The mont those black hound hunters caught sight of the Unity God and the Storm Border flying in the sky behind it, they imdiately chose to open fire on Morgan down at the foot of the mountain.
Countless bullets tore through the wind and snow, only to lose speed uncontrollably as they neared Morgan.
Morgan did not even spare them a glance. She rely lifted a brow, and the bullets flew back the way they ca, piercing through the black hound hunters' torsos and heads.
As for the rest, before Morgan had even entered their firing range, they were already pounced on by giant dragons ford from ice and snow, then sent tumbling down the mountainside. From a distance, they looked like countless black sesa seeds scattered over white snow, rolling a few tis before vanishing from sight.
At this rate, even if they made it all the way to the observatory at the summit, no number of black hound hunters would be enough to stop New Chaldea's advance.
Even so, neither Morgan nor Shiomi let their guard down.
There was no question that these watchdogs were only the appetizer, part of a test to gauge the invaders' strength. Only after it beca clear that even a force this large of black hound hunters could not hold them back would the next level of counterasures be deployed.
This was an unbleached region of Proper Human History, territory within Chaldeas's reach.
And once foreign matter from outside Proper Human History had invaded, it was not hard to imagine what kind of response that would trigger.
The Noble Phantasms of a Holy Sword and a demonic sword were unleashed, and torrents of Mana ca surging down the mountain straight toward Morgan's position.
"This is...?" Morgan said, slightly surprised.
"[Turnwheel Sword of Victory] and [Rebellion Against My Beautiful Father]." Shiomi recognized the source of the flood of Mana. "Gawain and Mordred?"
The mont the shockwave of the Noble Phantasms subsided, Gawain and Mordred landed heavily in front of them and swung their swords down.
"Servants? No, this is..."
Morgan raised a hand, and the barrier she spread blocked both attacks.
But she imdiately realized that sothing was off about the two knights' condition.
"Madness Enhancent...?" Shiomi noticed it as well. "No, these are Spirit Origin Shadows!"
Spirit Origin Shadow was a technique Chaldea had gradually developed during the Incineration of Human Order.
Using recorded data as a catalyst, it allowed Servants who had once ford bonds with Chaldea to manifest briefly once again and assist Chaldea's Masters in battle.
It was an extrely limited combat thod.
The Servants had no independent will. They only fought according to orders, and they could not be sustained for long.
Compared to Chaldea's actual combat strength, the reinforcents this technique could provide were sowhat underwhelming, so in the end it had been shelved and never put into use.
"So they chose to activate a discarded technique instead of directly summoning Servants into manifestation..." Morgan said with an amused smile.
The answer was obvious.
If they directly summoned Servants with autonomous minds and had Heroic Spirits fight New Chaldea, it would almost certainly backfire and only further strengthen Chaldea's side.
So after running the calculations, Chaldeas had chosen to use the Spirit Origin Shadow technique instead and summon restricted Servants.
The only slight difference was that Spirit Origin Shadows originally required Mana supplied by a Master, whereas now Chaldea's electrical system was directly being converted into Mana.
"Their duration will be longer," Shiomi said.
Then even more Servants burst out from the chaos atop the mountain, and quite a few flying Servants shot straight toward the Storm Border in attacks that were practically suicidal.
After Mordred and Gawain, the Servants ca in wave after wave, surrounding the Unity God and launching their assault.
After dodging one Servant's attack, Morgan turned and took to the air, leaping out of the encirclent.
"Annoying."
She raised her hand and fired a Noble Phantasm straight into the cluster of Servants around her.
The slope beneath them instantly gave way, leaving the Servants with nowhere to stand.
Unfortunately, they were Servants after all. Their reactions were far beyond anything a human could match. Even while taking the blast head-on, they imdiately sprang toward firr ground.
"How is the Storm Border doing?" Morgan asked in a brief gap between clashes, checking on the ship's status.
"lusine and Barghest have already gone to the deck to engage the enemy. Scáthach and Artoria are on their way there now," Sion answered. "The Storm Border is preparing to activate the Leyline Blockade Armant. Stay clear."
"No need. Tell Skadi to fire as soon as she's ready. We'll lure the Servants into its firing range," Morgan replied instead.
The Leyline Blockade Armant was imnsely powerful, but completely destroying the mountain structure of the Antarctic plateau was no simple matter.
At the very least, it would require sustained, uninterrupted bombardnt on a fixed point.
A wide-area strike alone was not enough to threaten the mountain range where the observatory stood.
Otherwise, Chaldea would never have chosen this site when it was first built.
"You really do things the hard way," Sion remarked. "Still, if the gods themselves are saying so, then we'll trust your judgnt."
With that, the communication cut off again, and the Storm Border's armant began to power up.
"Then we can't afford to waste ti either."
As Morgan spoke, the Mana swirling around her intensified even further.
By raising her threat level that way, she forced the mindless Servant Shadows to prioritize the slowly advancing Unity God at the foot of the mountain as their primary target.
"One wave after another..." Shiomi muttered, then suddenly had an idea. "Wait. What if we push straight in like this...?"
"You an Chaldeas would avoid bringing the battle inside Chaldea itself?" Morgan guessed. "But the celestial sphere is a copy of Earth's soul. Ordinary thods can't destroy it."
"Then let's test it. A battle is unavoidable either way. Even if we reach the place where the celestial sphere is, it will still respond," Shiomi said with certainty.
"Well, if my husband insists..."
Morgan swung her arm sharply, and the already ferocious blizzard suddenly intensified, spreading outward from her in all directions.
The Servants and black hound hunters that had appeared on the mountain to block their path into the Chaldea Observatory all fell into stillness within that storm, seized by absolute cold and frozen so thoroughly that they could no longer move.
In other words, the Servant Shadows had beco live targets.
Of course, because the affected area was so wide, the freezing effect was weakened sowhat as a result.
So of the stronger Servant Shadows already began cracking the ice that covered their bodies after just two or three seconds.
And just before they could break free, the Storm Border's Leyline Blockade Armant finished charging and opened fire across the mountain slopes.
The snow-covered mountain shook once more.
This tremor was even more violent than the earlier avalanche, and it triggered a new one.
Morgan had already left the bombardnt zone by then. Now, standing only one step away from the observatory, she looked down as the Servants were swallowed by artillery fire and snow.
"I never thought the day would co when we'd be the ones attacking Chaldea."
"Mistakes have to be corrected. That is our duty."
Shiomi and Morgan spoke to each other in silence.
User Comments
0 comments from readers