Two blades clashed with a deafening clang.
Kha-ang! The screech of metal, like a thunderclap, struck a blinding flash. In the crimson haze, the knight in scarlet armor and the emerald giant exchanged devastating blows with sword and mace.
"Clockwork dolls are coming!" Holmes shouted.
Dozens of mechanical soldiers emerged from the fog. Their target was Frankenstein. Since Mordred was busy with B, a breach formed in the defense.
Ritsuka, being a non-combatant with weak magical abilities, could not help in the fight. Holmes possessed martial arts skills, but remained an ordinary human – not a Servant, not even a mage, which greatly limited his capabilities.
"Senpai, use this!" Mash shouted.
"Understood!"
Fortunately, Ritsuka had the "Made in Fate" system. He raised his hand with a Command Spell and began the summoning.
"In the name of the Command Spell, I, Fujimaru Ritsuka, command! Made in Fate, emergency summon! Assassin-class Servant!"
One of the tattoos on Ritsuka's arm disappeared, the bracelet on his wrist flashed with a bright light, and an Assassin appeared before them – Hassan of the Cursed Arm. In a black cloak, perfectly blending with the gloomy London fog, and wearing a terrifying skull mask, the dark-skinned assassin respectfully responded to his master's call.
"Servant Assassin, Hassan of the Cursed Arm. I swear to give my life for Master-dono."
Seeing Hassan, Dedchu was momentarily stunned, shifting his gaze from him to Ritsuka, and then, as if not believing his eyes, blurted out:
"Are you serious? Are you kidding me? They're assassins! Why summon an Assassin against assassins? Why not a Caster... Oh right, our only Caster is that guy. But still! Kid! This is a game, a game! You need to consider the class compatibility chart! Last time it was the same: you fielded an Archer against a Lancer! Direct counter?! Never sit at games again!"
Ritsuka just blinked in confusion, not understanding the angry tirade about "games" and "compatibility."
"Oh, forget it, it's useless to talk to you," Dedchu exhaled.
"If the pleasantries are over, Master-dono, please give the order," Hassan of the Cursed Arm, without taking his eyes off the enemies, waited for a command.
Ritsuka immediately ordered him to deal with the clockwork dolls, making Frankenstein's defense a priority.
"Understood. Hassan of the Cursed Arm will carry out Master-dono's will without question."
The Assassin began to unwrap the bandages that tightly concealed his right hand. To an outsider, it might have seemed that the hand was simply injured, but in reality, the bandages were restraining his "curse" and hiding his main "weapon."
"They say the hearts of these creatures are engines. Well, it doesn't matter. If it's something that replaces a heart, there won't be any problems."
When the last layer of fabric fell, an unnaturally long, ugly hand was revealed, which was difficult to call human.
"Delusional Heartbeat."
"Zabaniya..." he whispered.
"Hey, hold on a second," Dedchu called out to him. The former politeness and nobility Hassan had shown to Ritsuka were gone – now he exuded the power of a true embodiment of death.
"What is it, Deadpool-dono?" Hassan froze, ready to attack, but showed patience and listened to his ally without a hint of displeasure.
"When did you manage to ascend? As far as I remember, that brat only fed you sparks of wisdom after summoning, but didn't ascend you."
"Does it matter now..." Hassan began.
"It matters a lot! Judging by the illustrations on the cards, you shouldn't be showing this hand yet! Besides, we don't have the essence of old Zelretch! How are you going to use a Noble Phantasm right away?!"
Hassan merely tilted his head in confusion, listening to these strange complaints.
"This hand is my curse and my weapon. Why should I hide it?"
"But this is a game..." Deadch threw his hands up, surrendering. "...Ah, to hell with it. Fine. Go ahead, continue."
"Then shall we begin?" Hassan disappeared.
The clockwork dolls began to look around for their target, but the Assassin was already behind them. His grotesque hand lightning-fast plunged into the chest of each machine, and in the same instant, the clockwork engine – the core of the mechanism – exploded from within. The dolls fell one after another, leaking lubricant and oil.
"Wade, look, he's doing great," Ritsuka remarked, deciding to tease Deadch, who had been complaining about class compatibility not long ago.
"Yeah, yeah, you're great, take a cookie from the shelf," Deadch grumbled under his breath.
"This is some kind of madness. Who cares about compatibility, Phantasms left and right without preparation! This is a game! This isn't like the good old '18+' dating simulators! This is... this is a violation of all laws! ... Although, if you think about it, my very existence violates all laws. Ah, whatever."
While Deadch mumbled to himself, Hassan threw a simple dagger, which embedded itself in a doll with the force of a large-caliber bullet, shattering it to pieces. However, it was difficult to hold back dozens of enemies alone. Some dolls broke through to Frankenstein, but they were immediately met by Mash's shield, crushing the metal into fine dust.
"Hassan-san! I'll cover the rear!" Mash shouted.
"Thank you, Mash-dono. I can rely on you."
The London fog perfectly concealed his presence. His terrifying right hand, Zabaniya, repeatedly crushed the hearts of the clockwork monsters, causing them to freeze or explode, scattering a fountain of gears.
"Good. Everything is going smoothly here, but over there..." Holmes, who had been observing Frankenstein's defense, shifted his gaze towards the battle between Mordred and B.
"Kkh!" Mordred struggled to contain the onslaught.
B's body had become even larger and harder than in their previous encounter. Mordred was forced into a defensive posture. Not only had the enemy become stronger, but she herself had weakened, having spent too much mana surviving Frankenstein's explosion.
"Damn it! I... I'm not weak!"
"Nobody said you were weak..." Holmes muttered.
Gritting her teeth at being cornered by her opponent, Mordred furiously denied her own weakness and gripped her sword tighter again.
A diagonal strike, a counter-lunge. B recoiled, dodging the blade, and, spewing clouds of steam, charged forward again with his massive body. Mordred raised her sword with both hands, taking the ramming blow on the steel.
"You damn creature!"
Even though her strength had diminished, she was in no way inferior in physical power. Pressing down on the sword and knocking B off balance, Mordred struck him in the torso with her elbow, causing him to completely lose his footing, after which she delivered three swift horizontal strikes. However, even this was not enough to penetrate B's sturdy armor.
"If I had more mana, this would be a piece of cake...! Kkh... damn it! I didn't want to resort to this... Hey, Master!"
If the fight dragged on, she wouldn't just stop dominating, but would gradually start losing ground. With clear disapproval on his face, but understanding the hopelessness of the situation, he called out to his Master.
"Hm? Any problems, Knight Mordred?"
Taking advantage of the fact that he had nothing to do at the moment, he leisurely puffed on his pipe, enveloped in clouds of tobacco smoke.
"Someone's struggling here, fighting this giant tin can, and you're chilling with a pipe?! Have you lost your mind?! Aaaah! Some inveterate smoker comes to mind, but he, it seems, at least brought some benefit, and there's no use from you!"
Mordred was burning with indignation, but now was not the time for empty curses.
"So what do you want, Mordred-kun?"
"Argh... this is so annoying! Use a Command Spell! I'll activate my Noble Phantasm! Give me mana...!"
"Wait, let me finish smoking..."
"Hurry!!"
When Mordred barked as if she were about to devour him, Holmes quickly shook the ash from his pipe and extended his hand, on which the two remaining Command Spells shone.
"By the power of the Command Spell, I, Sherlock Holmes, permit my Servant Mordred to use her Noble Phantasm!"
Immediately, one of the marks on Holmes's hand disappeared, and a crimson light of magical energy surged into Mordred, enveloping her body.
"This is it! That very feeling! Mages are unreliable people, but for that, they can be praised!"
With a confident look, Mordred threw off her helmet, pushed aside B's massive hulk, and held her sword in front of her.
"Activation of Noble Phantasm!"
Crimson lightning danced around her silver armor, scattering sparks and concentrating on the blade. The sword's edge pulsed with a furious stream of flashes, and the energy was so great that even the surrounding fog began to swirl into a vortex.
"...Mana surge detected... Target elimination..."
B's red lenses flashed, and he charged at her, trying to interrupt her preparation.
"I'll chop you into mince!"
Mordred, standing at the epicenter of the raging storm, bared her teeth in a triumphant smile and shouted towards the enemy rushing at her:
"Arise against my beautiful father."
"Clarent... Blood... Arthur!"
A colossal discharge of crimson lightning struck B. The power of the blow resembled not just a whirlwind, but a real typhoon. Fortunately, unlike the case with Frankenstein, the fog did not detonate, and the surroundings did not turn into a scorched desert.
"Impressive power. The true heir to King Arthur's blood and his downfall – the Knight of Rebellion, Mordred."
Mash, having dealt with the clockwork dolls, watched her partner's triumph with admiration.
"This is why we need to roll for Saber. You understand? Saber-face is the base! So, you who are reading this now: if you don't have Saber, run and donate for quartz! Spend all your tickets! And if you don't get her – donate even more!"
Deadpool, with a spiritualized face, yelled this nonsense into the void.
The crimson storm subsided. Mordred, noticeably exhausted, leaned heavily on her sword, waiting for the smoke and thick veil to dissipate. When visibility was restored, it became clear: B had paid dearly for trying to take the blow head-on.
"Damage... critical... Escape... impossible... System shutdown in... 30... seconds..."
Half of his body was gone, the steam engine hissed mournfully, releasing the last of its pressure, and his arm had turned into a pile of scrap. He barely held himself "on his feet."
"Cognitive circuits... restoration... successful... Whoever... hears this message... you must... stop M... He... will destroy everything... His Master... too... stop... Please... Sherlock Holmes."
The light in B's red lenses finally went out, and the machine froze forever.
"V-victory!"
Seeing that both the dolls and B himself were defeated, and no new enemies were in sight, Deadpool joyfully shouted.
"Guys! It's not over yet! A source of colossal mana is approaching you...!"
At the moment Romani hastily relayed the message, the air suddenly became unbearably heavy. The movements of everyone present – Holmes, Ritsuka, Mash, Mordred, Hassan, Deadpool, and Frankenstein – were frozen by an invisible force.
"It's him..."
Holmes, despite his paralysis, peered with extreme tension into the fog from which a mysterious man was emerging.
"Sherlock Holmes. What business brings the great detective here?"
Before them appeared a gentleman with blue hair and red eyes.
"So, you are M," Holmes said curtly. M looked at him with a completely impassive face.
"I didn't expect you to defeat B. But now that the annoying upstarts from the Clock Tower are eliminated, nothing will prevent my plan."
"I thought so. That's why it was so quiet."
Holmes gave a bitter smirk, realizing his guess had been confirmed.
He had long been puzzled why the mages of the Clock Tower, who should have been the first to react to such an incident with the fog, remained inactive. It turned out that M had simply destroyed them all.
"Well then, let's begin to fulfill my dream. Plan 'Makai' to crush the world begins."
And then, on either side of M, Hyde, belonging to H, and Jack the Ripper appeared.