The air in the throne room vibrated with the primal violence of battle. The bestial roars of Cu Chulainn Alter crashed against the defiant shouts of Leonel's Servants, a sound that reverberated off the splintered marble and torn silks. Leonel's plan was in motion, but now it faced its most severe test: execution under absolute pressure.
Leonel, with his mind shared with Tezcatlipoca, was a beacon of calm at the center of the hurricane. His eyes, reflecting the flash of swords and the corrupt light of the Grail, did not blink. He analyzed, processed, projected.
"Medb is a Rider. High mobility, mount summoning capability, but her primary strength is manipulation and charisma. Don't underestimate her. The primary target is still Cu Alter, but we cannot let her act freely," dictated Leonel, his thoughts turned into clear orders through Tezcatlipoca's link.
The Persona nodded, its vast consciousness splitting to monitor both fronts simultaneously. "I propose a division of forces. Alpha Group: focus on brute force and containment of the Berserker-Alter entity. Beta Group: interference and capture of the Rider entity target."
"Confirmed," responded Leonel. "Jeanne Alter, Nero Bride, Kiyohime. You are Alpha Group. Your mission is to corner, wear down, and, if possible, neutralize Cu Chulainn Alter. Do not expose yourselves unnecessarily. Jeanne, use your fire to limit his movements. Nero, attack his footing, his tendons. Kiyohime..." he paused, seeing the burning fury in the Berserker's eyes, "...be the fire that distracts him. But obey orders. Don't get carried away."
A grunt of assent from Kiyohime and a "Hmph" from Jeanne Alter were the only replies. Nero Bride smiled, an expression of pure martial determination. "Let the bride show her edge, my beloved!"
"Beta Group," Leonel continued. "Elizabeth, Nightingale, Nero Saber. You handle Medb. Objective: separate her from the Grail, immobilize her, and recover the artifact. Elizabeth, use your screams to unbalance her and break any reinforcement spells. Nightingale... do your thing. Nero, protect Nightingale and press Medb. Don't let her mount her chariot."
"Understood, Praetor!" affirmed Nero, the original, her sword glowing with a golden light.
"Tamamo," said Leonel, addressing his kitsune wife, who remained by his side, her Ofuda already floating around her like golden leaves. "You are our area support. Reinforce whoever needs reinforcement, heal what can be healed, and cast interference curses when you see an opening. You are the safety net."
Tamamo nodded, her expression serene but her eyes shining with concentration. "Let this fox take care of her family, husband."
From the highest shadows of the shattered hall, where the ceiling beams met darkness, Scáthach watched. Her scarlet eyes, sharp as lancets, followed every movement. She saw the logic in the division. Alpha Group was pure power and endurance, designed to withstand and contain the monstrous strength of Cu Alter. Beta Group was speed and precision, a surgical clamp to wrench the Grail from the queen's hands. And Tamamo was the lubricant, the element that kept the machinery running without jamming. It was a solid strategy. Elegant, even. But Medb was no simple screeching concubine. And the Grail in her hands was a variable of infinite power.
The combat erupted in all its ferocity. Alpha Group lunged at Cu Chulainn Alter. Jeanne Alter unleashed a curtain of black fire that enveloped the beast, not to deeply wound it, but to obstruct its vision and burn the air around it. Cu Alter roared, sweeping the fire aside with his corrupt spear, but in that moment of relative blindness, Nero Bride appeared like a white specter, her sword Aestus Estus: Ignis Aestus shining, and delivered a series of quick, precise blows to the joints of his legs. The sound of metal against corrupt flesh was like a hammer striking living meat.
Kiyohime, unleashing her fury in a controlled manner for the first time, spewed a torrent of spiritual blue flames that didn't seek a direct hit, but created an intense heat field that weakened Cu Alter's dark regeneration and kept him on the defensive. It was a dangerous dance: three predators harassing a titan, dodging his brutal counterattacks that shattered the marble floor where they had stood an instant before.
Meanwhile, Beta Group moved. Elizabeth, with a shriek that made the broken window panes tremble, charged towards Medb. "Your tasteless reign ends now, hussy!"
Medb, from her throne, laughed. It was a clear, mocking laugh laden with a seductive power that made the air itself seem to thicken. "What noisy insects! My beautiful wolf is entertaining your friends, so let me play with you!" With a careless gesture, she raised a hand. The Holy Grail at her feet pulsed, and a barrier of pink and gold energy interposed itself between her and Elizabeth. The idol-dragon's scream impacted the barrier and dissipated in a harmless burst of light.
Nightingale did not flinch. She analyzed the barrier with a clinical gaze. "Force field based on distorted vital energy and corrupt desires. An advanced symptom. Treatment is the application of counterpoint force at the coalescence nodes." She lunged at a specific point on the barrier, not with a weapon, but with her gloved hands. Upon touching it, the barrier sparked and destabilized. It didn't break, but it weakened enough for Nero Saber, seizing the opening, to charge through with a cry of "Roma!", her sword aiming for Medb's side.
The Rider Queen dodged with supernatural agility, her laughter now a little less confident. "Oh, how rough! Queens are to be courted, not attacked with swords!" From her hand, a whip of pink energy lashed out towards Nero.
It was then that Leonel and Tezcatlipoca saw the first shift. Medb wasn't just dodging. Her movements, already agile, seemed to accelerate further. A subtle golden glow ran through her body. The Grail at her feet pulsed more strongly.
"She is using the Grail to empower herself," Tezcatlipoca reported, his voice urgent. "A 30% increase in speed and endurance parameters. And she is transferring part of that energy to the Berserker-Alter entity."
On the other front, Cu Chulainn Alter seemed to shake off the annoyance his attackers were causing. His movements, already brutal, became a blur. He dodged an attack from Nero Bride by an impossible margin and counterattacked with a spear blow that, although Jeanne Alter managed to partially deflect with her sword, sent her crashing against a wall with an impact that made the stone crack.
The tactical advantage Leonel had forged was beginning to erode. The raw power of the Grail was leveling the playing field.
Leonel felt the familiar chill of disadvantage, but this time it did not paralyze him. He focused it. He had anticipated Medb would use the Grail. But not in such a direct and efficient manner. He needed an equally direct response. And he had one. One he had unlocked deep within his connection with Tezcatlipoca after the evolution in London, a facet of the Wild Card's power he had intuited but hadn't needed to test until now: the ability to directly influence statistics, the very rules of combat.
"Tezca," he said, concentrating. "Activate Tactical Reinforcement Protocol. Skill: Masukukaja."
There was no grand gesture, no shout of power. Tezcatlipoca, at his side, extended his arms slightly. A veil of subtle energy, the color of a faint, barely visible rainbow, expanded from him, enveloping all allied Servants in the hall. It wasn't a shield, nor healing. It was something more fundamental.
For Nero Bride, the next movement of Cu Alter, which should have been an indecipherable blur, became... legible. She could see the start of his shoulder turn, the tension in his leg. He wasn't slower, but she could process it faster. For Elizabeth, Medb's energy whip seemed to move along a more predictable trajectory. For everyone, their own movements felt lighter, more precise. It was the Masukukaja skill: a massive increase in agility and luck in battle, the ability to dodge the impossible and strike where it hurts most.
The effect was immediate. Nero Bride, using her newfound clarity, didn't dodge Cu Alter's next blow; she slid under it, and her sword found a crack in the corrupt armor of the Berserker's heel, making him snarl in pain and stagger. Jeanne Alter, recovering from the impact, launched a counterattack of black fire that Cu Alter, off-balance, couldn't fully dodge, scorching his side.
On Medb's front, the whip that had been a threat became a manageable inconvenience. Nero Saber deflected it with her sword and closed the distance. Nightingale, with movements even more precise, found another weak node in the persistent barrier and applied pressure, making it visibly crack.
Medb frowned, her initial amusement replaced by irritation. "What trick is this? No matter! If you want to play rough, let's play!" She stamped her heel on the ground. The Grail shone intensely, and from the air itself, from patches of shadow on the floor, a dozen phantom Celtic warriors emerged, their forms semi-transparent but their weapons very real. They weren't as strong as the originals, but they were a massive distraction, a crowd to overwhelm the attackers.
Leonel did not hesitate. "Tezca. Offensive Potentiation Protocol. Matarukaja."
A new wave emanated from Tezcatlipoca, this time of an intense crimson red. Upon touching the allied Servants, it didn't make them larger, but it made their weapons glow with an inner light, their muscles tensing with power ready to burst. Matarukaja: the increase of physical and magical attack power.
The phantom Celtic warriors charged. They were met not by a desperate defense, but by efficient carnage. A single blow from Mordred, who was helping contain Cu Alter, shattered three of them in one slash. A concentrated scream from Elizabeth not only dispersed a group but disintegrated them. Nightingale, instead of dodging, grabbed a phantom that approached her and, with a movement that seemed more like a medical joint-dislocation technique than a martial attack, made it explode into particles of energy.
Medb was losing control of the situation. Her numerical advantage had been nullified in seconds. Her gaze turned to Leonel, truly seeing him for the first time not as a toy, but as a threat. "You... that power... it's not normal magecraft. What are you?"
Leonel did not answer. His attention was divided. "Tamamo, now! A binding spell on Medb, aim for her arms and legs! Beta Group, prepare to seize the Grail the moment the barrier falls!"
Tamamo launched her most powerful Ofuda, which flew like golden serpents not at Medb, but at the space around her, weaving a web of restrictive energy. At the same time, Nightingale, with strength increased by Matarukaja, delivered a final, surgical blow to the barrier's main node. The pink energy wall shattered with the sound of breaking glass.
Medb screamed, more in rage than pain, as she felt Tamamo's spiritual bindings close around her, slowing her movements. "No! It's mine! Everything is mine! CÚ!"
Her scream was a desperate command. Cu Chulainn Alter, despite the pressure from Alpha Group, roared in response. A palpable darkness emanated from him, an attempt to unleash a corrupt Noble Phantasm to sweep the area.
"Do not allow it!" ordered Leonel. "Jeanne Alter, contain him with your own Noble Phantasm if necessary! Kiyohime, distract him! Nero Bride, with Nightingale and Nero, NOW! The Grail!"
It was a gamble. Unleashing Jeanne Alter's power in an enclosed space was risky. But she understood. With a savage smile, she raised her sword. "Grondement Du Haine!" She didn't aim it directly at Cu Alter, but at the space between him and the group lunging for the Grail. A pillar of pure fire and hatred rose, creating an impassable curtain that separated the beast from his queen for a few precious seconds.
Those seconds were all they needed. While Cu Alter was contained by the vengeful fury and Kiyohime hurled herself at him in a suicidal attack to keep him occupied, Nero Bride, Nero Saber, and Nightingale reached the mound where the Holy Grail pulsed.
Medb, immobilized by Tamamo's spells, stretched out a hand, her eyes full of greed and panic. "Don't touch it! It's MINE!"
Nightingale ignored her. To her, it wasn't a treasure; it was a tumor. With her white gloves now glowing with a healing light that clashed with the Grail's corruption, she grabbed the artifact. It was not a gentle gesture. It was an excision. A sharp, decisive pull that ripped the Grail from its anchor in the air.
A silent roar filled the hall. The gold and corrupt light flickered and then faded. The bindings on Medb vanished, but without the flow of power from the Grail, her body immediately began to dissolve into particles of light. Her face, from rage, shifted to disbelief and then to mocking acceptance. "Ha... ha ha... you've beaten me, little Master. But this isn't over. My wolf..."
She looked towards where Cu Chulainn Alter fought, now visibly weakened, the darkness enveloping him losing intensity without the Grail's constant support.
"...he will remember you."
And she disappeared, returned to the Throne of Heroes.
The Grail, now inert and cold, was in Nightingale's hands. The hall fell into a sudden silence, broken only by the panting of the combatants and the low, agonized growl of Cu Chulainn Alter, who, deprived of the source of his corruption, seemed disoriented, his fury giving way to bestial confusion.
Leonel took a deep breath, feeling the tension leave his shoulders. They had won. They had recovered the Grail. But a lesson was burned into his mind: never, ever underestimate a queen, no matter how much of a "simp" she might seem. Medb had been a ruthless and cunning commander, and only the newly discovered power of his Wild Card, manifested through Tezcatlipoca, had tipped the scales.
Scáthach, in the shadows, nodded slowly. The boy hadn't just executed a plan. He had adapted it under enemy fire. He had used new tools effectively. And, most importantly, he had kept a cool head when the enemy's power grew. The seed she had seen before was now showing its first sprouts. Interesting. Very interesting.
The battle for the Grail was over. But the war for this Singularity was not. Cu Chulainn Alter remained, a wounded and dangerous beast, and the task of using the Grail to correct history. But for now, in the silence laden with dust and spent power, there was a victory. Small, costly, but unmistakably theirs.