Chapter 58

What happened?

I couldn't comprehend the scene before my eyes.

We met up with the casters in a park late at night and immediately got into a fight.

Although he was at the mercy of his opponent's tactics and had several scary moments, he still managed to gain the upper hand in the battle. He was one step away from victory.

And yet.

Tohsaka and Archer collapse.

Saber kneels.

And then, the Command Spell disappeared from my left hand.

Annihilation.

Those two words cross my mind.

(Why is that?... I was definitely winning up until now!)

No matter how much you deny it, the reality will not change.

In an attempt to grasp the situation, I frantically recall what had happened up until now.

Just as Tohsaka was about to finish off Caster, a loud roar rang out.

The source of the sound was Hikigaya, Caster's master, who was fighting Saber.

Saber charged towards Hikigaya, who intercepted her, shattering the ground. The impact sent Saber flying into the air, where he aimed for a palm strike.

Saber regained her balance in mid-air and went on the attack without hesitation.

Saber's sword and Hikigaya's arm crossed, and just a moment too early, Saber's sword pierced Hikigaya.

It should have been.

Hikigaya's figure, blood splattering from his pierced chest, disappeared. At the same time, Caster appeared behind Saber, or rather, almost directly above her, holding a dagger.

Caster then plunged the dagger into Saber's bare back. Immediately after, I felt a pain in my left hand.

At almost the same time, Tohsaka let out a short shriek.

When he looked, Caster was no longer there, and in his place was Hikigaya, who had disappeared a moment ago.

Its appearance was battered and undoubtedly the same being that had fought Saber, except for one thing: there was no injury on its chest where it should have been stabbed.

Hikigaya had his palms outstretched, and at his feet Tohsaka had collapsed, groaning in agony. Both of his legs seemed to be broken, and he was unable to support himself and collapsed on top of Tohsaka.

"Follow me, Saber!"

Caster raised her left hand and yelled. A sparkling Command Spell flashed on the back of her hand, and Saber fell to her knees in pain.

I don't know what happened, but Archer was down too.

All of this happened in a very short space of time.

Both Tohsaka and Archer have fallen, my command spell has been stolen by Caster, and Saber is being controlled by that command spell. She is still resisting for now, but I don't know how long she can hold out.

Almost everyone was wiped out in an instant. I was the only one left, and in terms of fighting power, I was the weakest.

On the other hand, the enemy, Hikigaya, has fallen and his boost has worn off, so he probably can't fight anymore. But Lancer's master is Caster, and there's also the possibility that Saber might turn against him.

Even if they tried to escape, the double barrier that they and Caster had set up would get in the way, and outside of that were Lancer and the Golden Servant. To be honest, it was hopeless.

(Is there something... something?! I have to at least let Tohsaka escape...!)

I forced myself to suppress my impatience and prepared myself for Lancer's Master, who was heading my way.

"Binding hex... an infectious type!"

Archer groaned as he collapsed, immobilized. I confirmed his words with relief that the plan had worked.

"Yes, that's correct. Since I'm injecting the curse directly into your core through the Command Spell, magical resistance will have no effect."

At the same time, look around the entire battlefield.

With Archer's Master fallen and Saber immobilized by the stolen Command Spell, the outcome seems decided.

Although he was showing signs of composure, it was a close call. If he had been a little slower in activating the curse, he would have been defeated. Of course, that had been factored into the plan. Thankfully, Hayato played his role properly and saved him.

This curse is Hachiman'sLinked Short SpellPatch SpellThis is the effect.

Those who are cursed are unable to move their limbs and the flow of magical energy is disrupted, making it impossible for them to use magic. Furthermore, the curse feeds on the victim's magical energy and multiplies, infecting others through spiritual links.

As Archer said, it was a curse that spread through spiritual connections. It was like a virus. It mixed poison into the magical energy supplied by the Master, so there was no way for Servants to defend against it.

Although it has the effect of neutralizing multiple enemies at the same time, it is not actually a particularly powerful technique. At least, it is not something that is effective against Servants.

Caster managed to raise it to a usable level by setting his own disadvantages.

Improving, no, modifying, magic that was already complete. Hachiman coming up with such an idea was quite surprising, but what was even more surprising was Caster being able to make it a reality.

This time, two things were sacrificed in order to increase the strength of the magic. One of them was the range, and by making it a contact type, it also countered the magic resistance of the three knights. That's good. But...

(It's going to work well.)

The question was how to determine the binding spell in question.

I could have used it myself, but the opponent had two Servants. The chances of winning were slim. In the end, I had no choice but to rely on Hachiman's plan, which turned out to be almost a stunt.

Of course, I thought it would work, which is why I went along with the plan. I provided two Fragaraks, so I'd be in trouble if it didn't go well.

『False Pledges for SacrificeReverse Engage"

This Noble Phantasm was created by Caster after modifying the Fragarak that I had entrusted to him.

my"The God of War's Slashing Short SwordFragarac" reacts to the enemy's trump card, "Coming from behind, cutting off firstAnswerer" Its true power is revealed through the keyword "."

That power is the curse of reversing causality.

A reversal sword that travels back in time and makes it appear as if the enemy has been defeated before they can use their trump card.

Hachiman and Caster wear a pair of rings that utilize the sword's power to twist causality, which has a virtually instant death effect.

This is a Noble Phantasm that takes effect when a certain condition is met and an enemy attack is received, making the damage from that attack negligible and ensuring the enemy's blind spot is eliminated.

This was the real aim of the battle, and it was a beautiful hit. The enemy was so distracted by the flashy decoy that they failed to notice the real aim.

It gives amateurs with little training combat power on par with that of a Servant.

Even though he was already way off the mark at this point, there was no way he could have predicted that he would use such an insane technique as a "simple distraction".

Anyway, the kick came.

Another weakness of the Binding Hex is the duration of its effect, but it still lasts for about ten minutes, which should be more than enough to persuade him.

I head towards the surviving enemy, Saber's master, Emiya Shirou. Hachiman is lying next to him. He seems to be unconscious, so I have to pick him up.

Hayato also releases himself from his restraints and stands up.

Saber was still resisting the control of the Command Spells, but it was only a matter of time before that happened. Caster, however, seemed a bit annoyed.

He raised his left hand high, as if he was about to use another Command Spell, or perhaps to pour magical power into it to strengthen the force of the command.

His left hand suddenly disappeared.

"Ah... Aaaaahhhhhhhh!?"

The screams of the media echoed throughout the area.

She was writhing in pain, holding her left arm with her right hand. Her arm was missing from the elbow down, and fresh blood was gushing out.

It was sudden.

I heard the sound of something breaking, and then her raised left hand suddenly disappeared.

I looked at Bazett-san, but she also didn't seem to understand what had happened. The same seemed to be true of Emiya and the others.

Confused and unable to move, I suddenly felt as if an icicle had been thrust into my back.

The sudden pressure I felt can only be described as overwhelming, causing all the pores in my body to open up and cause sweat to pour out.

"I had planned to just watch over the night, but... with Saber laying hands on me, I can't just stay silent."

If you were to give form to the word arrogant, it would be like this. When he put it like that, it was hard not to agree, a voice that seemed to look down on all things.

However, I couldn't even turn around to face this mysterious intruder who had appeared out of nowhere.

An explosion of emotions I had never felt before, no, never even imagined. It was so overwhelming that it took me a while to realise that this sensation was fear.

The golden man, the source of that fear, spoke arrogantly.

"You have laid your hands on the king's treasure. You must be prepared to die, mongrel."

Original Noble Phantasm Description

Name: False Pledge Offered to the Sacrifice {Reverse Engage}

Maximum Capture: 2 people

Range: 10

Rank: C

Supplementary Information A

modified version of the War God's sword {Fragarak}, which Caster uses to slash through.

A pair of rings that use the technology of the Substitute Doll {Reverse Doll}, inheriting the properties of switching by spatial transfer, reversal of causality, and reacting to trump cards from each other.

In the play, Hikigaya Hachiman and Caster are equipped with it, and it is effective when several conditions are met.

The conditions are:

1) The wielders are within range of each other .

2) The wielder is able to use a trump card and is in standby to use it.

3) The wielders are in combat with different opponents.

If either of the wielders takes damage after the above conditions are met, it overwrites reality to a state where the damage has been avoided and the enemy's blind spot has been taken. The ring is destroyed at the same time as the effect is activated.

Conditions 2 and 3, the trump card and the enemy, depend on the wielder's perception, so it is possible to freely switch between them by using suggestion, etc. However, it is not recommended because it will not work if it fails.

Also, if you are facing multiple opponents at the same time, you will be transferred to the blind spot of the opponent who is most focused on the time of activation. If you are equally focused on two or more opponents at this time, it will not activate.

As mentioned above, it uses causal reversal to rewrite reality, so it can nullify an enemy attack once, regardless of its power or type.

Furthermore, it does not teleport behind or above the enemy, but to a blind spot, so it is always a surprise attack. In addition, it teleports while waiting to use a trump card, so it can be activated immediately after teleportation. It is essentially the same as a guaranteed hit effect. It is

significantly inferior to Fragarack, which is confirmed to have defeated the enemy as soon as it is activated, but it can be used actively to a certain extent because it reacts to your own trump card and not the enemy's. Unlike Fragarack, which is a literal deadly weapon that does not allow for any mercy, it can be said to have an advantage in that it is flexible.

Hachiman and the others predicted that information about Fragarack had been leaked to Emiya and the others. Therefore, Caster thought that there would be no opportunity to use Fragarack, so he created Reverse Engagement to use it for something else.

While it may seem the opposite given Bazett's monologue in the film, Hachiman's plan is based on this, not the Binding Hex.