Chapter 44 Reclaiming the Ox-Cart

My name is Illya, and I helped the Conqueror win back his ox-cart.

129:54:11

The [Gordius Wheel] is completely different from ordinary chariots. To put it into perspective, it is roughly the difference between a fully armored warhorse capable of charging through enemy lines seven times over on a battlefield, and a clumsy pack horse plowing a field. The protective lightning it possesses alone qualifies it as a first-rate Noble Phantasm, not to mention that the assault power unleashed after releasing its True Name is sufficient to annihilate an entire army in an instant.

Unfortunately, although Lancelot was able to seize control of it, he could not release its True Name, and could only rely on its inherent kinetic impact and lightning to fight the Conqueror who was trying to reclaim his Noble Phantasm. This was probably the exact reason why Kayneth—or rather, Tokiomi Tohsaka—used it directly to ram the castle barrier: if it could not be used freely, it might as well be destroyed after maximizing its utility.

'Come to think of it, Ryunosuke's Command Spells must be completely depleted by now, right? Two of them were used just to seize and control the ox-cart. To think he would give it up so easily?'

[Although Tokiomi Tohsaka didn't explicitly state it, I have a feeling he viewed this ox-cart as a disposable pawn.]

'Tch, isn't that just a happy accident? Did he seriously not consider how the Conqueror, having reclaimed his ox-cart, would let Berserker off the hook? I can't let Lancelot bow out of the stage just yet.'

I hovered in a corner of the forest clearing, watching the Conqueror and a group of imperial soldiers besieging Berserker, who was driving the ox-cart. Perhaps taking the impact force of the Gordius Wheel into consideration, aside from the archers providing covering fire from a distance, the soldiers consisted entirely of shield-bearing spearmen. The phalanx they formed was something even Lancelot, stripped of reason by Madness Enhancement, dared not charge head-on.

"Hey, the little Caster girl over there—" After the two sides clashed and crossed paths once more, each sustaining some losses, Rider suddenly shouted to me: "That magic you used to freeze the dark and gloomy fellow into an icicle just now, do it again!"

Do it again? Should I offer you a buy-one-get-one-free deal as well?

Rolling my eyes at the Conqueror, I raised my right hand and flicked my index finger, causing the blizzard shrouding the forest clearing to instantly emit a flash of white light.

"That spell hasn't ended yet, you know. Otherwise, why do you think he isn't running away?" I pointed toward Berserker, who had already sped to the edge of the clearing but was now turning his vehicle around for another charge.

[Frozen Baptism] is a large-scale composite magic that utilizes the magical energy of nearly all the defensive barriers of the Einzbern Castle. Its main components are the [Freezing Barrier], which "otherworldifies" a specific location, and the [Absolute Freezing], which continuously lowers the temperature until all enemies trapped within are eventually frozen solid.

What was still in effect was the [Freezing Barrier] preventing the ox-cart from leaving, while the [Absolute Freezing] had already been declared void the moment Berserker broke out of the ice—because of a oversight in my design, the same target cannot be frozen twice.

"Hmph, very well." Iskandar stroked his chin with his left hand and waved his right hand abruptly. A whirlwind carrying yellow sand whipped up in the center of the forest, and spearmen and shield-bearers emerged from it one after another: "Soldiers, pin down that dark knight! ...And try not to poke holes in my ox."

Clang, clang, clang—

The previously empty forest clearing instantly became as crowded as a weekend clearance sale at a supermarket, except instead of housewives, it was packed with fully armed soldiers holding shields and spears.

Berserker, who had previously been driving the Gordius Wheel and charging rampantly in all directions, could barely advance an inch under these circumstances. Even though he swung his dark, blood-red weapon to cut down quite a few of the summoned soldiers, he still could not fend off the continuously multiplying spears thrusting directly at him.

"Aaaaaaargh—" The black-armored knight let out a terrifying roar, suddenly executing a backflip to leap off the ox-cart. However, the Gordius Wheel showed no signs of losing control; instead, it continued to barrel toward the crowd, the black and red aura entwined around it swelling and contracting like a beating heart, as if it were about to detonate the very next second.

'What is that?'

[Prompt: Berserker has activated the self-destruct system of the Gordius Wheel.] Prompt-chan answered instantly.

'I've never heard of that thing having this function!'

[It's because of Ryunosuke's final Command Spell~ 'By the Command Spell, Berserker, completely control this vehicle,' is what he said at the time, and 'complete control' apparently includes making it self-destruct~] the silly system popped out to explain.

'……So he used his own Command Spell to detonate someone else's trump-card Noble Phantasm. Never underestimate people after three days apart, little Ryu.'

"Rider!" I shouted to the King of Conquerors, who was leisurely watching the battle from atop his massive black horse.

129:52:35

"Hahahaha, right on time!" The Conqueror seemed to have been waiting for this exact moment as well. Riding his horse in a direct, steep dive, he leaped straight onto the driver's seat of the Gordius Wheel. Though struck twice by red lightning, he remained completely unbothered.

[Prompt: The self-destruct sequence of the Gordius Wheel has been aborted.]

Following Prompt-chan's voice, the black and red mist on the ox-cart vanished like a receding tide, and the two divine oxen even snorted dismissively at the heartily laughing Iskandar.

Come to think of it, Ryunosuke completely lacks Command Spells now. Will Berserker still listen to him?

I turned my gaze to the other side. Having discarded the ox-cart and lost his speed advantage, Berserker had been riddled with wounds by the shield-bearing spearmen. Seeing that the Conqueror had regained control of the vehicle, he let out a harsh roar before dissolving into spirit form and disappearing.

"Rejoice in victory, my warriors!" Rider raised a hand to accept the cheers of his soldiers, then drove the ox-cart over to stand before me: "You're a fine little lass, have you ever considered becoming one of my retainers?"

This guy really has the nerve to say that to every single Heroic Spirit he meets!

[Though in the end, he only managed to recruit Waver~]

'Waver was originally supposed to become a member of his Army of the King after dying, but his spot got sniped by Zhuge Liang in the end. Absolutely tragic.'

"Pass. I have no desire to stay in a place overflowing with yellow sand and bulky brutes," I jerked my chin toward the soldiers who were beginning to vanish along with the yellow whirlwind: "You definitely haven't been properly maintaining your Reality Marble."

"Terms are negotiable, you know..." Rider tapped his temple with his fist in a twisting motion, then suddenly clapped his hands together: "You can come help me manage it! Someone like you—"

[Prompt: Berserker has assumed spirit form and is approaching Rin Koh and Irisviel.]

'What the heck!'

[Ryunosuke has already spotted them, though he has no intention of getting close. However, if Berserker moves in a straight line toward Ryunosuke, they happen to be right along the path~]

"Your head!"

Before the Conqueror could issue any further recruitment invitations, I decisively assumed spirit form and made my escape, returning straight to the Root from a distance beyond his perception range.

"Koh-chan? Did you feel that?"

"Mm, the fight is over."

While I was fighting in the guise of Caster, Rin Koh's avatar had actually been chatting the entire time with the Einzbern matriarch. Her reactions were slightly delayed, but she could always use the excuse of expending magical energy while worrying about the battle to cover for it. With a bit more practice multitasking in the future, it should become completely indistinguishable.

"Rider reclaimed his chariot, Berserker fled, and Caster is giving chase," I replied to Irisviel's inquiry while looking around to search for Ryunosuke.

At present, we were located in an annex situated northwest of the Einzbern Castle. Its overall design and style bore no resemblance to the castle whatsoever; if anything, it bore a closer resemblance to a typical "beach house" by the shore. The main entrance of this two-story wooden building faced a gentle slope, below which lay a private beach belonging to the Einzbern family and the open sea.

If Ryunosuke happened to be along the extension of the straight line connecting my previous location and this place... As expected, he must be up on the sea cliff beside the annex. He really knows how to climb; could Assassin have carried him up there?

"Isn't there an old saying in your country about 'do not pursue a desperate foe'? Hurry and call Caster back, what if it's a trap?" The matriarch's face was etched with worry.

"Mm." I was just about to initiate telepathic communication when Irisviel grabbed my arm and stopped me.

"Never mind, never mind. She probably has her own ideas. If I interfere too much, she might get displeased."

"……Alright."

The matriarch clearly wasn't ready yet to accept the fact that she had a daughter who had left home to be independent. Then why were you so eager to strip away her disguise earlier?!

"You won't have to worry about these problems for much longer!"

A hoarse male voice suddenly rang out inside the house, and simultaneously, a pitch-black figure lunged toward us from the doorway.

Whoosh—whoosh—

Irisviel summoned two wide-bladed swords outlined in silver thread and hurled them at Assassin, but he dodged every single one.

"How lucky, the two targets we need to capture happen to be together—" Seeing success within his grasp, the ambushing assassin even began to smugly monologue and expose his own presence.

Are you sure this is lucky?

"Qinyue Yin!" I swapped back to my Caster avatar, materialized on the spot, and slammed him straight into the ground. Frigid frost gushed madly from my palm, and without even a struggle, Assassin was instantly turned into a block of ice, shattering into myriad frosty particles the moment I released my grip.

'Seeking death, exposing oneself, actually dying, all in one smooth motion—a true hero among the Hassan clan.'

[This is the Assassin tagging along with Ryunosuke. Just a moment ago, Ryunosuke told him to coordinate with Berserker to capture you two.]

"Illya?" "Weren't you chasing Berserker?" the matriarch and the avatar asked in unison.

"I was. Isn't he right there?" I clapped my hands and pointed toward the exterior, where the black-armored Berserker was standing in a daze while holding a tree. He had appeared before Assassin revealed himself and had even assumed a charging stance, yet he hadn't moved an inch the entire time until that hapless Hassan was squashed to death by me.

It seems... Ryunosuke used a timing discrepancy to screw this Assassin over. Afterward, he could easily use the excuse that "I had no Command Spells and Berserker refused to follow orders" to cover his tracks.

"Can't you even understand a simple command?! 'Don't let them get away' doesn't mean for you to just block the doorway!" Ryunosuke's purposely exasperated voice echoed from above the sea cliff: "Get back here! Don't get caught by Caster!"

'Utterly devoid of emotion in his lines, utterly exaggerated in his acting, but it'll do for now.'

"I'll go after him, you guys be careful." Watching Berserker dissolve into spirit form once more and fly up toward the top of the cliff, I tossed those words over my shoulder and followed after them.

As the matriarch and Rin Koh's avatar discussed things below, I reached the top of the cliff and found the blond-haired fellow I hadn't seen in nearly a year, casually chewing on a leaf while leaning against a tree trunk, with Berserker completely invisible right beside him.

"Welcome back, milady~" Seeing me materialize, he offered a bow as he spoke.

What the heck? Are you trying to make me follow up my 'Mary Sue complex' with a 'princess complex' next?

Hah, as if I have a Mary Sue complex!

"Mm, I'm back." In the end, I chose to maintain my aloof and cold persona.