“Kill!” “Kill!” “Kill!” “Kill!” ... “Aaaaaaa!”
The courtyard was once again filled with the figures of the Assassins, their numbers already well over a hundred.
Unlike before, when they could still communicate and had their wits about them, these Assassins were now like berserkers who had lost their minds, moving like zombies, charging madly at Chen Yu and Waver with extremely bizarre postures.
“Tch, a Command spell? Tokiomi Tohsaka always resorts to such underhanded methods.”
Seeing the Assassins acting like madmen, determined to achieve their goal no matter what, everyone realized that under the restraint of the Command spell, the Assassins had completely become killing machines for the sake of victory.
Only a Command spell could disregard a Servant’s own will and strip a Servant of anything they possessed.
Archer frowned unhappily.
No matter how arrogant a Servant, they all realized that, stripped of the glorious facade of a Heroic Spirit, under the restraint of a Command spell, they were at best a summoner’s puppet, a humanoid tool to be commanded.
But how could an arrogant King endure obeying his Master’s commands like a dog?
“Waaahhhhh! Rider, they’re charging again!”
“Hey, kid, don’t be so flustered… A good banquet ruined like this, it seems this feast must end here.”
Looking at the Assassins flutter over like grotesque zombies, no one had the mood to continue the banquet.
Previously, Rider had intended to display a wave of kingly demeanor by relying on the Assassins’ sneak attack, but Chen Yu and Nyarlathotep’s combo attack ruined it.
With all but one Assassin killed, what Army of the King could be displayed?
But now, with the Command spell’s enhancement, the numbers of Assassins were rapidly increasing. While feeling a sense of empathy, Rider felt he could show off again.
Let Saber see what true kingship is!
However, just as Rider stood up, ready to activate his “Army of the King” to give everyone a spectacle, he found that the surrounding scenery instantly changed.
The space around them suddenly produced strange cracks and refractions like glass, and the ground of the courtyard was rapidly expanding with a geometric symmetry.
The Assassins, who were clearly approaching rapidly, seemed to be getting further and further away, as if they were retreating instead of advancing.
What was clearly just an ordinary courtyard now appeared unusually vast, as if the space here had been expanded.
Facing the changes in the space around them, Waver and Irisviel exclaimed, “Is this a Reality Marble?”
A Reality Marble is an invasion of reality by imagination, a spell that materializes one’s inner landscape.
Once activated, it transforms the surrounding space into a completely different scene.
This is a spell that Magus often refer to as being extremely close to true magic.
It is the highest-level magical barrier and a spell revered by countless Magus.
“No, you’re mistaken, this is the Mirror Dimension!”
Although both can change the surrounding environment and pull the opponent into another space.
One, however, replaces the external space with one's internal mental image, while the other merely masters a method of opening an unknown dimensional space.
The space was like a kaleidoscope; the sky, earth, plants, and courtyard constantly changed. Distance and position lost their meaning, and light repeatedly bounced off mirrored surfaces, forming symmetrical and complex images, as exquisite as crystal structures in nature.
Chen Yu corrected Waver and Irisviel’s misconception, then said to Nyarlathotep, “Nyarlathotep, I’ll leave this to you. Go ahead and play. Whatever happens in this space won’t affect the outside world anyway.”
“Yes, yes, I know, Darling is the best! Swarm, dinner time!”
Hearing Chen Yu say that these Archers were for her to deal with this time, Nyarlathotep happily tore open a spatial rift and summoned the swarm of bees responsible for surveillance in the Mirror Dimension space.
It was these diligent swarms, through Nyarlathotep’s relay, that allowed Chen Yu to know everything happening in Fuyuki City.
As for the birds Chen Yu summoned with a spell, they were responsible for surveillance in the real world.
One was overt, the other covert.
However, compared to the immense number of the bee swarm, the birds he summoned were but a drop in the ocean.
As purple spatial rifts opened one after another, countless bee-like swarms, resembling the Shaggai, poured out of the cracks.
Although each bee was only the size of a pigeon, they emitted an eerie, ghostly purple light in the darkness.
Dense as a dark cloud, seemingly obscuring the universe, they produced a deafening hum.
Although each bee carried seemingly little magical power, when their numbers reached an astonishing count, a quantitative change led to a qualitative change.
They flew over the heads of Saber, Rider, Archer, and others, pouncing on the Assassins.
Their sharp chelicerae cut through the Assassins’ skin, sucking their blood and devouring their flesh.
Assassin after Assassin was covered in the swarm. They were not without resistance, but facing such a multitude of bees, they could only fall in vain, one after another, eventually turning into particles and disappearing into space.
“What are these things?!”
Waver watched the swarm in mid-air in horror, witnessing the Assassins’ bodies being torn apart little by little by the swarm.
Watching them struggle, scream, and wail… it was like a slow, torturous death, terrifying Waver to his core.
Even Saber couldn’t help but shiver.
She couldn’t imagine if she were caught in this insect plague, whether she would still be able to protect Irisviel.
No, if these swarms were brought to Fuyuki City, it would probably take less than half a day for the entire Fuyuki City to become a ghost town.
Like an insect plague, falling within the borders of Fuyuki City, insects would be everywhere, to the point where the ground couldn't even be seen. They would devour everything!
Bones would lie exposed in the fields, and not a single rooster would crow for a thousand miles.
It was like a disaster sent by a god, utterly unstoppable.
Saber stared at Nyarlathotep in shock, seeing Nyarlathotep enjoying the scene with relish, and only then understood the true weight of the ‘Evil God’ that Archer had spoken of.
After all the Assassins were devoured, the space changed again.
In a daze, the sound of breaking glass was heard, and in the blink of an eye, the surroundings returned to normal.
The courtyard was still the courtyard, and the lights were still the lights.
The outlines of the trees were blurred, and occasionally a strong gust of wind blew through, like the whispers of the night.
The countless buzzing sounds instantly vanished.
It was as if they had returned from hell to the human world.
“Oh dear, what a disappointing fellow, the banquet ends here then.”
Rider drained the wine in his cup, smacking his lips and muttering.
It was unclear whether he was referring to Chen Yu, the Assassins, or that Tokiomi Tohsaka fellow.
He drew the sword of cyprus from his waist and summoned the Gordius Wheel.
“Let’s go, kid. Don’t just stand there, the feast is over…”
With that, he grabbed the still-terrified Waver by the collar and boarded the chariot.
The chariot, pulled by divine bulls, flew into the sky amidst flashing lightning and disappeared into the horizon with a rumble of thunder.
“Hmph, noisy mongrel!”
After watching the ox-drawn chariot disappear into the sky, Archer stood up, glanced at Chen Yu, then shifted his gaze to Caster.
“Caster, the next time we meet, let this King witness it. Let’s see if you can make this King serious! Oh? I almost forgot…”
Archer shifted his gaze to Saber.
“Saber, keep it up! Bearing a heavy destiny with your delicate body, that anguish, that entanglement, that struggle, I actually find it rather endearing. Perhaps you can earn even more of my affection, hahahaha!”
As his words fell, before Saber could react, Archer’s body transformed into golden particles and vanished from the courtyard.
And so, a banquet drew to a close.