Jeanne parried with her flag-spear, pushing aside a blade held by a Dragon Tooth Soldier's skeletal hand, then swung the spear back, sweeping the Dragon Tooth Soldier aside to crash into its companions before scattering into ordinary pieces of bone.
Mordred, meanwhile, was recklessly slashing through everything that stood in her way.
Whether it was Dragon Tooth Soldiers, homunculi, or magic dolls.
She had an air of 'I'm taking on the whole field'.
This gave the masters observing the battlefield a major headache.
"The Ruler Faction's Lancer has made her move... looking at her stance, she seems to only act against the Dragon Tooth Soldiers attacking her, and has strictly ordered the homunculi and magic dolls not to attack her." Darnic issued instructions to those around him.
"However, what's with that Red Faction Saber?"
"Why is she attacking our homunculi and magic dolls while also attacking the Dragon Tooth Soldiers from her own faction?"
"Is it Ruler's request? Or... has infighting broken out in the Red Faction?" Darnic muttered with a frown.
"Ruler hasn't personally taken action, which means this is within her range of permission..." Fiore, beside him, was also frowning deeply. "But that thing in the sky should have already violated the rules."
"No, ultimately, the so-called rules of the Holy Grail War are set by Magi. No one knows exactly what the rules of the Holy Grail War that Ruler follows are," Darnic said, shaking his head.
Mainly because no one had bothered to ask.
And the only one who knew the truth, Amakusa Shirou Tokisada, was on the opposing side.
"Then should we have the homunculi and magic dolls stay away from Lancer and the Red Saber to reduce losses?" Fiore reminded. "Looking at the direction those two are heading, they should be charging for that sky fortress."
"Yes, that's fine." Darnic nodded in agreement, then turned to look at Vlad III. "Lord, should we have Caster release the Red Faction Berserker?"
"It is time. Let him be deployed," Vlad III responded. "Also, we should prepare to make our appearance. Do not keep the enemy waiting too long."
"Yes." Darnic leaned his body forward slightly.
The main gate of the Yggdmillennia castle... although the gate had already been overturned by Daniel and the others, the location Caster prepared for releasing Spartacus was still here.
"Berserker, your master is now me, do you understand?" Avicebron reminded him while undoing the magecraft binding Spartacus.
"It seems I cannot maintain my existence without your power; what an unforgivable relationship of subordination." Although his mouth didn't move, Spartacus's voice echoed in Avicebron's mind.
"Then, do you wish to kill me here?" Avicebron's tone sounded as indifferent as if he were speaking of a third party.
"I still have my own mission; I must remain in this world a little longer." Spartacus gripped the weapon standing beside him with his freed right hand. "I must defeat the oppressors! Seize the hope at the end of despair!"
"And in the end! Kill every single one of those power-hungry individuals who have gathered for the Grail!"
Avicebron remained silent.
He felt that this Berserker's mind was broken to a degree even worse than he had anticipated.
However, considering it was a Berserker, this was actually normal, and it made him quite easy to induce.
Abandoning useless extra thoughts, Avicebron looked up slightly at Spartacus and undid his final restraints.
"Go, Berserker."
"Hehe, hehehehe—!"
With a brilliant smile, Spartacus sprinted toward the direction outside the castle, weapon in hand.
Off to hack those oppressors to death!
Except for Avicebron, who stayed to guard the home base and continue developing his Noble Phantasm, all Servants had been sent to the battlefield.
"Alright, it's time to begin the installation of the prepared core." Avicebron looked up at the little master waving at him from the edge of the castle wall and felt his head start to ache.
Despite having spent nearly half a month together, he was still not good at dealing with children.
"Teacher! The homunculus has been adjusted and can be installed as the core for your Noble Phantasm at any time!"
The expression on the face under Avicebron's mask showed no ripple, even though he was about to complete his great work.
As Avicebron turned to walk underground and disappeared into the dark passage, several shadow rats appeared from behind a nearby tree, chattering incessantly as if reporting the situation to their master.
In the next moment, they vanished into the dark, unlit ground like ordinary shadows.
"Oh?" Shalltear, who had hidden outside the castle with the greater grail, showed a joyful smile on her face after receiving the report from her familiars. "Aura, it looks like the job of protecting the greater grail will be left to you alone."
"Ah? Why?" Aura glared at Shalltear and asked. "Could it be that master gave you some new task?"
"No, it's something I noted down when I heard master complaining before; it doesn't count as a task." Shalltear looked at Aura with a haughty expression of 'I understand master's heart better than you'.
"Ugh—! You! You're really infuriating!" Aura puffed out her cheeks, her mind quickly recalling everything Daniel had said before, but she still couldn't catch any spark of realization.
"Ohohoho—" Shalltear took a few steps backward and disappeared from Aura's line of sight, which was illuminated by the golden light of the greater grail.
Killing the Black Faction Caster, Avicebron, to prevent him from successfully using his Noble Phantasm.
That was what Shalltear was preparing to do.
She still remembered master's helpless expression when he mentioned the Black Faction Caster's Noble Phantasm.
It sounded as if only Her Majesty Artoria could destroy Caster's Noble Phantasm in a duel.
Then, if she killed Caster in advance so his Noble Phantasm wouldn't even have a chance to be released, wouldn't she receive master's praise afterward?
Maybe she'd even be granted the reward of being allowed to attend his bed!
The more Shalltear thought about it, the more excited she became, even unable to stop herself from giggling out loud.
Legendary-grade equipment—crimson armor—replaced her usual clothes, and a Divine-grade weapon—a pipette-style lance—was also gripped tightly in Shalltear's hand.
The fully armed Shalltear instantly adjusted her state to the optimal combat posture.
Meanwhile, wolf-form, rat-form, and cat-form familiars emerged from the darkness and scattered in all directions to assist Shalltear in her reconnaissance work within the darkness.
They were also her backup energy reserves.
When a familiar stepped into Avicebron's 'Magecraft Workshop', Avicebron noticed immediately. He had the homunculi go on alert while he began summoning magic dolls and inputting multiple commands.
Behind him was where he hid 'The Primal Human (Adam)', an absolute sanctuary that must not be violated.
The moment Shalltear appeared, Avicebron commanded the magic dolls and homunculi to attack her.
But the numerous dark familiars swarmed forward, overcoming those few homunculi with quantity and quality.
The magic dolls were tougher than the homunculi; the cat and wolf familiars caused relatively minor damage to them.
But the rat familiars were delighted.
They were best at digging holes in hard ground!
That was a rat's bread and butter!
Avicebron did not panic as he watched the homunculi be wiped out and the magic dolls retreat steadily.
Instead, he methodically continued summoning magic dolls while beginning the work of installing the homunculus core into the 'Primal Human' body.
"Don't even think about it!" Shalltear leaped over the magic dolls being devoured and covered by her familiars, raised her pipette lance, and thrust it toward Avicebron.
A magic doll rose rapidly from the ground behind Avicebron, intending to use its body to block Shalltear's attack.
But Shalltear's target wasn't it, and she had no mood to waste time with such a thing.
Killing Caster Avicebron was the primary goal!
[Greater Teleportation]
Shalltear bypassed the magic doll directly, appearing between Avicebron and the 'Primal Human', interrupting Avicebron's work process.
"Get... away from there!" Avicebron's voice carried a tone of anger for the first time.
At the same time, a large number of magic dolls were summoned by him.
[Maximize Magic: Vermilion Nova]
Vermilion flames instantly enveloped and incinerated Avicebron and the homunculus he was protecting in his arms.
"Gah, ahhh—" the homunculus wailed in pain.
Avicebron, meanwhile, used his willpower to suppress the searing pain, trying his best to extinguish the flames on the homunculus.
However, the existence and combustion form of those flames were completely beyond Avicebron's understanding, and he could only sit by and watch as they continued to burn.
"What exactly are you?" Avicebron cast the hopeless homunculus aside, then looked up at Shalltear, who was floating in mid-air, and demanded.
"Hehehe, do you want to ask for my name? How regrettable." Shalltear gripped the Spuit Lance in her hand. "I do not have a penchant for introducing myself to enemies."
"However, as far as willpower goes, to be burned by my Vermilion Nova and not let out a single scream—you're quite impressive." A cold smile hung on Shalltear's face. "Therefore, to avoid you disturbing my master, you really ought to die!"
[Greater Teleportation]
Shalltear suddenly appeared behind Avicebron and thrust the Spuit Lance forward, easily piercing through his mask from behind.
Without leaving any final words, Avicebron exited the stage early.
The first to notice the situation was Avicebron's master, Roche Frain Yggdmillennia.
The command spells on the back of his hand faded and then vanished.
This situation plunged Roche into a panic.
He did not believe his teacher would die inexplicably in the underground workshop of their own base castle; the possibility instantly narrowed down to one.
"Teacher... did he betray us?" Roche hurried off to find Darnic.
But Darnic was nowhere to be found, and among those who could still make decisions in the castle, the one with the highest status was Fiore, who had been designated as the next clan head.
Therefore, after confirming Darnic was not there, Roche turned to look for Fiore.
"What? Caster betrayed us?" When she heard this news from Roche, Fiore was completely bewildered.
The current battle situation looked overwhelmingly disadvantageous for the Red Faction; how could Caster possibly betray them at such a critical juncture?
Isn't this like a high-ranking general suddenly defecting on the eve of the end of the Liberation War?
But the vanished command spells on the back of Roche's hand could not be faked.
"Immediately go to Caster's magic workshop to investigate." Fiore issued an order to the homunculus beside her.
"Archer, please observe the surroundings to see if there are any traces of the Red Faction Servants." Fiore turned her head to ask Chiron, who was standing beside her.
"I have already observed; there is nothing out of the ordinary." Chiron shook his head and replied.
Fiore could only sit in her wheelchair and wait for the report from the homunculus returning after the investigation.
Of course, it was also possible that those two had also died in Caster's magic workshop.
The worst-case scenario did not happen.
The two homunculi sent for the investigation returned safely.
But they brought back an even worse result.
"The homunculus accompanying Caster was gnawed beyond recognition; the homunculus selected as the core for the Noble Phantasm was burned to charcoal; Caster had summoned over a dozen magic dolls, all of which were destroyed and in tatters; and the Noble Phantasm Caster had meticulously prepared has turned into ordinary mud, stones, and wood."
"Caster, suspected to be dead."
Fiore's face turned deathly pale, and Roche, standing to the side, collapsed onto the floor.
"Teacher... he died?"
"Have all the homunculi in the castle take action!" Fiore ordered. "An enemy has infiltrated the castle; we must find them!"
Fiore then began communicating with Darnic and told him what had happened inside the castle.
"Uncle, please have Berserker and Rider return to the castle to search, and let Archer take over their targets here."
Darnic looked at Vlad III, who was locked in an intense battle with Karna, and Siegfried, who was fighting Achilles nearby, his face turning livid.
In both of these battles, their Black Faction was showing signs of losing ground.
But after considering it for a few seconds, he agreed to Fiore's suggestion.
"Have Archer deploy, come over to take over Saber's work, and eliminate the Red Faction's Rider." Glancing at Jeanne and Mordred, who were still advancing toward the Red Faction's base, Darnic issued new orders.
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