Boom!
A dazzling burst of purple light shot out from the cave. The powerful impact scattered the Fiendfire Python, preventing it from consolidating. Its body fragmented into countless sparks, which rained down onto the road and the cliffside.
Fiendfire cannot be extinguished. Before long, the flames would consume the entire mountain forest.
"Damn bastard!"
Medea soared out from the cliffside, holding the unconscious Katsuki Soichiro in her arms.
More than a dozen magic circles of varying sizes spun around her—evidence of her status as the magician closest to the gods in the Age of Gods. She didn't need chants to cast spells. She could unleash continuous magical attacks without pause.
In other words, Medea had no cooldown. As long as her mana held out, she could fire off spells all day long.
"Instant magic, huh? It's pretty similar to mine," Kain said with a smirk. "Alright then—let's play."
Seeing Medea's rapid-fire spellcasting intrigued him. His own magic was formidable too; he had nearly a hundred offensive and dark spells at his disposal.
"Rider, keep watch on the surroundings. If any Servants approach, warn me. If Medea tries to flee, stop her."
Rider clenched her fists, trying to keep calm. "I am a knight," she said through gritted teeth.
Kain waved dismissively. "Then let Matou Sakura assist me instead. Some Servants are just so disobedient after being summoned. Sakura may be weaker, but she at least listens."
Are you talking about yourself, you bastard?!
Rider took a deep breath and muttered, "Understood."
She moved back, putting distance between herself and the battlefield. She positioned herself at a point where she could both block Medea's escape and watch for intruders.
But in truth, what she really wanted was to summon her pegasus and skewer this arrogant man who constantly belittled and provoked her.
Once Rider was gone, Kain turned his gaze back to Medea, who was still floating midair.
"Medea, the greatest mage of the Age of Gods—I was planning to kill you tonight and offer you to the Holy Grail. But thanks to Ruler's appearance… I changed my mind."
Medea glanced down at the unconscious Soichiro and gritted her teeth. "Should I be thanking you for your mercy?"
"Let's have a magic duel," Kain offered. "I won't use any tools or tricks—only magic. If you lose, you become my servant. If you win, you can walk away freely. Rider will not stop you."
He paused, and his tone grew colder.
"But if you refuse… you go back to the Grail. And he goes to hell."
Boom!
Before he even finished, Medea responded with action. Dozens of purple light bullets tore through the air, aimed at Kain.
"So eager?" Kain laughed. "But don't you have anything stronger? You won't beat me with that."
He casually flicked his fingers, and an equal number of explosive spells appeared, intercepting the projectiles midair.
Rumble!
Two different kinds of magic clashed and exploded violently. Shockwaves roared through the area as light and heat surged outward.
Using the cover of the smoke and holy auras, Medea quickly secured Katsuki Soichiro on a safe platform. Then, she resumed firing light bullets—knowing full well these low-tier attacks wouldn't work, but needing them as a distraction.
"Phantom Beast—Flying Dragon Projection!"
A massive magical portal opened behind her. From it emerged a ferocious dragon's head—hideous in appearance, yet radiating divine energy.
Kain narrowed his eyes, then chuckled.
"A projection of a divine beast from the Age of Gods… so lifelike. Must've died by your hand, huh? Impressive. But I have more friends than you do."
Fire Magic—Nirvana Fire Phoenix!
Transfiguration—Mountain Titan!
Since they had agreed on a battle of pure magic, Kain didn't even bother drawing on his thunder-elemental abilities.
Under the effect of the transformation technique, the mountain beside the road surged like an awakening earth dragon, quickly reshaping itself into a towering Mountain Titan several dozen meters tall.
At the same time, the Fierce Flame that had just scattered suddenly converged. With a sharp, piercing cry, a blazing Fire Phoenix emerged, its wingspan stretching fifty meters across—its presence even more terrifying than the Mountain Titan itself.
From a distance, Rider was forced to retreat further due to the sheer size of the Mountain Titan. She watched the battlefield and muttered, "How much strength is that guy still hiding...? He's just lazy."
"Roar!!"
The Mountain Titan let out an enraged bellow, raised its rocky fist, and slammed it down toward the phantom beast flying dragon projected by Medea.
Boom!
The mighty blow sent the flying dragon crashing into the ground, its cry echoing in agony. The Titan's arm cracked and shattered from the impact—but the transformation spell remained intact, and the damage swiftly repaired itself.
Meanwhile, the immense Fire Phoenix dove toward the fallen dragon at blazing speed. Once entangled, the dragon was engulfed in a hellish inferno, its screams growing more desperate as it struggled in vain. The Mountain Titan followed up with relentless attacks, striking the dragon again and again.
"Damn it! What kind of magic is this? It doesn't resemble divine language at all!"
Medea gritted her teeth. Because of the Mountain Titan's appearance, she was forced to keep Soichiro Katsuki with her at all times, which severely limited her options. At the same time, her mind raced, trying to identify the source of Kain's magic.
As the most powerful magician of the Age of Gods, Medea's knowledge of magic was second only to the Five True Magics. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call her the greatest living mage.
Yet—she couldn't make sense of Kain's spells at all. Manipulating matter and summoning special flames—his techniques were entirely outside her realm of understanding.
"How boring," Kain said casually. "With that burden in your arms, you can't even fight properly. If this keeps up, my interest in you is going to vanish."
As he spoke, a mass of pitch-black matter materialized in his hand—neither liquid nor smoke, but something far more sinister. A closer look revealed twisted human arms and grotesque, contorted faces writhing inside it.
"From the darkest depths… In the name of Sithorn, I curse your soul to rot."
"I curse your flesh to fester, in Sithorn's name, from the blackest abyss."
"And from that same abyss, I curse you… to fall forever into its depths."
With each incantation, the black mass split apart, transforming into three terrifying Shinigami avatars. Each held heavy chains in their hands and flew toward Medea with murderous intent.
The moment Medea laid eyes on them, her instincts screamed in alarm. Something about them was deeply wrong—utterly unnatural. She cursed aloud: "Damn it, what the hell are those things!?"
The divine language activated, and the purple aura behind her flared violently. Countless magical attacks launched in a storm of light and symbols.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
But to her shock, all her spells passed right through the Shinigami avatars. They crashed into the ground and the Mountain Titan instead, doing nothing to halt the creatures' approach.
This was Kain's black curse magic, fueled by the Evil of the World—a foul energy originating from the Holy Grail itself. It was the natural nemesis of Servants.
No conventional magic could resist it. Even someone as experienced and knowledgeable as Medea couldn't recognize this corrupted power.
Worse still, Kain's curse magic locked onto the soul, body, and spirit simultaneously—leaving no room to escape or defend.
The Shinigami avatars moved with terrifying speed. Despite Medea's quick reflexes and heavy use of magic, she couldn't evade them for long. With Kain continuing his relentless attacks, she barely lasted ten seconds.
"Aaaaahhhh!!"
As the avatars descended upon her, Medea let out a soul-wrenching scream. The moment they made contact, her body trembled violently.
She could no longer maintain her spells. She plummeted from the sky and crashed onto the rocky terrain, rolling several times across the jagged ground—her anguished screams echoing through the night.
The Evil in This World is inherently the nemesis of all Servants. Once it clings to them, there's no salvation—only descent. And with Kain using this corrupted energy to cast a curse, Medea had no means of resisting it.
She now felt her very soul being pulled from her body, as though submerged in an eternal hell.
Her flesh slowly began to rot, and her spirit was relentlessly assaulted by the black curse.
With her magic cut off, the Phantom Beast Dragon quickly fell, crushed and burned by the combined assault of the Mountain Titan and the Fire Phoenix.
Kain walked calmly toward her crumpled form, knelt beside her, and gently lifted her head.
Dark magic runes appeared instantly, spreading across Medea's body like a living tattoo.
In that moment, countless glowing runes radiating a deep crimson light lit up all over her.
Gradually, the screams faded. The curse was suppressed under Kain's control, and Medea's sanity slowly returned.
"You lost far too easily," Kain said coldly. "You didn't even show your real strength. Honestly, I'm starting to regret sparing you. Maybe I should've killed you all after all."
As he finished speaking, two gleaming arrows of magical energy formed in his hands—one aimed at Soichiro Kuzuki, the other at Medea.
"Wait—!"
Medea's eyes widened in panic. She tried to move, but her body was too weak. She couldn't even grab the hem of Kain's trousers.
"I... I'm willing to be your weapon—your Servant. Please, I beg you... don't hurt Soichiro-sama!"
Kain glanced down at her, voice calm and disinterested.
"Oh? Then what should you call me?"
"…Master," Medea replied quickly.
When he didn't respond, she panicked and added,
"Lord… Master…"
"Good. In that case, remember your place. From now on, you will obey. Don't resist the next Command Spell."
With that, Kain began inspecting Medea's magic circuits. Using himself as the anchor, he engraved several powerful and restrictive Command Spells onto her.
This witch was notoriously disobedient—she had even found ways to invalidate her former master's commands. Kain had been researching those very methods himself, with promising results. That made him especially cautious with Medea.
With the curse mark and the newly implanted Command Spells, there was no longer any possibility of resistance.
Once the bindings were secure, Kain transferred some of his magic power to her, allowing Medea to regain mobility. Without the curse's torment and with her energy replenished, she recovered quickly.
Servants, after all, heal as long as they have enough mana—no matter how grave the injuries.
Just then, Rider reappeared beside Kain and reported in a calm voice, "Someone is approaching... in a car. I can't confirm whether they have a Servant."
Kain raised an eyebrow and glanced at her.
"Rider, how do you see so much with your eyes covered?"
Hard. Fist hard.
Rider clenched her fists in silent frustration, then took a deep breath.
"You told me to observe the surroundings, didn't you?"
"I did. But do you have some kind of special ability under that blindfold?"
He nodded thoughtfully. "I guess you can be trusted with security from now on."
Then he turned to both her and Medea.
"I'm heading back. Come here."
Rider was already by his side, now used to his Apparition-style teleportation after a few trips.
Medea, however, hesitated, glancing toward Soichiro Kuzuki as she stepped forward.
"Don't worry about him," Kain said indifferently. "He's a third-rate Master. No one cares enough to kill him. As long as he doesn't get in the way, I won't bother with trash like him."
With that, he took Medea and Rider and disappeared with Apparition.
Three minutes later, a car pulled up near the destroyed battlefield.
The mountain had collapsed, the road was shattered, and the terrain was completely impassable.
"What a brutal fight," Kotomine Kirei murmured as he stepped out of the car. "The war has barely begun, and it's already chaos."
His expression darkened as he examined the ruined land more closely.
"Lancer," he called, "what can you read from this battlefield?"
A tall Servant wielding a long spear stepped out from behind the car.
It was Lancer Chulainn—originally summoned by Bazett, but now under Kirei's control after a successful conspiracy.
"It's hard to see anything from the aftermath of the battle," said Chu Kulin as he examined the area carefully. "But judging from the scale of destruction, a highly lethal Noble Phantasm was likely used—something involving intense flames."
Some of the rocks and soil had been scorched nearly into magma. The devastation was widespread, suggesting that the Noble Phantasm was at least A+ rank.
"Looks like someone else was here."
As Kotomine Kirei continued to inspect the battlefield, he discovered Soichiro Kuzuki lying unconscious amidst the wreckage.
"Caster's Master... but I remember, he's not a proper Master chosen by the Grail."
He narrowed his eyes. "Judging by the signs, it seems Caster was involved in this battle. But how it ended… I can't say."
If he were still the official Overseer of the Church, Kirei could have used that authority to gather more intelligence. But now that his involvement in the Holy Grail War was exposed, extracting information wouldn't be so simple.
After surveying the area a bit longer, Kirei sighed. There was little useful information to be found. But one thing was clear—something significant had happened to Caster. Otherwise, Soichiro Kuzuki wouldn't have been left behind like this.
"Let's go, Lancer. There's nothing else of value here."
Chu Kulin nodded, but pointed his spear toward the unconscious Soichiro.
"What about this man, Master?"
"Leave him. He's an irregular Master. Without a Servant actively seeking him out, he can't participate in the Holy Grail War. He's worthless."
Heading back wasn't going to be easy. With the road completely destroyed, they couldn't even use their car. If they wanted to descend the mountain, they'd have to rely on more primitive means.
Not long after Kotomine Kirei abandoned the car and left, Jeanne d'Arc arrived at the scene. Though she had no vehicle, she wasn't far behind—her own legs had carried her swiftly up the mountain, just slightly slower than Kirei.
After examining the battlefield, Jeanne also found no decisive clues. Still, one thing was certain—Caster was not dead.
Out of compassion, Jeanne checked on the unconscious Soichiro Kuzuki. After confirming he was stable and in no immediate danger, she left the area quietly.
But soon after Jeanne departed, a swarm of insects appeared, buzzing in the air and quickly surrounding Soichiro Kuzuki.
…
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