Heracles was still just one man. Tangled in a two-on-one with Shiomi and Mordred, it was impossible for him to cover all sides.
His instincts as a warrior drove him to counter and strike, but whenever he targeted one, the other would seize the opening. Each of their swords had the power to kill him again. Roaring, Heracles swung his massive axe in a relentless arc, leaving no room for either to break through.
They just needed a little more time.
"Archer, can your Projection replicate Artoria's sword?" Morgan asked.
Archer hesitated, then shook his head. "Not impossible, but Divine Constructs require me to destroy myself to forge them."
"That sword was forged in the Inner Sea of the Planet by the first six fairies," Morgan said, glancing at Rin Tohsaka. The girl was focused entirely on maintaining a stable flow of mana, prolonging Archer's Reality Marble just long enough to end this fight with Berserker. "There's a technique. Follow my lead."
She pointed her magic spear toward Archer. Realizing that the Grand Witch intended to personally instruct him in Projection Magecraft, Archer respectfully dropped to one knee.
"Call Avalon. Rise from the depths of my memory. The original brilliance, the aurora of the end."
With Morgan's quiet incantation, a lake-like radiance spread outward, overtaking part of the Reality Marble.
But even as a Servant in the Fuyuki Holy Grail War, this was the limit of what her current class could do.
Had she been in her true form, she wouldn't have needed to rely on someone else to forge the Holy Sword.
"What... is this?" Archer was almost speechless.
"The lake that once granted Artoria the Holy Sword," Morgan said flatly. "Use it as the foundation. Forge the Star of the Sword."
"I will."
Not "I'll try"—but "I will."
A specialist in Projection Magecraft, Archer immediately realized that the conditions had just reached an unprecedented peak. If this held, he could forge the golden sword of the King—engraved deep in his memory—without destroying himself.
"Sakura, come with me. Support your father."
Having finished instructing Archer, Morgan stepped forward and spoke to Sakura.
"What should I do?"
Sakura was already at her side.
"Just as I taught you." Morgan gave a proud smile. "Match my breath. Cast your spell."
"Yes, Mother!"
The Witch of Britannia and her most gifted disciple crossed their weapons, channeling Grand Magecraft in perfect unison and resonance.
Shiomi, slashing at Heracles from one side alongside Mordred, noticed the shift.
"Saber, fall back! Get ready to release your Noble Phantasm!"
He spoke as he kicked off Heracles' shoulder, vaulting back to avoid a brutal swing, and activated his Magecraft mid-air.
"Run, my lightning!"
Runes, pre-written and concealed, burst into view around Heracles. Blue lightning coiled around his massive body, eliciting a roar of pain.
After the bolts struck, golden ripples spread through the sky, and a dozen blue magic spears manifested. The moment Shiomi and Mordred had opened enough distance, the spears rained down on the immobilized Heracles.
Fragments of broken blades and clouds of dust flew into the air. Heracles' seemingly impenetrable defenses shattered one after another. He fell to one knee, bracing himself with his giant axe, growling as he began to heal.
Even without a Master's support, he could recover this quickly—he truly had become a monster, Shiomi thought to himself.
But Heracles didn't have time anymore.
Scarlet mana surged upward, shaping into a sword so massive it looked capable of cleaving mountains.
Saber had finished preparing her second Noble Phantasm. Shiomi didn't press forward—instead, he activated the runes etched into the ground to rupture the terrain beneath Heracles, keeping him unbalanced and unable to counter.
"This is the cursed sword that destroyed my father! 'Rebellion Against My Beautiful Father: Clarent Blood Arthur'!"
With Mordred's furious cry, the magic-charged blade came crashing down, swallowing Heracles entirely in its strike.
The wave of mana, steeped in rage and hatred, swept across the hill of swords that stretched over the desolate wilderness. Shiomi carefully dodged the flying debris of shattered weapons, eyes locked on the scene before him.
Blood Arthur...
A King Arthur soaked in blood.
Shiomi couldn't help recalling that moment ten years ago, when Artoria lay gravely wounded during their battle against Gilgamesh.
Perhaps the end of King Arthur had been even more tragic than that memory.
As he stared at the dark blade that engulfed Berserker's form, he silently speculated what state Heracles would be in after.
When the crimson light faded, Heracles lay motionless on the ground. But unlike earlier, when his wounds healed in an instant, now his recovery moved in reverse—like time itself rewinding.
Within seconds, Berserker would rise again.
Heracles, who had conquered the Twelve Labors, was the very embodiment of unyielding resilience.
There was a fleeting moment when Shiomi couldn't help but chuckle at the thought: were they actually the villains here, and this rampaging, mindless Berserker the true hero—one who would face any foe, no matter the cost?
But he quickly dismissed the idea.
If they didn't finish Heracles here, the fight would never end.
Shiomi shifted the angle of the longsword in his hands and charged forward once more, flooding the projected "Durandal" with mana, pushing its output to the limit.
There was no need to invoke its True Name to this degree—but this was just a projection.
So it made sense to unleash it in a way that would burn it out completely.
Just as Heracles completed his revival, Shiomi leapt with a powerful bound. The blade in his hand burst into a radiant blue light.
"Break with this sword, Heracles! 'Durandal: The Unrivaled Sword of Renown'!"
The legendary blade that was said never to break came crashing down, slicing Heracles in two once again. In the instant before the sword shattered, Shiomi followed through with two more strikes.
The sword cracked audibly as it broke, its splintering edge mixing with the spray of Heracles' blood.
Shiomi flipped backward, skidding seven or eight meters before coming to a halt, watching Heracles' unmoving form.
But those weren't the only Noble Phantasms being brought to bear.
With the interference spell completed alongside Sakura, Morgan had finished preparing her own.
"It's the power of the past. I can't unleash it at full strength in my current state, but... it's more than enough to slay Heracles."
Her voice rang out—cool and regal.
"My second Noble Phantasm... 'Vestiges of the Holy Sword's Distant Dream: Memory of Londinium'!"