The atmosphere inside the helicopter was cheerful and warm.
However, the mood on the ground was far from relaxed. Both Shinji's group and Roa's were on edge, nerves stretched to the limit.
One side had to stop the rampaging beasts while taking down the three culprits to ensure no future threat remained.
The other side, meanwhile, was desperately trying to carve out a bloody escape route amidst overwhelming obstacles.
Both sides were giving it their all—especially Roa, who was pulling out every trick in the book in his attempt to escape.
He tried everything, from pathetically calling out to Akiha, to pleading with Shiki, saying, "You've already taken my sister, taken my name, and killed me once. Why can't you just let me go?"
For those who remember, Roa's seventeenth reincarnation, his eighteenth life, was Akiha's biological older brother, Tohno SHIKI. Every time Roa reincarnated, he absorbed the memories of the host body. Although he hadn't fully awakened within SHIKI's body, he still retained his memories, using them to strike at the two main attackers—Shiki, the one with the deadliest precision, and Akiha, the one with the most devastating area attacks.
What Roa didn't anticipate was that mentioning SHIKI only made Akiha and Shiki's attacks more ferocious.
"You're the reason SHIKI died!"
"I don't have a brother like you! I only have one brother!"
Fueled by the siblings' angry roars, Roa was first set ablaze by the heat Akiha had plundered and then lost an arm to one of Shiki's slashes.
Shinji could only shake his head in disbelief.
Of all the things to say, why would you bring up Tohno SHIKI?
If it weren't for you possessing SHIKI and causing his inversion, SHIKI wouldn't have killed Shiki. Akiha wouldn't have had to give up half of her life force to save Shiki, and the two of them wouldn't have spent their entire childhood suffering from both physical and emotional torment.
Shinji had only briefly mentioned Roa's involvement, and before he could even talk about the attack on Ryougi Shiki, the siblings had instantly dropped everything, boarded a helicopter, and rushed to the scene—which, of course, was exactly what Shinji had planned.
Roa and his group had focused most of their attention on Shinji and the powerful Servants, completely underestimating the humans, especially those not involved in the Holy Grail War. They had no idea of the powerful influence Shinji had accumulated in Japan over the years, nor could they have anticipated that another Shiki, Tohno Shiki, could be an even more lethal force than Ryougi Shiki. To be honest, if the plan to deal with Heracles had failed, Shinji had intended to bring Shiki Tohno in to cut through all of Heracles' lives in a single strike—because he could do so.
Of course, Shinji could somewhat understand Roa's actions. After all, SHIKI was a sister-obsessed individual, with his mind filled with thoughts of how wonderful his sister was. Unfortunately for him, while Akiha was also a brother-obsessed person, the brother she adored wasn't him.
And so, tragedy struck.
Akiha had grown significantly since her teenage years. Though her chest was still a flat plain even more barren than Rin's, her ability to control her powers had improved considerably. Now, she could enter the Vermilion state, where she burned away the inhuman blood coursing through her veins, unleashing her full strength for a short period. Combined with her unpredictable plundering ability and the Tohno family's martial arts, even Roa, with his nineteen lifetimes of experience, had a hard time dealing with her.
And then there was Shiki, who had fully mastered his exorcist instincts, merging the assassination arts of the Nanaya clan and the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. Along with the returning Ciel and Caren, they relentlessly attacked Roa, pushing him to the brink of despair. If it weren't for the fact that the lines of life and death were so highly intertwined, and the need to deal with the nearby beasts, Roa would have already been killed by the full-force assault of the siblings.
On the other side, things weren't looking good for Fabro and Souren Araya either.
Letting the beast horde scatter had significantly weakened Fabro's combat strength, leaving him no choice but to retreat in the face of the ever-expanding death radius of Ryougi Shiki and Shirou's relentless five-sword dance.
As for Souren Araya, he was having the worst luck of all. Dealing with Touko was bad enough, but with Fujino and Kirie joining the fray, things were only barely manageable. To top it off, Medea had also joined the battle, and although she was just casually throwing in some large-scale AOE attacks between her bombardments, it was still enough to cause Araya serious trouble. This was the true power gap between a modern magus and a magus from the Age of Gods.
What, you ask how does Shinji know all this?
Because he was now free from distractions, and it was the younger version of Shinji, not the Memory Make of his older self. The Memory Make technique had officially ended just moments ago—the final and most crucial overwhelming force had arrived, so he no longer needed to waste any more energy.
Suddenly, a piercing explosion echoed through the sky. A crimson blaze tore across the heavens and exploded above them, unleashing brilliant light and heat that turned the night sky as bright as day.
Amidst the flames, a hero's cold voice declared, "Brahmastra!"
The power of the sun was unleashed in an instant, mercilessly scorching the evil beings below. This was the power of the sun god Surya, Karna's innate strength. Not even the Dead Apostles, who defied the natural order of humanity, could ignore it.
In the blink of an eye, Karna's power wiped out most of the beast horde that Shinji and the others had been struggling to hold back.
As for the remaining beasts—
"Bellerophon!" (A gift from Poseidon to Medusa, not a Noble Phantasm for humans)
"Photon Ray!" (A weapon used by the God of War, not a Noble Phantasm for humans)
"Excalibur!" (A holy sword forged by the stars)
"Rhongomyniad!" (A holy lance forged by the stars)
"Hecatic Wheel!" (The only man-made Noble Phantasm here)
A barrage of high-level Noble Phantasms, rarely seen in full force, was unleashed like there was no tomorrow. Even Solomon, who had been masquerading as Roman and slacking off every day, finally got serious. He used the power of one of the Ten Rings to deploy an all-encompassing surveillance spell, coordinating the battlefield with such precision that it earned him a small nod of approval from Olga Marie.
Every Servant still standing had gathered there, all focused on eliminating the twisted beings that defied the natural order. The moment Shinji tore off his disguise and revealed his true power, forcing Roa and his allies into a corner, everyone had left the Einzbern Castle.
Seven top-tier Servants, along with a large group of exceptional humans, had joined forces. Against such a massive coalition, even if the enemy had been The Beast, let alone 6666 or even 66666 Beasts, the result would have been the same—utter annihilation.
With the beast horde no longer a threat, Roa and his team had lost their final chance to escape, now surrounded by a group of overwhelming strength.
This was a true checkmate. This was the ultimate kill zone.
"Checkmate."
Shinji, holding Jack's hand, narrowed the spiritual field, switching from the Sixth Law to the Third Magic.
This time, there would be no escape.