Extravagant

"Sending out eight at once, you really think highly of me..."

Arkhan tightened his grip on Abyss Flower's handle, a hint of solemnity in his eyes.

Dealing with eight Sphinxes, coupled with the ever-watchful Karna nearby, posed a considerable challenge even for him. Furthermore, they were currently in a city with a population of tens of thousands, making it easy for things to go awry.

At times like these, he couldn't help but reminisce about the French saint. With her, no matter the threat, it would be effortlessly thwarted, with no concern for collateral damage.

Considering the commotion they had caused, he wondered why she hadn't shown up yet. Was she taking a leisurely approach to this?

Little did Arkhan know that the saint he thought of was devoutly praying in a church she had just arrived at this moment.

Meanwhile, on the rooftop of a nearby building, Nidhogg, observing Arkhan in dire straits, couldn't help but show signs of anxiety in her beautiful eyes.

Due to her true form's massive size and hard-to-control attack power, Arkhan had kept her out of the battle. But watching her beloved trapped, could she really remain silent?

Just as she was contemplating using her true form to support him, a sudden change occurred!

*Swish—!!!* *Swish—!!!* *Swish—!!!*

Sharp whistling sounds resonated through the night sky as if thunder had pierced the clouds. Dozens of arrows sped from a distance at a speed surpassing sound.

In their trajectory, these arrows rapidly transformed into peculiar bronze birds, emitting piercing screeches as they collided with the Sphinxes.

Every part of these bronze birds possessed terrifying sharpness, and their speed made it challenging for even the Sphinxes to keep up.

*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*

Flying recklessly, they weaved between the eight beasts, leaving deep wounds on their colossal bodies.

Before long, accompanied by the Sphinxes' agonized cries, these divine beasts couldn't hold on any longer, one after another dissipating into light particles.

Seeing this sudden occurrence, everyone instinctively turned their heads toward a tall building in the distance.

At its top, a figure draped in crudely stitched lion skins, holding a longbow crafted from obsidian, stood tall under the moonlight.

"Is that... Archer of Black?"

Looking at the figure on the crystal ball, Shirou muttered with astonishment and a sense of gravity appeared in his eyes.

Archer of Black had effortlessly wiped out all eight Sphinxes of Ozymandias, clearly indicating that this Archer was no ordinary Servant.

'The lineup of the Black Faction is truly extravagant...' Shirou sighed inwardly.

So far, the three Servants from the Black Faction that had appeared were powerful. Not to mention Rider and this new Archer, who were clearly top-tier Servants.

In comparison, their side, despite having Rider and Lancer who were also top-tier Servants, seemed slightly inferior in terms of power.

Now, they could only hope that the remaining Servants in the Black Faction were not of a top-tier level; otherwise, the situation would be greatly unfavorable for them.

'But now is not the time to think about all this...'

Shirou refocused his attention on the battlefield. With the addition of Archer of Black and the loss of their Caster, the battle had completely shifted in favor of the Black Faction.

Lancer alone could never be a match for two opponents.

Aside from Rider, Lancer was one of the two top-tier Servants of the Red Faction. With the loss of Caster, they couldn't afford any more mishaps with Lancer.

Shirou took a deep breath before giving an order.

"Come back, Lancer."

"Understood."

Karna, upon receiving the retreat order, nodded and glanced at Arkhan, then looked at the distant Heracles. His figure gradually dissipated into light particles before vanished completely.

Seeing the dire situation, Archer of Red also decisively left. She never revealed her identity throughout and only used ordinary magical arrows. With her androgynous voice, Arkhan couldn't even discern her gender.

However, what Arkhan could confirm was that Archer of Red was definitely not the Greek huntress Atalanta, who was originally supposed to be summoned.

So far, among the Red Faction's summoned Servants, except for Saber of Red, who remained as Mordred like in the original work, the other classes had changed.

Arkhan speculated Assassin of Red was unlikely to change, probably still the Wise Queen of Assyria, Semiramis. After all, she was the Servant that Shirou had always wanted to summon. He even spent sixty years in the Middle East just to gather the materials needed to summon this queen.

"Damn it, they got away fast..." Mordred grumbled, resting her sword on her shoulder.

Suppressed constantly by Archer of Red, she remained unable to locate Archer of Red's position till the end, filling her with frustration. If this were not a city full of people, she would have unleashed her Noble Phantasm long ago.

However, at this moment, a chill suddenly rose within her heart. A sense of danger, as if being stared at by a giant dragon, instantly filled every corner of her body.

Without hesitation, Mordred immediately covered her head with her helmet, gripped her sword with both hands and turned to look at the building behind her.

What met her eyes was a towering figure of a man, a longbow crafted from obsidian, ancient and heavy, with bronze arrows gleaming with a sharp cold light, much like his cold eyes.

'Archer of Black?! Shit, when did he get so close?!'

Mordred's nerves tightened to the extreme. The scene of the bronze bird slaughtering the eight Sphinxes still lingered in her mind. This man was undoubtedly a powerful Servant.

A strong intuition quickly surged from her heart. If she relaxed for a moment, that bronze arrow would instantly pierce through her head!

Even her helmet would definitely not withstand the attack from this man.

Just at this moment, a figure suddenly appeared in front of her, fully taking on the heavy pressure from the towering figure.

"Archer, this kid and I have a special relationship. Can you, for the sake of my face, let her go this time?" Arkhan looked up at Heracles above.

"She is our enemy." Heracles calmly stated and didn't lower his longbow.

"But she has already broken ties with the Red Faction." Arkhan argued.

"Breaking ties doesn't make her our ally." Heracles replied evenly. "Keeping her is a never-ending threat."

Hearing that, Arkhan squinted his eyes slightly.

"Don't forget the condition you agreed to."

"I did agree to become your ally, but sparing her is not included." Heracles gazed indifferently at him. "I am Archer of Black; bringing victory to my Master is my duty."

"I'd like to see if you have the guts for that!"

Nidhogg suddenly emerged from the shadows and yelled with anger as her pitch-black vertical pupils coldly fixed on Heracles.

"Archer, if you dare lay a finger on Momo today, I swear we're sworn enemies!"

Though she was strong, Heracles remained unmoved. As a hero of Greece, backing down due to this kind of threat would be a disgrace.