Chapter 29 (Patreon)

“It’s useless. You can’t kill me.”

Rain Spirit spoke in a flat, emotionless voice even as Gáe Dearg, wreathed in crimson light and overflowing with powerful thaumaturgical energy, pierced straight through her head.

There wasn’t even the slightest trace of pain on her face.

Before she had even finished speaking, her body began to melt apart, gradually blending into the streams of rainwater gathered across the ground.

Only the head pinned in place by Gáe Dearg failed to dissolve.

It seemed she had severed her own head to survive.

Off to the side, Ragnar Kagenou watched the surroundings with full vigilance.

Rainwater filled the entire area, and now that Rain Spirit had fused with it, she could launch a surprise attack from any drop of rain at any moment.

In other words, no matter how careful Ragnar was, completely avoiding contact with the rain was almost impossible.

At the same time, inside the black-and-white painted world beneath the water—

Yuki Tsukumo was focusing all of her attention on her innate technique, Star Rage.

She poured that immense power into her shikigami weapon, Garuda, continuously adjusting its imaginary mass to push its destructive force even further.

And yet no matter how many times she increased Garuda’s imaginary mass, Rain Spirit still seemed to possess an immortal body. Every time Yuki blew her apart, she would simply gather herself together again and reappear.

“Useless…? Now that I think about it, none of my attacks have actually struck her real body,” Yuki muttered, a frown forming on her face.

In the next moment, she raised Garuda’s imaginary mass to an even more extreme level.

A terrifying surge of power spilled from Garuda, so overwhelming that even the surrounding space seemed to distort under the pressure.

At the same time, Yuki activated a Simple Domain.

It spread out around her as a circular zone with a radius of 2.21 meters.

Within that range, everything that entered would be met with an automatic counter.

And just then, Rain Spirit made her move.

The instant she stepped into Yuki’s range, Garuda lashed out.

Bang!

Rain Spirit’s upper body exploded on the spot.

But even then, she recovered again, restoring herself completely as she reappeared in front of Yuki.

It wasn’t that Yuki Tsukumo was unwilling to use Domain Expansion.

But if her opponent also possessed a Domain Expansion, then the one who opened their domain first could easily end up at a disadvantage.

And the Cursed Spirit in front of her was clearly no ordinary opponent.

Just from how troublesome it was, this was very likely an unrecorded Special Grade Cursed Spirit.

Still, hesitation had no place in a battle like this.

When it came to fighting a Cursed Spirit, every second mattered.

One or two seconds was more than enough for a top-tier curse user or a Special Grade Cursed Spirit to die.

The moment Rain Spirit appeared again, Yuki pushed Garuda’s imaginary mass to the absolute limit.

The space in front of Garuda began to buckle inward, collapsing into something like a miniature black hole.

And the Special Grade Cursed Spirit, Rain Spirit, could not escape its pull.

“I win,” Yuki said with a grin as she watched Rain Spirit struggle against the black hole’s gravity.

Then suddenly—

Translucent arms appeared behind her and wrapped tightly around her body.

“What—when did these arms show up?!”

Crack.

The translucent arms tightened, and even Yuki’s reinforced body groaned under the pressure.

“You damn Special Grade… so you really did leave a hand behind.”

At this point, Yuki Tsukumo had no intention of holding anything back any longer.

“Domain Expansion!”

In an instant, she dragged both herself and Rain Spirit into her domain.

Meanwhile, Ragnar still held Gáe Dearg in his hand.

It might not be enough to kill Rain Spirit outright—

But it could clearly interfere with her movements.

Any time Rain Spirit was pierced by Gáe Dearg, her movements became noticeably sluggish.

It seemed that suppressing the curse-breaking effect of the spear required a huge amount of Cursed Energy.

“Can’t kill you? You’re awfully full of yourself, mutt.”

Ragnar raised Gáe Dearg again and aimed it toward the shifting Rain Spirit.

This time, Rain Spirit was ready.

She could not allow that spear to pin her down again. If it did, things would become far too troublesome.

In the next instant, Rain Spirit manipulated her cursed technique and gathered the rain falling from the sky into a towering wave dozens of meters high.

The blue tide crashed toward Ragnar, as though it meant to swallow him whole.

But just as that tidal wave was about to engulf him—

A magnificent golden sword appeared in his hand.

“Sword of Selection… lend me your power.”

The moment Ragnar spoke in a low voice, the beautiful golden blade erupted with brilliant light.

“Sever the evil—Sword of Promised Victory!”

The blinding radiance instantly vaporized the massive wave in front of him.

Then that torrent of light surged onward and swallowed Rain Spirit whole.

Boom!!

The entire world inside the painting trembled violently, growing unstable as though it might collapse at any moment.

And when the brilliance finally faded, only half of Rain Spirit’s body remained.

Even so, with the advantage of her own territory, she slowly began to restore herself.

Just not as quickly as before.

Apparently, even her Cursed Energy consumption was starting to catch up with her.

“I’m not giving you another chance.”

“Pierce through—Gáe Dearg!”

A streak of crimson light tore straight through the curtain of rainwater Rain Spirit had raised as a shield.

In the next instant, Gáe Dearg buried itself deep into her left shoulder.

At the very last moment, Rain Spirit had twisted aside and narrowly avoided what should have been a fatal strike through the chest.

Snap!

Without hesitation, Rain Spirit tore off her own arm.

Then she opened her mouth and cried out:

“Domain Expansion — Torrent of the Returning Vortex!”

With that sharp, ringing declaration, an endless flood of blue water burst out behind her like a collapsing sea.

The tide seemed alive.

It spread with unstoppable force, like an avalanche crashing down.

In an instant, the place where Ragnar stood was swallowed whole, and the ground beneath his feet transformed into a churning ocean.

Even worse—

Countless ghastly white arms stretched out from within the raging tide.

They writhed like ghosts, seizing Ragnar’s legs one after another before dragging him down into the depths.

Gurgle.

Rain Spirit’s voice echoed through the water.

“This is my domain… and your life is no more than a candle in the wind.”

Countless vortexes rushed toward Ragnar, intending to tear him apart inside the domain.

Looking at the terrifying whirlpools closing in from every direction, Ragnar spoke calmly.

“That’s not necessarily true.”

Inside a domain, Rain Spirit’s attacks were guaranteed hits.

Dodging them was impossible.

—— —— —— —— —— ——

Noble Phantasm: Sword of Promised Victory

Rank: B

Type: Anti-Unit Noble Phantasm

Description:

A Noble Phantasm tied to the young knight Artoria Pendragon, at the point when she had only just drawn the Sword of Selection and begun walking the path of kingship.

Originally, this was a sword of selection—a blade meant to choose a king.

The “Anti-Unit” classification does not truly refer to the enemy, but to the wielder who is meant to bear it.

Only when its user becomes a true king—one who walks the proper path, or even reaches the ideal of a perfect king—does its power begin to approach the level worthy of being called a holy sword.