Gazing at the Tom Ball before him and the tranquil desert town, Arash, with his last remaining head, was crushed by the residual power of the Noble Phantasm, filled with bitter regret.
In his final moments, Arash found himself reminiscing about the knife raised by Mashu, the very Noble Phantasm that severed his connection. How did that Noble Phantasm break?
With this lingering question, Arash vanished completely, becoming the first casualty of the Holy Grail War.
On the sidelines, Gudako, witnessing Arash employ his Noble Phantasm, grew incredibly excited. She was already in high spirits, as she would often set off fireworks during battles, turning Arash's fireworks into the opening ceremony for each confrontation.
Nevertheless, her enthusiasm for fireworks persisted, primarily because of the efficiency and swiftness of Arash's brand of pyrotechnics. Once Arash's fireworks were released, the rear-line Servants could move up to the front row without the need for a command.
Now, being able to witness the fireworks once again, how could she not be thrilled? The only regret was that Mashu was already lying down; otherwise, they could have enjoyed the fireworks together.
However, as the fireworks were released and Gudako observed everything before her, her smile froze.
Where were the fireworks? Such a grand display, where did it go? What happened to the Command Seals she had used, each one taking a whole day to recharge?
All she saw was a brilliant flash, and then... there was no "then." It was over.
At the spot where Arash had stood to unleash his Noble Phantasm, there was nothing—no trace, not even a crack on the ground caused by the recoil. The ground remained untouched, without the slightest mark.
Looking at the target of Meteor's attack, the "Schrödinger's Cat" had merely evolved into a "Schrödinger's Cat Ball," completely unscathed. It seemed as if the previous strike from Meteor was just a gentle breeze blown towards the feline.
"Gururu~" Floating in the air, Tom blinked in confusion, motionless and suspended at a height of approximately 1.5 meters.
At this moment, Tom could be described as a cat-patterned hydrogen balloon. Due to inflation, its limbs had become extremely short, not even reaching ten centimeters. This was no ordinary cat; it was even more Corgi-like than a Corgi itself, truly resembling a feline ball.
The only slightly out-of-place feature was its straightened tail, pointing upward at a 45-degree angle.
"Tom, you're not gone, are you?" With Mashu lying down and Arash gone, only Gudako remained. Bai Song suddenly found the courage and approached Tom's side, asking with uncertain concern.
Upon hearing Bai Song's caring inquiry, Tom felt the urge to respond with a meow.
"Mew... " However, as it attempted to open its mouth, a ray of light escaped, frightening it into quickly shutting its mouth again. It could only flail its tiny legs, measuring barely ten centimeters, in the air, appearing helpless and ineffective.
However, flapping in the air was of no use. Instead of facing Bai Song head-on, it ended up facing Gudako, who was standing right next to Mashu. Its tail was aimed at Bai Song.
"Oh, I see. You want me to grab the tail, right?"
Seeing Tom proactively aligning his rear end towards himself, with his tail pointing upwards at a 45-degree angle, Bai Song immediately realized that Tom wanted him to push down its tail. Without hesitation, Bai Song reached out and pressed down on the back of the cat ball with one hand, while the other hand grasped Tom's tail and pulled it downwards.
However, to Bai Song's surprise, the cat's tail did not break off in parallel as he had expected. Instead, it broke in the middle, and Tom's tail took on a shape similar to a ∧.
"Snap!"
With a sharp cracking sound, Tom felt an intense pain as his tail was broken, and his face turned visibly red.
Unable to endure the pain, his previously tightly shut mouth could no longer remain firm.
As everyone knows, Tom has a special ability. When he experiences unbearable pain, he needs to let out a scream to nullify the pain. In Tom's eyes, the damage inflicted by Bai Song naturally caused him pain.
Thus, it was inevitable that he would scream to nullify the pain.
In the end, unable to change position in mid-air, Tom could only prepare to let out a scream in the same spot.
"Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!!!!"
Accompanied by a piercing scream that resembled the sound of a Stuka dive bomber, Tom's mouth... opened wide!
Not only did a simple scream burst out from Tom's mouth, but also an extremely intense and colorful white light cannon erupted from his mouth, shooting forward in a spreading cylindrical shape!
While Gudako was pondering where the meteor had gone, suddenly, she saw a beam of light shooting out from Tom's mouth, heading towards her.
In that instant of seeing the color, Gudako realized that it was the meteor she had just released and disappeared. And now, this meteor had returned to its original owner, exploding on herself.
The moment Gudako realized that the meteor was aimed at her, she immediately understood that she was in serious trouble, even colder than absolute zero.
"Oh, shoot..." Leaving behind this last sentence, the light cannon from the meteor burst out from Tom's mouth and directly enveloped Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mashu.
"Boom!!!" Accompanied by a powerful explosion, a beautiful mushroom cloud rose from the location where Mashu and Gudako had just been.
At the same time as the explosion occurred, the surroundings instantly returned to the original residential area road, causing the explosion to occur right in the middle of this narrow path. As a result, the entire road surface cracked open, and the walls on both sides were shattered by the shockwave.
And at that moment, two figures soared rapidly into the sky, yes, they were blasted away. It was none other than Gudako, who had just commanded Arash to use the meteor, and Mashu, who once again found herself caught in the crossfire. They were both directly blasted away by the meteor that Tom had unleashed.
"I will definitely come back!!"
After leaving behind these words, Gudako and Mashu disappeared into the sky together. In the instant they vanished on the horizon, Gudako shimmered and burst into a burst of pure white light, as if transformed into a fireworks display. For a moment, she became the brightest star in the sky, only to extinguish completely.
Gazing at the Tom Ball before him and the tranquil desert town, Arash, with his last remaining head, was crushed by the residual power of the Noble Phantasm, filled with bitter regret.
In his final moments, Arash found himself reminiscing about the knife raised by Mashu, the very Noble Phantasm that severed his connection. How did that Noble Phantasm break?
With this lingering question, Arash vanished completely, becoming the first casualty of the Holy Grail War.
On the sidelines, Gudako, witnessing Arash employ his Noble Phantasm, grew incredibly excited. She was already in high spirits, as she would often set off fireworks during battles, turning Arash's fireworks into the opening ceremony for each confrontation.
Nevertheless, her enthusiasm for fireworks persisted, primarily because of the efficiency and swiftness of Arash's brand of pyrotechnics. Once Arash's fireworks were released, the rear-line Servants could move up to the front row without the need for a command.
Now, being able to witness the fireworks once again, how could she not be thrilled? The only regret was that Mashu was already lying down; otherwise, they could have enjoyed the fireworks together.
However, as the fireworks were released and Gudako observed everything before her, her smile froze.
Where were the fireworks? Such a grand display, where did it go? What happened to the Command Seals she had used, each one taking a whole day to recharge?
All she saw was a brilliant flash, and then... there was no "then." It was over.
At the spot where Arash had stood to unleash his Noble Phantasm, there was nothing—no trace, not even a crack on the ground caused by the recoil. The ground remained untouched, without the slightest mark.
Looking at the target of Meteor's attack, the "Schrödinger's Cat" had merely evolved into a "Schrödinger's Cat Ball," completely unscathed. It seemed as if the previous strike from Meteor was just a gentle breeze blown towards the feline.
"Gururu~" Floating in the air, Tom blinked in confusion, motionless and suspended at a height of approximately 1.5 meters.
At this moment, Tom could be described as a cat-patterned hydrogen balloon. Due to inflation, its limbs had become extremely short, not even reaching ten centimeters. This was no ordinary cat; it was even more Corgi-like than a Corgi itself, truly resembling a feline ball.
The only slightly out-of-place feature was its straightened tail, pointing upward at a 45-degree angle.
"Tom, you're not gone, are you?" With Mashu lying down and Arash gone, only Gudako remained. Bai Song suddenly found the courage and approached Tom's side, asking with uncertain concern.
Upon hearing Bai Song's caring inquiry, Tom felt the urge to respond with a meow.
"Mew... " However, as it attempted to open its mouth, a ray of light escaped, frightening it into quickly shutting its mouth again. It could only flail its tiny legs, measuring barely ten centimeters, in the air, appearing helpless and ineffective.
However, flapping in the air was of no use. Instead of facing Bai Song head-on, it ended up facing Gudako, who was standing right next to Mashu. Its tail was aimed at Bai Song.
"Oh, I see. You want me to grab the tail, right?"
Seeing Tom proactively aligning his rear end towards himself, with his tail pointing upwards at a 45-degree angle, Bai Song immediately realized that Tom wanted him to push down its tail. Without hesitation, Bai Song reached out and pressed down on the back of the cat ball with one hand, while the other hand grasped Tom's tail and pulled it downwards.
However, to Bai Song's surprise, the cat's tail did not break off in parallel as he had expected. Instead, it broke in the middle, and Tom's tail took on a shape similar to a ∧.
"Snap!"
With a sharp cracking sound, Tom felt an intense pain as his tail was broken, and his face turned visibly red.
Unable to endure the pain, his previously tightly shut mouth could no longer remain firm.
As everyone knows, Tom has a special ability. When he experiences unbearable pain, he needs to let out a scream to nullify the pain. In Tom's eyes, the damage inflicted by Bai Song naturally caused him pain.
Thus, it was inevitable that he would scream to nullify the pain.
In the end, unable to change position in mid-air, Tom could only prepare to let out a scream in the same spot.
"Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!!!!"
Accompanied by a piercing scream that resembled the sound of a Stuka dive bomber, Tom's mouth... opened wide!
Not only did a simple scream burst out from Tom's mouth, but also an extremely intense and colorful white light cannon erupted from his mouth, shooting forward in a spreading cylindrical shape!
While Gudako was pondering where the meteor had gone, suddenly, she saw a beam of light shooting out from Tom's mouth, heading towards her.
In that instant of seeing the color, Gudako realized that it was the meteor she had just released and disappeared. And now, this meteor had returned to its original owner, exploding on herself.
The moment Gudako realized that the meteor was aimed at her, she immediately understood that she was in serious trouble, even colder than absolute zero.
"Oh, shoot..." Leaving behind this last sentence, the light cannon from the meteor burst out from Tom's mouth and directly enveloped Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mashu.
"Boom!!!" Accompanied by a powerful explosion, a beautiful mushroom cloud rose from the location where Mashu and Gudako had just been.
At the same time as the explosion occurred, the surroundings instantly returned to the original residential area road, causing the explosion to occur right in the middle of this narrow path. As a result, the entire road surface cracked open, and the walls on both sides were shattered by the shockwave.
And at that moment, two figures soared rapidly into the sky, yes, they were blasted away. It was none other than Gudako, who had just commanded Arash to use the meteor, and Mashu, who once again found herself caught in the crossfire. They were both directly blasted away by the meteor that Tom had unleashed.
"I will definitely come back!!"
After leaving behind these words, Gudako and Mashu disappeared into the sky together. In the instant they vanished on the horizon, Gudako shimmered and burst into a burst of pure white light, as if transformed into a fireworks display. For a moment, she became the brightest star in the sky, only to extinguish completely.
