Chapter 83: United Counterattack

In the boundless desert, Tenkei Shiomi was nowhere to be seen.

Gilgamesh raised an eyebrow, sensing the change. Slowly, he lifted his gaze to the sky above. Far overhead, many times higher than his own position, Shiomi was adjusting his stance midair, preparing to dive.

Harnessing the acceleration of gravity to increase his speed, he aimed to rush straight toward Gilgamesh for a decapitating strike.

Within the Reality Marble of the King of Conquerors, not a single cloud marred the sky. Compared to the vast desert below, the sky offered no place to hide—making it all the easier for Gilgamesh to lock onto his target.

Buffeted by the fierce winds at high altitude, Shiomi flipped his body and plunged downward toward Gilgamesh at breakneck speed.

"Fool."

Gilgamesh redirected a section of the Gates of Babylon to target Shiomi.

Perhaps due to focusing too much on Shiomi, the number of Noble Phantasms he had been unleashing against the Ionioi Hetairoi had dropped significantly.

Artoria, having gradually adapted to the pressure and now watching for a counterattack opportunity, immediately prepared to release the Bounded Field that cloaked her Holy Sword.

Using the violent winds compressed within her blade, she could launch herself into the air and reach Gilgamesh's position, joining Shiomi in a pincer assault on the King of Heroes.

As long as they kept up the pressure, the Golden King wouldn't have time to ready Ea, the Sword of Rupture.

Timing it perfectly, Artoria leapt from her warhorse, skidded to a halt on the desert sands, and instantly unleashed Invisible Air.

With a thunderous blast, she shot toward Gilgamesh like a hammer. Every Noble Phantasm in her path was knocked aside at a speed too fast for the eye to follow.

"Kid! Hold on tight!"

Not willing to be outdone, Iskandar snapped the reins, preparing to launch his ox cart into the sky.

"All soldiers, maintain formation and ready your ranged weapons!"

With this command, Iskandar's Gordius Wheel surged upward on crackling violet lightning.

Waver, still unaccustomed to the bull cart Noble Phantasm's charge, clung tightly. As the wind roared past, he saw a view he had never noticed before.

The world was so vast, the sky so endless—and he, so small within it.

—I met the King, and only then did I understand the true scale of the world.

"Let's go, Rider!" Waver stretched out his arm, pointing at Gilgamesh as he shouted.

Iskandar grinned wide, flashing his white teeth, and laughed as he urged the cart faster.

On the ground, the army watched this never-before-seen spectacle. Already stirred by gathering here beyond life and death, none had imagined witnessing such a surreal scene.

Gilgamesh beamed with delight, opening over a dozen new portals beside him.

The moment those gates appeared, Tenkei Shiomi, the King of Knights, and the King of Conquerors all closed in simultaneously.

Three strikes shot toward Gilgamesh in unison.

"Rrgh!" Shiomi gritted his teeth, pouring in strength, but couldn't push forward any further.

Weapons burst forth from the portals surrounding Gilgamesh, enclosing him in a protective sphere.

Then, golden twin swords slid from the gates behind his shoulders and swung forward. Combined with the other exploding Noble Phantasms, they blasted all three attackers away.

"King of Knights!"

Iskandar landed back on his ox cart, which had caught him. He reached out and pulled the nearest Artoria into the cart as well.

But Shiomi was too far away—and just then, a flurry of Noble Phantasms rained down, cutting them off from each other.

"Don't worry!"

Shiomi twisted midair and suddenly came to a halt.

"That guy… did he use Magecraft to create a foothold?" Waver instantly understood what Shiomi had done.

Normally, without a stable point in the air, once an attack failed, it was nearly impossible to launch a second one. But Shiomi had used Magecraft to initiate another assault.

"I'm going too!"

Artoria spun and leapt from the side of the ox cart, kicking off into the air again.

Since the cart couldn't stay unpiloted for long, Iskandar took control of his Noble Phantasm, guiding it through the air while focusing on dodging Gilgamesh's Noble Phantasms and preparing to recover the two fighters.

From afar, countless Noble Phantasms were being batted aside as a battle beyond human limits unfolded in the sky.

Suddenly, one of the Noble Phantasms struck by Artoria exploded violently.

Though she relied on instinct to dodge, she couldn't maintain her aerial footing for more than a few seconds and began falling back.

At this height, even if she hit the ground, the impact wouldn't be fatal.

A razor-sharp sword flew toward her chest, ready to pierce through—when a hand suddenly reached out and grabbed her empty left hand.

It was Shiomi.

He too had momentarily withdrawn to avoid the blast.

Reaching out swiftly, he pulled Artoria close and supported her back.

"I'll create a foothold—use this chance to unleash your Noble Phantasm!"

"Understood!"

As she felt her body lighten, Artoria stepped onto the invisible sky just like Shiomi, as a glowing magic circle formed beneath their feet.

"Now!" Shiomi shouted.

Artoria held her breath, focused completely, and the Holy Sword in her hands erupted with radiant brilliance.

"Let's end this! Excalibur!"

But Gilgamesh had anticipated this. He too opened the Gate of Babylon and reached into its depths to draw his ultimate Noble Phantasm, ready to annihilate them all.

"Submit and perish! Enuma Elish!"

The radiance that split the heavens clashed with the fantasy born from the Inner Sea of the Planet, right within the mental landscape of the king who once ruled an empire spanning three continents.

The Sword of Rupture, once powerful enough to cleave the world itself, had its force checked by the Noble Phantasm of Artoria Pendragon.

Their clash whipped up a storm that roared across the sky and earth, threatening to tear the mental world apart.

But this stalemate couldn't last—the balance could collapse at any moment.

They needed something more.

Shiomi extended his arms.

"In the name of the paradise beyond the world—bring peace to the king! Avalon: The Everdistant Utopia!"

It was the barrier of the fairyland that rejected all outside corruption, sealing itself from the world. Only the innocent could enter the Inner Sea of the Planet.

Beneath the sheath of the Holy Sword, for an instant, all worldly laws were shut out.

The greatest protection known to man.

One of the ultimate defenses, unreachable even by the Five True Magics—untouchable, unbreakable.

"You want me to use my Noble Phantasm?"

"The battlefield changes by the second. In the worst case, I won't have the time to activate my second Noble Phantasm. But if it's you, you can handle the Mana needed to invoke another's true name."

"…Then I won't let you down."