333 God of Love

With the complete demise of the giant golem, Adam, the power of the black hole gradually faded away, and the immense black sun began to shrink, finally transforming into a small deep red sphere no larger than a palm, slowly descended from the sky and fell into Arkhan's hand.

Though they succeeded in destroying the giant golem, Avicebron's betrayal had indeed dealt a significant blow to the Black Faction. Apart from the loss of combat power, the Fortress of Millennia had been reduced to ruins under the rampage of the giant golem and the black hole.

Losing this crucial base of operation meant the Black Faction lost many resources, such as the production line for creating homunculi and the cultivation chamber to replenish the magical energy of Servants, all of which had been completely obliterated.

The only good news for the Black Faction was that the Greater Grail had not been damaged and remained in their possession.

"Hey, aren't your tricks a bit excessive?"

Mordred, clad in armor and carrying Clarent on her shoulder, walked over from a distance, looking at the small deep red sphere in Arkhan's hand with a slightly sour tone.

"Oh, jealous?" Arkhan chuckled. "Let me tell you, what you're seeing now is less than half of all my Noble Phantasms."

"Tch, whatever, keep bragging." Mordred rolled her eyes.

If he were a Heroic Spirit version in the Throne of Heroes, she might have believed his words. However, as a Servant limited by class, there were restrictions on the number of Noble Phantasms each could possess. Thus, his words were merely a joke to her.

Seeing Mordred's reaction, Arkhan smiled and didn't explain further, simply nodding.

"Thanks for your help earlier."

"Don't get it wrong, okay? I just repaid the favor for you intercepting Saber of Black earlier. I didn't do it specifically to help you or anything, hmph!" Mordred replied, turning her head away.

"Sure, sure, I get it." Arkhan said casually while maintaining his smile.

"Ugh, you..."

Watching his somewhat annoying smile, Mordred couldn't help feeling a strange mix of embarrassment, like a frustrated child getting teased by their parent.

"Since we're even now, I can challenge you without hesitation! C'mon, let's fight! This time, I'll definitely knock you down!" Mordred exclaimed while pointing her sword at him.

'This kid's thoughts are all over the place...' Arkhan's smile seemed a bit forced as he shook his head helplessly. "It's not the right time yet."

"Why?" Mordred asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"Because..."

*Whoosh—*

A golden spear suddenly shot out from behind Arkhan, speeding toward the fortress ruins, instantly blasting it into rubble.

*BOOM!*

"What?!"

Amidst the dense smoke and scattered debris, a stranger's voice resounded, tinged with obvious astonishment, as if not quite understanding why they had been discovered.

"Because there's another guest here." Arkhan turned around, looking towards the thick smoke. "Am I right, Archer of Red?"

'Why...' Archer of Red was confused. 'Even though I had already...'

"Even though you've activated your Noble Phantasm, why did I still find you?" Arkhan smiled knowingly. "Is that what you're thinking?"

Archer of Red didn't reply, but her silence was a tacit confirmation.

"I have to admit, Archer of Red, your Noble Phantasm is indeed impressive. Even now, I still don't quite understand how it erases your presence from everyone's minds..." Arkhan crossed his arms. "But it doesn't matter. Once I understand its effects, countering it will be a piece of cake."

After Frankenstein's reminder, he realized that although Archer of Red's Noble Phantasm could erase her own existence, external intervention could easily break through this deception and nullify its effects.

For this reason, he kept a mental note and, before returning to the Fortress of Millennia, subtly implanted reminders of Archer of Red's presence every two to three hours using Fenghuang Down.

The ensuing chain of events was not unexpected to him.

During his battle with Adam, Archer of Red had somehow activated her Noble Phantasm again to conceal her whereabouts. However, due to the reminders from the mental note of Fenghuang Down, he quickly remembered and easily deciphered the effects of Archer of Red's Noble Phantasm.

"Bold of you to use the same move twice in front of me. Can't decide if you're arrogant or just plain dumb." Arkhan raised his hand, more golden spears flying out from behind him. "But it doesn't matter now. It's time for you to pay the price."

===

"No!"

Shirou, observing the battlefield from afar, immediately grew tense, his face showing clear signs of worry.

Archer of Red was one of their trump cards.

According to the plan established earlier, if Caster of Black and his giant golem failed to take away the Greater Grail, then Archer of Red would use her Noble Phantasm and cooperate with Assassin of Red and her Hanging Gardens of Babylon to seize the Greater Grail.

This two-pronged approach would be enough to ensure that they could obtain the Greater Grail.

However, nobody expected Rider of Black to not only defeat Caster of Black and his giant golem but also figure out Archer of Red's Noble Phantasm. With this turn of events, their plan was completely thrown out the window!

'Being able to negate even that woman's Noble Phantasm, this Rider of Black... he's quite impressive...' Kiara thought with interest, raising an eyebrow slightly.

Kiara showed no signs of panic on her face; in fact, she wore an intrigued smile. On the other hand, Shirou clenched his fists tightly, his face tense.

Rider of Black's power was undeniably powerful and he also couldn't believe that Archer of Red had the power to confront Rider of Black head-on. Still, if even Archer of Red failed, then the Greater Grail was completely out of their reach!

At this moment, he even considered risking exposing himself to support Archer of Red. But apart from the fact that he wasn't sure if he and Archer of Red could defeat Rider of Black, just dealing with that unpredictable Saber of Red was alone enough to give him a headache.

Could it be that this time, he would once again fail to fulfill his wish?

"Ara~ Ara~ Don't make such an unpleasant face, Father Kotomine..."

Seeing Shirou's distressed expression, Kiara chuckled softly, her gentle tone strangely reassuring.

"The game isn't over yet. Who says we're doomed to lose? Although I don't want to admit it, that woman is not as weak as you think."

===

*Bsttt—*

A deep blue flame rose from nowhere, its seemingly dreamlike appearance hiding unimaginable power. All the golden spears that approached were forced to retreat, unable to advance any further.

Seeing this, Arkhan squinted his eyes slightly. This was the first time he had seen Oath of Judah lose in a direct confrontation.

That blue flame, what could it be?

"To make me pay the price, you say?"

A clear and melodious voice rang out from the depths of the blue flame, akin to silver bells.

"You're just a mere mortal. How dare you utter such words to me?"

"That's..." Mordred looked ahead in astonishment, a figure slowly emerging from the flames.

It was a tall and elegant female figure, with a beautiful and dignified appearance. She wore nothing but a few lotus petal-like ornaments covering her sensitive areas, fully showcasing her voluptuous body. Her limbs were not ordinary flesh but rather crystallized with the winding blue flames. Silver-white hair cascaded down, sprinkled with misty dots resembling an endless starry sky, giving people an inexplicable feeling of gazing into the vast universe.

'Wh-What the heck is this woman?! That appearance, i-it's too much, isn't it?!'

Even the usually carefree Mordred couldn't help but be dumbfounded by the woman's appearance in front of her.

'That attire... Does this woman have no shame?!'

As if suddenly realizing something, Mordred quickly turned her head to look at Arkhan, only to find the latter staring intensely at Archer of Red.

"I see... No wonder you have such a Noble Phantasm..." Arkhan couldn't help but show a hint of complexity in his eyes as he looked at the familiar figure. "I didn't expect the Archer summoned by the Red Faction this time to be you, God of Love, Kama."

The female figure before him was undoubtedly the God of Love from Indian mythology, Kama.

In the original work, she was initially a male god but manifested as a Servant by possessing a female body. Though summoned as an Assassin originally, in reality, the class that truly suited her was Archer, making her manifestation as Archer in this Holy Grail War a reasonable scenario as well.

Honestly, Arkhan hadn't expected Kama to be summoned, but this explained why she could erase her own existence.

In Indian mythology, the Indian gods, in order to rekindle the relationship between Parvati and Shiva, had Kama use his arrow of love to shoot Shiva, reigniting this supreme god's love for the goddess. However, Shiva soon realized that Kama was meddling in his affairs, so he opened his third eye in anger, unleashing a divine flame capable of destroying everything in the universe, reducing Kama to ashes.

But Kama did not die there; instead, amidst the destruction, he gained new life, becoming a formless and shapeless god, known as 'Ananga'.

Perhaps because Kama manifested in a more appropriate class, the concept of Ananga evolved into a Noble Phantasm, allowing her to erase her own existence and become completely 'incorporeal'.

This was the truth that no one had realized about her existence.

"Peeking into the true name of a god without permission, that's quite disrespectful."

Kama stared coldly at Arkhan.

"Are you ready to pay the price for your impudence and arrogance, blasphemer?"