Concern and Pity

At the same time, as Artorius voiced his assessment of Vlad, Vlad himself had lost all rationality. He mumbled illogical words repeatedly.

"Ahh... Your Majesty concerned about the old man, huh?" Medusa said as she wore a pleased expression. "While I got ignored?"

'Concerned, of course. It's just not easy to say...' Artorius thought to himself.

Concerned about Vlad III, as a hero. Heroes appreciate heroes; it's good to say and to look at.

Concerned about Medusa, on the other hand, as a man. Men sympathize with women, especially good women. Watching a good woman suffer, and degenerate into her current state, would bring a sense of pity and contemplation like—"If possible, I'd like to save her."

Such thoughts were strange and whimsical, so Artorius refrained from speaking, calmly looking at Medusa.

His gaze made the goddess, who was just a step away from completely transforming into a monster, feel restless.

In the next moment, her hair surged towards Artorius, and her snake-like maw opened grotesquely, ready to devour.

Seeing this scene, Artorius squinted his eyes slightly.

'Forget it.' He thought to himself. 'This isn't the time to talk. Rest in peace... until we meet again... if that's possible...'

With this thought in mind, the Dragon Emperor raised his sword and swung it down. Medusa let out a pained cry as the serpent-like head at the end of her long hair was severed by his strike.

This scream acted like a signal. The Berserker Vlad, upon hearing the pained cry, widened his eyes and lunged fiercely towards Artorius.

"ArToRiUs!!!"

Vlad's frenzied roar proved that he certainly knew Artorius.

From the ground, from the sky, from all directions, countless spikes shot toward Artorius. However, in an instant, the magical energy released by the Dragon Emperor shattered the oncoming spike barrage.

Simultaneously, Vlad's long spear clashed with Artorius's sword.

On the other side, Medusa's claws got pierced by Gae Bolg in the next second. A dark, mixed with deep red viscous fluid began to ooze from the wound. Scathach, calm and unwavering, took control of the Evil Spirit with ease.

Shuten, on the other hand, continued to leisurely amuse herself.

"My Lord's situation is a bit dire; someone needs to lend a hand."

She said so, but her assistance was limited to taking a few sips of sake and blowing a couple of breaths. The sweet scent of the alcohol might have been effective for regular humans or Servants, but it had no impact on the Evil Spirits.

"..."

"Shuten-douji?!"

Upon witnessing this, Touko, who was still fighting alongside the Imperial army against the horde of the Dead, shouted. After a brief thought, she raised her hand.

"Shuten-douji! With this Command Spell, join this battle with all your might!"

"..."

"How troublesome~"

In the next moment, Shuten joined the fray. Wielding a large sword that didn't match her size, the Oni swiftly swung it, matching Scathach's moves. Together, they severed one of Medusa's claws.

The intense pain stimulated Medusa's nerves, transforming rapidly into sheer pleasure.

"Hahaha! Hahahaha!"

The pitying expression of Artorius, the misfortune he lamented for Medusa—all of that vanished completely at this moment.

Standing there was a colossal and dark monster, dozens of meters tall, adorned with countless serpents with crimson and emotionless demonic eyes that stared at Artorius.

'Whose laugh is that? The gods who toy with her fate? The ignorant so-called heroes who get easily manipulated? Or is it herself?'

The monster thought like that with confusion. Regardless, a cruel red aura enveloped the monster known as Medusa.

It was a deadly bounded field that would plunder and devour life force. This was the enhanced version of the original Medusa's 'Temple of Blood—Blood Fort Andromeda'. It was the Temple of Demonic Beasts, the 'Temple of Monsters—Pandemonium Cetus' in the form of a bounded field.

Within this temple stood the goddess worshipped and revered—Gorgon.

Abandoning her identity as a goddess completely, she had fully transformed into a Demonic Beast, yet paradoxically became the Goddess of Demonic Beast. There might not be anything more ironic than that in this world.

*ROAAARRR!!!*

Amidst the frenzy of roars, normal Heroic Spirits were weakened, while the horde of the Dead was significantly enhanced. Within this bounded field, Vlad was also included.

All the monsters of the Dead, under the leadership of Medusa—or more precisely, Gorgon—received a blessing within the bounded field. This amplification grew immensely; even Scathach was momentarily suppressed by Gorgon.

The combination of Vlad and Gorgon, along with the constant influx of the Dead from all sides, pushed their power beyond the previous enemies. This was a significant improvement.

Even if the three defeated Evil Servants from before were combined, they wouldn't amount to a tenth of this combination's might.

'To defeat such a colossal enemy, we must find a weakness and deliver a fatal blow.'

Scathach's eyes gleamed as she pondered this.

'The key is, where is the weakness?'

The 'Wisdom of Dun Scaith' began to work at this moment. Scathach was confident that soon, she would figure it out.

However, at the same time, the range of the Pandemonium Cetus expanded continuously. The number of the Dead affected by it also increased. The pressure on the Empire's final fortress naturally intensified.

Unfortunately, they might not have the luxury of waiting much longer.

"..."

At this moment, Artorius raised his sword once again. Ready to execute the same move as before.

There was nothing that the Dragon Emperor's Sword Beam EX couldn't solve; if there was, just fired another shot.

The same ultimate move that had taken care of Gilles's tentacles was now being used against Gorgon. It might have sounded a bit lame and uncreative, but in a war, creativity didn't matter much.

As long as they could win, everything was fine.

With that thought in mind, Artorius shouted "Cover me!" to Scathach while starting to gather magical energy onto his sword.

Supported by the Third Magic, he had a magical energy regeneration rate equal to infinity, allowing him to instantly deplete his own magical energy and then fill it back up in an instant.

For other Servants, they would regard it as an ultimate release of Noble Phantasm; for Artorius, it was just a mere regular attack.

In other words—

*Swish!*

"I've been waiting for you!"

As Artorius spoke those words, he raised his hand and swung his sword backward, cleaving Kirei, who had suddenly appeared behind him, into two halves. But in the next moment—

*Shplitch!*

"My Lord~"

The sword of Shuten pierced Artorius's body.

"Have you finally accepted the love I have for you~"

The demonic voice resonated sensually in his ears.