Chapter 17: Crushed!
Floating in mid-air at a steady speed for a full five seconds, Tom finally touched the ground again and continued to sprint forward, evading the chariot driven by Hephaestion. However, it seemed to have little effect as eight legs were undoubtedly faster than four, and, most importantly, the chariot had two wheels!
Tom glanced back and saw the chariot closing in once again, and it seemed like his buttocks were about to be struck. Startled, Tom quickly extended his legs forward, suspended himself in the air, and transitioned from running on four legs to running on his hands, successfully creating distance between himself and the chariot!
"Damn it, who the hell are you, Heroic Spirit?" Hephaestion exclaimed. She had initially intended to activate her Noble Phantasm and crush Tom when he was within reach. But now, Tom had managed to outmaneuver her chariot using only his hands! She had never heard of a cat Heroic Spirit with this kind of speed before!
If this cat had run at full speed to outpace her chariot, Hephaestion could begrudgingly accept it. But the infuriating part was that he did it with his hands! Just his hands!
In that instant, Hephaestion experienced the same powerlessness she felt when she faced Alexander and Tom in their earlier confrontation. She had been confident since being summoned that she would face formidable opponents, but she never expected someone as absurd as Tom.
Meanwhile, it seemed that Tom also noticed the chariot falling behind him. His confidence surged once again, and he even started to act a bit cocky, laughing and looking back at Hephaestion.
"You...!" Hephaestion' face darkened at Tom's actions.
Seemingly unsatisfied, Tom turned completely around, directly facing Hephaestion, and started mocking her. Placing his thumbs against his temples, he waggled them, then stuck his tongue out at Hephaestion, triggering his taunting mode.
"Lalalala~~~ !!!"
However... Tom's joy didn't last long as he crashed headfirst into a large tree.
"Buang~~~ !!!"
Tom ended up embedded in the tree as if he was wedged in it. It took great effort for him to unhook himself from the tree trunk, and he ended up sitting on the ground, shaking his head while stars swirled above him—those visible kind of stars.
Seeing Tom crash into the tree, Hephaestion' eyes lit up. Although she found it incredibly absurd that Tom knocked himself out by crashing into a tree, she didn't waste this opportunity. She pulled the reins and maneuvered the chariot, taking a detour. Soon, she ascended to an altitude of several dozen meters, around a hundred meters away from Tom, and began to gather her power.
"Perfect, my master has allowed me to use my Noble Phantasm. This shall be the burial ground for your second... no, your second feline life!" Hephaestion declared.
ⓉⓇⒶⓃⓈⓁⒶⓉⒺⒹ ⒷⓎ ⓍⓉⓇⒶⓃⓄⓋⒺⓁ
With those words, the entire chariot was enveloped in crimson lightning, turning the sky above into a vibrant red. If someone were to look from the city towards the school at this moment, they would witness a crimson hue hanging over the school grounds. It was as if everything was revealing the existence of the Holy Grail War to the residents of Fuyuki City.
"Be crushed by the crimson lightning, trample everything! Hecatic Wheel!"
After Hephaestion finished her proclamation, she pulled the reins, and the chariot covered in crimson lightning swiftly charged toward Tom's location. At this moment, Tom had just recovered from the stiffness caused by crashing into the tree. Seeing the chariot coming at him, he opened his mouth and let out a sharp scream, "Ahhh!!!"
His eyes bulged out several inches, and his soul was so frightened that it retreated several inches as well, distinct layers of eye, body, and soul.
However, this state didn't last long. In less than a second, Tom was reassembled and began attempting to evade the attack. He hurriedly took a few steps to the left of the tree but quickly realized something was amiss. He then changed direction and ran to the right, feeling that it still wasn't quite right.
Based on his previous experience with this kind of attack, it was practically unavoidable once it locked onto its target.
In the end, Tom ran back to the front of the tree and quickly dug a grave that would fit him perfectly. He took out pen and paper, wrote down his last words, and placed them beside the grave. At this point, the chariot was closing in, but Tom remained calm. He took out a cigarette, lit it, and began to enjoy a smoke.
When Hephaestion saw Tom getting up and attempting to escape, she almost felt like this attack was a lost cause. She was about to stop activating her Noble Phantasm when she noticed Tom willingly choosing to come back and face a beating. This greatly amused her.
Without hesitation, Hephaestion decisively charged forward.
"Boom!!!"
With a tremendous impact, the chariot collided head-on with Tom. Under the onslaught of the chariot's impact and the torrential barrage of crimson lightning, Tom was completely obliterated in an instant. The large tree behind him was also shattered into pieces.
As the chariot passed by, Tom's ashes fell perfectly into the grave he had just dug. The soil he had excavated covered the entire tomb, leaving no trace of his existence. One section of the tree, shaped like a wooden plank, happened to remain intact and stood as a makeshift tombstone in front of Tom's grave. Everything fell into place flawlessly.
"Hahaha, serves you right!" After crushing Tom, Hephaestion flew for several tens of meters before slowing down. She pulled the reins and changed direction. Looking at Tom, who had been obliterated by her, Heracles couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction.
To be honest, when she saw Tom remaining calm and composed earlier, she was a bit uneasy. She even considered stopping the attack, fearing that Tom might have some hidden trick to defeat her, just like when she shattered Alexander with a single blow before. But it turned out that she was overthinking it. It seemed that this cat was just at this level, nothing more.
"Next, it's your turn," Hephaestion said, raising her sword and pointing it in the direction of Bai Song. Although she couldn't sense the presence of a Servant, she was certain that White Song was also a Servant. After all, if he weren't a Servant, he would have been finished long ago when he fell earlier. There was no way he could have survived until now.
"Damn it!" Seeing that Heracles seemed to have her sights on him, White Song panicked immediately. This was not good; being targeted by a Servant meant trouble!
He was about to use a Command Spell to summon Tom when he noticed that Tom's grave had disappeared at some point. Tom stood there as if nothing had happened.