A petite, slender figure with a delicate appearance that evokes pity—such characteristics belong to only one person in this Holy Grail War: the Black Rider, Astolfo, one of Chiron's closest comrades.
Strangely, seeing his companion appear, Chiron didn't show any joy. Instead, he displayed rare anxiety and shouted, "Rider, watch out!"
It turned out that when Chiron saw Astolfo, a new cluster of magical energy had already cut through the sky, launching a long-range sniper attack on him. At that moment, Astolfo was intently looking downward, seemingly searching for something.
Hearing Chiron's voice, Astolfo first showed a hint of joy, muttering "There it is," then tilted his head in confusion, "Watch out for what?"
Before he could react, the glowing beam that cut through the sky had already engulfed him and his riding eagle!
Seeing the tragedy unfold right before his eyes, yet powerless to stop it, Chiron's eyes widened in anguish.
"Rider——!!!"
He pushed off with his feet, running forward at the fastest speed. If he could reach Astolfo in time, he might still be able to use his medical skills to save his life.
But Chiron also knew this was wishful thinking. Having been in close contact with those clusters of magical energy, Chiron was well aware of their terrifying power, capable of vaporizing a person instantly. Getting hit by such an attack without any defense would likely leave no chance of falling; one would be directly reduced to spirit particles and vanish.
However, as long as there was a one percent chance, he would give a hundred percent effort.
With A+-rank agility burst he hadn't even used against Atalanta, he doubled his speed, covering hundreds of meters in a flash. Throughout the sprint, Chiron kept his eyes locked on the sky, ready to adjust his path at any moment to reach his severely injured companion as quickly as possible.
Yet, reality once again defied his expectations.
Despite taking a direct hit from a magical cluster, Astolfo didn't fall, nor was he reduced to spirit particles without a trace.
He remained steadily seated on his eagle, appearing completely unscathed, even having the leisure to pat his chest and stick out his tongue, saying, "Wow, that scared me."
It turned out that just before being hit by the magical cluster, Astolfo's Evaporation of Reason skill, which includes partial Instinct abilities, had instinctively sensed the danger. He had taken out a book—a Noble Phantasm whose true name he had forgotten.
The Universal Magic Guidebook (provisional name) is a constantly active Noble Phantasm. Possessing this book grants Astolfo an A-rank Magic Resistance.
This Magic Resistance differs from the Class Skill of Servants, which applies only to the Servants themselves. Astolfo's Magic Resistance through the Universal Magic Guidebook forms a spherical range centered on the book, protecting anything within that range.
Although the range isn't large, it's enough to encompass his mount, allowing it to safely endure the ambush of the magical cluster. Of course, this was also because the magical cluster's power couldn't reach an extraordinary level (EX) due to the distance from the Hanging Gardens.
"Why didn't you say you had such a trick earlier?"
Seeing this, Chiron couldn't help but laugh and cry. He had been far more frightened than Astolfo. At this moment, he finally understood why Shinji often liked to smack Astolfo on the head; this guy needed a good knock.
Unaware of Chiron's thoughts, Astolfo maneuvered his eagle, spiraling down to the ground, his smile still radiant.
"Yahoo, finally found you, Chiron—"
"Bang!"
"Ah!"
The combination of the recent scare and Astolfo's brainless chatter finally pushed Chiron to act on his thoughts, delivering a solid smack to Astolfo's head.
"What did you call me?"
"A-Archer..."
Astolfo shrank back, weakly correcting himself.
Chiron nodded in satisfaction. "Don't get it wrong next time."
"Okay, okay."
"So, why are you here looking for me?"
"Oh, Assassin sent me. He said you should go replace him."
"Replace him... Looks like he's reaching his limit. Hmm, holding out against Achilles for this long is already quite an achievement."
In truth, Chiron misunderstood. With Shinji's capabilities, even if he couldn't defeat Achilles, escaping wouldn't be an issue. The main reason he sent Chiron to replace him was due to Spartacus's anomaly.
In this Red-Black conflict, Shinji's primary concern was Spartacus.
His combat prowess. His trait of becoming more formidable the longer he fights. His instability and potential to go berserk at any moment. And most importantly, when this ticking time bomb would explode!
Yes, Spartacus was essentially a human bomb. If Shinji didn't know he originated from Thrace, he might have thought Spartacus was an extremist from a certain group, with a penchant for catastrophic strikes.
Of course, typical extremists might cause small-scale casualties, but this gladiator, who wasn't from that group yet had mastered its essence, could level half the battlefield upon self-detonation, including the Black faction's stronghold, Millennia Castle. Observations and estimations suggested that Spartacus's final self-destruction could reach an EX-level, not in terms of magical or physical force attributes, but as an EX-rank anti-army Noble Phantasm. Its sheer physical destructiveness could rival a small nuclear bomb.
In Fate Apocrypha, the turning point of the first Red-Black battle was Spartacus's self-detonation.
Because of Spartacus's self-detonation, the battlefield was cleared of minor soldiers, the Yggdmillennia family's army of homunculi and golems accumulated over many days was nearly wiped out, and the heavily fortified Millennia Castle was left riddled with holes and on the verge of collapse. The relatively balanced situation shifted entirely in the Red faction's favor, leading to the deaths of several Servants, the Great Holy Grail hidden underground being seized by the Red faction, and the true commencement of Amakusa Shirou's plan for human salvation.
From that point, the roles of offense and defense swapped. The Black faction, which had been defending the castle, became the attackers, while the former attackers focused on defending the Hanging Gardens, gaining a significant advantage. The Red faction's ultimate defeat was due entirely to bad luck or perhaps Counter force and their luck being slightly better, the Red faction would have won, and human salvation would have succeeded.
Shinji couldn't gamble on the whims of fate.
Even though his luck was A-rank, who knew if the Counter force would mess with him due to his outsider status in the end.
Shinji also couldn't sit idly by while the Black faction suffered immense damage; that was Fiore's future foundation at stake. Shinji's principle has always been to repay trust with greater trust. Since Fiore trusted him so deeply, he had to give her ample return.
Moreover, Shinji couldn't allow Amakusa to initiate his human salvation plan. He deeply loathed such forcibly imposed ideals on all humanity. Rather than making such a futile wish, it was better to use it to retrieve Chiron's immortality.
Spartacus's self-detonation had to be prevented. If not, the damage must be minimized, and if possible, using this bomb to counter the Red faction would be ideal.