Fate: Hero of Justice Takeover

White snow fell from the sky, the pristine azure heavens reflecting the ice crystals below, while the ground was littered with a forest of weapons.

Angelica exhaled a white mist, yet, to her surprise, she felt no cold.

Even she, who had lost most of her emotions, couldn't help but be mesmerized by the sight before her—a crystallized mental landscape.

Snow, once seen too often, would no longer evoke much feeling.

Yet here, every flake of snow, every sword, even the sun hanging in the sky—all were manifestations of a soul.

Had this been the work of nature's divine craftsmanship, the awe of the beholder would be no surprise.

But this was the inner scenery of a single person.

So breathtaking, so resplendent.

A mental landscape is the reflection of the caster's inner self, and precisely because of this, it can mirror the nobility and purity within.

Mere admiration could hardly convey even a fraction of the emotions it inspired.

But Angelica was no honored guest invited to admire this sight—she was a prisoner on trial here, an enemy!

Suppressing an inexplicable reluctance even she found strange, Angelica retreated, vanishing into a diamond-shaped space to evade countless streaks of cold light before reappearing in the distance.

"Narrate the Genesis."

Once more, she uttered the true name, and the Sword of Rupture spun eagerly, as if impatient.

Just like the young man before her, who had already summoned a tidal wave of blades, surging toward her with terrifying speed!

"Enuma Elish!"

Sakatsuki's pupils contracted as a radiance—one he had witnessed before but still found overwhelmingly magnificent—pierced the sky, carrying with it an unmistakable threat of death!

There was no drawn-out battle, no back-and-forth exchange. The moment Sakatsuki deployed his Reality Marble, both sides understood—this was an all-or-nothing gamble.

With this single strike, victory and life itself would be decided!

Countless blades erupted from the ground like a waterfall, like a dragon, roaring and howling as they surged toward the primordial force that could split heaven and earth. Even as swords shattered and hilts snapped, new weapons rushed forward without hesitation, filling the gaps in the frontline.

And among them, two divine constructs stood above the rest—Gáe Bolg and Harpe!

Strengthened by Perfect Projection, they unleashed the full offensive and defensive might of divine armaments, standing unyielding amidst the torrent of energy like two great generals leading an army. They even pushed forward, carving a path through the storm!

But that was all.

As Angelica exerted her full power, the hard-won advance collapsed once more. Countless weapons shattered in an instant, and even Gáe Bolg and Harpe let out mournful cries as cracks spiderwebbed across their forms.

Had the War God Zababa been reborn, he could have unleashed the true divine might of these Noble Phantasms, severing all in heaven and earth.

But Sakatsuki was merely human, with no divine blood in his veins. Relying only on the passive traits of these divine weapons, how could he hope to overcome the full might of Enuma Elish?

And if even Gáe Bolg and Harpe were to shatter, then no matter how vast the sea of blades within Unlimited Blade Works, they would be nothing more than scattered sand before Angelica's overwhelming power.

—This fact was clear not only to Angelica, but to Sakatsuki as well.

In that instant, he relinquished control of Unlimited Blade Works, allowing the storm of swords to be torn apart, the defensive line collapsing further and further. Meanwhile, he drew his bow—his draconic heart pounding violently as torrents of magical energy poured into the incomplete Grand Bow in his hands!

The reason it was incomplete was simple—this was not the true bow of Orion. Rather, it was a fragmentary manifestation, a mere echo of the Heroic Spirit summoned through Designated Summoning after Sakatsuki's attempt at Event Modification was thwarted by the Counter Force.

That it had not been reclaimed by the Counter Force after the battle to save the world, and instead had most of its records preserved by Sakatsuki and the Fate Compendium, was nothing short of a miracle.

But the true value of the Grand Bow lay not in the weapon itself. Orion had ascended to the rank of Grand not by divine favor or the sharpness of his arrows, but by his own valor, his indomitable spirit—making him the greatest hunter in Greece, if not the world.

What Sakatsuki had preserved in the records was, naturally, Orion's strongest shot—the one recorded upon the Throne of Heroes!

Blood vessels in his arm ruptured, muscles liquefied, yet Sakatsuki remained unfazed, pouring his entire being into recreating that transcendent shot—the one that had felled even the Beast.

Even if releasing this arrow meant his body would burst apart in a shower of blood.

"Orion Hórkos!"

Just as the last of the blades crumbled, the moment Enuma Elish broke through the final line of defense—it met a single arrow, blazing like a shooting star.

Contact. Stalemate. Destruction. Breakthrough—

In the blink of an eye, the exhausted attack was shattered. Sakatsuki's arrow continued unimpeded, piercing through the storm of the Sword of Rupture, howling as it tore through layer upon layer of shields, penetrated a half-formed displacement space, and struck the hastily raised Enuma Elish in Angelica's hands.

Bang!

Her palms split open instantly, blood spraying as the Sword of Rupture was sent flying, embedding itself in the snow-white earth.

Stained crimson, Angelica stumbled back, vanishing once more into a displacement space.

"It was blocked?" Sakatsuki frowned, then quickly relaxed. "Well, Orion's Noble Phantasm is only B+. While it's lethally effective against beasts and demonic entities, it's only natural that it's slightly weaker in a direct clash."

As he spoke, the Reality Marble began to fade. Even though Angelica's attack had been countered, it had still been unleashed—and even the residual force was more than the fragile "World Egg" could withstand.

Storing the increasingly faint Grand Bow, Sakatsuki estimated that Orion's Noble Phantasm could be used at most twice more before the records were completely exhausted.

Now, it was time to let his enemies taste his spear, his blade.

Gáe Dearg and Gáe Buidhe materialized in his hands—twin spears, one to sever magic, the other to inflict curses. A perfect counter to Angelica's ambush tactics.

The world faded, the world returned. The snow still fell, the wind still howled, but the surroundings were no longer a pure white expanse—instead, rows of desolate, abandoned houses stretched out around him.

[Fate Compendium Updated.]

The moment the Fate Compendium's notification sounded, Sakatsuki kicked off the ground without hesitation, retreating at full speed.

Amidst a girl's wild laughter, violet divine lightning rained down from above, obliterating not only Sakatsuki's previous position but the surrounding houses as well!

"You filthy rat, finally decided to come out, huh?!"

Standing atop a rooftop, Sakatsuki looked down to see a red-haired girl with a stone embedded in her forehead, gripping a massive hammer adorned with a Celtic knot—Mjölnir!

At the same time, the Fate Compendium's interface unfurled before him.

[021: Beatrice Flowerchild]

[Character Info: Like Angelica Ainsworth, a member of the Ainsworth family's Dolls unit. A classmate of Julian Ainsworth, she died five years ago due to the darkness of Fuyuki City and was turned into a doll, losing her love for Julian in the process.

The holder of the "Heracles (Berserker)" Class Card, she was killed by Emiya Shirou during the Fifth Holy Grail War, only to be revived afterward.]

[Hidden Info: Locked]

[Record Conditions: 0/2]:

[•Defeat Beatrice Flowerchild (Incomplete)]

[•Witstand an attack from Mjölnir. (Incomplete)]

Beatrice Flowerchild—of course Sakatsuki knew her. In fact, he remembered her all too well.

When he had escaped the Ainsworth Castle, the first enemy he encountered wasn't Angelica, but this battle-crazed girl. Her monstrous strength and hammer had pushed him to the brink, and only by using displacement magecraft to outmaneuver her had he avoided being pulverized into paste.

"Be careful, Beatrice. He's grown much stronger," Angelica warned, downing a healing potion as her wounds rapidly closed.

"Tch, yeah, yeah, I got it!" Beatrice waved off her companion's concern before suddenly raising her hammer, baring her shark-like teeth in a vicious grin.

At the center of her forehead, the embedded stone crackled with violet lightning.

"I'll smash him into dust!"

***

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