Chapter 232

【Achilles jumps directly from the Hanging Gardens and drives his chariot to slaughter the Black faction.】

【"Come on, the war has started! Let me, the Red Rider, be the vanguard!"】

【On the other Reverse Reverse Reverse Reverse Side, facing the menacing army of Dragon-Tooth Warriors, Vlad III also releases his Noble Phantasm.】

【"Come, you barbarians who trample on my homeland! It is time for punishment!"】

【"Mercy and anger will turn into scorching sharp stakes, piercing you! And this group of stakes is limitless and infinite!"】

【"Feel despair for this, and moisten your throats with your own blood!"】

【"'Kazikli Bey'!"】

【In an instant, countless stakes shoot out from the ground. Every Dragon-Tooth Warrior in Vlad III's sight is instantly pinned to the spikes.】

Rin Tohsaka: "Aren't these skeletons? They can actually be pinned to stakes?"

Tokiomi Tohsaka: "It's the effect of the opponent's Noble Phantasm."

Kairi Sisigou: "The Impaling Prince, truly lives up to his reputation."

【"Heh heh, so you've come."】

【An arrow strikes, but Vlad III blocks it with a backhand strike of his spear.】

【It is Atalanta who came down from the Hanging Gardens, but she is not Vlad III's true opponent.】

【"You are the Black Lancer, Vlad III, right?"】

【Karna lands in front of Vlad III and asks with an unchanging expression.】

【Vlad III: "Calling my true name directly... you are the Red Lancer, right?"】

【Karna: "Correct. For some reason, I have come to subjugate you. Do not blame me."】

【Vlad III: "No, no, there is no need to blame you. You must kill me, and I must kill you."】

【"Come! You sinner who trespassed into my homeland, the time for execution has arrived!"】

【Vlad III activates his Noble Phantasm, Kazikli Bey, again. Dense spikes attack the two Red Servants.】

【Atalanta retreats and dodges, while Karna responds calmly.】

【Karna: "Destruction is meaningless."】

【Any spike that hits Karna cannot break his defense and instead breaks itself upon impact.】

【Vlad III: "Excellent armor, but it's meaningless if you get close!"】

【Vlad III follows the spikes to get close to Karna, aiming his spear directly at Karna's throat.】

【"Mana Burst!"】

【Scorching flames are released from Karna, instantly forcing Vlad III back.】

【In an instant, it is as if a sun has appeared in the sky.】

【Vlad III: "It seems you are no ordinary Servant."】

【Karna lands and says faintly: "Will you surrender?"】

【"Do not say such things that don't even count as jokes, Red Lancer. As long as I still have a wish to entrust to the Holy Grail, I will not surrender."】

【Vlad III rushes straight at Karna, shouting: "Besides, how long can your mana maintain those weapons, armor, and even flames!"】

【The two sides immediately clash.】

Waver: "To be able to fight Karna to this extent, is Vlad III really this strong?"

Feng Xi: "Of course he isn't that strong. This is the bonus effect of his homeland and reputation."】

Waver: "Bonus?"

Feng Xi: "As long as a Heroic Spirit fights on their home soil, they can receive a homeland bonus, increasing their strength. At the same time, if the location of the battle is highly renowned for that Heroic Spirit, they can receive a reputation bonus, raising their strength by another tier."】

Emiya Emiya Shirou Kotomine: "I see. As the former protector of Romania, fighting on Romanian soil has granted him a massive bonus."】

Rin Tohsaka: "This bonus is too big, isn't it? It actually makes Vlad III a match for Karna."】

Vlad III: "Little girl, although what you say is true, this way of putting it makes me very unhappy."】

【On the other Reverse Reverse Reverse Reverse Side, Achilles is slaughtering the Yggdmillennia forces, but is intercepted by Avicebron.】

【He uses self-repairing golems to successfully block Achilles's pace.】

【Then, an arrow streaks by, successfully attracting Achilles's attention.】

【"Black Archer, where are you? Let's continue the battle we didn't finish last time!"】

【"Closer than you think."】

【Chiron's voice rings out, and a series of arrows attack from behind, but they are blocked by the quick-witted Achilles.】

【Achilles smashes all the golems blocking his path and rushes toward the direction the arrows came from.】

【"Found you!"】

【Achilles strikes with his spear at Chiron's location, but his pupils shrink upon seeing Chiron's true face.】

【Chiron seizes this opening and kicks Achilles away with a spinning kick.】

【Achilles crawls up from the ground in a disheveled state, looking at him in disbelief: "Teacher Chiron, why are you the Black Archer!"】

【"What a foolish question. Naturally, I manifested as the Black Archer."】

【Chiron draws his bow and arrows, saying: "You show no mercy to enemies, but have no defenses against friends. That is your weakness, Achilles."】

【"However, this is a Holy Grail War. There is no room for holding back, even if the opponent is you. Do you understand, Achilles!"】

【"Tch!"】

【Achilles raises his spear in conflict, preparing to face his teacher.】

Achilles: "Hahaha, if I hadn't met the teacher in the group first, I would probably have ended up the same as in this video."

Chiron: "Achilles, this is your strength and your weakness. Remember the lesson from the video well."

Achilles: "Yes, yes."

Illya: "Aren't you still opponents now? Doesn't that count as helping the enemy?"

Chiron: "..."

Achilles: "..."

【Meanwhile, on the battlefield.】

【Sieg has arrived here at some point and is helping the surviving homunculi bandage their wounds.】

【"You, why are you here?"】

【Sieg: "I couldn't leave you behind. Even if it's just one, I want to save them."】

【"... eing thrown into war, being consumed—this is the fate of us homunculi. We were born for this."】

【"We weren't born to die. We have lives, and we have the right to choose."】

【Sieg says sternly: "Astolfo and Siegfried gave me freedom, so I hope you can be free too."】

Gordes: "This guy actually came back."

Celenike: "Look, I said this guy should have been executed earlier."

Darnic: "..."

I didn't expect this Sieg to come back, and he even intends to liberate the other homunculi.

It seems I was too naive and released a big problem.

Sieg: "... don't think I did anything wrong."

Waver: "Seeing your own kind suffer and wanting to save them—there's really nothing wrong with that."

Astolfo: "Exactly, exactly!"