Fate: How About a New Savior?

One hour later, the assault on the Holy City began.

The Divine Beast handlers dispatched by the Sun King had already launched a feint on the western gate, drawing part of the city's defenses away.

Mordred, leading the cavalry as the vanguard, engaged Gawain, who was stationed at the main gate.

During this distraction, the main force bypassed the clash between Mordred and Gawain to strike directly at the gate. Once it was breached, they would split into three units and dismantle Camelot's defenses from within.

That was the plan.

The hardest and most crucial part was breaking through the gate.

As Mordred led her cavalry into the charge, Olga Marie—stationed at the main camp—noticed that Nitocris had vanished.

Without her assistance, the Grand Magecraft couldn't be activated from the Sun King's territory, which lay hundreds of kilometers away.

Only Shiomi, Morgan, and Scáthach had gone ahead. The rest of the girls remained in the rear with the main force, waiting to enter once the gate was opened and combat moved into the city.

Just as the main force was about to set out and Olga Marie was growing increasingly frustrated, Nitocris emerged from the Mirror of the Underworld, holding a finely crafted black box.

"Apologies. Pharaoh Ozymandias summoned me unexpectedly, and I had to return to the Great Temple," she said, handing the box to Olga Marie and the others.

Everyone was taken aback.

When the lid was lifted, inside sat the Holy Grail.

Originally entrusted by the King of Magecraft to the Crusaders, it had been summoned and then seized by the Sun King.

The same Grail that had allowed Ozymandias to resist the Lion King's attempts to destroy his territory—was now being handed over to Chaldea.

"Pharaoh Ozymandias said it's worthless junk now and told you to get rid of it," Nitocris said, frowning as she tried to faithfully relay his message.

Everyone chose not to comment on the pharaoh's classic tsundere behavior. Mash secured the Holy Grail inside her shield.

Olga Marie immediately began preparations to activate her Grand Magecraft—to provide fire support for Mordred at the front.

Due to time and mana constraints, she could only cast it once.

"I am Pharaoh Nitocris, Queen who once briefly ruled Upper and Lower Egypt. I now grant you permission to wield the land and sky that belong to us!"

As her staff struck the ground, Olga Marie felt the magic settle into place. She quietly thanked Nitocris through telepathy and began chanting the incantation passed down through the Animusphere line:

"Stars, Cosmos, Gods, Animus, Antrum, Universe, Anima, Animusphere..."

It was a theoretical Magecraft developed by the genius Magus Kirschtaria Wodime—Magecraft that could only be realized in the Age of Gods, and for that reason, was long dismissed as impractical fantasy. The pinnacle of astromancy.

Its name was...

"Grand Order / Anima Animusphere!"

...

At the front, Mordred surged ahead with her cavalry. The Holy City loomed ever larger in view. In about ten seconds, they would be within range of the archers on the city walls.

She spotted Gawain, standing just outside the gates, ready to intercept them.

"Tch... still not ready yet?"

Shiomi had said there would be fire support before the charge, but there was no sign of it yet.

If there wasn't any, fine—she'd just force her way in.

But since it had been promised, what worried her more now was friendly fire hitting her own troops.

Just as she considered slowing the pace, she caught sight of Gawain raising his head, his face filled with visible shock—thanks to her vision, which, while not quite at Archer level, far surpassed the average.

"What?" Mordred looked up—and her face mirrored Gawain's.

In the clear blue sky above, a radiant band of light was suspended—reputed to be the Noble Phantasm of the King of Magecraft.

Beneath that glow, countless burning points of light plummeted toward the earth.

They seemed small at first glance, but couldn't be dismissed.

Mordred finally understood what Shiomi meant by "fire support." She raised her sword and signaled the vanguard cavalry to slow their charge.

Gawain, who had already drawn his Holy Sword and was preparing to release its True Name to counter Mordred's initial strike, now stood frozen in disbelief.

He had never witnessed Magecraft capable of summoning meteorites from space.

Was this also one of Morgan's tricks?

Regardless, the clash was inevitable. If nothing was done, the Holy City would suffer catastrophic damage.

And Gawain had deliberately come outside the gate to face the enemy—he couldn't afford to stand idle.

As the Lion King's first line of defense, and the one entrusted with the Gift of "Nightless," Gawain could not allow himself to falter. He bowed slightly, lowering his sword to his side, blade angled upward.

Unlike Excalibur, which focused the radiance of the stars into a single piercing strike, its sister sword gathered the brilliance of the sun.

While Excalibur delivered pinpoint destruction, Excalibur Galatine was a sweeping, horizontal weapon—ideal for cutting down waves of enemies approaching the gate. There was no better weapon for defending the Holy City's front entrance.

Now, Gawain had no choice but to release its True Name—to counter the meteorites raining from above.

Once the blade was drawn and Mana infused, the pseudo-sun embedded within the sword would activate, extending its reach across the visible sky.

"This sword is a replica of the sun. Its flame shall cleanse all the impurity of this world. Excalibur Galatine!!"

With everything he had, Gawain extended the blade to its fullest, sweeping the heavens before the Holy City. As the blade's solar power met the falling meteors midair, a cascade of explosions erupted across the sky.

Yet even so, Olga Marie's Magecraft had targeted the entire Holy City. Not even Gawain's Holy Sword could block everything.

Thanks to his efforts, the main gate was spared—but elsewhere in the city, bursts of fire and sound echoed in succession.

In that moment, the immaculate white city of Camelot was scarred.

"Unforgivable... Those who dare defile my king's millennial kingdom—will fall by my hand...!"

Gawain clenched his teeth. The last trace of hesitation in his heart vanished. Even if these soldiers were born of the Singularity—they had to be eliminated before they reached the gates.

"No speeches on the battlefield, you damn gorilla! Clarent Blood Arthur!"

Mordred shouted as she swung her Noble Phantasm, now released, descending from above in a cleaving arc aimed at the point where Gawain's neck met his torso.

"Mordred! Even now, you would still betray the king?" Gawain cried, releasing his Noble Phantasm again.

Its strength was significantly weakened—but it was just enough to parry Mordred's blow, preventing a fatal opening.

"Spare me the righteous act, Gawain! You and I both know what you've done here—why you still follow my father!" Mordred's expression twisted, fierce and unyielding. "I'll make the Knights of the Round Table pay for their sins!"

"If it's sin you want to talk about, then you're no different!"

"I'll accept punishment—after Camelot is destroyed!"

At the moment their blades clashed, waves of Mana burst outward like a tidal surge.

...

(100 Chapters Ahead)

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