[FMMIKA] Chapter 275: Mordred vs Chaldea

"Artorius Pendragon?"

"Dragon Emperor of Roman Empire?"

"Are you kidding me? You must be lying!"

After Artorius's declaration, everyone on Chaldea's side was momentarily stunned, quickly concluding that he was a fraud.

Jeanne, a village girl, and Kiyohime, hailing from Japan, had no clue. As for the somewhat clueless Ritsuka, she was still processing Artorius's words. However, Elizabeth and Marie, as European nobles, were experts on the topic.

They were all high-ranking nobility, well-educated, and even had some knowledge of magecraft when they were still alive. Naturally, they had an extensive understanding of European history.

In their recollection, from the distant King Arthur era to the Roman Empire, Byzantine, and even accounting for Romulus, no Roman Emperor bore the title 'Dragon'. Similarly, no Roman Emperor's name was Artorius Pendragon.

'No, wait a minute, Artorius Pendragon? Doesn't that name resemble Artoria Pendragon?!'

Ritsuka at this point suddenly remembered. It was probably because the final boss of the previous Singularity F was Artoria Alter, which left a deep impression on her.

"So, what do you want to do?"

Now completely composed, Ritsuka gazed seriously at Artorius.

"Do you want to disrupt human order like Lev?"

Ritsuka didn't care much for human order or anything else. She was more concerned with practical matters and the present.

"Of course, I have my reasons..."

Artorius said with an air of confidence, smiling at Ritsuka.

"Everything I do in this world has its purpose. But the question is..."

He curled the corner of his mouth, revealing a mischievous smile.

"Why should I tell you?"

"In the name of command spells!"

After Artorius finished speaking, Ritsuka didn't hesitate for a moment and quickly raised her wrist.

Now was not the time to be stingy with command spells.

Artorius was the kind of character who looked like a devious hidden boss, stronger and more Dio-like existence than the average boss. {T/N: Jojo.}

Although in games or manga, such characters wouldn't usually try to kill the protagonist directly in the first meeting but rather leave them with a chance to escape, Ritsuka wasn't naive. She didn't think of herself as a game or manga protagonist.

The next second after using the command spells, a girl near Artorius, who had been ignored by everyone, suddenly stepped forward.

It was Mordred.

She was clad in matching frost silver armor with Artorius, and she charged happily toward the group of Chaldea at an astonishing speed!

Before this, Mordred had been overshadowed by Artorius's radiance, so nobody from Chaldea had noticed her.

However, things had changed.

Mordred had been set free, and her powerful aura and energy made everyone, including the three opposing Chaldea Servants, gasp in astonishment.

"This fellow..."

Mordred was no less powerful than Artoria Alter in the previous Singularity F, and perhaps even stronger!

After all, Artoria Alter's strength had been forcibly enhanced to that level through the Holy Grail, but the girl before them was different. Mordred was healthy and vigorous, and all her powers could be used smoothly.

"Go all out!" Ritsuka shouted loudly to her Servants.

At the same time, Ritsuka felt a sharp pain in her hand. She didn't hesitate to use two command spells to strengthen all her Servants.

Not just one, but two.

'In this way, I've nearly exhausted all my trump cards. The next battle will be...'

She couldn't help but grit her teeth and comfort herself, adjusting her emotions.

'At least we have to get through this first, and then we can think about other things later.'

However, the following situation was completely different from what Ritsuka had expected.

The Servants of Chaldea's side which had been battling continuously and were very fatigued, suddenly regained vitality after getting strengthened by the command spells.

Facing the charging Mordred, who was gleefully coming towards them, the Servants of Chaldea's side unleashed their Noble Phantasms almost simultaneously.

"Bathory Erzsebet!"

Amid Elizabeth's roar, the phantom of her notorious prison city, Prison Castle Cachtice, descended onto the battlefield.

"I'll let you hear the greatest hit of the Servant World! It's the Finale!"

Amid the colossal castle's phantom barrage of magical energy, Elizabeth unleashed her vocal prowess, directing a sonic wave attack at Mordred.

"Laaaaa—!"

Despite the relatively low ranks of her Noble Phantasm, the amplification from the incantation made Elizabeth formidable.

"As of now, I'll eliminate the liar! Samadhi Through Transforming Flames!"

"Wishing to blossom, visibly in the open! Dancing, to blossom in full glory! Passing through, Guillotine Breaker!"

On either side of Elizabeth, Kiyohime and Marie also released their Noble Phantasms simultaneously.

Marie's beautiful crystal-like horse dashed through the battlefield while sending radiant particles of light swirling all about.

Kiyohime's body levitated with magical energy, and a sapphire-blue flame appeared, converging with the radiance, all directed at Mordred.

The castle's barrage of magical energy, sonic wave attacks, horse, and flames—Mash was on shield defense, and apart from Jeanne's defensive and self-destruction Noble Phantasms, the other three Servants, empowered by the command spells, launched all of their Noble Phantasms at Mordred.

"Hahahahaha!"

Watching this spectacle, instead of fear, Mordred erupted into delighted laughter. She brandished her great sword, undaunted, charging straight into the onslaught of Noble Phantasm.

War, battle, battlefield.

Unlike the obedient child who stayed by her big brother's side, Mordred had become a warrior, a knight, a trusted general under the Dragon Emperor's banner, reveling in the thrill of war!

Amid her maniacal laughter, the bombardment from the Noble Phantasms overwhelmed Mordred.

Intense explosions, smoke, and flames blanketed the sky and sea.

"Did we succeed?"

Before Elizabeth could exhale in relief—

"Watch out!"

Jeanne shouted beside her, but it was too late.

In the next moment, Elizabeth felt a sharp pain in her abdomen, and her body uncontrollably flew backward. Before she sank into the sea, she had already lost consciousness.

'Awful!' Jeanne thought in distress while raising her battle flag high.

Due to Jalter's appearance and the 'role-play' that the Dragon Emperor mentioned, she temporarily suppressed her conflicting emotions and regained her fighting spirit.

But it was all in vain.

Just as she was about to shout "Our Lord is with us!" and release a barrier, a sword beam that seemed capable of splitting mountains and seas came hurtling toward her.

Jeanne had no choice but to give it her all, wielding her flagpole as a makeshift spear to block the attack.

Meanwhile, Kiyohime tried to launch a sneak attack from the side with her naginata toward Mordred.

"Annoying! Scram!"

However, before Kiyohime's naginata could land, Mordred had already sidestepped, then with a single slap to the face, sent Kiyohime flying.

The Japanese Yamato Nadeshiko found herself floating on the water's surface, cosplaying as a floating corpse.

'This won't do, we can't continue like this.' Jeanne exclaimed inside her heart with frustration as she saw her side was losing.

After dealing with Kiyohime in one move, Mordred poured her full focus into the battle against Jeanne.

With every exchange, Jeanne grew more anxious and fearful. Mordred had her completely outmatched, with no chance of victory!

And this was even after she had been enhanced by two command spells!

"T-This group of people, what are they—"

"—Is this all you've got?!"

Following Mordred's furious roar, there was a sharp 'crack'.

Jeanne's heart sank as her flagpole had been cut into two pieces by Mordred's sword strike!

"How?!"

Jeanne stood frozen in place, thunderstruck by the sight.

"Move aside!"

Afterward, Mordred didn't linger with Jeanne anymore. She forcefully pushed the dazed Jeanne aside and continued walking towards Ritsuka.

Of course, in front of Ritsuka was Marie.

After releasing her Noble Phantasm, Marie continued using magecraft to provide support. However, now that all three teammates had been defeated, leaving only her in the backline.

As Mordred got closer and closer, the pressure on Marie's sanity was becoming increasingly unbearable.

And then...

"Kya!"

"No!"

"N-No!"

"Y-You! D-Don't come closer!"

"N-No!"

"No, please don't comeee!"

Marie's sanity finally crumbled.

Mordred, wearing a delighted—or rather, a sinister expression, ignored and bypassed Marie.

Marie sat on the ground, grabbed her hat to cover her head, and entered a state of self-isolation.

*Gulp!*

Swallowing hard, Ritsuka took another gulp.

'Is this how we lose? It was supposed to be four against one... I even used my last two command spells, dammit! How could they lose this quickly?!'

Ritsuka felt it was unbelievable. She widened her eyes and subconsciously tried to step back but found that the sea was behind her.

The planned escape route had now turned into an obstacle.

"Ma-Mash!"

Seeing Mordred getting closer, Ritsuka couldn't hold back any longer and shouted, "Do something! Are you just going to stand there and watch?!"

Even if Mash were to step up, it was likely she'd meet the same fate. But no matter what, they couldn't just give up; even if they were to die, it had to be a spectacular death!

After making this decision, Ritsuka suddenly felt fearless.

"I'm sorry, Mash, I've done a lot of bad things to you before."

Mordred's advance slowed down, seemingly trying to apply mental pressure on them before the final showdown.

It was precisely because of this that Ritsuka could bid farewell to Mash in their final moments.

However...

"I also have to apologize to you, Senpai." Mash spoke while raising her sword. "Because now, I'm about to do something awful to you."

After finished speaking, Mash rested her sword against Ritsuka's neck.

"Actually, I'm waiting until you've used up all your command spells, Senpai."

"Mash...?"

Ritsuka was left speechless and wondered if all of this was a dream.