"Since this thing can revive, then we'll just keep hitting it until it can't anymore! Fusion!"

Leaping down from the hulking body of the Orichalcos Gigas, Nobunaga delivered a point-blank headshot. Even for the Gigas, it would take some time to recover. Seizing that precious window, Nobunaga grabbed Okita's hand tightly.

"Let's do this, Okita!"

"Nobu… you're surprisingly proactive today."

Okita's cheeks flushed. She hadn't expected Nobunaga to show such rare reliability on the battlefield.

"But I don't mind at all, Nobu! Let's show this ugly beast what we can do when we fight together!"

Seto, still reeling from the Gigas's revival ability, overheard their exchange.

"Fusion… Did you just say fusion?"

To Seto, the sacred ritual of fusing Spirit Beasts couldn't be performed without the Millennium Scales, which measured the power of souls.

"But the Millennium Scales aren't here. Are you two really capable of fusing without them?"

Nobunaga tilted her head and answered casually:

"Millennium Scales? What's that? Isn't fusion all about spirit?"

Okita, sword planted firmly into the ground, exchanged a look with Nobunaga and added:

"Besides, when it comes to fusion, the two of us now…"

"We could do it with our eyes closed!" ×2

In perfect sync, a black spiral of energy engulfed them, merging their powers into one.

From within the vortex, a blade extended—limitless and endless. In the blink of an eye, it cleaved the not-yet-fully-regenerated Orichalcos Gigas clean in two.

"If I see a demon, I slay it. If I see a god, I pierce it. I am the Heroic Spirit who answers the prayers of mankind—Majin-Okita Sōji Alter has arrived!!"

Wielding Rengoku, longer than her own body, Okitan assumed a battle stance, her icy gaze fixed on the Gigas as it struggled to regenerate once again.

Seto's worldview was shaken yet again.

"They… actually fused successfully… But just slicing it apart won't stop that thing from coming back."

"Even if we slice it in half, it'll still revive, huh? Then we'll just keep slashing until it can't! Wake up, Rengoku—it's your turn!"

Infusing suppression energy into her sword, Okita blurred into motion. Her ultimate footwork turned her into a golden flash.

"—Vastness, freedom, and boundlessness... Stack all three rays to create endlessness. Zekken, Mukyusandan!"

The dense golden light engulfed the Gigas's massive frame. If slicing it in two wasn't enough, then she would slice it ten times. A hundred. A thousand...

"If a thousand slashes won't do it, then let it be endless! I will pierce the infinite world... I will sever the thread of destiny with this boundless light! Zekken, Mukyusandan!!!"

A golden radiance pierced the smoke-filled skies, crashing into the battlefield. It unleashed countless slashes that shattered the Gigas's body beyond all conceptual limits—reducing it to particles and severing even the very thread of 'immortality.'

"Even if I can't see a creature's 'death line,' I can still kill an immortal monster through sheer willpower. That's my tru—zzZZ~"

With her sword sheathed, Okitan suddenly nodded off, drooling with a little snot bubble as she began snoring mid-battle.

"Eh? She actually fell asleep? Right in the middle of putting her sword away?"

Seto's eye twitched at the ridiculous sight.

Why would anyone just fall asleep on a battlefield? He couldn't comprehend it at all.

POP~

A flying piece of rubble popped the snot bubble. Okitan jolted awake.

"Mm… mmm! I wasn't asleep… nope… definitely not asleep!"

"Sure, sure—then wipe the drool off your mouth first before trying to lie!"

Though Seto felt like he was being dragged into a comedy routine, he couldn't deny one thing: these "Reinforcements" the Pharaoh spoke of wielded power that far surpassed ordinary Spirit Beasts. They were forces capable of overturning the battlefield.

"Chiyuki Hoshino… to think she summoned seven Heroic Spirits of this caliber all at once… She's a terrifying person."

Someone with that kind of power could, frankly, topple a nation single-handedly—if they wished to. Seto was deeply relieved that such a person stood on Egypt's side.

"A friend of the Pharaoh, huh? Our king really knows how to pick them."

But there was no time to dwell on it. Leading the elite forces of the capital, Seto gave the order to join the fray. Just as Zhuge Liang had predicted—only by winning this battle could they sound the horn of counterattack.

"But… about the third of the 'Top Three' that Strategist Zhuge Liang mentioned… where is the last one?"

As Seto pondered the whereabouts of the final Heroic Spirit, a massive shattered metallic golem plummeted from the sky, slamming into the enemy's undead forces and causing a devastating shockwave.

[Orichalcos Aristeros] – Destroyed

[Orichalcos Dexia] – Destroyed

[Orichalcos Shunoros] – Destroyed

Having already separated from her fused form, Okita looked skyward at the distant glittering figure.

"Oh? Not bad… Poker-face goddess did a good job~"

Even Nobunaga nodded in approval.

"To solo a monster like that… Guess I'm only second-best among the seven. Master really went all out."

Lancer: Lion King – Artoria Pendragon. Even the proud Oda Nobunaga had to show respect. Among the seven summoned Heroic Spirits, she was undoubtedly one of the most powerful.

If Okita was Hoshino Alter's efficient energy-saving pick for the Saber slot, then the Lion King was her trump card—summoned at enormous cost as the ultimate guarantee of victory.

"My spear is starlight, the brilliance of the unreachable. A mere idol like you is no match for it!"

From above, Lion King Artoria pointed her holy lance at the fallen Orichalcos Shunoros.

"Take the judgment of the Holy Lance—and vanish with the rest of the undead!!"

A searing wave of sanctified light erupted from the tip of her spear, blasting the wrecked idol and purifying more than half the undead army in its wake.

Although Hoshino Alter had ordered the seven not to reveal their Noble Phantasm's True Names to conserve mana… this level of attack, for the Lion King, was nothing more than a basic strike.

"So these are the 'Top Three' Zhuge Liang spoke of… way too reliable. Do they even need my help?!"

[Lion King – Artoria Pendragon: This card can only be activated when it inflicts battle damage to the opponent. Destroy all monsters on your opponent's field.]

Using the destruction of the Orichalcos Shunoros as the ignition point, Lion King Artoria unleashed her spear and nearly annihilated the enemy undead army in a single strike. The few remaining stragglers were swiftly wiped out under the siege of the elite forces led by Seto.

What should have been a grueling battle at the Port turned into overwhelming suppression thanks to the efforts of the Three. Yet, even as the tide of war shifted, Hoshino's mind was focused elsewhere.

"Aibo, why do you look more and more serious?"

Because supplying magical energy to all seven Servants simultaneously was no small feat, Hoshino Alter had to remain close to the frontlines but out of direct combat. Bored from inactivity, she absentmindedly fiddled with the chibi plushie-sized Hoshino in her arms.

"Kaiba is too slow… It's already been an hour, and there isn't much time left before Diabound begins multiplying exponentially."

After an hour, the number of Diabounds secretly multiplying in the Valley of the Kings would have reached at least thirty-two. At this rate, no conventional army could possibly hold them off.

"Yugi mentioned it before: even at full gallop, reaching the Valley of the Kings takes at least two hours. And Kaiba can't exactly fly in on a Blue-Eyes Jet—this is ancient Egypt, after all."

"Idiot Kaiba! If there's no Blue-Eyes Jet, then just ride Kisara after she transforms into a Blue-Eyes White Dragon! Why get sentimental now, of all times?!"

Hoshino had actually suggested that Kaiba ride Kisara in her dragon form and wait in the Valley of the Kings. Kisara herself had no objection—but Kaiba, in typical dramatic fashion, absolutely refused. He insisted on riding a horse like everyone else.

It wasn't that Hoshino was impatient. But watching the miniature battlefield, with Diabounds doubling in number every ten minutes… anyone would start to panic.

"—Disinfect! Disinfect! If you want to survive, the wound must be kept clean!"

"AAAGH! IT HURTS!!"

A red figure moved across the "battlefield hospital," and the wounded soldiers watched her with a mix of fear and reverence.

Berserker – Florence Nightingale, the Angel of Crimea, who held selfless care as her creed, carried out strict sanitation and treatment with terrifying force. But as a Berserker-class Servant, her overwhelming dedication to saving lives manifested as sheer madness.

"If you're a man, don't scream from pain! I want to save you—even if it kills you!"

Seeing Nightingale's brutal yet professional methods, even Hoshino shuddered.

"That's… really something. Using a Trap Card as the summoning medium for Nightingale… I should've expected that from me."

Hoshino Alter proudly ruffled mini-Hoshino's bangs.

"Of course! Since you let me decide, Aibo, I did my best to choose the most optimal seven Servants!"

Rather than summoning another frontline fighter, having a support Servant like Nightingale in the rear to heal and treat the wounded drastically improved soldier survival rates—and in turn, preserved Egyptian history itself.

"Yes, Lady Nightingale!! Please don't hold back because of my weakness—do whatever you must!"

One wounded soldier grit his teeth and responded with resolve.

In ancient Egypt, where medical knowledge was primitive, being wounded often meant certain death. If enduring a little pain meant a chance to live, anyone would gladly accept.

"Good! That's the spirit! If you want to live—bite down and endure!"

This situation perfectly demonstrated Nightingale's unique value compared to other Servants. Even across time, every soldier saved here was a life truly spared.

Yet, even though the wounded were receiving top-tier battlefield treatment and had a much higher survival rate, Hoshino Alter couldn't hide her concern as she looked at the growing number of injured being carried back from the frontlines.

"Aibo, even though the Servants are out there helping… why does it feel like the number of injured is still increasing?"

Hoshino furrowed her chibi brows and replied seriously:

"If the number of injured is rising, it means the enemy's forces are growing stronger as well. After all, we're fighting Orichalcos."

Orichalcos feeds on the dark side of the planet. As long as darkness exists in human hearts, it cannot truly die. On a battlefield overflowing with death and fear, the undead and Spirit Beasts born of Orichalcos appear in endless numbers.

Even with magically restrained Servants and buffed ancient soldiers, they might achieve temporary victories… but if the battle dragged on, Orichalcos's infinite sustain would inevitably dominate.

"Especially on the Ksois front—no matter how much resolve the soldiers muster, there's still a limit to human strength."

Hoshino Alter, growing flustered, asked:

"Then what should we do, Aibo?! Should we pull Lion King back to reinforce this side?"

"No. Lion King must hold the line at the Port. If we panic and divide our forces poorly, both fronts could collapse. That would be a true disaster."

Hoshino's lips curled into a mysterious smirk. Despite her adorable chibi form, she radiated the confidence of a master tactician as her plan unfolded.

"Besides, I let the Ksois front weaken on purpose. Right about now, Waver should be making his move~"

(***)

Frontlines, Ksois City—

"Ready, kid? I don't want to get caught up in this!"

Charging into battle, Rider – Iskandar drifted his chariot into a 180-degree lightning turn and shouted back.

"Everything's ready, Rider. Full retreat. We've bought enough time!"

At the highest point of the city walls, Waver surveyed the battlefield of Ksois. Orichalcos's army was fully deployed—undead soldiers, and now even the Spirit Beasts that had appeared at Sed Port were arriving.

Clearly, the enemy had shifted their forces after taking losses from the Lion King, trying to break through the weaker Ksois defenses in one concentrated strike.

"Just as Master predicted. Now comes the crucial moment! But seriously, for someone so young, our Master has quite the mind for strategy."

With a smile, Waver channeled his magical power into his feather fan. A glowing yin-yang roulette appeared in the air.

"This is the ultimate formation of the Great Tactician—Unreturning Formation. Break it if you can! Unreturning Formation: Stone Sentinel Maze!"