"Doctor, you've already developed something like this?"
"Mhm. Think of it as a recon drone."
"Even if it's just a 'toy,' it's more than enough to observe a battle," Roche muttered, staring at the holographic projection with wide-eyed fascination.
"But still... to be able to broadcast through that level of destruction without interference..." Roche paused, feeling that Bulma's choice of the word 'toy' was a bit too modest. "If this is a toy, then the rest of the world's technology is practically prehistoric."
Bulma shrugged, her expression unreadable. Roche, however, was shivering. The castle was far from the conflict, so they were spared the worst of the seismic shocks, but the live feed provided a window into a nightmare.
The destructive capacity on display was beyond anything he had ever associated with a Heroic Spirit. Both combatants possessed the power to wipe a small nation off the map single-handedly. Yet, Caster's only comment was a nonchalant, "Mhm, not bad."
Roche couldn't wrap his head around her standards. If a battle of this magnitude was merely 'not bad,' what did she consider truly impressive?
"Saber and Caster have already set out," Bulma continued, ignoring his confusion. "With the vehicle I modified for them, they'll reach the site in no time."
During the brief time since the war began, Bulma had already produced a variety of 'small things': long-range communicators for the Masters and high-speed transit units for the Servants.
"Um... Caster?" Fiore's voice crackled through the comms, sounding weak and uncertain.
"What is it?"
"It seems Caster... Natsu... isn't reacting well to the car you modified. He's... motion sick?"
"Hah?"
Bulma blinked, genuinely stunned. Motion sick? She prided herself on her engineering; there was no way her vehicles were anything but the smoothest ride on the planet. Why on earth would Natsu be suffering from something so mundane?
***
"Bleugh..."
Foaming at the mouth and his face a sickly shade of green, Natsu Dragneel lay slumped across the backseat, looking like a man on death's door.
The clash between Rider and the enemy was something the Black Faction couldn't ignore, so after a brief discussion with the Masters, it was decided they would take the initiative. Under Darnic's orders, Saber (Siegfried) and Caster (Natsu) were dispatched, while Archer (Genos) remained behind to guard the castle.
Fiore had seen Natsu brimming with energy just minutes ago, only for him to deflate like a punctured balloon the moment the engine started.
"I... hate... machines..." Natsu wheezed, unable to even form a complete sentence.
"Were you a hero who was killed by a cart in your past life?" Caules asked, staring at the pathetic sight. He had never heard of a legendary hero,especially one with the power of dragons and demons,being defeated by a commute.
Siegfried looked at the paralyzed Natsu, finding the boy strangely endearing. Despite his immense power, his personality was startlingly simple and eccentric. He was an easy person to get along with, though his 'exquisite' weakness was a total mystery. It was as if Natsu's motion sickness was the equivalent of the one small spot on Siegfried's back that hadn't been touched by dragon blood.
"How is he supposed to fight like this?"
"It's fine... just... stop... the car..."
"Alright, stop talking. I get it," Caules sighed, burying his face in his hands. If he had known this would happen, he would have brought Genos instead and left Natsu to guard the Fortress.
***
In a dimly lit chamber of the Fortress of Millennia, Darnic stared at the images relayed by his familiars. A dark, predatory joy flickered in his eyes.
Madara's power...
He didn't know how the Rider compared to the original 'Vlad III' he had intended to summon, but the Uchiha had already exceeded his wildest expectations. As long as he played his cards right, his lifelong ambition was within reach.
'Ah, sorry, Darnic. Can we stop talking about the marriage proposal?'
'It seems your bloodline won't even last five generations.'
'Don't let that tainted creature near me!'
The echoes of the 'injustices' he had suffered at the Mage's Association still rang in his ears. Simply because a high-ranking magus had declared his bloodline 'tainted' and doomed to fade, his career as a noble magus had been cut short. His friends, his fiancée, his status,everything had been stripped away based on a baseless rumor that he couldn't scrub clean.
His dreams of reaching the Root and becoming a prominent figure in the Clock Tower had withered. Since then, he had dedicated his life to one goal: ensuring his family didn't fall into ruin. That obsession had led him to participate in the Third Holy Grail War in Fuyuki.
Back then, he had cast aside all 'honor,' using the military might of Nazi Germany to seize the Greater Grail from the custody of Fuyuki's founding families. To ensure the secret remained buried, he had slaughtered every soldier involved and hidden the Grail beneath this very castle.
Sixty years had passed since then.
As the head of the Yggdmillennia clan, he had spent those decades recruiting magi who had been cast out by the Association, building his strength for the final strike. He would overturn the Mage's Association and become the new representative of the world of magi.
And now, the appearance of the Dragon Balls had presented a new, even faster possibility. The Servant he had summoned was a monster beyond his imagination.
"This time... I will not fail."
He had spent his entire life studying magecraft for this moment. Those short-sighted fools at the Clock Tower would finally see what kind of man 'Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia' truly was.
***
"Seriously, how much longer are we going to be running?"
"If you're so unhappy, why don't you use your [Projection] to make a plane?"
"If I could do that, I would have done it an hour ago!"
Three figures blurred across the landscape. Artoria Pendragon led the way, with Black Archer and Red Archer following close behind. A battle of this scale was something they couldn't afford to ignore.
The identity of the Servants capable of such a struggle was a question that demanded an answer. Artoria didn't even bother to acknowledge the bickering behind her; she was too focused on the tremors that still hadn't subsided.
"It's a shame this era doesn't have many skyscrapers," Red Archer noted, glancing at the three-story buildings they passed. "Otherwise, we wouldn't have to run all this way."
As an Archer, his vision was unparalleled; he could see a man's face from miles away. The problem was that Romania in this era wasn't exactly known for its high-rises. At best, there was a clock tower. If they wanted to see what was happening on the other side of the mountains, they had to either send familiars or physically cross the terrain.
It was an exhausting necessity.
***
"Master, if you keep dragging your feet, the fight will be over before we get there!"
Mordred glanced back at Kairi Sisigou, her impulse to leave him behind and Charge forward growing by the second.
"Hey, I'm just a magus. I don't have the physical stats of a Servant," Sisigou panted, a hand on his chest. Since their car had been wrecked, they had no choice but to proceed on foot. It was only natural that he couldn't keep up with her pace.
"Go on ahead. I'll catch up later. If you wait for me, you'll definitely miss the show."
"But... if another one of those shockwaves hits, you," Mordred stopped, her concern for her Master overriding her thirst for battle.
"Don't worry about me. If things get hairy, I'll be the first one to find a hole to hide in," Sisigou said with the easy, world-weary confidence of a veteran.
"Fine!"
With a burst of speed, Mordred vanished into the distance.
"Sheesh. Would it kill her to doubt me just once?" Sisigou muttered, watching her disappear. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. Despite her rebellion, she was surprisingly straightforward.
He, too, was desperate to know what kind of monsters were clashing ahead. From the information provided by the priest, Shirou Kotomine, the enemy was a Servant of the Black Faction. But given the sheer scale of the destruction...
He began to wonder if his decision to ally with the Red Faction was a stroke of genius or a fatal mistake.
"Damn..."
He clutched the Dragon Ball in his hand, murmuring under his breath. The rules of this war were etched into his mind: a team battle where victory meant collecting all seven Dragon Balls.
Collecting the balls or eliminating all other Teams were both paths to victory. This meant that even if there was a massive power gap between the Servants, it wasn't the only factor that decided the outcome.
Yet, there was a cruel catch. Only the Masters and Servants who were still alive at the end could make a wish. Even if Sisigou did nothing and the Red Team won, he would only get his wish if he was standing at the finish line. If he died or his Servant was eliminated, his involvement ended there.
It was different from the Fuyuki Grail War, but the core ruthlessness remained. For now, he had to trust that the priest was working toward their mutual victory.
***
"You intentionally took a direct hit from [Susanoo] just to reposition yourself for a counterattack."
"If any other ninja had faced that strike, they would have already fallen."
The thick black smoke parted, revealing the Perfect [Susanoo]. Its wings were in tatters, nearly incinerated by the solar fire. Yet, Karna's expression darkened as he saw Madara's position. The man himself was untouched.
"Unfortunately... you are facing me."
Madara lowered his hand, his purple eyes gleaming with a cold, superior light.
The [Rinnegan]!
Using the [Preta Path], he had absorbed the magical energy of Karna's Noble Phantasm completely. While the [Susanoo's] wings had served as a physical shield, the core of the attack had been neutralized before it could reach common ground.
"You should be proud. There are only a handful of people in my world who have forced me to admit that the [Sharingan] alone is not enough."
Madara deactivated the colossal [Susanoo], landing gracefully on the scorched, uneven earth. He had already deduced that Karna possessed an extremely powerful defensive Noble Phantasm. Under normal circumstances, taking a direct hit from [Susanoo] would leave even Hashirama with more than just scratches.
'His armor... it must be the source of that unnatural damage reduction,' Madara thought. 'If the Eternal Mangekyou isn't enough, then I'll use the [Rinnegan].'
Karna landed opposite him, his senses screaming a warning as he watched the change in his opponent's eyes.
'His eyes changed again?'
Karna noted the shift from crimson to purple, the concentric rings radiating an aura of absolute authority.
'A hero whose eyes are part of his Noble Phantasm...'
He could think of several figures from myth with such traits, but he didn't wait to speculate. He decided to strike first.
"O Brahma... cover the earth!"
Concentrated beams of heat erupted from Karna's eyes, searing through the air toward Madara.
PHUT!
But just as the rays reached Madara, they swerved violently as if hitting an invisible prism, carving deep furrows into the earth elsewhere.
'What?!'
Karna realized instantly that it wasn't a miss. Something had physically struck him, causing his aim to deviate.
'I was hit...'
He hadn't felt or seen any movement, yet his body had been jarred.
WHAM!!
A heavy blow struck Karna's abdomen, followed by another to his jaw. He immediately ignited a cloak of solar flames to incinerate anything near him.
THUD!
BANG!!
He had expected the intense heat to drive back the invisible threat, but the attacks continued, relentless and unseen.
He couldn't see them with his eyes.
He couldn't sense them with his mana.
It was as if ghosts were haunting him, circling him like predators.
"I'm afraid those aren't easily captured," Madara noted, crossing his arms as he watched Karna being driven back by the invisible assault.
[Limbo: Border Jail]!
It was one of the unique powers of Madara's [Rinnegan]. He had manifested his "shadows" into the invisible world known as Limbo. These shadows could defend him and attack his enemies, existing in a dimension that was imperceptible to anyone without the [Rinnegan] or the [Six Paths] sensing ability.
"Now... you were able to withstand one strike from [Susanoo]..."
"But how will you handle two?"
In Karna's vision, two invisible pulses of air surged. The shadows had manifested their own Perfect [Susanos] in the Limbo world, swinging their colossal blades at him.
The dual strikes came from his front and back, sealing off all avenues of escape. In a world where he couldn't see or sense the threat, a reaction was impossible.
But in that split second...
Minato appeared, holding a mutilated, grotesque figure in his arms. He touched Karna's shoulder, and in a flash of yellow light, both of them vanished.
"Hmm?"
Madara noticed the "shift," but he didn't stop the attack. No matter who appeared in their place, they would have to face the wrath of his dual blades. He had no idea just what kind of consequences this desperate gambit would trigger.
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]