Metropolis Lostbelt (14) You begin to obey a...

As Kirshtalia proclaimed, he raised his staff, the tip of which drew an elegant line in front of him.

The Arctic sky seemed to be awakened by an invisible force. The sparse stars suddenly lit up, and the light pierced through the sky. Centered on the direction his staff pointed, the originally isolated points of light were like pearls strung together by silk threads, and one deep golden magic circle after another spread out in the sky.

—Like an inescapable hunting net, it enveloped the entire Arctic in golden light.

The next second, the air trembled slightly, and meteorites trailing burning flames plummeted like a cascading galaxy, carrying a chilling magical aura, crashing towards Fujimaru Ritsuka's direction.

Within Storm Border, watching the battle from a distance, many lingered in their eyes, staring at the dazzling sky above. Goldruff, his eyes trembling, half-closed them. "Ugh, really, this guy always does this! Starting with this?!"

Da Vinci adjusted his glasses and analyzed with a research-oriented mindset: "Indeed, this world is also perfectly suited to astronomical magic."

"Huh? Technical advisor, is this the time to boost their morale?!"

"Oh dear, still worried about Ritsuka? I couldn't say for sure before, but little Ritsuka has completely transformed now... Don't you agree, Holmes?"

Goldruff watched as Holmes and Da Vinci exchanged a glance and revealed similar mysterious smiles, while he, the only one whose intelligence hadn't reached its ceiling, looked around in confusion.

When the last blinding ray of light finally dissipated, Fujimaru Ritsuka lowered her half-raised arm that had been shielding her eyes, looked around and saw that everyone was standing properly, and her tense shoulders suddenly relaxed.

She raised her head and looked ahead. The blonde girl who had been standing quietly in front of her lowered her raised staff, and her figure began to become transparent, turning into countless points of light that dissolved into the air of the far north.

"Wow, Ritsuka's magic skills have improved!" Merlin said, leaning closer with feigned surprise. If his tone had been a little more sincere, he might have fooled quite a few people.

"The quality and quantity of your magic circuits have improved significantly compared to the past." Kirshtalia nodded with a smile, as if congratulating a junior she recognized, rather than an enemy.

"Huh?" After assessing the situation, Fujimaru Ritsuka's face immediately lit up with a delighted smile. "It only depleted the Anti-Purge Defense?" She blinked. "As expected, Artoria is still the most reliable!"

Then the strategy can be completely adjusted, and we don't need to focus on defense anymore!

“Let me ask one more question,” she said, “If we want to cut down the Imaginary Tree, we still have to defeat you first, right?”

Kirshtalia: "Yes. You're not late this time, but the Imaginary Tree is already finished."

The Imaginary Tree is now simply waiting to bloom, so it will convert most of its functions into self-protection. At this time, the bark of the Imaginary Tree will not be affected by external interference.

Only the king of the Lostbelt connected to the Imaginary Tree, or someone who holds the right to use it, can cause it to wither.

"I see."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Kirshtalia launched the first attack, her blue magic carrying a power capable of piercing through everything, rushing straight into Fujimaru Ritsuka's brain.

"Senpai, hide behind me!" Mash's shout and the sound of armor scraping rang out at the same time. She instantly took several steps to block in front of the orange-haired Master. The impact of the magic power hitting the shield caused Mash's knees to bend slightly.

Just before Kirshtalia raised her hand again, space suddenly distorted, a golden vortex appeared out of thin air, and Gilgamesh raised his chin, his crimson-gold eyes filled with an arrogant look of dominance over the world.

He gripped the golden axe in one hand and held up the clay tablet inscribed with cuneiform script in the other. "Mongrel, you have more than one opponent!"

A dense barrage of weapons surged forth from the vortex, firing towards Kirshtalia at the Wise King's command. The relentless attack formed a comprehensive fire net, completely sealing off the young man's escape route.

Kirshtalia's expression remained unchanged as he manipulated his magic to knock down the weapons that approached him one by one. But suddenly, his pupils contracted sharply, and without hesitation, he turned around and swung his staff horizontally.

"Clang—!" The staff and the holy sword collided, causing the air to tremble. Kirshtalia took two steps back and looked up at Merlin, who was holding the holy sword, with a knowing look in her eyes.

"So, the attack just now was just a feint."

Merlin shrugged regretfully, his tone tinged with a hint of mockery, "What a sharp enemy! I, your big brother, actually failed."

He shrugged lightly, his casual demeanor a stark contrast to the fierce attack he had just launched. "What should we do, Ritsuka?"

Oh no, what should we do? Of course, we should keep fighting!

Fujimaru Ritsuka glared at Merlin. During her back-and-forth battle with Kilshtaria, she sensed something was amiss. After blocking yet another wave of blue magic, she suddenly shouted, "Kilshtaria! Do you truly agree with the ideology of this Lostbelt King?"

Kirshtalia paused, "Why would you ask that?"

"Because I believe in you! The future of humanity should be in humanity's own hands, don't you firmly believe that!"

Beneath the towering, illusory tree, a seemingly insignificant girl stood with unwavering eyes, saying, word by word, "You've come this far so that everyone can become a god who saves others."

“But, Fujimaru Ritsuka,” Kirshtalia said calmly, raising his hand for another powerful attack, as if to sever ties with the past.

"Don't forget that I am now a Servant, a Servant summoned by the King of Lostbelts."

Mashu, holding Ritsuka, leaped to the left to dodge the attack. Gilgamesh and Merlin joined forces to attack Kirshtalia, and in the instant the blond youth was caught off guard, the Command Seal on Fujimaru Ritsuka's hand disappeared with a single stroke.

A blue-haired youth clad in light armor leaped up from behind Kirshtalia, spear in hand.

—The spear that pierces through the deadly thorns.

A cursed spear that pierces the heart with every strike. A Noble Phantasm that reverses cause and effect, taking the heart as the result and working backwards from the point of impact.

It's almost impossible to block unless the opponent is invincible or the Servant is killed before the Noble Phantasm is unleashed.

The instant she noticed what was happening behind her, Kirshtalia acted decisively, taking Merlin's sword blow head-on to her left shoulder and breaking through the encirclement. A massive burst of magical energy erupted, piercing directly through the body of the spear-wielding Servant.

He staggered a few steps, clutching the wound on his left shoulder, blood gushing from between his fingers. Despite his suspicions, he held nothing back; an enemy is an enemy.

That's great.

“Almost.” Fujimaru Ritsuka pursed her lips. She wasn’t sure if she needed to face the Lostbelt King, and it was best to save the remaining Command Seals as a trump card.

Ah, if only we could really win over Kirshtalia.

Although his reasoning was sound, she didn't believe that someone who wasn't even willing to overturn human reason for the alien gods would, even if he became a Servant, work for a Lostbelt King who was even less worthy of his loyalty.

"From this day forward, humanity will destroy the concept of gods," Fujimaru Ritsuka asked. "These are words you used to say. And now? Have you truly begun to obey a god?"

"Given the current situation, do you think there are any other possibilities?" Kirshtalia coughed, his movements becoming somewhat slower than before.

Other possibilities... wait, Command Seals?!

Chaldea's Command Seals lack the ability to enforce commands, which sometimes makes Fujimaru Ritsuka forget one thing: in the Holy Grail War, Masters can use Command Seals to force Servants to carry out their orders.

The stronger the Master, the more specific the commands, and the better the enforcement effect.

Having figured this out, Fujimaru Ritsuka immediately changed her question, "How many Command Seals did your Master use?"

As she expected, Kirshtalia made no attempt to hide anything, answering very frankly, even somewhat naively, "Both, I used them when I was summoned."

The Chaldeans watching the battle suddenly realized that Holmes was rhythmically tapping the armrest, trying to list all the possible future developments of the current situation.

It wasn't until Munir felt something and turned to look at the control room door that he suddenly realized Roman had come to the control room from his room at some point and seemed to have been watching for quite a while.

Noticing the gazes directed at him, Roman smiled and nodded at his old colleague Munir, saying with a mix of relief and bitterness, "Ritsuka is really amazing now."

He couldn't help but come out of his room after hearing that Ritsuka was going to fight Wardem. Even though their first meeting after they met was a match against Wardem, he still couldn't help feeling nervous.

He thought Ritsuka was already very capable when she stormed the execution ground, but now, the girl in the current battle is far exceeding his expectations.

"Oh, Romani, what brings you here all of a sudden?" Leonardo da Vinci raised an eyebrow. "Have you finished looking at what I gave you?"

"Damn it, my heart is going to shut down if I look at it again!" Roman clutched his chest. "A hundred strawberry cakes couldn't save it!"

Just as the group was discussing the current situation, Kadoc's communicator suddenly popped up. Without saying a word, he asked as soon as the video appeared, "Did Fujimaru win?"

"We have a significant advantage. I think it won't be long before this is over," Sion said confidently, carefully studying the battle situation. "Suddenly, I'd like to ask Ritsuka-san, is something wrong over there?"

“The Lostbelt King went to the North Pole, and all the Justice League members there, including his counterparts, are now injured!” Kadoc gasped. “Before the King could completely eliminate them, he seemed to have discovered the anomaly in the North Pole, which is why he temporarily left.”

"So you mean we saved one of them remotely, but the price was double the Wordem?!" Goldruff's pupils constricted as he aptly summarized Kadoc's conclusion.

“If that’s how you want to describe it, that’s correct. But the good news is that, apart from the Lostbelt King, all his subordinates have been defeated.” Kadoc said hurriedly, “Notify Fujimaru to be careful!”

The communication ended, and Chaldea fell into a moment of silence, followed by a violent explosion. Da Vinci frowned, refusing Roman's request to go to the battlefield while contacting Ritsuka.

Fujimaru Ritsuka: "...?"

"Huh?!?!" She sat up in shock from Mashu's arms.

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Author's Note: * This arc will soon be the finale! There will be two short side stories afterwards~