Chapter 62: Tentacles!
"ROAAAAAAAR———!!"
A blazing breath shot straight toward Mordred!
Mordred immediately leaped high into the air, gripping her sword tightly with both hands.
"Crimson Lightning!!"
A crimson lightning bolt surged from Clarent.
"Haaaah!!"
She aimed directly at Fafnir's wings and swung her sword down with all her might!!!
CLANG———!!
A deafening sound echoed as an immense recoil force shot back through Mordred's arms.
As a creature at the pinnacle of the Phantasmal Species, dragons naturally possessed incredibly tough scales. Moreover, Fafnir was one of the strongest dragons.
Unless one was a Servant with a legend of slaying dragons, ordinary weapons wouldn't be able to inflict sufficient damage.
"ROAAAAAR———!!"
Fafnir roared, once again spewing dragon breath at Mordred.
"Damn it, I should've listened to Father back then and gone slay some evil dragons or whatever."
Mordred grumbled, dodging the attack.
"Master told me to stall for as long as possible, but this damn lizard doesn't seem to know exhaustion. Still, at least it can only attack from a distance, as long as I don't get hit——?!"
Suddenly, the evil dragon ceased its direct engagement with Mordred.
It flapped its wings fiercely and shot straight into the sky!
Immediately after, from its heart, an enormous surge of magical energy began to gather!
The air trembled.
The speed at which this energy was accumulating… far exceeded what a Servant could achieve!
The light from the dragon's heart grew ever more brilliant, its destructive power expanding uncontrollably.
Oh Shit!!!
She had to retreat immediately!!!
But soon, Mordred realized that it was too late to warn Johanna to withdraw.
Not only that, but the entire battlefield was bound to be completely annihilated.
Now, the only choice was to try to stop it.
With that thought, mana began flowing through Mordred's armor, gradually gathering into Clarent.
"Come on, you damn lizard! Let's see who's stronger!!!"
Just as the overwhelming magical energy within the evil dragon reached its peak, it suddenly halted.
As if sensing something, Fafnir turned its head to look back, then flapped its wings and began flying away.
"Oi, damn it, not again?!"
Mordred immediately canceled Clarent Blood Arthur before it fully unleashed.
Watching Fafnir lead its wyvern swarm away, Mordred planted her sword into the ground, a confused expression on her face.
"What the hell was that?"
"Mordred!"
Johanna's voice called out from behind.
"Yo, Popess, done over there?"
"With Emiya-san's help, that Saber was finally freed."
Johanna shook her head, seemingly able to sympathize with Chevalier d'Éon's situation.
"Summoned by the Dragon Witch, then turned into a Berserker, and even forced to kill the very monarch they were supposed to serve... Surely... she? He?... Surely they couldn't have been at peace with that."
She hesitated briefly over Saber's gender but quickly refocused.
"More importantly, where's Fafnir?"
Mordred pointed her sword toward the distant sky, where Fafnir's silhouette was still visible retreating.
"Over there, it's flying away."
Johanna's eyes widened in shock.
"Retreating...?"
"Must be Master on the other side threatening the Dragon Witch. Let's go support them."
"Alright, let's move!"
RUMBLE———!!!
Suddenly, the ground trembled so violently that Johanna nearly lost her balance.
"What now?!"
"Chiu chiu———!!"
A white owl swooped down from above, landing on Johanna's shoulder and chirping repeatedly, as if reporting something urgent.
Upon hearing it, Johanna's expression immediately darkened.
"What is it?! Did something happen to Master?!"
Mordred leaned in closer, pressing for an answer.
Johanna didn't reply directly. Instead, she silently stared ahead.
Mordred frowned in confusion, then followed her gaze toward the ruins of the castle.
The castle, which she had once half-destroyed, was now sinking into the earth, and from within, an ominous entity was slowly emerging.
"Ayo? What the hell is that???"
...
The ground groaned and screeched, the sky seemed to tear apart.
Sunlight was swallowed by thick, swirling storm clouds, and the once-temperate air turned frigid.
As the castle fully collapsed, from deep underground, a gigantic sea demon with countless writhing tentacles slowly surfaced.
The wyverns that had been circling the castle immediately noticed the monstrous anomaly and let out frenzied roars, as if desperately trying to drive it away.
But the creature's tentacles suddenly lashed out, snaring the wyverns and dragging them into the abyss.
Only their agonized screams remained, echoing through the air.
"Jeanne, don't worry. I will complete France's revenge in your place! Only destruction is the true salvation!"
Standing atop the monstrous body, Gilles de Rais slowly sank into it.
On the screen, the grotesque entity came into full view—its twisted form, its slimy, pulsating tentacles, and its ever-writhing mouth were now fully exposed to all.
[Why does the air suddenly feel… Cthulhu?]
[Oh shit, I swear I just heard weird whispers in my head…]
[How did this livestream keep changing genres? From a simple corporate introduction to tragedy, then to harem, then to shounen, and now it's tentacle hentai???]
[Not again! Gilles, why do you always summon tentacles?! Just because you have the Holy Grail now, you think you can do whatever you want?!]
[Wiki-san, what the hell is that thing?]
[Gilles is holding the R'lyeh Text—a grimoire bound in human skin, once owned by the 15th-century sorcerer François Prelati. It details the method for summoning deities from other worlds. Essentially, it calls forth an Outer God from Lovecraftian mythos.]
[Umu, thanks, Wiki-san!]
[This is way too Lovecraftian… I'm not sleeping tonight.]
[Good evening, everyone! May I take a moment to preach about our Lord and Savior, Cthulhu?]
[How wrong have the people of France been living? To the point that their Marshal had to summon an Outer God just to purify the entire nation?]
[Oh no! My cat is secretly cheating on me with the neighbor's dog. I have to go break up the affair, bye bye…]
…
By the time Ethan and his team emerged from the tunnels, the castle had completely collapsed.
Thanks to Jeanne Alter's guidance, they had managed to escape safely.
"Ethan, Mash… can you hear me?"
"Doctor?!"
Romani Archaman's voice crackled through Mash's communicator, cutting in and out.
"Loud and clear!"
"For some reason, your presence there has become harder to track… Additionally, I just detected an extremely powerful signal… That must be the Holy Grail."
Ethan immediately stepped closer, speaking directly into the communicator.
"Doctor, can you confirm the Holy Grail is here?"
"Yes… I don't know exactly what's happening on your end… but the Holy Grail is definitely inside the entity with the strongest magical signature."
"Understood. We'll find a way to retrieve it."
"I see… The signal… is getting weaker… everything depends on you… Ethan… Mash… zzzzzz…"
The communication cut off again.
Ethan stared at the massive sea demon before him—still devouring, still growing.
This ancient abomination had no place here—it would only throw the singularity into even greater chaos.
But there was no other option… They had to face it head-on!
"Mash! Get ready to retrieve the Holy Grail!!"