The poisonous gas had already spread from the area where Heracles, Hydra, and Basmu clashed. The purple miasma was so dense it was almost tangible, like a toxic fog. Under these lethal conditions, no one could recklessly approach.
Shirou and Arjuna did not look back. With the toxin levels so high, dealing with the monsters would be left to Heracles.
They continued towards the central area. Semiramis's Hanging Gardens teemed with magical creatures, but for Shirou and Arjuna, these beasts posed no threat.
Shirou's black mud surged forth like a tide, easily slaughtering and killing those beasts and monsters, leaving Arjuna without a chance to make a move.
Arjuna was actually somewhat dissatisfied with this. As a warrior, having to stand by while an ally displayed their skill was pure torment. At least when Shirou rampaged among the creatures, Arjuna itched to join the fray. But with Shirou's AOE attacks, there was no chance to cut in.
"Conserve your strength," Shirou said seriously. "Your opponent is Karna."
Hearing this, Arjuna felt it made a lot of sense.
His opponent was Karna. He did indeed need to preserve his power before that.
Suddenly—
With a "whoosh", a flash of silver light streaked through the darkness at a tricky angle, speeding straight for Arjuna.
He reached out and grabbed the silver streak from midair, clasping the arrow in his palm.
Shirou turned to look. "It's the Red Archer."
Arjuna nodded, squeezing his hand slightly. With a crack, the arrow dissipated into spiritual particles. He had sensed Atalanta's location the moment her arrow came flying over.
Pulling back his bow, he locked onto her position in the pitch blackness as if he could see her. He shot seven consecutive arrows.
Atalanta was sprinting madly. In her current state, not only had her abilities strengthened, but most importantly, her biological instincts had been amplified.
In these circumstances, her instincts reigned far above rationality, granting extremely keen control of her body.
It could be said her instincts allowed her to sense and nearly dodge any attack.
As Arjuna's arrows streaked over like meteors, she dodged three in an instant by instinct alone.
But it was as if Arjuna had predicted her instinctive maneuvers. After dodging those initial three, the next four arrows were impossible to avoid. What's more, launched from the Divine Bow, the arrows held tremendous might. Even in her alter state, the arrows still pierced through Atalanta's body.
Bloody and wounded—yet not enough to destroy her Saint Graph outright—she covered her injuries and fled into the darkness.
They gave chase.
Arjuna's breathing grew hurried; he understood clearly that with the Red Archer's appearance, Karna could not be far off.
Shirou and Arjuna entered an area with a lake. Just as they moved to cross it, the waters suddenly churned and surged with swelling waves.
An enormous marine monster burst out from below.
Shirou readied to engage the sea monster, but Arjuna shouted loudly, "Get lost!" The restless fury firing through his body unleashed [Agni Gandiva] without hesitation, blasting the half-emerged monster directly to its death.
That poor sea monster didn't even fully emerge from the water before being blown into smithereens by the frenzied Arjuna!
Seeing the furiously excited Arjuna, he couldn't help commenting, "Your temper really is quite irritable, huh..."
"He's here!" Arjuna said. "I can sense him - that disgusting aura of sun!"
He was restless and agitated, both thrilled and frenzied, as if to welcome something he had been expecting for a long time.
Shirou's brows furrowed. The surrounding air grew somewhat tense and hot, as if an enormous heater was approaching.
Arjuna could no longer restrain his frenzied heart, and directly dashed towards the front. Shirou followed closely behind, because that was also the path for him to reach the central region.
It was a rainforest. But the air wasn't moist at all, instead extremely dry.
The earth had begun cracking like a spiderweb.
Atalanta hid within the rainforest, leaning against a lush tree, licking her wounds like a feral cat with her tongue.
Suddenly, Shirou and Arjuna charged in.
She jumped up in fright like a startled cat, fleeing into the distance. Her instincts told her that these two beings were above her in the food chain.
Shirou stepped forward, about to give chase.
—Danger!
His instincts screamed within.
Sensing the air grow even drier and hotter, he instinctively surrounded himself with black mud.
The next moment—
"Boom boom boom boom!"
The rainforest spontaneously combusted into endless flames surging forth like a vast ocean sweeping toward him.
However—
"Crackle crackle!"
Destructive lightning spread like a web, directly blasting the fiery tide.
Lightning and flames interwove, the might of the divine bow and Sungod's brilliance crossing in a dazzling clash, impossible to determine the victor.
Seizing the moment, he condensed black mud into a mass in his hand and lashed out abruptly like a line slicing through the entanglement of sun and lightning.
"Shua~!!"
He fell back to Arjuna's side, both gazes fixed ahead.
A white-haired youth with scorching solar aura emerged from the endless sea of flames.
"Hahahaha!"
The usually silent Arjuna suddenly became a laughing youth, his expression now sinisterly archvillainous.
"Karna—!"
He shouted the name of his destined foe, his brother, his mortal enemy - the son of Surya, Karna!
"Already controlled to this degree?" Arjuna mocked. "Pathetic!"
Karna's hand trembled on his divine spear, Vasavi Shakti. Crazed eyes stared at Arjuna as he snarled bestially, "A...Ar...juna...!"
"That's right - I'm your mortal enemy, Arjuna!" Arjuna laughed manically, radiating intense fighting spirit as he gripped his Divine Bow.
As if recalling that there was still another person by his side, Arjuna reined in the archvillain-esque mania on his face, replacing it with the mature expression of a great hero.
Eyes fixed fiercely on Karna, he said without turning, "Leave this place, Eternal King. This is my battle with him!"
Shirou nodded, raising his palm to grant Arjuna some skills, but Arjuna shouted, "Don't buff me!"
Shirou froze.
"Last time, I gained victory through unjust means," Arjuna explained. "But now, I want to fight him fairly!"
Shirou asked, "Under these circumstances, you still insist on being so willful? Are you sure you're his match?"
"I will win!"
"Then what if you lose?" Shirou pressed.
"If I lose, then I'll drag him down with me!"
Arjuna's voice rang with conviction.
Clearly, he had already decided to wage an all out battle to the death against Karna in an untainted state.
And for this reason, Arjuna had refused all the command spells by the Masters to empower him.
"Then I leave him to you," Shirou said, turning to depart.
With Shirou gone, Arjuna's heroic facade instantly crumbled away, reverting to his earlier archvillainous mania. Every fiber of his being surged with fighting spirit as he shouted: "Karna—!"
"A...Ar...juna—!"
Karna let out a low, frenzied snarl. Those maddened eyes remained fixed intensely on Arjuna, as if staring down his mortal enemy.
A rumbling like muffled thunder exploded loudly. Radiant sunlight intertwined with lightning, and their terrifying power destroyed everything around them.
Shirou watched from afar as Arjuna impatiently began his decisive battle with Karna. Perhaps he had been anticipating this fight for a long time already.
Shaking his head, he took a step forward, heading toward the central area.
Atalanta had already disappeared without a trace, but he didn't care. Atalanta, especially the alter Atalanta, was very strong, but not enough to pose a threat to him.
So he continued on steadily. As he walked straight toward the central area, it wasn't long before he encountered Spartacus, who had come from Area 17.
What surprised him was that Spartacus was together with Vlad, and the two were marching shoulder-to-shoulder without conflict, fighting and killing many monsters that blocked their path.
"Eternal King," said Spartacus, "although it pains me to ally with this oppressor, desperate times call for desperate measures. When faced with even greater brutality, I can restrain myself."
Upon hearing this, Vlad did not grow angry. Instead, he said, "This is merely a strategic alliance. I will not fight you only because there is a greater threat encroaching on my lands. But once this campaign ends, I will settle the crime of your rebellion!"
"Oppressor, you should thank Eternal King that my reason has been restored," Spartacus replied. "Elsewise, my sword would have already severed your skull."
Vlad only smiled coldly, offering no answer.
Shirou smiled wryly, caught between them. One a rebel, the other an iron-fisted monarch - their positions were fundamentally irreconcilable. However, in the face of greater threats, although they were not celebrating together joyously, at least they would not fight again.
Perhaps after this battle Vlad the king and Spartacus the rebel would meet in single combat for life or death. But for now, they stood as comrades against the coming storm.