The intense battle erupted in an instant.
With a storm-like surge of mana erupting, all the Knights of the Round Table except for Artoria were blown away from the castle wall.
"Merely from the release of mana…?!"
"So strong…"
Tristan and Mordred, struggling to resist the violent magical storm, stared at Rozen with shock in their eyes.
"Ugh!"
Agravain, unable to even defend himself, was directly blown off, rolling down helplessly until he was caught by a group of Knights of the Round Table below. Only then did he narrowly avoid being smashed to pieces as he crashed into the battlefield below.
Even Mash was shaken by the sudden onslaught of ferocious mana.
"Senpai!"
Mash raised her shield to block the magical hurricane while shouting toward Rozen.
In the midst of the storm of mana, only a single voice could be heard, reaching Mash's ears.
"Break through the encirclement of the Knights of the Holy City. Open a path and let the refugees escape."
Rozen gave his instructions.
Hearing this, Mash hesitated.
At that moment, the communicator on her wrist lit up.
"Listen to Rozen, Mash!"
Olga Marie's voice rang out like a shout.
"Let the refugees escape first, so Rozen can focus more of his strength on dealing with the Lion King!"
Da Vinci swiftly assessed the battlefield situation and made her judgment.
"If he has to keep protecting the refugees, Rozen won't be able to fight at full strength!"
Even Roman shouted out.
The three of them, observing the typhoon-like development on the battlefield from Chaldea, were now fully tense.
"Fou!"
Even Fou emerged from Mash's arms, crying out as if urging her to comply.
Mash's expression showed her inner struggle, but soon her resolve hardened.
"I'll be back, Senpai!"
Leaving those words behind, Mash leapt from the castle wall and charged into the battlefield below.
"Hey! Your opponent is me!"
Mordred shouted, chasing after her.
"What a sorrowful decision."
Tristan, on the other hand, strummed his harp, readying an attack against Mash.
But at that moment, a massive magic circle suddenly expanded outward.
From within it, dragons emerged one after another.
"ROAR!"
"ROAR!"
The terrifying dragons appeared on the battlefield, letting out earth-shaking roars.
"What…?!"
Seeing this scene, Agravain's expression changed.
The other Knights of the Round Table wore similar expressions.
"He actually summoned dragons…?!"
The creatures emerging from the magic circle weren't mere wyverns or pseudo-dragons but genuine, supreme phantasmal species—true dragons.
With the level of mana Rozen currently wielded, he no longer needed to conserve it. He directly summoned true dragons to wreak havoc on the battlefield.
Thus, dozens of dragons flew toward the Knights of the Round Table, roaring skyward. Some targeted the Knights of the Round Table, while others tore into the Knights of the Holy City.
"Dragons, huh? Perfect! Come at me!"
Mordred bellowed, crackling with red lightning as she charged into the dragon horde.
"Looks like I'll have the chance to try my hand at dragon slaying."
Tristan's ever-present faint smile vanished, replaced with a deadly seriousness. As his fingers plucked the strings of his harp, a tempest of invisible arrows—each as devastating as a category-five hurricane—swept forth.
"Form a defensive circle! Do not panic!"
Even Agravain began commanding the Knights to counter the oncoming dragons.
The myth-like battle between humans and dragons erupted suddenly before the Holy City, unfolding in chaos.
The Knights of the Round Table who had intended to pursue Mash were now fully occupied by the dragon horde, unable to spare any attention elsewhere.
However, Mash faced her own formidable enemy.
"It's unfortunate. I had always hoped you would understand the King's ideals and fight alongside us."
A scorching holy sword, radiating intense heat, descended like sunlight as these words were spoken.
It was an overwhelming slash.
CLANG—!
The sound reverberated like a bell being struck as the blazing holy sword smashed into Mash's shield, unleashing a fearsome force.
"Ugh…"
Mash felt an excruciating pain far more severe than mere numbness radiating from her arms. It felt as though her hands were on the verge of breaking. Her charge was entirely halted as she was violently pushed back, her feet scraping against the ground and carving deep trenches into it while a cloud of dust rose around her.
"So heavy…"
Mash barely managed to hold her ground, preventing the shield from slipping from her hands, which were nearly numb with pain. She looked ahead with eyes full of fear.
There, wielding the sunlit holy sword, stood the strongest knight.
"Though I had suspected what you might do during the Holy Selection, I didn't expect you to cause such chaos outright, even summoning dragons. As expected of the human treasured by the King—that Master is truly extraordinary."
Gawain spoke slowly, his gaze falling on Mash's shield.
"And that shield… I see now. No wonder I've always felt a strange, familiar presence from you. I didn't expect you to appear like this until now."
Gawain's words carried a tone of nostalgia and bitterness, as if addressing someone worth remembering.
Mash didn't understand why Gawain was behaving this way.
In fact, all the Knights of the Round Table had been acting strangely toward her. Just moments ago, Mordred had even shouted something like "So it's you!"—clearly recognizing something. It wasn't the way one would address a stranger.
But that didn't matter to Mash.
Right now, Mash's mind was solely focused on Rozen's instructions and the intense emotions surging from within her.
"Step aside!"
Mash shouted.
"Sorry, that's impossible."
Gawain unhesitatingly refused.
Mash needed to open a breakthrough for the refugees, secure Rozen's rear, and return to fight alongside him against the Lion King.
Gawain, too, needed to stop Mash, subdue the dragons, and return to the Lion King's side to fulfill his duties and complete the ceremony.
Among the Knights of the Round Table, the strongest at the moment was undoubtedly Gawain.
With strength six times his usual power, Gawain knew he had to take on the heaviest responsibilities. Artoria entrusted him with the most crucial task of the Holy Selection precisely because of her confidence in his abilities.
For this reason, though Agravain appeared to hold the highest authority after the King, in terms of importance, Gawain ranked first.
"The Round Table is no longer what it once was. What it has become, you will see for yourself!"
As he spoke, Gawain seemed to address Mash by name.
Unfortunately, Mash didn't catch it. She simply followed the fiery emotions within her and charged toward Gawain.
At the same time, the only two figures remaining atop the castle walls also began their clash.
BOOM—
With a deafening roar, storms and radiance erupted simultaneously, raging without end.