Chapter 119: Lefiya: What? You want me to unleash the Holy Sword?!
"Boom!"
As Bete's Gae Dearg pierced through Valetta's body, disrupting her Cursed Sword spell, Ais was finally freed from all interference—allowing her to fully activate Caliburn - Golden Sword of the Victorious in her hand.
"Clang!"
The girl raised the golden longsword high.
The magic power around her surged—multiplying several times, even tens of times in an instant—reaching a terrifying level beyond description.
That was because the sword's unique skill, Magic Convergence, had activated.
Crafted personally by Shirou, the Golden Sword of the Victorious had four abilities, and among them, Magic Convergence was particularly special.
It could massively compress and concentrate the user's magical energy.
While it didn't increase the total amount of magic, it greatly enhanced its quality, making one unit of magic worth two, three, or even more.
Because of this, the sword could unleash slashes resembling torrents of light in a single strike—the secret lay in this property that drastically elevated the user's magic.
Ordinary wielders could only use the Holy Sword as a kind of light cannon.
Even its original owner, King Arthur Artoria, had used it in such a fashion.
But Ais was different.
As a wielder of the magic Ariel: Wind Spirit Acceleration, once the Golden Sword of the Victorious amplified her magic, her magic spells themselves grew tremendously stronger. The vast magic energy allowed her to cast her spell in a form completely different from before.
"Awaken!"
Gripping the Holy Sword in both hands, Ais did not swing it. Instead, she used it like a staff—to dramatically amplify her spell.
"Unleash!"
With her continued incantation, Ariel activated on an unprecedented scale—spreading across a wide area!
"I am the storm!"
In an instant, a raging tempest swept the battlefield—Ais's magic fully awakened—forming a massive wind vortex that engulfed the entire board.
"What?!"
Caught off guard by the Holy Sword's effect, the masked man was forced back by the sudden storm.
Even Thanatos's other followers couldn't withstand such intense winds—they were pushed back and forced to retreat temporarily.
On the other hand, Ais's storm did more than just repel enemies—it also buffed her allies. It allowed her companions to ride the wind, significantly boosting their movement speed!
With this, the members of the Loki Familia quickly caught up with the fleeing Thanatos faction, and under the windstorm's support, completely overwhelmed them.
"To think she could amplify her wind... That's truly unexpected,"
Thanatos muttered in disbelief, shielding his eyes as he watched.
He had known about Ais's Ariel, but he had never imagined she would use the Holy Sword to amplify her spell, boosting its effect to such a level.
Originally, Ariel enveloped Ais's body in gales, massively enhancing her physical stats, amplifying her attacks, and providing defense.
But with the sword's enhancement, Ais extended Ariel's power to every single member of the Loki Familia.
This kind of wide-area magic coverage was usually impossible. Even if someone had that much magic power, maintaining such a spell would normally result in their instant death—destroyed by their own mana outburst.
But Ais was special.
Like the magic swordsmith Welf, she carried Spirit blood in her veins. This granted her a capacity far beyond normal humans—allowing her to withstand such extreme consumption without collapsing, and act normally under intense mana pressure.
Of course, even for someone like Ais, using magic at such a cost would still inflict tremendous pain and mental strain.
But Ais had already made up her mind: Even if it cost her life, she would win this battle.
"Take them down in one strike!"
Seeing Ais enduring such agony, Shirou would not let her efforts go to waste.
He decisively ordered the Loki Familia members to take advantage of Ais's magical boost and eliminate Thanatos's pieces as quickly as possible.
Even if they couldn't storm Thanatos's beast den all at once, they could at least reduce his pieces and raise their own quality.
According to the rules of the game, when a piece defeated another, it would grow. So if they could eliminate enemy pieces, their own would level up, widening the gap and tipping the game drastically in their favor.
"!!!"
With Shirou's command, the Loki Familia did not hesitate.
They launched an all-out assault, with Ais at the core like a spearhead, driving into enemy lines and pushing the Thanatos Familia into a desperate situation.
Of course, the masked man—ranked at v.7—still posed a major threat. Even with Ariel's blessing, the Loki Familia couldn't defeat him instantly.
But with consistent formations and patience, they could slowly wear him down.
"…I didn't think you'd push me this far," Thanatos said as he looked at his crumbling army, though his expression remained calm. "Seems it's time I revealed my trump card!"
He slowly raised his voice:
"Trap activated—Soul Corruption!"
Suddenly, on one part of the game board, a magic circle burst with blinding light. It rapidly spread—and reached the area where the Loki Familia was fighting.
Before they could react, a sharp pain struck their minds—and their bodies began to move out of their control.
"Everyone, fall back! Thanatos has activated a soul-control spell!"
Shirou reacted instantly—but it was too late.
Ais and others had advanced too far ahead.
Several of them had stepped directly into Thanatos's trap.
Aside from Ais—who barely maintained consciousness due to her fairy blood and the Holy Sword's power—the others were quickly overtaken by the spell, turning into puppets of death.
"..."
Ais swayed. Knowing her mind wouldn't last much longer, she made a swift decision.
She threw the Holy Sword out of her hand.
"Lefiya, catch it!"
Shirou shouted as he gave a direct command to Lefiya, while ordering the remaining unaffected members to retreat to their own territory.
In the end, three Loki Familia members—Ais, Tione, and Alicia—had their souls corrupted and fell under Thanatos's control.
"You were clearly wary of my traps," Thanatos chuckled. "Originally, I meant to take out your entire team with one sweep. But because you had everyone keep their distance, I only got three."
"Your powers are just too broken. Even if we predicted it, it's hard to deal with."
Shirou shook his head.
He had always been on guard against Thanatos's traps.
Since he could set traps like the Chains of Heaven to bind the Heaven Bull, it was only natural that Thanatos could use his own hidden magic to turn the tide.
So although he had appeared to go all-in with Ais's storm boosting everyone forward, in truth, he had maintained strategic spacing to bait Thanatos into revealing his spell.
The plan had worked—but at the cost of three pieces, including his most powerful, Ais the Rook.
Losing Ais alone created a massive power gap—let alone losing three pieces total.
"The tables have turned,"
The masked man coldly declared, now controlling Ais as one of their own.
He immediately launched an attack on the remaining Loki Familia members, reaching Bete within seconds.
"I'll stop her!"
Without hesitation, Bete tried to block Ais—but due to a full two-level difference, he was instantly torn apart.
"..."
With his fall, Bete's soul scattered like petals, flowing into the masked man's body—further empowering her.
She was promoted from Lion to Elephant, and her strength soared to a new level!
Of course, due to the rules, she could no longer upgrade further after reaching Rook.
"How could this be? Bete is…"
Even though Bete's temper annoyed his companions, his strength had always been trusted.
Seeing him slain in an instant, the rest of the Loki Familia truly grasped how terrifying the enemy was.
Without Ais, there was no way they could compete!
"It seems this is checkmate,"
Thanatos said lightly, eyes on the board, then turned to Shirou with mocking amusement.
"Even Ais…"
Nearby, Riveria bit her lip, unable to see any path forward.
The only one who remained unshaken—was Shirou himself.
Facing this crisis, he didn't panic. Instead, he gave a cold command:
"Unleash the Holy Sword, Lefiya. You can do it."
"What?! You want me to unleash the Holy Sword?!"
Lefiya froze, clutching the golden sword in her arms, shaken to her core.
She had thought Shirou gave her the sword to pass on to someone else in the party.
She never imagined that she was meant to be the next wielder!
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