C432

Shirou, commanding the Tower of Light, shifted his gaze to the side. In the distance, a white-haired youth brandishing a divine spear leaped between the towering buildings and jumped toward him.

There was no mistaking that the person who had sealed the gap in the defensive line with a magical cannon along with Excalibur was none other than him.

As he looked at the somewhat unfamiliar face, Shirou softly whispered the name of this youth in his heart.

—Karna!

Karna landed gracefully before him, his expression calm as he greeted, "Our first formal meeting, Eternal King."

Shirou had crossed paths with Karna once in the past.

It happened during their 'journey' along the path to the Root when he and Arcueid found themselves faced against an army of Heroic Spirits, with Karna among their ranks.

"You remember me?"

Karna nodded, "The one on the throne has seen you, so it is only natural that I remember."

Shirou took a deep breath and said, "You've come from afar, and it would have been proper for a host to extend some hospitality, but with the crisis at hand, please forgive me for skipping the pleasantries."

Pausing for a moment, he asked, "How many were summoned by Alaya?"

"Including the Guardians, a total of six," Karna responded, "Three Guardians and three Heroic Spirits, myself included."

"Heroic Spirits?" He frowned.

Karna affirmed with a nod, gesturing towards the colossal dragon in the sky, "The summoning process was disrupted by that thing. Long story short, the main summoning didn't quite work out, and only the Guardians made it here. The three of us Heroic Spirits found a way through the passage of Heroic Spirit Summoning."

Shirou's expression tightened in response.

The "Ritual: Heroic Spirit Summoning" was originally a ritual used by the planet to save the world. It involved summoning the humanity's strongest seven Heroic Spirits, the Grand Servants. These spirits would materialize to combat the major calamities threatening the world. For convenience's sake, this ritual was adapted into what's known as the "Ritual: Holy Grail War."

This Heroic Spirit Summoning was designed to counter the Beasts and acted as humanity's ultimate defense mechanism, geared toward protecting the planet.

"So, that thing up there, is it a Beast?" Shirou asked, a furrow forming on his forehead.

Karna shook his head, "I can't say for sure. What I do know is that thing definitely interfered with the Heroic Spirit Summoning process. Moreover, it interfered with the connection between the throne and this world."

Shirou felt a shiver down his spine, "When you say 'throne,' you're talking about..."

"The Throne of Heroes," Karna calmly revealed the chilling truth. "That thing managed to disrupt the connection between the Throne of Heroes and this world, leading to the failure of the planet's activation of the Heroic Spirit Summoning ritual."

"What in the world is that thing? How can it mess with the Throne of Heroes?" 

His shock was evident. Until now, across all the Nasuverse series, there existed only one thing with the power to interfere with and restrict the Throne of Heroes. That thing was the Land of Steel, where both the planet and humanity faced extinction!

"I'm not sure," Karna replied with a hint of uncertainty, his head shaking slightly. Then, he lifted his hand and directed Shirou's attention to the right side of the massive dragon head. "You see, Eternal King? That blurry shape in the third row, seventeenth from the right."

He followed Karna's gaze, his eyes landing on the densely packed crowd of humanoid forms protruding from the dragon's neck. Among them, he spotted the eerie figure Karna had mentioned – third row, seventeenth spot.

The figure had a male humanoid form, almost like a lump jutting out from the dragon's neck. Its face contorted in howling expression, creating a truly unsettling and terrifying image.

Karna added, "I can't be certain about everything else, but I can definitely feel the sun's aura emanating from that figure – it's even stronger than my own."

"The sun's aura?" Shirou furrowed his brows.

"Exactly," Karna affirmed, elaborating, "Thanks to my father Surya's immense power, my Divinity ranks at A, which is the highest tier of the Divine attribute. Any Heroic Spirits or Divine Spirits connected to the sun, whose Divinity falls below level B, would be suppressed by my presence. But that thing there... I sense a sun-related Divine attribute even stronger than mine. If I'm not mistaken, that figure might very well be a facet of my father, the Sun God Surya."

After a brief pause, Karna turned his gaze towards him and stated, "That's the extent of my knowledge. For this battle, I'm at your command, Eternal King."

Shirou let out a sigh. "Let's set those concerns aside for now. Time's ticking away, and our first priority should be getting innocent people to safety. As for the rest, we should just let the planet take care of it."

After a brief pause, he asked, "Can you tell me which Guardians and Heroic Spirits have materialized?"

Karna's brow furrowed for a moment before he replied, "I'm not entirely sure about the Counter Guardians, but when it comes to the Heroic Spirits who've shown up, it's not just me and Arjuna. There's one more who come with us." He took a brief pause, his expression thoughtful. "Now, this one's a bit of a problem. She's not here to lend a helping hand, more like stirring up trouble."

"Who might that be?"

Karna's tone turned serious. "...Attila."

"Attila?" Shirou's eyebrows shot up in surprise, his lips curling into a thoughtful expression. "I see... she's the mastermind behind the downfall of my dynasty. Although the trouble she's causing might not be directed towards me, but towards my subordinates."

Attila, also known as the Scourge of God, had once been an ally in his campaign to eliminate Crimson Moon. Yet, she was also the driving force behind the collapse of his dynasty.

She ultimately fell victim to Artoria's scheme.

If these two women were to clash...

"Oh boy!" Merlin's sudden exclamation caught his attention.

Glancing at him, he asked, "What's wrong?"

Merlin let out a long sigh. "Attila and Lily have already started fighting."

"I see." He said calmly.

Merlin couldn't help but ask, "My king, aren't you the least bit worried?"

His response was steady, "Just focus on your duties; Artie's got this."

After a brief pause, he turned towards his guest, his expression serious. "Karna, I'll need you to inform the other Heroic Spirits and Guardians who arrived with you to clear out the remaining monsters inside the city."

"What about the ones in the sky?"

"I'll take care of them. If any of those pests manage to slip through the cracks, I'll be relying on you to handle the rest."

Karna acknowledged the orders with a nod before departing.

Shirou shifted his attention to the messenger by his side. "How's the spreading of information progressing?"

The messenger quickly responded, "The news has been spread across the entire network in the Fuyuki City. Teams 01, 02, and 07 have successfully evacuated a significant number of people to Mount Enzou, Your Majesty."

Shirou nodded.

His retreat strategy boiled down to a straightforward plan: spread the information widely and, in collaboration with the Fuyuki City government, assemble people under the guidance of leaders from different companies and organizations. These people would then follow their superiors' instructions, resulting in an organized and synchronized mass evacuation.

As he stared upwards, his attention shifted to the sky, where he began to strategize the construction of an aerial defense line.

Miyu looked at him standing beside the Tower of Light.

He appeared radiant to her, though Merlin had already grown accustomed to it.