Jeanne's back glowed with red magical power, the radiance of a great magic crystal, the sacred stigmata.
"In the name of Ruler—Jeanne, I issue a command with my Command Spell!"
"Don't even think about it!!!"
Semiramis, who had been observing from the shadows, shouted angrily. Dark-toned magical energy seeped from the ground. Even Jeanne, who had little understanding of magic, could feel the surrounding space being sealed. The miraculous power brought by the Command Spell was tightly confined, unable to spread outward.
The Command Spell, no matter how miraculous, is ultimately a form of magic. Therefore, it can be resisted by anti-magic, theoretically suppressed or sealed—of course, this requires an extremely high level of magical proficiency.
However, even for a Servant skilled in magic, it is tough to fully analyze the Command Spell within the short duration of the Holy Grail War.
But this Holy Grail War has an exception. A Servant who is not only proficient in magic but also has ample time. This long duration was enough for Shirou to analyze the Command Spell thoroughly. With Semiramis's magical prowess, it was not impossible to seal the Command Spell with preparation.
For instance, at this moment, Jeanne found herself in a predicament, intending to summon reinforcements. Semiramis used her authority over the garden to seal the space, nullifying the forced transfer of the Command Spell.
"You will obediently fall here, you rude country girl!"
Semiramis's lips curled into an evil smile, but the smile froze in less than a second due to Jeanne's next command.
"Red Assassin, full assault on Amakusa Shirou Tokisada!"
Yes, Jeanne's command wasn't aimed at her allies but at her enemy, the master of this garden.
The wrong prediction not only wasted Semiramis's magical power but also caused her to lose the opportunity to counter the Command Spell due to maintaining the space-sealing technique. In her shock, the forced power descended upon her, manifesting spells against her will aimed at Shirou nearby. She only had time to let out a scream.
"Master, be careful."
Fortunately, Shirou reacted quickly, using his Command Spell to counteract, thus averting the crisis. Otherwise, even with his magic resistance, he would have been in a sorry state from the barrage of magic.
When Semiramis turned her attention back to Jeanne, the Knight King, holding a holy lance and clad in heavy silver armor, had already appeared beside her, fighting fiercely with the shadow Assassin Yan Qing. The brilliance of the holy lance and Yan Qing's elusive figure intertwined, indistinguishable from reality.
Seeing this, Semiramis knew what had happened, and angrily slammed the armrest of the throne to vent her frustration.
"Ruler!!!"
Jeanne's goal was still to summon reinforcements. She had already anticipated that Semiramis might have the ability to seal the Command Spell, so she deliberately issued a forced command to the latter first.
As the arbiter bearing fourteen Command Spells, Jeanne knew how powerful they were. Even with just one stroke, it wasn't easy for even a powerful Caster like Semiramis to seal it.
The solution was simple: use two strokes simultaneously, targeting different individuals with different commands. Let's see how you handle that.
As expected, Semiramis, under the forced command, relaxed the space seal. Jeanne seized the opportunity, using the second stroke to summon Artoria, successfully breaking the deadlock.
This is Jeanne's true strength. Her position as a top-tier Servant is not due to her combat power or Noble Phantasms but her battle command ability. The more allies she has, the greater her impact.
To deal with Yan Qing, who is known for his agility her strategy was to encircle from front and back, compress space, and achieve a swift victory.
In the blink of an eye, Yan Qing was at a disadvantage.
"Don't get too conceited, you country girl!"
Accompanied by an angry shout, a decadent and enchanting woman appeared out of thin air. Along with her came rows upon rows of densely packed magical formulas. Various colored magic bullets flew wildly, instantly obscuring the vision of Artoria and Jeanne.
Artoria decisively unleashed the Invisible Air to break through, but the elements of earth, water, fire, and wind surged forth under another wave of magical power. Although these spells were less powerful than the magic bullets, their intricacy was superior—releasing the magic was not only Semiramis but also the final shadow Servant, the shadow Caster. Through her class privilege, Jeanne knew his true name—Paracelsus von Hohenheim.
The legendary doctor, alchemist, and powerful magus left a significant mark on both human history and the history of magecraft. He rediscovered the long-lost Four Elements and Three Principles, laying the foundation for modern elemental magecraft.
Under the joint attack of two Casters, Artoria, with only B-rank magic resistance, was inevitably suppressed. Without the combat prowess of the Knight King who stepped into the divine realm, Yan Qing was also freed and resumed his relentless pursuit of Jeanne. The hard-won advantageous situation once again worsened.
However, despite being at a disadvantage, there was not a trace of tension on the faces of Jeanne and Artoria, because—a large bronze bird was approaching at high speed.
More than ten magic bullets changed direction, all of them attribute-less, specially designed to crush and pulverize opponents. It was precisely because of their simplicity that they became the purest form of violence.
The bronze bird didn't last even a second under the barrage of magic bullets before shattering into pieces.
The Empress, who orchestrated this scene, watched the sky with an unchanged expression.
From it burst forth a comet, a humanoid bullet that denied and shattered all pretense without regard for anything.
After the Tiamtum Ūmu was destroyed and the shadow Archer and shadow Caster left the front line due to Achilles's team's intrusion, the final Servant squad also launched their assault. The fastest one charging ahead was a female knight wielding a sinister sword, surrounded by crimson lightning.
"——So it's you!!"
"I'm here to take you down, Assassin——!!"
Mordred, the rebellious knight who ended the Arthurian era, once again targeted another king. This king had zero tolerance for rebels from beginning to end.
"Saber!"
"You're the one who's going down!"
Dozens, even hundreds of magic bullets targeted Mordred.
In mid-air, Mordred also swung her sinister sword, dyed crimson, unleashing the Noble Phantasm that sublimated her most famous deed.
"I am no king, but I follow in the king's path. I will destroy all that I must to bring the king peace! Clarent Blood Arthur!!!"
This time, her sword was not aimed at her beautiful father but at the enemy shared by both her and her father.
Coincidentally, this enemy had a temperament similar to that of her wicked mother.