Chapter 86: End

Morgan stared in shock at Tenkei Shiomi, his body battered and covered in wounds.

This man had just finished a grueling battle, yet without even a moment to catch his breath, he had rushed straight to her side—just like he always had in the "past."

Holding Morgan in his arms, he skidded several meters across the ground before finally coming to a stop, his eyes fixed on Justeaze floating in the sky.

The Runes triggered a violent explosion that engulfed Justeaze as well.

"Looks like it didn't work."

Morgan watched as Justeaze slowly drifted away in the flames, landing atop the black mud. The burns from the blast were already beginning to fade from that body.

"But at least we've learned something," Shiomi said as he tightened his hold on Morgan, slightly crouching. As hands reached for him from the surrounding black mud, he leapt into the air, landing atop the tallest nearby tree.

"That kind of teleportation doesn't seem to be usable in quick succession." Narrowing his eyes, he locked his gaze onto Justeaze. "Looks like it has a cooldown…"

Morgan nodded. "Then at the very least, can you put me down?"

"I'm afraid not," Shiomi replied with a wry smile. "That thing knows your worth. It'll do whatever it can to consume you... and I won't let that happen."

At his words, Morgan looked over his shoulder and noticed the scorched holes in his clothes still faintly smoking, the skin beneath visibly burned. Clearly, he had used his body to shield her from the debris when Justeaze's hand was severed.

"Then you handle the movement and defense, and I'll take care of the offense." Morgan put away her magic spear and opened her palm.

Thankfully, they weren't alone in facing Justeaze.

Artoria and the other two had followed closely behind Shiomi and arrived on the scene.

Irisviel warned the two Servants not to touch the black mud by the lake—if they were tainted, even the few remaining would be at risk of being corrupted or controlled.

"No, if it only affects Servants, then I'll lead the charge."

Shiomi leapt again, evading Justeaze's clumsy attack, and landed beside Artoria and the others.

"Don't worry about us. Kiritsugu and I are fine—just focus on what you need to do!" Irisviel called out, shielded by Kiritsugu.

He was likely ready to risk wading through the tainted mud below the platform to get Irisviel to safety if things got desperate.

"But that thing is clearly our natural enemy as Servants," Iskandar said, eager to help but aware that staying untainted was help enough.

Shiomi gently set Morgan down and reached out his hand. The crimson spear that had severed Justeaze's arm flew back into his grasp.

"Then we just have to avoid touching this stuff on the ground."

He traced a motion through the air. Eighteen Rune symbols flashed as thick ice rapidly spread from beneath Shiomi's feet, freezing the entire area around Ryuudou Temple's lake. Even the surface, which had started to boil from the Mana, was encased in ice.

Even the Greater Grail's writhing paused momentarily.

"Don't let that thing touch you—one touch and it's over," Shiomi warned, casually, before adding, "The ice is slippery, so be careful!"

With that, he shot forward like a cannonball.

"Don't get cocky!"

Justeaze, frustrated at being interrupted mid-"meal," had no intention of backing down.

"You... you're not really Justeaze Lizrich, are you?" Shiomi's spear was intercepted by a silver-haired familiar. "You're the Black Holy Grail, aren't you!"

Behind him, Irisviel instantly recognized it as an Einzbern Magecraft—granting life to one's hair and transforming it into animals or weapons depending on the situation.

But the scale was entirely different.

Justeaze's familiar had turned into a sword, and each strike rivaled that of a Servant.

"Ha..."

Justeaze—or rather, the personality mimicked by the Black Holy Grail—let out a cold, merciless laugh.

Using the ice laid down by Shiomi as a base, she shattered it into fragments, turning them into countless ice blades that flew toward him.

But before they could strike, Artoria and Iskandar attacked from both flanks, dispersing the barrage. Their swords slashed into Justeaze's body, severing her arm and shoulder in one blow.

Without so much as a flinch of pain, Justeaze staggered back. The ice beneath her cracked open, and from the fractures emerged a swarm of pale arms, grasping toward Iskandar and Artoria. The two Servants were forced to roll across the ice, narrowly escaping the reach of the grotesque limbs.

As her severed arms began to regenerate, Justeaze raised her head. Morgan had already finished her Magecraft and was charging straight toward her target.

The resulting explosion sent a massive wave—nearly ten meters high—crashing across the lake. Even the base of the Greater Grail, a writhing mass of decayed flesh, was nearly half-destroyed.

Shrouded in fog, Shiomi—who had momentarily eased his guard—suddenly realized something.

Kirei Kotomine wasn't here. Had he been completely annihilated?

Unfortunately, the situation didn't leave him time to question Morgan or the Emiya couple. Through the clearing smoke, he saw Justeaze slowly rising into the air near the now-opened "hole."

"Keep struggling, offerings... that way, I can savor you all the more," she sneered.

As she spoke, a golden cup surfaced from her body, then vanished again.

The mana around the "hole" surged rapidly.

"Is that... a Noble Phantasm?" Artoria asked, shocked.

Shiomi was already preparing a Grand Magecraft.

"Most likely something akin to a Noble Phantasm—an offensive weapon. Given her overwhelming edge against Servants, if it makes contact... it's over."

"Don't just stand there, Artoria! Prepare your Noble Phantasm!" Morgan joined them, and the second Command Spell granted by Shiomi instantly vanished as a torrent of mana surged into her.

"Saber! Take the mana from the Command Spell—I entrust it to you!" Irisviel, seeing this, activated her own Command Spell to supply the mana Artoria needed.

"Understood!"

The mana of the King of Knights and the Witch swelled in an instant.

Though lacking a comparable Noble Phantasm, Iskandar raised his sword and summoned a storm of lightning to support them.

A clash of ultimate techniques was about to erupt.

"Sing, O Black Grail, Song of Grail!"

With Justeaze's declaration, the Servants unleashed their own Noble Phantasms.

"Sword of Promised Victory, Excalibur!"

"The Now Unreachable Utopia, Roadless Camelot!"

The black mana of the Holy Grail clashed with the blinding brilliance of Heroic Spirits.

"Life Wall!"

Yet the curses could not pierce the Servants' light. Shiomi, through his Magecraft, blocked them all.

"Damn it!"

Just before she was consumed by the radiant surge, Justeaze roared in fury.

...

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