When Fiore opened her eyes, she found herself lying on a bed of soft feathers. The pink-haired paladin turned to her with a cheerful grin:
"Whew, that was close! Seems even this big guy knows youâre Archerâs Master."
"Y-you saved me..."
Astolfo responded with a bright smile. "Alright, time to counterattack! Letâs go, Hippogriff!"
"Kreee..."
The Hippogriff drooped its head and let out a reluctant cry. If it could speak, it would definitely be protesting its reckless master.
That was a fifteen-meter-tall giant! They didnât have a transformation device, no Ultraman to save the dayâdidnât he know what happened to pilots in tokusatsu shows?!
"Huh? Hey, câmon, give it your all!"
"Screeâ(My reason hasnât evaporated!)"
Amid the thunderous rumble of shifting earth, the giant swung its obsidian sword with deceptive speed. Fiore screamed, abandoning all ladylike decorum, feeling the blade graze past her headâyet she still clutched desperately at her skirt.
She knew Astolfoâs true gender!
"Wahaha~ This guyâs fast! Hold on tight, or youâll get thrown off!"
Just as the giant prepared to continue its pursuit, it suddenly halted and swung its sword behind itâimpact, explosion, the air trembled as residual magical energy scattered in all directions.
The massive obsidian blade was stopped mere millimeters from the girlâs helmet. Standing atop the castle walls was Jeanne dâArc. The stone beneath her feet had been sheared in half by the force of the blow.
After confirming her opposition to Amakusa, Jeanne had followed the guidance of "Revelation" and rushed straight to this battlefield.
"...To think itâs the âPrimordial Human.â He really left us with something troublesome."
What astonished the others moreâher unyielding strength, or the fact that her holy banner hadnât shattered even after taking the blow head-on? Under Jeanneâs protection, the obsidian sword wouldnât reach the girl, no matter how many minutes or hours passed.
Yet despite this, Jeanneâs expression remained grim.
"Ruler, hold on!"
Chiron would never let such an opportunity slip. He immediately drew his bow and fired an arrow with all his might. The projectile struck the giantâs eye, forcing it to stagger back.
A battle cry rang out in the distanceâAchilles shoved aside the obsidian sword and charged forward in a flash, leaping into the air. The spinning Rider resembled a shooting star as his spear traced a spiral trajectory, smashing into the giantâs knee. The joint shattered instantly, forcing the giant to kneel on one leg.
"Teacher! And big sis!"
"Got it!"
The huntress leapt onto a treetop opposite Chiron. The two archers exchanged a glance before simultaneously drawing their bows with fluid, practiced motions. With a sharp whistle, their arrows flew in perfect unison, aimed at the golemâs eye-like protrusions.
But the giant, entrusted with Avicebronâs hopes, was no ordinary golem.
"What...?!"
Despite maintaining a kneeling posture, the giant Adam effortlessly swatted away the arrow with one hand. This was an astonishing feat. Even with his incomparably massive frame, deflecting a supersonic arrow was an extremely difficult task for any Servant. Even Achilles had struggled to evade Chironâs tracking during their first encounter.
And this was an attack from both Chiron and Atalanta, firing from two different directions.
What happened next was even more shocking. The Primordial Giant Adam leaped back to create distance from the Servants, then pulled out the arrow embedded in his eyeball. Instantly, the wound healed as if it had never existed.
"Healing... magecraft!?"
At this exclamation from an unknown voice, Jeanne dâArc shook her head with a resigned expression:
"No, thatâs not it. That... is likely the blessing of the earth itself."
As the "Primordial Human," a self-contained Reality Marble, his mere presence transformed the surrounding environment into an alien realm. In this paradise, no injuries or bleeding existed. In other words, the arrow wound became "something that never happened to begin with."
"We must defeat him quickly! If the surroundings continue transforming into paradise, heâll become truly immortal!"
Indeed, this land that represented despair for Adam hadnât yet fully become paradise. That was why the Primordial Giant could still be wounded by arrows, but only for a brief moment. As the power of paradise grew stronger, meaning as long as the giant continued existing in this world, his recovery speed would increase exponentially.
It was only natural that Caster Avicebron had retreated with such confidence. Against this absolutely immortal, impregnable giant, humanity likely stood no chance of victory.
Not even Servants could prevail.
"Ugh!" Achilles, who had been darting around to distract the Primordial Giant, suddenly froze mid-movement. The next instant, an obsidian sword cleaved through his waist, sending him flying like a struck baseball. He crashed into a mountainside, coughing up blood.
"Achilles!"
"Iâm fine, I can still fight!" Achilles shouted as he struggled to his feet. "Be careful with Adamâs sword! My invulnerability doesnât work against it!"
"That sword is a conceptual weapon manifesting his Reality Marble! Not even Servants can negate its effects!"
Like a ghostly shadow, Sakatsuki darted up the giantâs leg and onto his chest. Before Adam could react, Sakatsuki spread his arms as golden lightning crackled behind him, instantly forming an electromagnetic field. Through projection forging, countless weapons gleaming with mystical light took shape before launching like artillery shells into Adamâs eyes.
"Moreover, this Primordial Giant is transforming Romaniaâs land itself, for you three who depend on absorbing leylines to maintain your existence, this has already become a fight to the death!"
If Adam succeeded in turning Romania into paradise, Achilles, Atalanta, and Karna would face the crisis of dissipation once again!
"âââââ!" The Primordial Giant roared in wounded fury, unhesitatingly slamming its blade against its own body. As soil and debris came crashing down, Sakatsuki turned and stepped into a diamond-shaped space, reappearing instantly beside Jeanne dâArc. He grabbed her arm and pulled her out of danger.
"Thank you!" Jeanne gasped hurriedly before raising her voice. She needed all the heroes present to understand the true threat this giant posed.
"Everyone! Adam, the Primordial Giant blessed by the earth, cannot be destroyed as long as his feet remain connected to the ground. Moreover, his size doubles every hour since birth, with a maximum height reaching one kilometer! By that point, even we wonât be able to defeat him!"
The giants defeated in various heroic legends were merely average specimens of their kind, but this continuously evolving Primordial Giant was clearly an exception. The Saintâs words put all Servants on high alert, making them cast aside their previous conflicts aside.
Former enemies who had fought due to differing allegiances, now facing a great crisis threatening this worldâeven someone as eccentric as Astolfo understood what needed to be done now.
Though they battled each other for the Holy Grail, at their core they remained Heroic Spirits, the pride engraved in human history.
"The situation is as you see! To regulate this Holy Grail War, I ask you to set aside past grudges and cooperate temporarily. We absolutely cannot allow the Primordial Giant to succeedâabsolutely! So let me lend you all my strength!"
Jeanne raised her left hand high and proclaimed in a clear voice:
"By my authority as Ruler Jeanne dâArc, I command all Servants gathered here through my Command Spell!"
Crimson wings like those of an angel unfurled behind Jeanne, illuminating the faces of every Servant present.
"Defeat the Primordial GiantâAdam!"