"What is that...?"
"Impossible!"
"Could it be...?"
In different corners of the city, Black Archer, Red Archer, and Artoria Pendragon all froze simultaneously. A massive, suffocating surge of magical energy had suddenly erupted, washing over the world like a tidal wave.
"A Noble Phantasm release?"
"But who? Who could possess such power?!"
The air itself seemed to vibrate with the sheer intensity of the fluctuating mana. They were desperate to know who was engaged in such a cataclysmic struggle.
But in the next heartbeat, their questions were answered by a sight that defied all logic.
Far beyond the city limits, a mountain peak was sliced clean through as if it were a head of cabbage. The severing was terrifyingly precise, followed only moments later by the thunderous roar of the mountain collapsing. The sheer force of the impact sent seismic tremors rippling through the earth, shaking the very foundations of the city.
"What reached out and did this?!"
Rin Tohsaka and her companions rushed out of their residence, staring in shock at the distant horizon. Even from miles away, they could see the jagged gap where the mountain had once stood. The surrounding landscape looked as if a titan had stepped upon it, leaving a trail of absolute ruin.
The carnage was horrifying. This wasn't even the center of the battlefield; it was merely the collateral damage,the "after-echo" of a single strike that had traveled across the plains. They couldn't even begin to imagine the power required to produce such a result.
"Just who... who is fighting out there?!"
***
Small.
If Minato had to use one word to describe himself and Karna at this moment, it was that. Compared to the colossal figure looming before them, they were no different from ants scurrying at the feet of a god.
A single casual swing of that blade had pulverized a distant mountain and leveled the surrounding terrain. It was a power capable of redrawing map borders in a single night,a level of destruction that bordered on the divine.
"So, this is the Perfect [Susanoo]..."
"My initial manifestation was unable to wound you," Madara's voice boomed from the peak of the blue giant, his tone cold and imperious as he pointed a hundred-meter-long blade of chakra at Karna. "Then... how will you fare against this?"
There was no longer any need for complex ninjutsu. The Perfect [Susanoo], a force capable of shattering all creation, was the ultimate expression of raw, unadulterated power.
"Very well!" Karna raised his golden lance, his expression unchanged. He showed not a single flicker of hesitation or fear in the face of the titan. "I accept your challenge!"
"Steadfast to the end," Madara noted, his eyes narrowing with respect. "I, Madara, acknowledge you!"
He no longer cared if his true identity was revealed. To him, the name Madara was synonymous with "Strength." To speak it was simply to state a fact.
The [Susanoo] raised its massive blade high into the air.
"My name is Karna! Son of the Sun God!"
Flames erupted around the Lancer, his aura swelling to match the crushing pressure of Madara's chakra.
"Then come!!"
The colossal blade descended, the mere wind pressure from its movement enough to blast away everything in the vicinity. Minato didn't dare remain a second longer, using [Flying Raijin] to teleport himself far from the impact zone.
A pillar of solar fire roared toward the heavens as Karna channeled his magical energy. To meet an attack of this magnitude, he could no longer afford to hold back a single drop of power. He drew heavily from his Master, Amakusa.
Fortunately, with the support of a Ruler-class Grail Master, he had no fear of running dry. Under any other Master, even a first-rate magus would have been sucked dry and killed by the sheer mana consumption in an instant.
"O Brahma, curse me... [Brahmastra]!"
BOOM!!!
An explosion that seemed to rend the heavens and earth apart erupted. To any observer, it looked less like a battle and more like a localized apocalypse.
"Ugh...!!!"
"Arrgh!!!"
Sisigou's car had long since disintegrated into scrap metal. The necromancer was currently clinging to a tree stump for dear life, refusing to let go as the shockwave threatened to tear him away. Beside him, Mordred was fully armored, her silver blade driven deep into the earth to anchor herself.
CRA-CRACK!
Even so, the sheer force of the pressure was pushing her backward, leaving deep furrows in the ground.
"You've got to be joking!"
She unleashed her own magical energy in a violent burst, struggling to resist the terrifying residual shockwaves. They hadn't even reached the center of the battlefield yet, and the mere "leakage" of power was enough to make her skin crawl.
It was impossible to imagine what kind of monsters were actually trading blows at the heart of the storm.
"The clouds... they've been blown away!"
The wind pressure was so intense it was difficult to even keep one's eyes open. Sisigou, still huddled behind his stump, glanced upward and gasped in horror. Above the center of the explosion, the massive smoke plume had punched a hole through the sky. For miles around, the clouds had been dispersed into a perfect, hollow circle.
And the ground beneath them...
The constant, rhythmic trembling wasn't just a shockwave. It was as if the earth itself was screaming in terror. It was a true earthquake, born of human,or rather, heroic,will.
***
"All of my scouting familiars were incinerated in an instant!"
"We have no idea what's happening out there!"
In the city, Rin and the others were huddled against the side of a building, but the violent tremors made it nearly impossible to stand. If they hadn't been so far from the epicenter, they were certain their rented house would have collapsed by now.
"Aah..."
Muramasa caught a panicked Illya, pulling her into his arms to keep her steady. Shirou grabbed Rin's hand, and Emiya reached for Sakura, the group forming a stable line to resist the shaking.
Nearby, Archer and Black Archer were bracing themselves in different ways, their expressions grimmer than ever. Only Saber remained relatively unmoved, her hands held out as if to feel the pressure in the air. A faint, golden light radiated from her body, protecting her from the worst of the vibration.
"Who is it...?"
Even she couldn't hide the deep crease in her brow. This level of destructive power was beyond that of a normal Heroic Spirit. To find a comparison, one would have to look back ten years to the battle between Archer and Berserker.
Had this 'Dragon Ball War' summoned yet another monster of that caliber?
If so, Artoria would have to seriously reconsider their plan of action. Leading students like Shirou and Rin into a battlefield occupied by such entities was no longer just dangerous,it was suicidal. She could not, would not, allow them to step into that nightmare.
***
"The situation looks quite dire."
Even within the sanctuary of the church, Amakusa could feel the world shaking. He had never expected the Rider of Black to possess such staggering power. He had initially believed that Assassin's capabilities might be enough to manage the threat, but he had catastrophically underestimated his opponent.
Upon receiving Minato's report, he had immediately set a two-pronged strategy into motion: dispatching Lancer to engage the enemy directly while having Assassin wait for an opening, and informing Saber of Red to lure her into the fray.
He had hoped that by ganging up on the enemy, even the strongest Heroic Spirit would be forced to retreat or fall. But now, even with a top-tier Heroic Spirit like Karna on the field, they were barely maintaining a stalemate.
The scale of this Noble Phantasm collision was simply too massive to ignore. Even if Semiramis's Hanging Gardens of Babylon were completed, he began to doubt it could withstand more than a few strikes from that chakra titan. Compared to that blue giant, the Gardens,for all their grandeur,looked like little more than a floating target.
"If it becomes necessary, the Rider of Black must be eliminated at any cost."
There was no arrogance in his voice, only cold, calculated resolve. The fact that the Black faction possessed a Heroic Spirit capable of matching Karna was a variable he hadn't fully accounted for.
And while Karna had yet to unleash his final, planet-shattering Noble Phantasm... his opponent didn't seem to be at his limit yet either.
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]