123: Cu Chulainn

In a flash of light, Benkei disappears. Behind us, the cloud of butterflies vanishes with Subaru in tow. In other words, we might be in a bit of trouble.

One of my familiars detects the Lancer at the first leyline, but he's disappeared from the other two, which means… probably his clones were dispelled. Whether his Noble Phantasm was sealed or stolen isn't clear yet, though considering he looks like what Gareth described seeing in France, I'm guessing it's been stolen.

A small smirk graces Alcides's now exposed face as he touches a rapidly healing chest wound. "...If I had been slower, I'd be dead now. I knew about [Eighth Implement], but to think it could take all of [King's Order] in a single use…"

That's a bait. If I was a Lancer, I would have taken it, but I'm not right now, so I contemplate my conditions for victory.

My Master has been kidnapped. He's not at a great risk of being killed just yet, but that doesn't mean I can just forget about him. The nice part is, he's gotta be in close proximity to Alter Ego right now, which means if I can pull off my whole 'steal his spirit origin' plan, Subaru can just grab the Grail off his corpse.

In other words, the best chance of victory is to disengage in the way that keeps the most of my allies alive, and still leaves me in condition to activate the spell once I reach the leyline.

"I can't use that just yet," I mutter as Alcides materializes a sword in his hand. But beyond that, everything else is permitted. I speak louder this time, "I'm going all out. You guys back me up or leave, I don't care which!"

"Tch… yeah, I get it!" Jason replies, materializing the golden fleece and casting it to the floor in front of him. "[Drakon Kholkikos]!"

I dash forward, spear readied, the Colchian dragon on my heels. He's faster than me, but that won't matter - is what he probably thinks I'm thinking.

He has an answer to [Gae Bolg], is my guess - or else his luck stat is high enough that he thinks he can survive it.

"[Gae-!" I shout as I close the gap, meeting him in the air halfway between his iceberg and the boat.

His sword moves like water, cutting through the air in a way that I can't quite grasp.

"-Bolg]!"

The heart was pierced, there|fore the spear was thrust.

Metal meets metal, and with a resounding crack - my spear is cut in half.

"The type of sword pervert who could cut through concepts with a pair of chopsticks" - that's how Master described this guy's previous opponent, right?

In other words - Alcides acquired that technique and cut through my reversal of cause and effect.

I reverse my direction with a burst of mana, and he pursues me - got him.

If he can repel Gae Bolg, then I just need to use a different attack entirely!

"Ansuz!" The runes set on the deck of the Argo flare to life, trapping Alcides in my barrier of my Noble Phantasm, the same that slew his Berserker counterpart in Fuyuki. "An offering to the great god of wisdom - [Ochd Deug Odin]-!"

Again his sword ripples, and my Barrier is cut down, letting him slip out just as the whole thing explodes. At the same time, Jason's dragon, passing by me for an attempted bite, is met with a devastating palm strike that sends it flying overboard.

I hurl firebolts at him to create distance while gathering mana-

"Pathetic," In an instant, he's behind me, and my garbage Caster Agility isn't enough to let me fully block the attack. His kick slams me into the deck of the Argo, splintering the wood. "Is this all the mightiest hero of Ireland is capable of? Must you rely on the abilities of gods?"

Alcides spits the last word like a curse.

"Hating humans wasn't enough for you?" I groan, rising to my feet.

But I understand. Cu Chulainn is more than just this. I'm the hound of Ulster, dammit! What the hell am I doing lying on my ass like some kind of loser!?

"Do not misunderstand. I disdain humans," Alcides shakes his head. "But the gods who created them… I despise. They are the most worthless of all. They claim to rule while granting humanity only pain and suffering - were it possible, I would butcher them as I did the monsters they gods are all deserving of-"

In that moment, a stone whizzes past his head.

A young man with green hair, far away on the neighboring island shakes his head as he places a second stone in his sling. "Say what you like about other gods, but mine has been good to me. Dalet!"

Playing smart isn't like me. I thought I should stick to that role, since I'm a Caster. Since the fate of humanity was on the line, I ought to take things a bit seriously.

But I am a hound. I fight with tooth and fang!

Grabbing the halves of my weapon from the deck, I strike with a grin. My right hand, gripping the front half of the broken Gae Bolg, is deflected by his sword - but that leaves him open, and the back half pierces his wrist as a second and third stone miss their marks - no, they were meant to miss.

"Bet!" The youth shouts as he fires his fourth stone. "Alef! You have the right to reform, but you leave me no choice-!"

Many Noble Phantasms require activation conditions - in the case of this man, King David, the requirement is simple. Four warning shots before the final, undeflectable shot.

"Tch- [Benkei-!" Alcides shouts as weapons made of ice rain uselessly towards me - my [Protection from Arrows] deflects them all, and I drive the other half of my ruined weapon into the same wound as the first, severing his hand at the wrist.

"[Hamesh-!" A faint voice calls from far ashore.

The strongest hero of Greece catches his fallen sword and completes a circular slash. "-Butsu]!"

"-Avanim]!"

A golden bolt crosses the sea, and strikes him in the head, removing it in a spray of blood.

-but that doesn't matter now.

Two copies are standing at either side of the first, while at the peak of that same iceberg he arrived on, a third flexes a replacement hand made of ice experimentally as he materializes a bow in his other.

"I'll admit it," I say after a moment, standing upright. "Odin's tricks won't do any good against a guy like you. I should have done this from the start."

Holding both halves of my broken spear in one hand, I materialize my staff again and toss it to Mash Kyrielight. "Girlie, go plant that at the Leyline. You've got communications back, so Da Vinci should probably know enough to finish the spell. Long as I'm still alive, it'll work."

"Oh? Do you think I'll just let them walk on over?" The Archer says with a smirk - but I can see a familiar fire starting to burn in his eyes. I know it, because I've got the same in mine.

With one motion I cast my cloak and shirt aside, prompting a gasp from Mash and a sharp intake of breath from Jason.

"Yeah. You wanted to see what 'Cu Chulainn' can do, right?" I ask as I begin to channel mana into the hundreds of runes engraved on my skin.

I still don't know if this will work. Nobunaga had babbled something about my teacher changing people's classes with swimsuits and runes, but who knows whether she was just making shit up.

But as for this, the theory is sound enough.

An ordinary Servant is restricted by their Class Container from manifesting the Noble Phantasms of their other classes - but I'm a Pseudo-Servant. The 'Caster' in me comes from Odin, while Cu Chulainn is simply an 'ordinary' human body with no innate class restrictions. My spear is one thing, but-

The innate abilities carved into the body of 'Cu Chulainn' can surely be released with enough cheating.

From my pocket I pull a strip of preserved skin - marked with the six remaining Command Spells of my old master, Kotomine Kirei - and swallow it whole.

Mana surges through me, and my body shudders.

"[Riastrad]."

Compendium Update

Riastrad: Warp Spasm

Rank: A

Type: Anti-Unit (Self)

Range -

Maximum number of targets: 1 person.

The Noble Phantasm of the true Berserker Cu Chulainn, as opposed to his altered form seen in Fujimaru Ritsuka's journey. His strongest Noble Phantasm and the reason why summoning Cu Chulainn as a Berserker is seen as essentially suicide.

A rage so great and terrible that it warps the sufferer's very body into a perfect animalistic killing machine, a shapeless abomination meant purely for killing - was already the case for this ability while Cu Chulainn was still alive.

Now, having become a Noble Phantasm, it is more terribile still, allowing alterations of his form that the less malleable human form would have restricted. Furthermore, even after the first activation, the Berserk Cu Chulainn can continue to reactivate this Noble Phantasm over and over again at will, constantly distorting his body to match the situation, even including adaptation to allow him to draw mana from his master at a pace to allow such an insane tactic.

-It is for this reason that summoning him in such a state is a suicidal endeavor. Under any normal circumstance, even a Master with the reserves of Illyasviel von Einzbern would likely die of mana exhaustion within the hour.

Accounting for the devoured Command Spells, the connection to three leylines, the generators of Chaldea, and Natsuki Subaru's own mana reserves…

If Cu Chulainn fights in this state for longer than ten minutes, his master will perish.

...Also, on a note completely unrelated to this Noble Phantasm, Cu Chulainn's spear (copied by Archer) sticks around after being broken in this chapter. This is because Archer's weapons disappear due to him subconsciously dismissing them when broken. With him dead and gone, Gae Bolg will retain its form (but not its function) for some time yet.