no one appeared. The main target – Hero King Cú Chulainn – never showed up. There wasn't even a shadow of him.
"It seems Geronimo-san is in trouble! If Cú Chulainn didn't come here, then..."
"It's too early to judge. His absence here doesn't necessarily mean they're in danger..."
"[Attention! A powerful thermal surge has been detected from the Celtic side! Something is flying... a projectile... no, a rocket!]"
While they were plagued by bad premonitions, Romani contacted them with an emergency warning. A beam of light flashed from the Celtic army, crashing into the ranks of the mechanized corps. A monstrous explosion occurred, instantly destroying forty percent of their forces.
"A blue projectile. No doubt, it's Archer... Senpai, beware!"
Following the first, a second charge flew out. This time, Ritsuka's group was the target.
"Noble Phantasm! Activation!" Mash forcefully lowered her shield, deploying its defense.
"Pseudo-Servant: Pseudo-Deployment."
"[Lord Chaldea!]"
The light projectile crashed into the colossal spectral shield. A deafening explosion boomed. Fortunately, Ritsuka's group was unharmed, but Mash looked exhausted – the impact had consumed a huge amount of mana.
"Wow! That shield is really cool. You could survive a nuke with something like that!"
"[I'm not sure if it's the rocket that's supposed to destroy the world, but I'm detecting a Servant signal! It's moving straight towards you!]"
Along with the warning, a beautiful youth in copper-colored robes with a white longbow in his hands descended from the sky over the Celtic army. It was he who had fired the azure projectile. Judging by his majestic appearance and overwhelming aura, it was clear that this was a Servant of exceptional power.
"You managed to reflect my arrow... Shield Servant. Quite commendable. But it must have cost you a great deal of mana."
The Archer, whose face showed almost no emotion, silently drew his bowstring again.
"Unfortunately, the assassination attempt on the Queen failed. So you'd better surrender."
"It can't be..."
They wanted to believe that Archer was lying, but his gaze said otherwise. Geronimo had also warned that their plan was pure adventurism, where no one guaranteed life, so they were prepared for setbacks. Yet, they blamed themselves, believing the failure was due to their inability to lure out the Warrior King Cú Chulainn.
"I admit, I didn't expect you to attempt a two-front operation with such meager forces. The Warrior King himself was ready to enter the battlefield, but the Queen wished to keep him by her side. Instead, I came here."
That was why Cú Chulainn hadn't come. However, the realization that Archer was here made Ritsuka's group shudder: how many more Servants was Queen Medb hiding up her sleeve?
"[This is bad! This is a god-level Servant. The great hero of the Indian epic and Karna's sworn rival... Arjuna!]"
Romani, with wide eyes, frantically browsed Chaldea's Heroic Spirit files to identify the white archer.
"Wait. There's the Indian god Karna, and here's the Indian god Arjuna... Ah, so that's why it's called the 'Great War of North American Myths'? Two deities are going to tear America to shreds?"
Deadpool muttered something in his own way, suddenly realizing the true meaning of this singularity's name.
"But I heard that Arjuna is the embodiment of justice, an honest and noble hero who follows truth and rejects evil. Why did he side with Medb, who brings only destruction and conquest?"
Mash was puzzled: the situation seemed paradoxical, as being in Medb's camp contradicted the very essence of this hero.
"Maybe... brainwashing?" Ritsuka suggested, but without Archer's own words, it remained just a guess.
"I'm sorry, but I must end you here. Her Majesty is in extreme anger right now. To appease the Queen, I will have to take your lives."
As the bowstring was aimed at Ritsuka, Mash, Saber Alter, Deadpool, and Nightingale blocked the arrow's path.
The distance was small, and Mash's Noble Phantasm could have blocked everything, but she was exhausted due to lack of mana. Use a Command Spell? Only one stroke remained. Rely on the immortal Deadpool? Ritsuka didn't want to order the Servants to their certain death.
"[Uh... sorry to butt in again, but there's a Servant signal from the other side too!]"
"Wow, are you planning to work overtime today?" Deadpool was surprised by Romani's productivity. But, as the doctor said, a powerful mana source was detected from the mechanized corps, and unbearable heat soon began to spread throughout the area.
"Phew... What is this? Did we suddenly get a heat dome?"
It wasn't exactly cool in the North American deserts, but this heat was of a different order. Feeling it, Arjuna lowered his bow and fixed his gaze forward.
"Karna!"
Unlike Arjuna, Karna, with his shock of white hair and deathly pale skin, appeared, radiating heat like the sun itself. His gaze was fixed solely on the opponent standing opposite him.
The deadly confrontation between these two, stretching back to the original myths, flared up with renewed intensity here, on the American continent.
"Karna."
"Arjuna."
They exchanged names.
Ritsuka's group no longer existed for them.
"Hey, kid. I think it's time to make a run for it while we have the chance..."
While the two divine heroes prepared for collision, Deadpool nudged the frozen Ritsuka on the shoulder, bringing him to his senses. Indeed: while Arjuna's attention was consumed by Karna, this was their only chance for salvation.
"[... Hear... here... ah... can you hear me? Can you hear me? The Master and Servants that Geronimo spoke of!]"
Suddenly, a voice burst into the broadcast. It wasn't Romani. Ritsuka's communication channel was tuned exclusively to a direct line with Chaldea – who could have broken into it?
"[I am Code: Electro. You can call me Mr. Alternating Current. In short, listen! I will now send you a flow of alternating current! Jump into it and you'll be transported to me. Yes, it's a kind of teleportation.]"
"Mr. Alternating Current..." Mash, supported by Ritsuka, guessed who was behind the voice from the keyword.
"[Excessive words are unnecessary. Coordinates entered, so stand still! Twenty seconds!]"
As the stranger unceremoniously began the countdown, the team clustered around Ritsuka.
Meanwhile, Karna and Arjuna were drilling each other with gazes filled with energy ready to explode at any moment. It seemed any spark would provoke a catastrophe.
"[Ten seconds!]"
Listening to Mr. Alternating Current's voice, Ritsuka prayed for only one thing: that the teleportation would work before these two attacked.
"[Five seconds!]"
Five seconds before the end, Karna swung his spear, which had absorbed the furious solar heat, sweeping away both the Celtic army and Arjuna himself. The fiery wave was so intense that it seemed to burn existence itself, and it relentlessly approached Ritsuka.
"Ah, it's hot!"
"[Now!]"
At the moment Deadpool's hand was burned to the bone, a powerful electromagnetic pulse formed around Ritsuka. The group disappeared an instant before being engulfed by the solar explosion.