I remained standing on top of the castle wall with nothing but the shield in hand. I waited for my opponents to come. I am the one buying time, after all.
Just then, an earpiece out of nanites was formed on my ear.
It was a call from Jack.
"Big brother!"
"Hey… Is it already sunrise? Did you sleep well?"
"Big brother doesn't have to worry about it. I followed my mother's words!"
"That's good. It is important to have a proper rest." I replied. "Why did you call me? This should've been much later, right?"
"Well… I wanted to tell big brother something… I accidentally cut my finger."
"Hm..?"
Somehow, I had a feeling that Jack meant it literally.
"We were only touching it when it came off. It's like a knife passed by."
"...I see."
Was this a coincidence?
I am already acquainted with two people with this kind of cursed technique—Nanami-san and Sukuna. Both of them are extremely strong, merely limited by their physical body. Since Sorcerers couldn't even begin to learn Mana Furnace due to their conflicting innate nature, they are stuck with the cursed techniques they awakened for their entire lives.
Experimenting with this, I taught the principle of it to Jack, a special person who harnesses insane amounts of negative energy. It was as if I was looking at an incarnation of the Twilight Syndrome.
"You received a special gift, Jack."
"We did?"
"Yes. I will teach you more about it after I go back."
"That's a promise!"
We conversed for a while before putting the call down. At the same time, the ones I am waiting for have appeared.
A single person—a man wearing light armor—approached the fortress' front.
"Mister Knight! I'd wanted to ask something."
"..."
"Is the Assassin of Black hiding on your back?"
"...Perhaps."
The man, Achilles, pointed his lance straight at me.
"That's good. You see, someone wanted to meet him. So…"
"You'll have to get past me first."
"Now that's it."
I leaped downwards with my shield manifested. Its huge size didn't hinder me from properly wielding it—just like the old days.
It remained tightly held by my right hand. All of its weight also gathered on my right side as a result.
Around Round Shield had symbolic meanings that I couldn't understand at first… and only understand now.
As such…
I'm going to fight with it again.
*****
'He bit the bait. Is he confident or was it something else?'
Achilles naturally had a trump card to act like this. After Shirou "saw" the knight, he changed the plans, making him isolate the knight until they were done retrieving the grail.
'It isn't important. Defeating him comes first..!'
In an instant, the two were transported into a place akin to an enclosed space, an arena of sorts.
"You've said it yourself… that I had to get past you first." Achilles said. "This is a special arena. To escape from it, you'll have to defeat me."
The knight's golden eyes continued staring at him blankly. Wordlessly, he charged straight into Achilles.
Swoosh-!
Sou-!
The latter dodged the edge of the shield before attempting to pierce him with his lance.
Sou-!
Clang-!
Unfortunately for Achilles, the knight was able to react by swinging his shield rightwards. At the same time, the knight ducked before performing a clean leg sweep.
"Ugh..?!"
Achilles was immediately sent off balance. It resulted in him not being able to react for the next blow.
Bam-!
The circular shield's edge struck him right at his face. He was sent flying to the edge of the arena.
Boom-!
Before he was even able to comment, the knight was already charging straight at him.
He, a hero renowned with insane speed, is being bested in that category. His trajectories were either predicted in advance or even followed closely.
"Tsk, tsk..!"
Achilles decided to focus on dodging the circular shield. He realized he was wrong when he assumed the knight's wide openings.
He didn't leave any of it unguarded, after all!
Due to this decision, he was able to put up a better resistance than before. Still, he wasn't able to gain any upper hand at all.
Every time he attempted to attack, it was met by the golden-eyed knight's merciless strike.
"A genius… was I this annoying in that old man's eyes?"
Just then, the knight stopped in his tracks.
"Fifteen minutes… and its miracles became stronger." He mumbled as he thrust his shield in the ground. "It has been well, my good friend."
"Huh..?"
Achilles thought something must've gone wrong in the knight's mind when he talked to his shield. He was about to attack when he noticed how sharply the knight's aura changed.
From the previous calm and steady aura, it became more humane. He wasn't as cold as before, yet there was something that he previously lacked.
"It was a good five minutes, but this must end now."
The knight's eyes held a teasing look at the charging Achilles.
His hand formed a series of gestures. His surroundings became slightly translucent as dreams had become reality.
All of his fifteen dreams held great potential against the coming End. There was a reason why it became a crucial part of his resistance in the fifteenth dream.
With the Greater Grail's growing interference, the knight became more and more confident against the Counterforce—his cause of death in the past.
Slowly, this world was turned into something akin to the Singularity—a world abandoned by its own wills, and as such, lacked their direct interference.
It was the reason why the knight bought so much time.
"Ryouiki Tenkai… Muryoukuusho." (Domain Expansion… Unlimited Void.)
The small world was swallowed with endless darkness.
*****
It was a great plan.
Upon realizing that the knight's identity is none other than the Sir Galahad of the Round Table—and that he was sent as this war's third Ruler—Kotomine… no, Amakusa Shirou Tokisada acted decisively.
He sent Achilles away to isolate the unknown variable. He didn't take any chances on whether the second Ruler, Jeanne d'arc, is watching somewhere.
Everything would've been easier after that… or so they thought.
"These homunculi… They are different from the Black Faction's."
"Why, of course. Theirs don't shoot these deadly lights out of nowhere."
As Shakespeare spoke, he dodged an incoming light ray. It came from one of the independently-piloted Combat Suits. These worked on the principle of both physics and magicka, producing a deadly light that shouldn't have appeared.
"That fortress looks a lot like mine. It would take several days to repair its functionality. Do you want to wait?"
Semiramis looked at the serious Shirou.
"...No. We already revealed our cards. Rider's act would be rendered useless if we go back now."
As Achilles had mentioned, the only way to exit his Noble Phantasm (Reality Marble) is to defeat him.
As long as Achilles holds him back while they steal the Greater Grail, his "sacrifice" would be enough.
"Lancer. Deal with them."
"I understand."
Karna soon acted seriously on the battlefield. Some of the combat suits were caught unprepared as they were blasted into "nothingness" by his flames. The fortress' homunculi army was easily "dispersed" by several of his serious strikes along with Atalante's ranged attacks.
Seeing this, Shirou believed that there wasn't anyone else within the fortress to defend the grail. He didn't lower his vigilance, though.
Just as they cleared everything, another group of servants appeared within their vicinity.
"Halt!"
A strong voice resounded before hundreds of thorns surrounded the Red Faction's path.
Just then, a wave of purple mist enclosed them, easily melting the deadly thorns.
Once it dispersed, Semiramis' countenance looked more fatigued. Still, the deadliness in her eyes couldn't be concealed. Although there's only a small chance of the thorns harming Shirou, she was angered by the thought that someone dared to kill her master.
"I presume you have also come for the grail. Isn't that right?!"
Vlad III looked at them with hostility. The rest of the servants along him also readied themselves to fight.
This time, it was Karna who took the front.
"I shall use my Noble Phantasm. Take this opportunity to invade the fortress." He calmly told Shirou. "This is my gratitude for saving my Master."
"...I'll boost you with my command seals."
The fight was about to break out when—
Crack-!
Shatter-!
The surrounding space had translucent cracks. It then shattered into pieces as it revealed the two figures from within.
One of them was kneeling as he coughed out blood. The other was wearing a knightly attire with purple cloth on his body. His golden pupils scanned every single heroic spirits present in the area.
"Damn monster…"
"It is ironic to hear it from you… considering your past deeds."
"Cough..!"
Achilles, despite his immortality, was severely injured by the attack that bypassed his defenses. It wasn't considered as something "external" due to how his ordinary senses were merely amplified to an exaggerated degree. It was, by all means, a "natural state".
"I see that everyone has gathered here. It should be because of the wish in which you seek."
"You should be the Assassin of Black?"
"...You are gravely mistaken, Duke of Wallachia. I am not a part of either faction."
"Ruler…"
Shirou muttered as he wondered what in the world had happened for the grail to summon two Rulers in one go. Moreover, this "ruler" is just like him. He has a wish to make to the grail, something that shouldn't even be possible for Rulers like them.
"Where did she go?" He asked the Ruler-class Knight, Nobu.
"Miss Jeanne? I reasoned out with her." Nobu replied. "Before you say anything else, it is easy to convince someone when one's plan truly involves the salvation of a world."
"...How did you know?"
"..."
Nobu fell silent upon his words.
'It was a coincidence…'
Never had he expected for his opponent to divulge things all by himself. It sent him into another round of deducing things through his ten mind partitions.
"He knows everything. The path you're pursuing is a dead end."
"..."
Swooosh-!
An arrow came in Nobu's direction, in which he promptly dodged. He remained still as a dozen more arrows came to his position.
Much to everyone's surprise, they all disintegrated a few centimeters before they made contact with him.
"Big sis!"
Atalante was bolting straight for Achilles when she received his round shield.
"We don't stand a chance against him! Use it!"
Nobu's finger touched his forehead. The slight activation of [Unlimited Void] took effect, making Achilles lose his consciousness.
One of the greatest heroes in this Grail War was dispatched by the knight in a single touch.
"You… Is Orion working with you?!"
"...Indeed."
"And he couldn't even appear..!"
"Lancer of Black! Since this man possesses the grail, how about a temporary cooperation? The grail would belong to the one who acquires it!"
"..."
Vlad III was thinking carefully when Chiron's voice came from his side.
"He defeated one of my greatest students easily. I believe it's wise to team up against him."
"...I shall take that into mind."
A while later, Vlad III made his decision.
"Just this once! We shall take him out first!"
A slight curve went up Shirou's face. It was far better to face the unpredictable Ruler with eleven servants instead of facing him on their own. Although it doesn't prevent Vlad III from reneging this "cooperation", just the mere fact that they're now "teamed up" matters the most.
Nobu will have to consider everyone his enemy unless he gives out the grail—which is highly improbable if he defended it so much at this point.
"If that's what you like…"
Their attention turned towards him once more. This time, his attire changed into that of a magician's outfit. His aura changed into that of an intellectual.
"Oh..!"
Shakespeare's eyes glowed brightly as he saw the sudden change. His impulse made him pull out his notebook inside his coat.
"Interesting! How interesting! The change between two personas! An actor, yes, he is!"
"I shall deal with everyone in this way."
The creeping coldness represented the magician's interest towards this world's heroic spirits.