The Miracle Arrives

"...I don't have any plans of being eaten by that thing. But let's leave that matter aside. You are sure he is still alive, are you not?" Stheno asked, receiving a nod from the Caster Servant.

"Positive. I can also say that he is resisting the process. It would surely give us a little more time. As for how much? I cannot answer with confidence." She didn't want to give them hopes, much less false ones. However, in a situation where the end of the world seems nothing but near, not much can be done about it.

"That means we need to try harder. The wound I caused to him won't heal no matter what he does, so we have to take advantage of that." As much as it pained him to say it, Theseus needed some time to rest and recover. It all would depend on the others for now.

"Agreed. If attacking separately did not work, except for him, then we are going to have to give everything we've got together." Zhuge Liang commented from the side.

"Be careful. Worst case scenario, he would forget about everything and attack you mindlessly." Romani said, earning many eye rolls.

"You know, you need to read the mood sometimes. You must have had a tough childhood to be like that." David said while shaking his head. Dr. Roman's eyebrows immediately began to twitch.

"Listen here—"

"He is coming. Everyone get ready!" Atalanta, who was keeping an eye on Typhon, immediately notified the rest, making them tense slightly and redirect their gazes to the giant monster who had begun to move.

Typhon advanced slowly, not minding the Leviathan who was lurking at his side. He only stopped when he was at a relatively close distance. Everyone prepared themselves for an eventual attack, but that didn't come at all. Instead, the giant monster laughed.

His voice was very deep and managed to send chills down their spine. Fortunately, he didn't keep doing that for long. The serpentine monster then arched his forward a bit, his red-eyes scanning everyone on the ship before stopping on Theseus.

"Impressive. I did not think there were humans capable of hurting me. As always, you are an interesting bunch." His tone was filled with amusement, but it still kept the natural disdain. Most likely, if he hadn't been hurt, he wouldn't even bother with looking at them as sentient beings.

"What? Is this the part where you take pity on us and let us live while you go somewhere unknown?" EMIYA sarcastically asked the monster in front of him. Although he said that, the white-haired man was ready to deploy Rho Aias, as useless as that might be.

In response to his question, Typhon laughed again. The next thing they knew, his arm was already crushing the Argo to pieces. Everyone's eyes widened for the nth time since the battle started. They couldn't react as it happened so fast.

"No." His response was dry as if he had heard the unfunniest joke in the world. In their little moment of happiness due to having harmed him, they seem to have forgotten that the only people Typhon needed were in the Golden Hind and not the Argo.

A thudding sound woke them from their stunned state. They turned around to see the fallen form of Darwin trying to stand up. No one knew how she got there, but probably someone threw her to the deck of their ship before Typhon had smashed the Argo.

Unfortunately, there were no signs of Medea Lily, Jason, or Herakles for the matter. The latter was, without a doubt, a heavy loss.

'Damn it. He seemed amused, but he is pissed as hell.' Theseus frowned in exasperation. Herakles would revive, of that he was sure, so he was not worried about him. Medea was another matter entirely. Although she was not right in the head, her healing was second to none. As for Jason... He was useless. Not the original itself, but the one summoned here. He should be more of a leader instead of staying in the back and observing what happens. The green-haired man even wondered if Medea tampered with his summoning and made him a retard or something.

"Impede I completely assimilate Seth? You are too late for that!" Typhon's declaration brought the Athenian King's attention back to the battlefield. What did he mean? It couldn't be that—

David and Theseus suddenly felt an instinctive fear, but this one was different from the one they had experienced when Typhon appeared for the first time. The former was a fear correlating with their "race". As for the latter, it had more to do with what they had become in life... Kings. If Seth were to be present at the moment, he would sigh in annoyance. It seemed Kingslayer was a Skill every thief liked to have.

That wasn't the only noticeable change, though. Typhon started growing in size little by little. From the original 30 meters above sea level, he had become 50 meters tall. They really didn't want to know how big he would become once he completely absorbed Seth.

Finally, part of the shadows covering his body dispersed, more precisely the ones covering his serpentine arm. It had blue and red skin, with some protrusions seemingly made out of bones surrounding its eyes.

Typhon took a moment to appreciate the changes, clenching and unclenching his human-looking fist. He then directed his gaze to Stheno and Euryale, and although they couldn't see it due to the shadows still hiding his face, the two sisters felt as if he was looking at them with a predatory grin.

"Now it is your turn, you wastes of daughters." The giant monster extended his hand toward the Golden Hind, intending to capture the Gorgon Sisters. Those two would be the next step to strengthen himself even more. After that, he would go after that pathetic coward who called himself Sky God in the Reverse Side of the World.

"I won't let you!" They already had enough problems with one God being eaten, Zhuge Liang didn't want to find out what would happen if two more were added to the mix. Usually, he would be conservative regarding Magical Energy's expenditure, knowing that his Master was just starting to get used to handling various Servants at once. Still, this situation didn't allow him that.

El-Melloi waved his feather fan to the side, creating a semi-circle of blue fire in front of him. In the next few moments, enormous shadows appeared above them. Stone pillars of black and red fell from the sky in a circular motion, trapping Typhon inside. Lastly, something akin to a ceiling with a yin-yang symbol in the middle fell on top of the pillars, blocking any escape route.

"『Unreturning Formation!』" Caster didn't hesitate for even a second to use his Noble Phantasm. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but he couldn't do much else against such a foe. He only had one more left, and he didn't know exactly how THAT was going to turn out.

Taking this as an opportunity, Drake turned the ship around. All of this still looked like some unreal shit, but she knew she had to take advantage of the opportunity they had right now to gain some distance.

"Get back here!" Typhon bellowed. At first, he tried to brute-force his way through the prison, but that left him with no results. He then tried to shoot an energy ray through the pillars' gaps, yet it was as if there was an invisible barrier preventing it from exiting.

"It seems to be working." Fujimaru let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He was extremely tense during the whole situation, so much so that he could barely speak. Not to mention he was still suffering from Typhon's initial roar.

"Don't get complacent, kid. That won't hold him for long. It will take him less than a minute to break through it." Atalanta said with barely concealed rage. Her knuckles were white from trying to contain herself. If it weren't for her Goddess' hand on her shoulders, she would have already gone mad and attacked that monster.

Seeing Medea perish like that was not a good thing... It was unacceptable. She was really cursing her own powerlessness right now. It seemed that when it truly mattered, she couldn't do a damn thing. To add to that... she could have sworn she saw the girl she traveled with giving her a last look... a last smile before that monster killed her.

"I am afraid she is right. This will only buy us a few dozen seconds at most. We have to think of something and fast." Caster replied, unaware of the Huntress' inner turmoil.

"He will be wary of me, so don't expect much. As for you lot, don't you have some finishing move or something like that? If we can't kill him, might as well cripple that shithead." Theseus said while shrugging his shoulders as if it didn't concern him. Although, internally, he was thinking about new ways to cut Typhon. The only good news he could get out of this was that they didn't feel that overwhelming despair they did at first. It might have to do with his Skill, but those were details.

"I hate to say it, and I am sure the less indicated person to speak those words is me, but we need a miracle and now. I have noticed that his rage does not stem from hate against us, but it does from fear. Most likely that God is not only resisting but also fighting back inside Typhon. He must be panicking thinking that his source of power might escape." Darwin informed while holding her sides. She was able to escape thanks to a teleportation spell appearing suddenly beneath her feet. It must have been the work of their Caster. However, the Mother of Evolution did not know why she chose to sacrifice her own life. The only answer she could attain after a lot of thinking was that Medea thought they would have more chances with her alive.

""A miracle, huh..."" Both EMIYA and Zhuge Liang muttered to themselves at the same time. They looked at each other, seemingly coming to a decision—a resolve. However, there was a problem... Magical Energy shortage.

As they were pondering what to do, Typhon broke free from his prison. They expected to have a little more time, but it seemed impossible now. Just when he was about to chase them, though, the Leviathan rammed hard into his wounded side, making him stumble into the ocean.

Not yet done, she shot a torrent of water at him to prevent the monster from getting up.

"Just when I thought that snake was going to be a spectator all day long, it turns out it helps us in the most opportune moment," David said with obvious conflicted emotions at being rescued by another equivalent of Satan.

"Better late than never," Euryale commented while frowning. She then turned to Archer and Caster. "You two seem to have something in mind. What are you thinking?"

The first to answer was EMIYA. "I can create a weapon capable of achieving a miracle. Problem is, that specific one would take a lot of Magical Energy to create. If we want to still have a fighting chance in case that fails, I can't take that much from Master."

"While what I plan might not require a strenuous amount, if we couple it Archer's idea, I am afraid that would be detrimental to Master." Zhuge Liang responded on the same line the Red Bowman did.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Mash asked, unsure of how to resolve the situation. She had not had much action since the battle began—something she considered good since that meant her Master was not theoretically in danger. However, that also made the feeling of wanting to help even more prevalent.

Fujimaru looked downcast for a second. In the end, it all came to his inadequacy. It's not like he expected to be able to solve every problem by just snapping his fingers but... at least be of some use when it mattered, you know? 'I bet Kuro would be able to help more than me if he was here...'

𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴

'Eh?' The black-haired youth opened his eyes wide in surprise. 'Those were his words back then...'

"Master? Is something wrong?" Mash asked with concern laced on her voice after seeing her Senpai's odd behavior.

Breathing in and out. Fujimaru's face and mannerism changed from disheartened to determined in less than a second. 'You are right. This is where I show what I am made of. Just wait, I will prove to you that I can be an outstanding Master as long as I try hard enough.'

Offering a small smile of reassurance to Mash, Fujimaru then turned to EMIYA and Zhuge Liang with unshakable determination. "Please go ahead. We have to show Humanity's power to that monster who only knows destruction. We can't always depend on Gods to do all our work."

There was a pregnant pause for some seconds until a hearty laugh broke it. Theseus slapped Fujimaru's back, happy with his declaration. "That's the spirit, young man. With a thought process like that, you would have become cursed to death back in my time, but you are right in that. Now it is Humanity's turn to rule."

Aside from some mild discomfort at being hit, Fujimaru was otherwise fine. Artemis, despite being a Goddess, was smiling. It reminded her of a conversation she had long ago about the importance of being human...

Orion, not in the mood for acting like a pervert in this situation, also agreed with Fujimaru and even felt pride for the little chap.

Euryale, Asterios, Medea, and David exchanged looks, coming to a decision. The first to speak was the King of Israel. "We are not of much use currently, so we will help with the process."

"What do you—"

"Are you sure?" Archer cut Stheno off before she could finish. He knew the little Goddess had understood the implications, and of course, was unwilling. She probably saw the previous exchange. Not that he could blame her. What she wanted the least was to separate from her after all this time of being apart.

He received four nods in response, making him sigh. In the end, he also assented. He would be taking their Magical Energy, and Caster would use Fujimaru's to do whatever was he wanted to do.

'Don't worry, me. I am sure that when this is over, we will get reunited again. After all, it already happened, didn't it? Who says it can't happen twice?' Euryale communicated with her sister through the special bond they shared. It was like telepathy, but not entirely.

'But—'

'No buts. And don't say something silly like helping me. If worse comes to worst, Papa can use you as a catalyst to summon me, or even our younger sister, although that... is a bit of wishful thinking on my part.'

'I... Fine. Do what you want, but don't come crying later.' Stheno received no further answers, other than a smug look her way. Huh... so that's what it felt like when she did that to others. So annoying...

"I assume you want me to wield that weapon, so, while in normal circumstances I would also help, I am afraid I have to sit this one out," Theseus commented with folded arms as Medea, Asterios, Euryale, and David each put a hand on EMIYA's shoulders and arms.

They immediately felt their Magical Energy being sucked at a fast rate while Archer's only increased. Stheno took a step forward as if to stop her process, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. Looking back, she saw Artemis gently shaking her head, making the eldest sister bite her lips but otherwise make no other movements.

As the battle between two monsters raged in the background—one that would undoubtedly end in the Leviathan's defeat if they didn't do something, the Servants and human on the ship were witnessing the birth of a miracle.

EMIYA did his best to create this sword. It was one of those sentient ones that refused to be called under normal circumstances. If he forced it, he would end up with a hollow husk worse than a fake. Now though, now he felt it was possible. Not only that, the sword was urging to be called.

That sword wanted to demonstrate its power. But above all, it wanted to answer their wishes. Not only to fight but also to honor those who were sacrificing themselves for its creation.

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From that hill full of swords, 'it' alone resonated with their current feelings the most.

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If Excalibur is the sword that carries the hope of mankind, then this sword is one that carries their determination to keep fighting until the end.

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The Peerless Sword. A Symbol of Power, and above all, Bravery. It would not lose as long as its wielder didn't give up. No matter the form, it would always come back. It would show that determination was undying.

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𝘠𝘦𝘴, 𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴. 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵! 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘺𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭!

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"COME FORTH AND GIVE US A MIRACLE, DURANDAL!"