Alaya's Response, A Grand Approaches

A sword calmly floated in the air. Its blade was blackish gray, while its handle was black. The guard was yellow in color, sporting some dark spots as well. It looked ordinary if a little well-decorated weapon. Yet, the aura of power it was releasing was anything but simple.

This was the answer to their wish, their hope. Durandal, the sword of miracles.

Archer went all out with creating this weapon, unlike his haphazard work on normal occasions. He tried to make the sword as close to the original as possible. EMIYA was tired mentally, yes, but that didn't impede him to grab the sword and toss it to Theseus while giving a final look to those that decided to give their 'life' for the completion of Durandal.

Medea, Euryale, Asterios, and David were already fading in motes of light. "Thanks for helping, your sacrifice would not be wasted."

"Your cynical self suits you more but no matter. We did what we had to do." The Witch of Betrayal shook her head before looking at the lion-eared Huntress. "Take care of things here for me."

Atalanta sighed dejectedly but ultimately nodded. There was nothing she could do at this point, and trying to prevent her actions before Medea did them — something that she wanted to do anyway — would be mocking her resolve.

"I will be going now. Remember to take care of yourself, okay?" Euryale bade farewell to her sister with a wry smile. Asterios was quietly by her side letting her do so.

Stheno looked to the side for a moment before sighing and returning to her 'superior' persona. "Go. There is no need to stupidly waste time on pointless goodbyes."

A silent eye-smile was the response she got until the middle sister faded away completely. Giving a final look at the place her sister was in, Stheno then focused his attention on the front where the Leviathan and Typhon were fighting. Soon it will be the time for that thing to pay.

Meanwhile, David was sighing comically in regret at seeing all these sad situations. "I wonder if there is a woman here touched by my sacrifice who would console me in my final moments..."

"Just die already and stop being a bother for everyone!" Romani, who heard what he said from Chaldea's Command Room immediately got pissed and had to let that be known to the green-haired Archer.

"Haha, that's a bit harsh." David laughed a bit before his face showed a simple smile of satisfaction. "I am sorry I could not be of much use. My secret weapon returned to the original owner, after all. Still, I suppose materializing here had its good points as well."

"...What good points?" Dr. Roman asked in puzzlement.

"Let's see... I got to act cool... that about sums it up." Although the Doctor didn't understand what he meant by that, he decided not to ask. It wasn't like he was going to get a solid answer anyway. 'Honestly. Always reckless to the point of stupidity.'

Even though he thought like that, he still watched David's disappearance with a complicated look in his eyes. Nevertheless, he opted to focus on other events, mainly on how they would beat Typhon with that sword, Durandal or not.

Theseus was of the same mind, and he didn't mind voicing it out, despite the sacrifices it took to make. "A good sword indeed. However, it will not be enough. I wasted around eighty percent of my Magical Energy on that strike who ended up wounding him and look how well he looks now. In fact, he is stronger than before. What's more, I have the feeling he already started absorbing some Skills of that dude. It won't be long for Authorities to follow, and I won't be enough to beat him then."

Durandal shook in Theseus's hands, seemingly annoyed at the comment. The Athenian King scratched his cheek in awkwardness but made no further action.

"That's where I come in. Though be warned, this could turn to be either our ticket to heaven or our ticket to hell." With those puzzling words, Zhuge Liang looked at his Master who responded by distributing his Magical Energy with Caster in mind.

This was something he had been learning with him in his spare time. A part of managing multiple Servants at once was to know when one of the aforementioned Heroic Spirits required more Magical Energy than others depending on the situations.

Currently, the only people he had a contract with were Caster, Archer, and Mash. Of the three, Mash could 'survive' with the less amount since she was a Demi-Servant, and could technically function on her own. And although it sounded wrong to say it like this, Archer had already shown his usefulness, so aside from providing the minimum to keep him 'alive', he didn't need more.

With that in mind, Fujimaru gave Zhuge Liang most of what little Magical Energy he had. The previous battle against the Argonauts had taken its toll on him. He doubted he would be able to do much afterward.

Caster concentrated hard. He had never used this Noble Phantasm before because it was... random, in a sense. The result was not controlled by him but by 'whatever the target needed at a specific moment.'

As a man who preferred facts and concrete things to work with, this Noble Phantasm was really incompatible with him. However, now it might be their ticket to overcoming the adversity before them.

"『Chu Shi Biao.』" Softly muttering its name with Theseus as the target, the changes became evident in an instant. Outwardly, the Athenian King began to release Magical Energy unlike what they have seen before. Inwardly, though, the changes were even more significant. The most notable one was the change of his Saint Graph. It was forcefully 'expanded' for a lack of a better term.

It could be said that in terms of greatness, Theseus was now temporarily on part with Grands, as for power, that was a different matter. More so when that 'temporarily' is a key factor.

"...I think this will be just enough for now. Though, did you have to make me a kamikaze?"

"I am surprised you know that term." Theseus only shrugged in response to Caster's words. "However, I am sorry about that. I don't control what you obtain. If it deemed that was the only way, then it must be so."

The green-haired Servant shook his head. "It's okay. I kind of expected something like this would happen. We are disposable in the grand scheme of things, after all."

Caster released a deep sigh before looking at his Master. Although he had used his Noble Phantasm just like that, it had cost quite a bit of Magical Energy. Fujimaru was a bit pale, something that was not strange at all. Still, he decided to ask for his well-being. "Are you okay, Master? For now, you should get some rest while Theseus takes care of the problem."

"Yeah. It won't be much considering the situation we are in, but it will be better than nothing. There is still room for you to grow; dying of exhaustion would be truly sad in more than one sense. Well, I am glad we did it just in time."

Just as he said that, a sonic boom echoed in the surroundings, creating giant waves in all directions. Luckily, Drake was able to maneuver her ship enough to avoid any inconvenience. At this point, keeping the Golden Hind afloat was the only thing she could do.

Typhon had punched the Leviathan in the head, knocking her out cold. Despite his face being shadowed, he still gave the impression of looking reaaaaaaally pissed. He probably realized that Euryale had disappeared, meaning he would not be able to do the same he did with Seth anymore.

"Well, I am off. Time certainly won't wait for me." Theseus said before jumping off the Golden Hind under the gazes of its occupants.

As soon as his feet touched the water, he disappeared. It all felt like a déjà vu of the previous time the Hero attacked. However, that also meant that Typhon could follow his movements all the same.

The giant monster immediately struck a random spot in the turbulent ocean with his serpentine arm. He expected to feel it impact the Hero, but the only thing it touched was water.

Theseus then reappeared at the side of Typhon's sunken arm. Wasting no time, Theseus slashed the limb, surprisingly leaving a gash in it. Despite that, the green-haired Hero was not happy at all. The depth of the wound was the same as Durandal's length, meaning that in comparison to the length and width of the arm, it was nothing.

Still, considering Typhon was stronger than before, it was some progress. What Theseus didn't know was that Kingslayer was boosting the monster's defense even further, so what he did had more merit than what he thought.

Back in the battle, the son of Tartarus growled at the dual-Class Servant after he noticed the small cut. The snakes that worked as his hair hissed loudly before spitting numerous fireballs in his direction.

Theseus immediately started moving to dodge the human-sized snake spittle, making sure to do so in the Golden Hind's opposite direction. He doubted they would retreat, and that Typhon didn't have the speed to catch up to them in case he lost, but it was best to prevent any collateral damage just in case.

As Theseus kept avoiding the barrage of fireballs, Typhon didn't stay idle. The snake head on its right arm opened its mouth and started shooting laser beams at his enemy, difficulting his steps.

At first, he didn't have problems dodging, but after some time, it was clear he couldn't keep being on the defensive longer than he already was.

Finding a little space among the endless assault, Theseus powered Durandal with Magical Energy before doing an air slash in Typhon's direction.

The lamia-like monster momentarily paused to dodge to the side, but that was when the King appeared in front of him using his previous attack as a distraction. It seemed he wanted to replicate what he did before to harm him.

However, different from that time, Typhon was already prepared. Out of nowhere, a lightning bolt struck Theseus, making him fall down like a missile. It seemed he had finally also taken Seth's Authority over storms.

The Athenian King was able to recover just in time to avoid submerging into the ocean, and yet, just as his feet touched the water and looked up, he saw the mouth of the serpent ready to incinerate him at point-blank.

Not leaving him any time to respond, Typhon shot a sea of flames, completely engulfing him in a world of red.

Everyone included Typhon, thought that he had perished, but Zhuge Liang assured them that he was still very much alive as his Noble Phantasm was still active. If he had died, then it would stop working.

To prove Caster right, Theseus appeared behind Typhon in a flash. His face was the epitome of concentration as he brandished Durandal to send a powerful strike of energy in the form of a pillar at his back.

The First Miracle: 'Speed capable of overwhelming the foe before him.'

The Athenian King kept feeding Magical Energy to the sword to power the attack, eliciting a roar from Typhon. The smell of sizzling flesh was permeating the air more and more, but the monster wouldn't go down just like that.

The dark ocean beneath his feet illuminated, forcing Theseus to stop his attack as he could sense the danger. Not long after he did so, multiple pillars of lava geysers shot from the depths into the sky.

'Submarine volcanoes? Really?' Theseus couldn't be more annoyed. If the clouds of incessant rain weren't present in the sky, he would look for a lucky star out there because clearly this monster was born under one.

The succession of attacks was so high that he could barely keep up even with the Miracle, his Skill Eye of The Mind, and his Noble Phantasm to know the correct path to a destination. He even lost his brown cape along the way. He really liked it...

His poor attempt at keeping himself as relaxed as possible aside, Theseus decided to approach Typhon instead of keeping his distance. Running away won't work with his limited time, plus he could use the monster's body as a cover.

With that in mind, the Servant zigzagged in Typhon's direction, raising water into the air while carefully avoiding the lava pillars.

The shadow monster didn't stay idle, though. He also went to meet Theseus' charge. This time, instead of using his snake arm like he had been doing, Typhon used his human-like one to throw a punch at the Hero the moment they were at a close enough distance.

Theseus didn't retreat. He quickly raised Durandal above his head and swung it down just in time to meet Typhon's fist. Large-sized ripples shot out in all directions at the clash, accompanied by the loud sound of the collision.

It was a stalemate, or so it appeared at first. True to his name as the personification of strength, it didn't take long for Typhon to be declared the winner of the encounter.

What first started as him slowly pushing back Theseus soon became him sending the Hero flying, with the occasional impact in the water, like a stone thrown into a pond.

It wasn't until several kilometers that he managed to come to a stop, but even so, he wasn't in a good condition as to be happy about that. His head was bleeding, his arms were trembling, and he probably had more than one broken bone.

After coughing a few mouthfuls of blood, Theseus was able to stand up from his kneeling position. 'When did I think it was a good idea to clash head-on...'

Even he admitted it was a dumb move. Still, it looked like Typhon was still coming for him instead of focusing on the Golden Hind. He probably thought he was the only threat to him, so the beast was ignoring the others for now in favor of getting rid of the Hero. He had no complaints about that, it worked for him.

After checking he could move just fine albeit with a little pain, Theseus once again sped up in Typhon's direction. The monster was waiting for him. He wasn't in a rush to get this over with.

Theseus this time learned his lesson and didn't seek a direct match. Instead, he opted to attack from a distance with energy slashes.

Although Typhon was annoyed by this, he didn't think much about it. He kept shooting lasers, fireballs, and flames from his mouth to make it difficult for Theseus to approach.

This status quo of 'hit-and-run' was maintained for about twenty minutes, and despite the green-haired King noticing some results, mainly deep gashes on Typhon's skin and a decrease in his enemy's attack ratio, he knew he couldn't keep it like this.

His Saint Graph was at the border of breaking. He theorized he only had about ten more minutes before it couldn't keep up with his current vessel and just break down. At that point, he didn't know who would be the one to face Typhon.

'It seems it all returns to that, after all.' Sighing mentally, Theseus stopped his attacks and retreated a safe distance. Although it looked like he had the advantage, he hadn't left unscratched from there. His left arm was completely burnt. It resembled more a piece of coal than a human arm.

'Let's go again, Durandal.' The sword hummed at his intention and activated its power once more.

The Second Miracle: 'Strength capable of flattening mountains.'

A yellow and green aura began to surround Theseus like a layer of protection, but instead of defense, it boosted his Strength Parameter to a horrifying degree. He didn't know if it would be enough to win a clash like the previous one, but he wasn't interested.

The green-haired Hero raised Durandal to the skies calmly while the howling winds congregated around Typhon. It seemed he too was tired of the previous 'game'.

Tornados started forming on the clouds before coming down to the ocean. The already raging waves became behemoths that went up and down in a chaotic motion.

The lightning in the sky seemed to have recognized Typhon as an unworthy owner, deciding to meet in the tip of Durandal's instead.

With narrowed eyes, the mouth of the serpent began to absorb wind to the point that the whole arm looked bloated. Meanwhile, the main head did the same, but instead of wind, it was fire, going by the small sparks around Typhon's mouth.

Nothing needed to be said, this would only end with one coming victorious, whoever it will be.

After a few more seconds to gather as much Magical Energy as possible, Theseus swung Durandal down like a hammer, creating a yellowish-green slash that seemed to open the clouds and the ocean.

Meanwhile, Typhon first exhaled a torrent of fire many times greater than what he had done previously before accompanying it by exhaling all the wind he had accumulated inside his amorphous arm. The result was a burning sea that approached Theseus attack like a rampaging tide.

It didn't long for the two attacks to meet. But instead of the slash continuing unimpeded, or the sea of flames swallowing the slash, something completely different happened.

Unconsciously, or by the force of a 'greater will,' Durandal's Third Miracle activated at that moment.

The two attacked seemed to have come to a standstill, but all the energy that was being generated thanks to their collision wasn't being spread around unevenly. It was all going toward the thunderous clouds.

It seemed as if the force of their attacks had opened the way for a third party to join the fray. However, neither Theseus nor Typhon displayed any sense of happiness at the Summoning Circle appearing in the sky.