Fate: How About a New Savior?

As the two Servants retreated, the American soldiers, inspired by the sight, rallied with renewed morale, pushing back the advancing Celtic warriors.

"Are you satisfied, Diarmuid?" Scáthach asked.

Diarmuid's body was gradually becoming transparent, but his expression was one of pure contentment. "To think Lord Shiomi is a disciple of Queen Scáthach... To cross blades with such an opponent twice—something I could only dream of even in life."

"If we ever meet again, I'll still be up for a fight," Shiomi said as he approached.

"If there is a next time, I hope to be someone who can aid you in restoring the Human Order," Diarmuid replied, seated on the ground as he watched Fionn fade. "I believe my lord would feel the same."

Shiomi picked up his spear and rested it on his shoulder. "If that day comes, I'll be counting on you."

With those parting words, Diarmuid and Fionn vanished completely, withdrawing from the Singularity.

But the battle was far from over. Victorious or not, Shiomi and Scáthach had no time to savor their win. Shiomi brought his fingers to his lips and let out a sharp whistle that cut across the battlefield.

Runic-enhanced warhorses burst from the flank, crashing into the unsuspecting Celtic warriors and throwing them into disarray, giving the mechanical soldiers the opening they needed to strike.

In that same instant, Shiomi vaulted onto a warhorse and charged down the slope. Wherever his spear moved, warrior or magical beast alike fell, heads and bodies parting in a single strike. Even the wyverns above were felled with a single, blazing throw of his crimson spear.

He carved a path of blood through the dense ranks of the Celtic army.

Using that path as the breakthrough, the mechanical soldiers split the enemy formation in two.

"What valor... it's stirring, even for me," Scáthach murmured from the hillside as she cut down Celtic warriors climbing toward her, her gaze fixed on the charging Shiomi.

Soon, Shiomi and his mount were little more than a distant speck on the battlefield. The bloody trail he'd opened slowly began to close, like a wound knitting itself shut—only now filled with American soldiers.

Scáthach sprang into the air, using airborne wyverns as stepping stones, slaying one with each landing.

She quickly caught up to Shiomi's warhorse, hurling her crimson spear beside him. It landed on his left and exploded, blowing away the warriors who had begun to encircle him.

"You've gone too deep," she said, landing beside him and killing enemies with effortless grace.

"Because—"

Shiomi was about to speak when a violent tremor from the north drew their attention.

With vision enhanced by Magecraft, they witnessed a battle that shook heaven and earth.

Karna and Arjuna had met again on the battlefield—and resumed their endless struggle. No one else could approach. The vast plains had been scarred with crater after crater, each tens of meters deep and now interconnected, leaving the land battered and broken.

On the eastern plains of the United States, they had carved out a battlefield rivaling the Grand Canyon itself.

"A reenactment of the Battle of Kurukshetra... only this time, without the Pandavas, without the Kuru family or Indra," Scáthach said with rare praise. "But... there's still one person who can intervene."

Amid his spear strikes, Shiomi glanced down at the Command Spell on his hand. He could feel it—Karna had severed his link to Shiomi's mana, drawing power only from himself and the Greater Source.

If that was the case, then this battle wouldn't last much longer.

"Romani, what's the situation on the battlefield? What about the other Celtic Servants?" Shiomi contacted Chaldea mid-battle.

Romani's voice came through, distorted by interference. "Beowulf is engaged with Li Shuwen. Fergus is being held off by Rama, with Nero and Elizabeth assisting from the central forces. They've successfully suppressed Fergus—his defeat is only a matter of time!"

Before Romani could finish, a burst of multicolored light cut off Shiomi's view of Karna. Fergus had unleashed his Noble Phantasm, and the land split even further apart.

That meant Rama and the others would likely be releasing theirs next.

With no more hesitation, Shiomi raised his hand, the Command Spells etched on the back glowing brightly.

"By Command Spell, I urge my comrade—Karna! Fight Arjuna with all your might!"

Even if the mana supply was severed, as long as the contract remained, Chaldea's Command Spells could still be invoked.

Sensing the surge of support, Karna momentarily paused mid-combat. Then, as mana erupted more fiercely from his body, he silently offered Shiomi his deepest thanks—before diving straight at Arjuna.

"By the second Command Spell, I call on my comrades—Rama, Nero, Elizabeth! Defeat Fergus!"

Shiomi declared again, sending a second Command Spell's power to his allies. Two spells released in rapid succession—an immense amount of mana flowed to the battlefield.

But just as he was about to use the third—

A chariot, radiating massive magical energy, barreled in from the direction of Washington, crashing into the battlefield from behind, charging straight at him.

"Think you can just toss out Command Spells one after another? Don't get ahead of yourself!"

Medb's voice rang out from the chariot.

"All power is my power! The authority of government, The steel of oppression, The terror of domination — 'Chariot My Love!'"

Medb's Noble Phantasm.

A chariot made manifest from her royal authority, capable of both direct charges and area attacks. It was drawn by the same two bulls from the Táin Bó Cúailnge.

More importantly—it specialized in anti-male combat.

For any man, resisting a charging woman like Medb was no simple task.

She had one objective: to capture Shiomi and bring him onto her chariot. The interior of the chariot was her own Reality Marble. A place of pleasure that doubled as a hero's tomb.

Any man—even if he could reject her honeyed mead—could not resist the allure of her embrace.

Recognizing this as one of the most dangerous and troublesome Noble Phantasms for any male, Scáthach shouted, "Get out of the way!"

"As if I'd let you!" Medb's chariot closed in instantly.

She cracked her whip. Shiomi, already surrounded by spears from Celtic warriors and unable to maneuver his horse away, had no choice but to leap off. In that split second, the whip wrapped around his neck and yanked him toward her.

With the Noble Phantasm's true name released, Shiomi, as a man, found himself at a severe disadvantage. Medb seized the moment, dragging him—unable to resist—toward the depths of the battlefield.

"Just curious... What exactly does this Noble Phantasm do?" Shiomi asked, feeling the powerful force pulling him into the chariot.

Medb only responded with a sultry smile.

"You'll know once you're inside."

...

(100 Chapters Ahead)

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