A step beyond sound!
However, what followed wasn't the anticipated second step of seamlessness, but a direct strike aid at Shinji's face.
Shinji horizontally positioned his scythe to block, but just before the blade and scythe clashed, Shirou suddenly retracted his sword and took another step, once again executing the step beyond sound.
This ti, the blade slashed toward Shinji's side neck, which he defended with his shield.
Yet once again, the blade was withdrawn just before impact, and Shirou continued stepping, landing behind Shinji.
What followed was a repetitive cycle of high-speed movent and retracting the blade at the last mont.
This wasn't re play; it was the most suitable tactic at the mont. Shinji wasn't afraid of getting injured, and his strength increased with his injuries, so accumulating wounds like with normal opponents wouldn't work. Only when he was sure of a one-hit kill did Shirou strike.
Shinji noticed this and focused on protecting his vital points instead of following Shirou's blade. However, Shirou's body movents, enhanced by the Command Spell, were now even faster, more elusive, and harder to predict. After several cycles, Shinji's defense couldn't keep up with the attacks, and a clear flaw appeared between the connection of his scythe and shield.
Shirou, having increased his speed to a terrifying level, didn't miss this opportunity. The blade ca down like a guillotine from dieval tis, poised to execute.
A cold flash.
But instead of the dull thud of a blade cutting into flesh, there was a crisp "clang"—the sound of tal striking tal.
The sound ca from Shirou's katana.
The gold was a spear, black with gold edges, exuding an unmistakable divine aura—one of Shinji's Noble Phantasms, the Spear of Ishtar.
After so preparation, Shinji finally used the Third Magic left by Justeaze to repair the two damaged Noble Phantasms. It was this divine spear that blocked Shirou's lethal strike.
The black-gold light traced a lively arc, directly stabbing towards Shirou's chest.
Shirou twisted his blade to et the spear's tip, using the force to retreat and voluntarily break off the attack.
It wasn't because he was exhausted or the Command Spell's boost had expired, but because Shinji's current state was too abnormal.
His left hand still firmly gripped the shield, and his right held the scythe, his movents still involved the shield protecting his head and face, and the scythe was held before his chest—all his actions were in front of his body. Yet, the spear that blocked the decapitation strike and could counterattack was held by a third hand.
Yes, a third hand, growing from the left side of his back, near the ribs.
It was this hand that made Shirou's eyes show a hint of complexity.
"Matou Shinji, you—"
"I told you, I will kill you, no matter the cost."
Shinji turned around, his cold, fierce gaze locking onto his enemy. Simultaneously, his right rib area bulged, tearing through the white spiritual garnt in a few seconds, and a new hand, the fourth one, grew out.
This hand held another previously damaged Noble Phantasm—Indra's Thunder.
When Shinji retracted the two Noble Phantasms, the magic within him lost its outlet and began accumulating.
Such an excess of magic could only lead to two outcos: either he would explode, or his body would be revitalized by the magic, starting abnormal growth and gradually losing human form, transforming into a monstrous being.
Earlier, Shinji still had a sliver of hope that he could reach Shirou through a magic circulation strategy. But after Shirou used the Command Spell to strengthen himself, Shinji completely abandoned that hope. If strength wasn't enough, then he would enhance it further. Human strength wasn't enough, so—
"I reject my humanity, Amakusa Shirou Tokisada!!!"
Instantly, thunder broke through the air, the spear shook the ground, dusa opened her eyes to stare, and the Harpe swung out.
Four arms, four Noble Phantasms, all striking simultaneously.
No madness, no life.
...
As Shinji abandoned his humanity, another non-human entity, known as the Primordial Human, began to fall behind.
It wasn't that he, the culmination of all Kabbala techniques and the dreams of all Kabbala magus, couldn't defeat the Hydra. Instead, fighting in the Hanging Gardens was too disadvantageous.
As previously ntioned, Golem Keter Malkuth is a growth-type Noble Phantasm. Initially, it was fifteen ters in length, but this was just its newly born state. As the Paradise expanded, the giant would grow larger, eventually exceeding a thousand ters.
At such a size, multiple top-tier Servants would be required to contend with it. Shinji, Avicebron himself, and other knowledgeable individuals hoped that the giant, at its final stage, would unleash its pure power to either crush the entire Hanging Gardens or bring it under the giant's control.
Without the support of the Gardens, Shirou's side would be dood to fail. As for what would happen to Avicebron or the grand laws of mystery afterward, that could be dealt with later. If necessary, bla could be shifted to those superpowers (after all, a thousand ters is impossible to hide, and the Mage's Association and the Holy Church would likely be in a dilemma).
However, everyone overlooked one point: the Hanging Gardens is Semiramis's domain, her temple, where she has absolute control.
Although the Reality Marble called Eden possessed by the golem Adam could rewrite reality, it couldn't surpass Semiramis's control over her territory.
At first, Semiramis didn't react in ti and lost part of her territory to Eden. By the ti she did react, she firmly restricted Eden with the entire garden as her support, making it difficult for it to expand any further.
Without the support of Paradise, Adam's growth beca extrely slow.
Despite Avicebron trying every possible thod, draining almost all his mana, and sacrificing all the rare birds and beasts around, he could only grow the giant to thirty ters. With its size and the fact that the golem was immune to poison, it could suppress the Hydra.
However, the Hydra wasn't fighting alone; it had Semiramis's support. Without needing offensive magic, just boosting the Hydra's power and sabotaging the golem at critical monts was enough to change the tide of the battle.
If it weren't for the golem's strong regenerative abilities and Avicebron's Nurology support, the giant would have already fallen to this terrifying combination.
Nevertheless, this could only delay but not prevent the golem's defeat.
Gradually, the golem's movents beca slower, and its healing speed also decreased. After all, it was just a golem nad Adam and not a true primordial human.
"Is this the limit? As expected, the performance of the Core... But it's aningless to talk about this now. I was already ntally prepared when I agreed to Assassin's terms. Let offer the last of my strength to the Paradise."
Hiding in the deepest part of the Eden, Avicebron sighed, showing clear emotion in his words for the first ti.
"Roche, can you hear ? I need the amplification of the Command Spells, use all three at once."
"Teacher? I can hear you, I can hear you," Roche's voice was filled with joy.
"I'll use them right away. I command with the three Command Spells to strengthen the Caster! Teacher, you must win!"
The crystallization of magic awakened a miracle. The nearly depleted mana beca abundant again, and the golem's state began to steadily improve.
"What a good student. However, this ti, I fear I won't be able to et your expectations."
Avicebron looked in the direction of his Master from afar, shook his head slightly, and began to walk toward the still-fighting giant. Just like the birds and beasts earlier, he would use himself as the last sacrifice, becoming the nourishnt for his Noble Phantasm.
"Please, Adam! With your power, I believe... you can surely create a paradise on this land! Save the world, save humanity, save my people!"
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