Chapter 398: Roadblock
Shinji and Chiron were the types who, once they got serious, acted with swift decisiveness. When they said they would start special training, they began preparations immediately.
"First, we need a sufficiently spacious area. I wonder if there's a suitable place inside the castle."
"I'll go ask Patriarch Darnic soon. If there's nothing inside, we'll find a place outside the castle. There should be a suitable area within the barrier."
"Alright, if there's no problem, let's meet at the training ground at six tomorrow morning to start training."
"Not starting tonight?"
"Balancing work and rest is important. You've already had a big fight today. Your body hasn't fully recovered, and you need some time to process the previous battle."
"Alright then."
Shinji wanted to say: These minor injuries are nothing. Over at Scáthach's, as long as you can move, the training doesn't stop.
But since the one across from him wasn't Scáthach but Chiron, he conceded: You're the teacher, you decide.
"What exactly will the training entail?"
"The first step is for you to dodge my arrows. Although I can't match Achilles' speed, my arrows can. You must..."
Seeing their exaggerated efficiency left the Forvedge siblings dumbfounded. They were still processing the whole Achilles and Hector situation.
"Sis, it seems like there's nothing for us to do."
"Indeed. Why don't we train our magecraft too?"
"Good idea—uh, wait, no."
"What's wrong?"
"I just promised Uncle Darnic to catch Rider and that runaway homunculus, but now—"
Watching the two Servants chatting enthusiastically, Caules sighed helplessly.
"I'll talk to Uncle Darnic. After all, it's an Assassin's request, and I can also help them apply for a training ground."
"Thanks, Sis." Caules's participation in the Holy Grail War was an accident, so he rarely interacted with the other Masters of the Yggdmillennia clan, including Patriarch Darnic. Going directly to Darnic, and then going back on his word, was quite difficult for him. Fortunately, Fiore took on this challenge willingly.
Everything that followed went smoothly. When Fiore mentioned that Assassin had requested Archer for special training against the Red Rider, Darnic immediately canceled Archer's task and reassigned it to the Saber team.
Gordes didn't put on airs and readily accepted Darnic's request, surprising the latter—had this egotist taken the wrong medicine today?
No, he hadn't taken the wrong medicine; his intelligence had merely returned to normal.
Just moments ago, Gordes had been inquiring about the details of Siegfried's battle, hoping to find a point of mutual understanding. But upon hearing it was Achilles, who was a perfect counter to Siegfried, Gordes didn't dare to be arrogant. Knowing that Chiron and the strange Assassin were training to deal with Achilles made him more than happy to comply rather than interfere.
This led to the Saber team's roadblock scene.
"Rider. That homunculus cannot escape. Stand down."
Despite being told this, the Black Rider wasn't about to obediently comply.
"What if I don't?"
He decisively dismissed Gordes' proposal without a second thought. This seemingly impulsive response irritated Gordes, but he chose not to argue with this irrational troublemaker and simply waved his hand.
"Saber, restrain Rider."
Following the command, Siegfried stepped forward.
"Huh? Hey, hey, has your Master gone mad?"
Siegfried, maintaining his silence, swiftly rushed forward, grabbing Astolfo by the head and arm, pulling him away from the homunculus, and pinning him to the ground.
The homunculus, who had been leaning against Rider, collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.
"What—!?"
Due to the significant difference in their specifications, Astolfo was easily subdued by Siegfried, his legs flailing aimlessly.
"W-Wait! Wait a minute! Let go of me, Saber!"
"Hmm, just like this, take both of them back..."
The homunculus, lying on the ground, looked up at Gordes. His gaze neither held strong hostility nor begged for mercy. Rather, his eyes were cold and mechanical, like a camera lens, observing humanity.
"Tch!"
Clicking his tongue, Gordes seized the homunculus's slender arm, examining him up and down with a hint of confusion.
"You're no different from other homunculi. Why does Caster value you so much? What's different about you?"
All the homunculi of the Yggdmillennia clan were created by Gordes. As a fellow magus, and one under the alchemy classification, Gordes was intensely curious about why Caster went to such lengths to capture this particular homunculus.
Silence.
The homunculus struggled to make his exhausted brain, which felt as if it were sinking into a mire, turn. His wrist was tightly gripped, on the verge of breaking. This man wanted to capture him, seemingly under Caster's orders.
Why was he so adamant about capturing him? He didn't understand. Although he didn't understand, as the man had said, his fate would be to be ground into dust. In other words, to escape this situation, he had to make a choice.
However, that was a choice the homunculus simply couldn't make. It was an option that a being who could see the future couldn't choose. Surely, a life as fleeting as his, trampling on others to survive, was against natural law.
"Bastard!! What are you thinking!? Don't hesitate! Don't give up! You said you wanted to live, right!? You told me you didn't want to die!! Then, shouldn't you fight until the end!? You have that right!! No matter what others say, I, Astolfo, will acknowledge you!!"
Astolfo's words forcibly pulled the homunculus's near-breaking spirit back together. That's right, at the very least, he should have resolved to survive. No matter how clumsy that life might be, he wanted to be able to hold his head high in front of those who had helped him. Didn't he wish to live?
"Silence him, Saber."
Gordes, seemingly disturbed by the shout, impatiently glanced at Siegfried. Siegfried promptly covered Astolfo's mouth, silencing him.
In that brief moment, the homunculus began to weave a spell—what was needed now was destruction. He clenched his fist, steeling himself to go all out to kill this magus named Gordes.
Accelerating his body to the brink of destruction. Just like when he had shattered reinforced glass before, he first understood the composition of the human body, then synchronized and began to destroy it.
"What...!?"
Realizing that the homunculus had activated his magic circuits, Gordes stared in astonishment at the nameless creation. The homunculus gripped his hand firmly, steeled his resolve, and began to weave the opening words of his spell.
"Straße/Gehen!"
The magical energy flowing through his body transformed in the direction most suited for tearing flesh and crushing bones. To put it metaphorically, his hand was both the barrel of a gun and the sheath of a sword. The bullets or blades that would fly from there would mercilessly destroy Gordes' arm and even crush his heart.
"Ugh—Anamorphism eisen arm (Transform into Iron Arm)!"
The hastily woven spell highlighted a fatal flaw in the homunculus's magecraft. This magecraft, which analyzed the composition and transformed magical energy to cause the most suitable destruction for the target, would only cause a small-scale explosion if the composition itself changed.
Their compatibility was poor, to say the least. A defective product created using Einzbern alchemy faced with Gordes, who also studied alchemy, had fatally poor compatibility.
A small explosion occurred, causing Gordes to recoil slightly. However, this attempt to kill Gordes had pushed the homunculus to his physical limit, counting the earlier escape attempt.
"You... you bastard...!!"
Gordes trembled all over, burning with rage. His body was uninjured, and the pain quickly subsided. Such minor injuries wouldn't even take a day to heal; with healing magecraft, they could be completely cured in seconds.
The issue was that the one who had harmed him was not someone else but a mere magical energy battery, one that he had created with his own hands, and the previous attack had contained murderous intent.
This guy wanted to kill me!
This realization was accurate. The homunculus had cast the spell with the greatest killing intent he could muster. To launch such unimaginable rebellion against his creator, the one who had given him life, the prey meant to be consumed suddenly bared its fangs.
For Gordes, who regarded homunculi as consumables and his possessions, this was unimaginable.
"Are you kidding me!! A mere homunculus...! To think you could kill me! Impossible! Impossible! Impossible! Impossible!"
Driven by this rage, Gordes swung his iron-fisted punch toward the exhausted, defenseless homunculus. At this moment, Darnic's orders had completely vanished from his mind.
If this punch landed, the homunculus's fragile heart would shatter instantly.
Astolfo's eyes widened, struggling desperately to break free from Siegfried.
Siegfried, feeling a pang of sympathy, loosened his grip slightly.
At that moment, an unfamiliar burst of magical energy erupted less than three meters in front of Gordes, accompanied by a commanding shout.
"Stop!"
In an instant, a fierce wind howled, and Gordes's bulky body was blown backward.
Seeing this, Siegfried immediately abandoned Astolfo and quickly moved to catch his Master.
The two lying on the ground were spared due to their smaller surface area.
"Hey, hey, are you alright?"
Astolfo, not caring about what had happened, scrambled over to Sieg, shouting.
"Answer me!"
"I'm... okay..." Sieg lifted his head, forcing a weak smile.
"Thank goodness." Astolfo hugged the homunculus tightly, nearly in tears.
"I suggest you don't use so much force; he's very weak right now and can't handle it."
Astolfo and Sieg both looked up at the silver figure that had appeared before them, realizing that she had saved them.
"Who are you—?"
Gordes and Siegfried had the same question, but they quickly found out the answer.
The tall woman in silver armor did not hide her Servant aura. The emblem indicating she was part of the same faction clearly announced that she was their final Servant.
"Black Lancer!!!"