Gudako charged at Lev in her Barbatos cha, fueled by pure rage. Back at the Fuyuki Singularity, she had witnessed this scheming mastermind orchestrate the Chaldea explosion, which resulted in the deaths of Olga Marie Animusphere and many staff mbers.
Now, with additional intel from Setsuna about Lev's connections to the incineration of humanity, Gudako didn't hold back. She swung her spear-hamr with unrelenting ferocity, pursuing Lev like a berserker.
"You're the Master of Chaldea?! What kind of nonsense is this?!" Lev shouted, scrambling to avoid her devastating strikes.
"Is this magecraft?! Or so kind of field magecraft? A chanical creation?!"
Lev, a prodigious magus who had achieved the Fourth Rank by the age of twenty, was completely overwheld. He couldn't comprehend what was unfolding before his eyes.
Whether it was the inexplicable starship hovering above, the massive cha descending like a wrathful god, or even the guided missiles that had leveled half the palace—none of it fit into his understanding of this world.
"This world shouldn't have missiles!" he muttered, his mind racing.
"Could Chaldea have sohow deployed an entire army? That's impossible! Humanity didn't have such weapons back then!"
He wracked his brain, dodging Gudako's relentless attacks, but the situation was beyond him. Humanity was already incinerated, leaving only Chaldea. He knew Chaldea's roster well: an ordinary doctor, a slacking consultant, and a handful of staff.
Fujimaru Ritsuka was a relatively new recruit, with little formal training as a magus.
"Ohhhhhh—!"
"This is way more satisfying than magecraft!"
Gudako reveled in the synergy between her enhancents and the cha's raw power. Strengthening Barbatos with her magecraft had turned it into a true force of destruction.
What could jewel magecraft or sniper spells do compared to her massive spear-hamr?
BOOOOM—
One swing obliterated an entire row of buildings, reducing them to dust.
"Leonidas!!!"
Desperate, Lev summoned his reinforcents.
"Thermopylae-Enomotia—Guardian of the Hot Gates!"
The Spartan King Leonidas appeared, imdiately activating his Noble Phantasm.
Whoosh—Whoosh—Whoosh!
Behind him, a perfectly disciplined phalanx of spectral warriors materialized.
Each soldier held a gleaming bronze shield in one hand and a spear in the other, their formation unyielding, their presence imposing.
Their bodies radiated a faint blue glow, signaling their spiritual nature.
"MOLON-LABE!"
"MOLON-LABE!"
Their war cry echoed like thunder, loud enough to be heard even aboard the Yat Sen starship hovering in the skies above.
The legendary 300 Spartans.
Once, they had held off an army of 100,000 Persians at Thermopylae.
Such achievents naturally earned them a place in the Throne of Heroes, and they fought as a unified group under the leadership of the Spartan King.
"Wow, amazing."
Yat Sen and Belfast watched the scene below with rapt attention.
Witnessing legendary or historical figures co to life was an awe-inspiring experience.
"Commander, if Emperor Qin Shi Huang beca a Heroic Spirit, would he summon terracotta soldiers?"
"For instance, could he conjure an army of hundreds of thousands out of thin air?"
Yat Sen curiously asked Setsuna.
"Uh, no."
"In the Nasuverse, Qin Shi Huang focuses on technology—industrial revolutions, chanical ascension, building wonders like the Great Wall, and creating puppet Gundam soldiers…"
"He strives to integrate all technology, art, and talent for his empire, aiming to conquer other Lostbelts, repel the Alien God, and expand his domain."
Setsuna recalled that Qin Shi Huang in the Lostbelt leaned heavily into cybernetic and science-fiction elents.
"Huh? Advancing technology, creating Gundams, building wonders—isn't that just like you, Commander?"
Belfast tilted her head, her question pointed.
"???"
Setsuna was montarily stunned by the maid's observation.
"…"
"You have a point. I guess I should call myself the First Emperor of the Starsea Empire."
On the other side, Fujimaru Ritsuka was locked in a bitter struggle with the tightly packed phalanx of Spartan soldiers.
They were disciplined and thodical, forming impenetrable formations to counter her massive Gundam.
So soldiers used their shields to block incoming attacks, while others counterattacked with their spears.
A few even hurled their weapons like javelins, aiming for the Gundam's head.
While the damage was minimal, the continuous assault often disrupted Gudako's movents.
Boom—
A heavy swing of her hamr t with the unyielding shields of dozens of soldiers.
With the support of Leonidas' Noble Phantasm and domain, her physical attacks were rendered nearly useless.
"My ancestor was the great hero Heracles, son of Zeus himself."
"I am Leonidas, King of Sparta."
"I swear here, you will advance no further!"
Draped in his crimson cloak, the Spartan King commanded his soldiers to steadily close in and encircle Gudako.
"Ahhhh—!"
"You guys are so annoying!!!"
"I should've learned so fla enchantnts or destructive spells from that big dragon woman!"
Gudako, flailing against the unyielding shield wall, found herself completely ineffective.
Her debut was off to a rocky start, as she realized she had run straight into her natural counter.
Hoping to make a grand impression, she instead felt humiliated.
She could only curse her earlier lack of dedication during her training with Lucoa.
"Commander, help !!!"
Gudako called out to Setsuna for assistance.
"Fall back," he said calmly.
"Did you not realize you've been blocking the firing line this whole ti?"
Setsuna tapped on Yat Sen's control panel.
"Huh?"
Gudako quickly activated her boosters and retreated to the safety of Yat Sen's ship.
"A new opponent?"
Leonidas raised his hand, summoning his soldiers, who transford into floating, orange shields suspended in the air.
This was the ultimate form of his Noble Phantasm, Thermopylae-Enomotia, a barrier-like defense designed to protect himself and his Master.
"I once stood at Thermopylae against Xerxes' army of 100,000. No matter your power, I will not falter."
He struck his shield and saluted the hovering starship.
"…"
"Admirable courage, but tis have changed."
Setsuna clapped his hands and signaled to his three shipgirls.
"Open fire."
Formidable and Belfast leapt from the starship, manifesting their vessels in mid-air.
One was a kiloter-long golden airborne carrier, the other a sleek, silver space cruiser.
"Projection magic?"
So observing wild Heroic Spirits and Leonidas looked puzzled.
In the next mont, Formidable's hundreds of aircraft swooped down for low-altitude bombing runs against the Spartans.
Countless aerial bombs and torpedoes rained down, targeting with pinpoint precision.
anwhile, the cruisers unleashed their full arsenal.
The sky was filled with vibrant beams of high-energy projectiles, missiles trailing glowing exhaust, and torpedoes slicing through the air like shooting stars.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
One by one, the soldier-ford shields around Leonidas shattered.
He had fought Persians in his ti, and even monstrous creatures in his afterlife as a Heroic Spirit.
But taking hits from space-faring warships?
This was unprecedented.
Leonidas was visibly dazed.
"What is this madness? This isn't the Ro of the 1st century!"
The Spartan King, a figure of 500 BCE, struggled to process the leap in technology.
Romans with spaceships?
If they'd had this back then, why did they need him to lead the allied forces against Persia?
As a defense-specialized Heroic Spirit, he quickly realized a glaring flaw:
He had no way to counterattack the starships hovering in the sky, let alone those capable of operating beyond the atmosphere.
He was utterly at their rcy.
"Impressive."
After two rounds of bombardnt, Leonidas managed to utter a single word, accepting his fate with stoic grace.
Boom! Boom! BOOM!
Minutes later, the thick smoke cleared.
The vast palace grounds, spanning tens of hectares, had been obliterated, leaving a crater hundreds of ters in diater and several ters deep.
The area was littered with smoldering debris and charred ruins.
Leonidas and his summoned soldiers had been entirely erased by the overwhelming firepower.
"He is indeed tougher than most Heroic Spirits. I rember Vlad was blown away by machine guns, but it took aerial bombs and concentrated fire to bring him down," Formidable comnted, giving Leonidas due credit.
"At least he's a real hero... By the way, where's Lev?"
Setsuna activated Yat Sen's scanners to sweep the area.
During the battle, most of the city's residents had either fled or hidden, leaving only a few observing Heroic Spirits.
"Where could he have gone?"
Suddenly.
Clank—Clank—
From within the smoke and ruins, a towering figure erged.
Clad in gleaming brass armor with a crimson cloak draped over his broad shoulders, his deep-set features spoke of commanding authority.
He wore a crown set with red gemstones and carried himself with an air of inherent sovereignty.
"..."
"What barbarian dares encroach upon the lands of the Roman Empire?"
He lifted his head to gaze at the starship above, his piercing eyes seemingly cutting through the clouds to lock onto Setsuna.
"Wait... How can this be?"
Beside him, Nero froze as though struck by lightning, staring wide-eyed at the figure below.
"Absolutely impossible! That's... that's..."
"No, it can't be him here!!"
Jeanne d'Arc and Artoria turned toward Nero, puzzled as to why this overbearing Roman emperor had left her so speechless.
"Nero?"
The man below seed to sense her presence.
"Co to . Return to my embrace, my dear child," he said.
"You should not be consorting with these barbarians. I am Ro. I am its rightful leader."
"Join , and Ro shall forgive your transgressions, absolving you of all sins."
He opened his arms as if to welco her, his commanding voice resonating through the ship's comms.
"The founding emperor of the Roman Empire, Romulus... so this is where you've been," Setsuna murmured.
He finally realized the missing "imposter emperor" was the one and only founder of Ro.
As the progenitor of the Roman Empire, Romulus was a figure of near-mythical status, comparable to the First Emperor of Qin in his stature.
"He's incredibly powerful!"
Both Artoria and Jeanne d'Arc exclaid simultaneously.
As Heroic Spirits, they could feel the imnse strength emanating from Romulus.
"Of course, a founding king would be strong... Thankfully, this isn't his full form. Otherwise, we'd be in trouble," Setsuna remarked, shaking his head.
This version of Romulus was from the early stages of the Singularities, not the Grand Lancer iteration of the later storylines.
"Barbarians, state your na!"
"Who dares to trespass upon Roman soil?!"
Romulus conjured a long spear and planted it firmly into the ground, his gaze fixed on the heavens.
"You're the barbarian, primitive man. What's with all the shouting?"
Setsuna initially considered exchanging a few witty retorts but quickly discarded the idea.
After a mont's thought, he gave a curt command:
"Fire. Maximum output."
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