Fate: I Will Eventually Become the Hero of Justice

True to her reputation as the famous Greek huntress, Atalanta's charging speed was blindingly fast. Especially in her maddened, enhanced state, her parameters heightened even further - she moved with unbelievable, wind-like swiftness.

Unlike those Archers renowned for their Noble Phantasms, she fought more akin to an agile Lancer. Simply by running, no matter how hard Shirou tried, he couldn't match her pace.

So instead, he transformed the black mud into ten magical energy propellers and pursued her directly from the sky.

In the vast darkness of night, amidst the pitch black, Shirou's Clairvoyance C allowed him to see everything clearly below.

Atalanta was dressed all in black, resembling the Calydonian boar as she raced across the earth with swift speed. This was Atalanta's Noble Phantasm [Boar of Divine Punishment], the pelt of the Calydonian boar she had shot dead. By wrapping its skin around her body, she obtained the boar's power and wielded it as a cursed Noble Phantasm. While inducing her own madness, it improved her parameters. It could be considered a transformation-type Noble Phantasm, altering her from an Archer into a Berserker.

Shirou opened [Unlimited Blade Works], unleashing many Noble Phantasms from within, raining them down upon the sprinting Atalanta as Gilgamesh would.

"Whoosh Whoosh Whoosh—"

The sky was torn by streaks of silver light, a barrage of Noble Phantasms cascading like a storm.

Sensing the danger by instinct, Atalanta rolled to dodge the attack, never ceasing her straight escape.

Shirou frowned. Clearly, with [Boar of Divine Punishment] inducing her transformation, Atalanta now possessed beast-like instincts. Sensing her vast inferiority to Shirou, she did not engage him, only fleeing directly.

Speed types were his weakness. However, he was no longer a novice at combat. He had unique solutions for dealing with various opponents.

Seeing the mad enhanced Atalanta fleeing, Shirou bombarded her with projected Noble Phantasms, forcing her to change her escape direction multiple times. Shirou was like an artillery gunner bombarding the fleeing alley cat, panicking and fleeing without direction.

Utilizing the barrage from [Unlimited Blade Works], he forced Atalanta to change direction many times, allowing him to catch up to her. Landing with both feet, he frowned, "This crazed appearance really doesn't suit you, Atalanta."

Hearing this, she bared her fangs at him and growled like a beast warning off threats.

Shirou frowned. Though [Boar of Divine Punishment] enhanced Atalanta's parameters, it robbed her of rationality. In this state, she was no different than a Berserker - equivalent to having obtained A-Rank [Mad Enhancement].

Communication seemed impossible. But unfortunately for her, he was pretty skilled in dealing with Servants that had [Mad Enhancement].

He prepared the same skill once granted to Spartacus, intent on overlaying it upon Atalanta. But before he could, she swiftly nocked an arrow on [Bow of the Darkened Heavens], firing off arrows with Noble Phantasm level might at him.

Black mud on Shirou's body surged to form black shields, blocking this barrage of arrows. At the same time, black hands extended out from behind him, grabbing for Atalanta.

Staring at the reaching black hands, she bent her slender legs slightly, then powerfully sprang straight, her figure like that of a nimble tigress, leaping behind to dodge the assault from these black hands.

Unfortunately for her, this was within his calculations. As she landed, pairs of hands burst out from underground, seizing her ankles and briefly restraining her.

Atalanta snarled, struggling to break free, when more black hands emerged from Shirou's back, grabbing her. 

As he prepared to paste a skill on her—

Danger!

Shirou's heart thudded as he gathered the black hands into a surging tidal wave before him.

Endless flames billowed forth like a tide to meet it.

Space itself warped where the fire and darkness collided.

Then—

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Muffled explosions thundered as unleashed power from the clashing forces tore open the black sky.

Blood red flames on one side, abyssal darkness on the other.

The fire scorched the earth into barren wasteland.

And through that wasteland strode a youth, wielding a divine spear.

Shirou dismissed the black mud and frowned at the youth. "Karna..."

Indeed, it was Karna.

Atalanta broke free and flashed to Karna's side, baring her fangs at Shirou.

"I see... So that Bodhisattva is with you, Eternal King..." Karna looked to him calmly, "It was fortunate that... I arrived a step too late."

Shirou's brows furrowed. Were the Red Faction hunting Kiara collectively?

But something seemed off about Karna. His appearance was unchanged, yet his eyes held that same unhinged light as Atalanta's.

"Karna, what is happening to you?" he asked with deepening concern.

Karna sighed. "I'm afraid I will become an agent of evil this time. I thought I could finally face Arjuna, but..."

"What do you mean? What's controlling you?"

"I cannot say...the influence grows stronger by the minute. Remember...protect that Bodhisattva. She is the key to opposing the other..."

Before he could continue, madness completely flooded Karna's eyes.

Madness blazing in his eyes, Karna unleashed a Brahmastra beam straight at Shirou.

He quickly opened Unlimited Blade Works, projecting legendary shields from Gilgamesh's vault to block the attack.

"Boom Boom Boom Boom!!!"

The beam smashed through over a dozen replicas before the Shield of the Gods finally halted it.

Thick smoke obscured all sight.

The moment he defended against Karna's Noble Phantasm, eight massive black arms emerged from behind him. Taking out eight sixty-meter long [Ig-Alima: Green Field Cutting Through the Thousand Mountains (fake)], he slashed out at Karna.

The eight gigantic swords swung forth powerfully, momentum like crushing mountains, blowing away the smoke in surging shockwaves as they cleaved towards Karna.

Karna's golden Kavacha and Kundala armor spun like a sentient shield, blocking the swords' path.

Clang!

The armor's A-Rank withstood the blades, instead trapping them against itself. Then it shone with sunlight, blasting back the titanic weapons before retracting around Karna once more.

Holding the divine spear Vasavi Shakti, Karna charged.

Shirou merely raised a brow, shrinking the enormous arms back down behind him. The cumbersome Ig Alima was abandoned for a lighter Caliburn instead.

Granting himself God Slayer, Mana Burst, and Kalaripayattu, Shirou met Karna's charge head on. The spear stabbed toward his face, only to be blocked by four Caliburn-wielding hands. Four more slashed out against Karna in counterattack.

As expected of Karna. Even amidst madness, his warrior instincts made his martial prowess extremely formidable. Unable to succeed in one strike, he retreated half a step to widen the gap from Shirou. With a spin of his spearpoint, he deflected the four Caliburn blades.

"You think I don't know spearmanship?"

Shirou sneered, projecting the demonic Gae Bolg to stab straight at Karna's face.

Karna merely flicked his wrist to bat aside the thrust.

Shirou raised a brow. With Mana Burst reinforcing his strength, he was no weakling. But matching Karna spear-to-spear was beyond him. No worries though, his multiple arms gave him confidence.

He launched an all out assault, his eight arms striking at Karna from all angles. But Karna did not retreat, instead charging forward to meet the blows.

Steel rang out as their weapons clashed relentlessly. Blades collided in bursts of sparks that lit up the battlefield. Though his spearmanship fell short of Karna's masterful skill, his multiple arms allowed him to duel evenly for the time being.

Karna remained a formidable foe, his sheer power on par with both Shirou and Gilgamesh. Even empowered by [God Slayer], he couldn't fully suppress Karna.

Unlike [Imperial Privilege], which could stack buffs one after another, [Heroic Mortal] and [Leader of Mortal] can't stack. Only through the stacked boost of [Imperial Privilege] could he hope to overpower the legendary hero before him.

This stalemate left Shirou unable to overpower Karna, now madly enhanced without concern for his mana reserves. Atalanta also watched eagerly from the sidelines, ready to jump in.

Victory could no longer be assured if Shirou continued this draining battle. He needed to retreat. But Karna refused to let his enemy escape, attacking with ever greater ferocity. 

He wanted to fire a Broken Phantasm, but at such close range it was too easy for Karna to interrupt him and find an opening.

Suddenly, the earth rumbled with a deafening sound.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Jagged fissures tore through the ground as a beam of blackish-red light burst out, shooting straight at Karna's face. Though his Kavacha easily deflected the surprise attack, it halted Karna's movements just long enough for Shirou to stab at his chest with Gae Bolg.

"Clang—"

Gae Bolg naturally failed to penetrate Karna's Kavacha, but the force from [Mana Burst] pushed Karna back a step.

Just as Karna was about to step forward, a hand burst from underground, seizing his foot and dragging him down with only his head above the ground.

Capitalizing on the opportunity, Shirou unleashed a barrage of Broken Phantasms, raining the shattered blades of eight Caliburns down upon Karna's exposed head.

At the same time, Atalanta fired a volley of arrows from an extremely tricky angle, forcing him to use two black hands to block. That left only six hands continuing the Caliburn bombardment that exploded around Karna with a deafening sound.

"BOOM!"

The earth split apart, clouds of debris filling the air.

Without hesitation, he called out, "Retreat now, Mordred!"

His only reply was a gruff "Hmph" before silence fell.

Wasting no time, he made his own swift escape.

As the dust settled, the unscathed Karna emerged from the earth.

He was about to continue the chase.

But an order seemed to penetrate space and time through his contract, transmitting to his ears.

—Return.