"So fast… I couldn't even catch a trace of his movement!"
From the moment Ren Kuroda suddenly unleashed that overwhelming surge of magical power, to the instant Modoriddo's Noble Phantasm was completely nullified, everything had unfolded in the blink of an eye.
What shocked Saber even more was that Ren's transformation clearly wasn't limited to appearance alone.
Before this, even though Ren's ability parameters had already been absurd, Saber could still barely track his movements through her Instinct.
But just now—when Modoriddo unleashed her Noble Phantasm—there had been a considerable distance between her and Ren. And yet, Ren had appeared before Modoriddo almost instantly, effortlessly seizing control of her.
If Ren didn't possess some kind of teleportation ability, then there was only one conclusion—
After that transformation, his speed had surpassed the limit of what even the naked eye could perceive.
Seeing Modoriddo being lifted by the throat with a single hand, completely unable to break free, Saber didn't know what she was thinking—but she gripped Excalibur of the Oath and charged straight at Ren.
Granted, Saber felt undeniable revulsion toward Modoriddo's identity.
But on one hand, Modoriddo had once been a Knight of the Round Table.And on the other, Modoriddo's Noble Phantasm—though it hadn't harmed Ren—had broken Saber out of her predicament.
Saber didn't want to owe her anything.
Since Modoriddo had helped her once, she would repay that debt now.
At that moment, Ren casually held Modoriddo aloft with one hand. As he looked at Saber charging toward him at full speed, his expression showed not the slightest concern.
In truth, even Ren himself hadn't expected his yōkai transformation in Servant form to be this powerful.
At the same time, he finally understood why using Oni God Rampage came with a backlash of exhaustion afterward.
If it didn't, then frankly—no one else would even get to play.
Watching Saber rush toward him, Ren merely extended his other clawed left hand and lazily swung it through the air.
"BOOOOOOM—!"
A thunderous collapse echoed across the battlefield.
Saber's powerful Instinct screamed warnings at her. She slammed on the brakes and leapt backward just in time.
In the next instant, the ground in front of her was carved apart like a cake—deep, perfectly clean trenches sliced straight through it.
This was Ren's current level of power.
Even a casual hand strike infused with mana now carried the destructive force of an ordinary Servant's Noble Phantasm.
The sheer excess of magical energy flooding his body meant that even his basic Mana Burst rivaled a fully released Noble Phantasm.
With all of his parameters amplified across the board, Ren had completely exceeded the limits a Servant was supposed to have.
Among Servants, Modoriddo wasn't at the absolute pinnacle—but she was undeniably first-rate.
And yet, her all-out A++ Anti-Army Noble Phantasm had been blown apart by Ren's raw magical output.
In a single exchange, her life and death had already fallen entirely into Ren's hands.
Suspended by the throat, Modoriddo naturally struggled after being seized.
But no matter how hard she fought, the arm gripping her neck felt like an iron shackle—utterly immovable.
Even as she lashed out wildly with her free hands and legs, striking the oni-like man before her, it was as if her attacks didn't even scratch him.
They couldn't even break his defense.
Ren's durability had already rivaled Heracles even before transformation. After entering yōkai form, it climbed even higher, his body becoming monstrously resilient.
Despite his seemingly ordinary build, the current Ren was tougher than Heracles.
If the two were to engage in close-quarters combat, the one to fall would likely be Heracles himself.
Just as Ren began to grow irritated by Modoriddo's constant struggling—and was about to simply snap her neck and send her off the stage—
Medeya suddenly spoke up from the side.
"Ren, don't eliminate that Saber. We can use my Noble Phantasm to turn her into one of ours.
"You've seen how troublesome the King of Heroes is, right? The more allies we have, the better. Instead of letting that Saber withdraw, wouldn't it be better to make her our strength?"
In truth, when Medeya said this, she was deeply uneasy inside.
The reason was simple—after Ren transformed, the change in his presence was far too drastic.
Before, Ren felt like a valiant warrior. Strong, yes—but bright and approachable.
Now?
Cold. Overbearing. Dominant.
That indifferent, merciless gaze alone was enough to make most people shudder.
Part of this was due to Ren's oni bloodline.
The other part was his inherent skill—Demon King's Dominance.
If this were the old Ren, Medeya would have teased him without hesitation.
But facing this unfamiliar version of him, she didn't dare.
Even her words came out carefully, almost as a negotiation.
Yet just as Medeya watched Ren fall silent—and began to worry that her suggestion might have angered him—
Ren spoke.
And her heart immediately relaxed.
"I really don't know what to do with you," he said with a helpless sigh."You're seriously fixated on Saber, aren't you? Not only our Saber—now you've got your eyes on the red faction's Saber too?"
Seeing Ren's familiar expression return, Medeya broke into a smug smile.
His aura may have changed—but his personality was still the same.
In the past, Ren's emotions had indeed been influenced by Half-Oni Transformation. But with repeated use, he had long since mastered it.
The change in atmosphere came from other skills—not his character.
"I mean, a rebellious knight and a 'betraying witch' like me," Medeya said cheerfully."Don't you think that combination suits us perfectly?"
Now that she was sure Ren hadn't changed, Medeya raised her Noble Phantasm—Rule Breaker—and began eyeing Modoriddo's body, drooling slightly as she searched for a good place to stab.
In the past, Medeya had deeply resented the title 'The Witch of Betrayal'.
But now, she joked about it casually.
Because after spending so much time with Ren and Kuzuki Souichirou, she had realized something—
As long as the people she cared about didn't mind who she was, what did anyone else's opinion matter?
"'Gaining allies,' huh?" Ren snorted."Looks to me like you're just lusting after Modoriddo's body. Small build, cute face—same type as the Knight King, right?"
Her little scheme exposed, Medeya didn't even try to deny it.
She even went so far as to tell Ren that after this, he should restrain the other Knight King too—she wanted another Saber.
Listening to the two of them chatting as if no one else existed, Modoriddo—pinned helplessly to the ground—felt utterly humiliated.
If possible, she would rather Ren had snapped her neck earlier.
At least then, she would have been defeated by a powerful enemy—
Not turned into a toy for this witch.
Resolving herself, Modoriddo decided that once she regained the ability to move, she would immediately commit suicide.
No matter what, she would never become a pawn of this despicable pair.
Even as the Knight of Rebellion, she still possessed a knight's pride.
Even if her Master were forcibly changed, she would never betray them.
That was what she thought—at first.
But when she heard Medeya mention capturing Artoria as well, Modoriddo fell silent.
The reason she had stood opposed to the Knight King in the first place was largely due to her mother's manipulation.
More than once, Modoriddo had regretted revealing her true identity.
If she hadn't… perhaps she could have remained by her father's side forever, as one of the Knights of the Round Table.
History, however, had made that impossible.
But Medeya's words planted a new thought in her mind.
If she and her "father" both became Caster's Servants—
Wouldn't that mean they could fight side by side once again?
At that realization, the struggling Modoriddo stopped resisting altogether.
Being controlled by Caster… didn't seem so bad after all.
Suicide could wait.
Compared to the Holy Grail, standing beside her "father" again was far more tempting.
And as for whether Caster could control Artoria?
Modoriddo didn't doubt it for a second.
In her heart, the Knight King was flawless.
But even she had to admit—
This Assassin was simply too monstrous.
Even her father wouldn't gain the upper hand.
Seeing Modoriddo restrained by Ren and Medeya, Saber tried to rush over to rescue her—
Only to be stopped by the strongest "people's teacher," Kuzuki Souichirou.
On the other side, Tohsaka Rin and Emiya Shirou watched Gilgamesh and the ever-expanding Ren faction, both of them frantic like ants on a hot pan.
"Emiya-kun," Rin said urgently,"you can see how things are developing. If this continues, Saber will be dealt with by Assassin and the others very soon.
"And once we lose our Servant, we'll be completely eliminated from the Holy Grail War.
"Saber's true limits go far beyond this—we've already seen that before. So I want to discuss something with you.
"Let me become Saber's Master."
When Archer Emiya was finally defeated earlier, he had revealed his true identity to Rin—including the truth about the Avalon sheath within Shirou's body.
After explaining how to retrieve it, he had withdrawn from the war… leaving everything behind.