Type-Moon, but the Servant is Tom

Chapter 18: Pierce Through the Stars!

Just as Tom had returned to his normal form from being reduced to ashes, he heard a familiar voice exclaim, "Damn it!" He turned his head and saw Hephaestion piloting the chariot after dealing with him and now preparing to attack Bai Song.

Tom immediately felt a chill run down his spine, and the temperature around him seemed to rise. He thought to himself, "Oh no, I've only been offline for a few seconds, and my home is about to be invaded!"

In a split second, Tom quickly surveyed his surroundings, searching for something that could help save his new master. Eventually, he noticed a fallen tree branch lying quietly nearby. Tom grinned mischievously as an idea formed in his mind.

He swiftly picked up the branch and with a single flick of his wrist, stripped away the bark and twigs, leaving only a smooth, straight branch with a small fork at the front. He then tied a rope to one end and secured the other end to a nearby tree stump that had been shattered upon impact. In his hand, Tom now held an improvised harpoon spear.

Gripping the branch like a javelin with his right hand, Tom took aim at the direction of the chariot. With his right foot firmly planted on the ground, he jumped forward several times before hurling the makeshift harpoon spear.

"Swish!" Without any lead time, Tom threw the harpoon directly at the chariot. Logically speaking, it shouldn't have hit, but the harpoon seemed to transform into a guided missile, relentlessly pursuing the chariot from behind.

"Boom!" In just three short seconds, the harpoon caught up to Hephaestion' chariot and impaled itself in the rear.

"Hmm? What's that sound... Ahh!" Just as Hephaestion was about to turn around to see what had happened, the rope attached to the harpoon reached its maximum length, causing it to straighten out completely. The chariot momentarily halted in mid-air, suspended by the "force of gravity," before plummeting straight down to the ground.

"Impossible! How can you still be alive...?" Hephaestion exclaimed, but before she could finish her sentence, she and her chariot were pulled down to the ground by the "force of gravity," crashing heavily.

Looking at the motionless Hephaestion lying on the ground, Bai Song cautiously asked, "Is it... over?"

"...Impossible. Wasn't she already dead?" Just as White Song uttered the word "over," Hephaestion propped herself up with trembling hands, struggling to rise from the ground.

She couldn't help but question her own sanity at this point. If her eyes weren't deceiving her, she had definitely pulverized Tom with her Noble Phantasm, reducing him to mere ashes. According to all reason, Tom should have been the first Servant to exit this Holy Grail War. Yet, in less than a few seconds, he had "resurrected" and somehow used a power to knock her down from the sky.

Looking back at her chariot, Hephaestion realized that there was a wooden stick impaled on it—the very stick that brought her chariot crashing down. She found it hard to accept. If Tom had the ability to knock her down from the sky, why did he play a game of cat and mouse with her earlier? She had even believed that pursuing Tom was his weakness when it came to dealing with her chariot.

Hephaestion now felt as if she were seeing a ghost. Had this cat somehow transcended the rules? First, it effortlessly defeated her former king, Alexander, with its overwhelming swordsmanship. Then, it outran her chariot, using only its hands and not even bothering with its legs. And to top it off, it even shrugged off her full-powered Noble Phantasm without a scratch.

What kind of ghost story was this? Was she really participating in the Holy Grail War?

ⓉⓇⒶⓃⓈⓁⒶⓉⒺⒹ ⒷⓎ ⓍⓉⓇⒶⓃⓄⓋⒺⓁ

While Hephaestion was questioning the existence of the Heroic Spirits, Tom briskly ran over to White Song and looked smugly at the kneeling Hephaestion in front of him. Suddenly, an idea seemed to strike him, and he turned around, raising his rear end towards Hephaestion and patting it.

"You damn cat!" Hephaestion thought that Tom had come over to finish her off, but to her surprise, he was mocking her. Realizing this, Hephaestion was infuriated, her mouth almost twisting out of shape.

Preparing to stand up and engage in another battle with Tom, determined to restore her honor, Hephaestion suddenly started glowing with a red light. It was evident that her Master was using a Command Spell to attempt to transfer her elsewhere.

"Tsk..."

Feeling the compulsion of the Command Spell, Hephaestion reluctantly gave up her intention to continue fighting. "I will return!" she declared.

As soon as she finished speaking, Hephaestion disappeared completely from everyone's sight, taking the chariot that was brought down from the sky by Tom's tracking harpoon with her.

"Awesome! Truly amazing!" Bai Song ruffled Tom's head and praised him. "Well done! Let me treat you to a feast!"

No need for a lot of talking, Tom's eyes had already turned into the shape of food. White Song casually lifted Tom up and placed him on his shoulder, then walked straight down the hill. Although it would have been much faster if Tom carried him down, after experiencing the terrifying ordeal of being carried by Tom, Bai Song's legs were feeling a bit weak. He swore never to let Tom carry him again.

At the scene, only Waver, who was trembling behind the warhorse Bucephalus, and Alexander, who had been lying motionless on the road since the beginning after being knocked out, were left. Once Bai Song and Tom confirmed their readiness, Waver dared to come out from behind Bucephalus.

During Tom and Hephastion's intense battle earlier, he was genuinely panicked, fearing that he would be sacrificed to the heavens by Tom or Hephastion with a careless move. Fortunately, it seemed that no one present had noticed his existence.

Waver ran over to Alexander's side and slapped his face, trying to wake him up. "Wake up, rider!"

"Hmm... huh, what happened to me?" Alexander rubbed his eyes, stood up, and looked around. He didn't see the figure of a single servant and couldn't help but ask in confusion, "Hey? Where is everyone?"

"It's already over!" Waver said impatiently. "Rider, what were you even doing just now, rider!"