304 First Kill

"So hesitant and indecisive, doesn't quite seem like your style, Kotomine Shirou."

Seeing Shirou's distress, Ozymandias remarked and stood up from his long chair, gazing sternly at the young priest.

"If you have a goal to achieve, just move forward in that direction and ignore all obstacles. Remember, this is great advice from a pharaoh!"

Before Shirou could respond, however, Ozymandias turned to Arkhan in the crystal ball, extending the scepter in his hand as if giving orders.

"In the name of the King of Kings, I forbid Rider of Black from using magecraft!"

As Ozymandias declared with an authoritative tone, a supreme authority accompanied by a mysterious force rippled out.

On the battlefield, the primordial rune surrounding Arkhan quickly dimmed, as if a lightbulb had suddenly lost power.

His primordial rune immediately dissipated.

This was Ozymandias's personal skill known as the 'Imperial Privilege', almost an all-powerful authority to achieve near-instantaneous effects.

However, the primordial rune controlled by Arkhan was also a high-rank skill. Even Ozymandias's Imperial Privilege could only temporarily block it, at most, momentarily sealing it.

Yet, in this ever-changing battlefield, such a degree of change could be a fatal threat.

Seizing this rare opportunity, Medea, with her high-speed divine words, instantly applied a sealing magecraft on Arkhan.

It was as if multiple large magecrafts had overlapped, to the point that Arkhan, restrained by the magecraft, visibly slowed down as if carrying a colossal burden.

Karna wouldn't miss this golden opportunity either.

Concentrating his fiery flames into a beam, he shot it from his right eye like a thunderbolt, piercing through the void and heading straight for Arkhan.

In the previous clashes, Arkhan had already experienced the terror of this blazing beam, but now, under Medea's restraint, he couldn't dodge in time. He could only forcefully activate Abyss Flower, unleashing a pure white beam of light to collide with the blazing beam.

*BOOOOOOM!*

The pure white and crimson light beams clashed, creating terrifying magical energy fluctuations.

If Arkhan and Karna hadn't intentionally controlled the power of their beams, the impact alone would have been enough to turn all the buildings within a hundred meters into ruins.

This was the true power of top-tier Servants. For them, breaking through not only ordinary cities but even heavy fortresses would take only an instant.

At this moment, Medea in the high sky suddenly used spatial magecraft to teleport behind Arkhan. At the same time, a lightning-shaped strange dagger appeared in her hand.

This was 'Rule Breaker', a manifestation of the Witch of Betrayal's divinity, designed to break any effect created by magecraft. When it pierced the target, all magecraft on them was instantly 'broken', and when applied to a Servant, it could sever their contract with their Master.

It was an ultimate Anti-Thaumaturgy Noble Phantasm that, in most situations, had no effect, but in certain circumstances, it could be remarkably effective.

"Goodbye, another world's King Arthur. Your journey ends here." Medea said with a cruel smile, not hesitating to thrust her Noble Phantasm toward Arkhan's back.

"Are you sure about that?"

Arkhan's calm voice suddenly resounded.

As she heard his voice, a chilling sensation inexplicably surged from behind her and an indescribable sense of impending danger exploded in her heart!

*Pu-chi!*

A golden spear instantly pierced through her abdomen, crimson blood continuously dripping, blossoming into vibrant flowers on the ground.

"Did you really think your Rule Breaker could hit me? You're too naive. I was waiting for this chance, y'know." Arkhan turned his head to face Medea and spoke nonchalantly. "This chance, which you had to get up close to me."

Medea gritted her teeth, attempting to escape the current predicament by using spatial magecraft, but an inexplicable force coiled within her, completely sealing all her magical energy.

Not only that, this force continued to erode her magical energy, causing her Servant's body to teeter on the brink of collapse.

At this rate, in no more than ten minutes, she would completely dissipate!

"Quick, use the command spell to bring Caster back!"

Shirou, watching the scene in the crystal ball, quickly yelled with an unusual hint of anxiety in his eyes.

"Quick, Assassin!"

Despite the usual discord between her and Medea, Semiramis understood how crucial Medea was to them. Without hesitation, she immediately activated a command spell of Medea's Master, intending to forcibly summon her back.

"Sorry, but I won't give you a second chance." Arkhan said calmly, his black eyes revealing frosty indifference.

*Whoosh—*

He waved his hand, and another golden spear quickly whistled through the air, instantly piercing Medea's heart.

With the destruction of her Saint Graph, she could no longer sustain her existence, gradually dissipating in a mixture of unwillingness and resentment.

Thereby, Caster of Red, Medea, became the first Servant to withdraw from the Great Holy Grail War.

Shirou, watching her vanish from the screen, remained silent for a while before sighing softly.

"Prepare to take action, Rider..."

"Oh? You're not planning to keep watching?" Ozymandias asked with interest.

"The current situation doesn't allow me to do that anymore." Shirou replied calmly.

After all their efforts to finally corner Rider of Black, they ended up losing Caster to the enemy; it was a severe loss of combat strength. At this point, even if they couldn't eliminate Rider of Black here tonight, they had to make sure the Black Faction paid a high enough price; otherwise, their losses would be too devastating.

"I must get the Great Grail!" Shirou tightened his fist, his tone determined. "No matter what the cost!"

"Hahahaha! That's right! Just like that! If you want something, you have to fight for it with all your might! Hesitation will only make you lose everything! That's war for you!"

Ozymandias's hearty laughter echoed through the entire church.

"But she's just a mere Caster, why make such a fuss? As long as I stand on this earth, the victor will never change! Lift your head, Kotomine Shirou, and behold the glory of pharaoh!"

Ozymandias waved his golden scepter, and several towering figures instantly appeared on the distant battlefield, exuding a terrifying and formidable aura.

"That is..."

Meanwhile, everyone on the battlefield instinctively turned their heads, watching several shadowy figures gradually solidify.

They were colossal beasts, comparable in size to three-story buildings with lion-shaped bodies and golden wings on their backs. They were none other than the mythical creature from Egyptian myth, known as the 'Sphinx'.

'So, they summoned Pharaoh Ramesses II, Ozymandias...'

Upon seeing these beasts, Arkhan quickly grasped the situation. It seemed that the Rider summoned by the Red Faction was not Achilles but the greatest pharaoh of ancient Egypt, Ramesses II, also known as Ozymandias.

With a pincer-like formation, the Sphinxes surrounded Arkhan, sealing off any escape routes.

These beasts, ancient guardians from Egyptian mythology, were embodiments of the Sky God Horus. Even in modern Egypt, they were known as the 'Father of Fear' due to their association with raging flames and devastating storms.

They were divine beasts on par with dragons, possessing high intelligence to strategize and capable of challenging powerful Servants. Moreover, they could continue fighting even if their heads were shattered, demonstrating unparalleled endurance.

"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.