Chapter 253: Who's next?
"... Damn it. This is bad."
Rider, who was standing at the arch of Fuyuki Bridge, watching the battle taking place in the warehouse district, muttered slightly as he stood up.
"What, what's wrong?"
Seeing the giant Servant showing impatience for the first time, Waver became agitated, and asked Rider as he clutched at the iron frame.
"Lancer and that boy have used decisive techniques. It seems they both want the duel decided quickly."
"Wouldn't that be favorable for us?"
"You fool, what are you talking about?"
Rider kicked the iron frame he was standing on to generate a roar. For Waver, whose entire body was clinging to the frame, the tremor shook him to his bones, and raised another shriek.
"I wanted to wait until the battle was over before everyone arrived, but looking at the current situation, it looks like that boy is going to be at a disadvantage, and it would be too late to attack by then."
"Too late? - Didn't you want to attack when they were all exhausted from fighting each other?
"... I think you've misunderstood something, kid."
Rider furrowed his eyebrows and turned his head down to look at the Master lying at his feet, as if he were disappointed in the performance of a sans serif clown.
"I expected the other Servants to take the bait from Lancer, isn't it obvious? Even better than fighting them one by one, it's much better to get them all together and have a real battle!"
"…"
Waver forgot to respond; the impression clouds even his reason as he discovers the differences between his understanding and that of the brave Heroic Spirit.
"Bring them all together... a great royal battle?"
"Yes. It's such a rare opportunity to cross swords with the greatest heroes of all ages. If all six of them are here, won't let any of them get away."
A fierce, dangerous lion-like growl slipped from Rider's throat, but there was a hint of laughter as he lifted the edges of his lips. Waver realized that only this man could wear a smile like that.
"So, that boy and Lancer. They both have the flaming spirit of true warriors. I admire them; it would be a shame to let them die like that."
"What else is there besides killing them? That's not the point of the Holy Grail Waaa-."
Waver's slightly hysterical voice was mercilessly interrupted by a pat on the forehead.
"Victory without ruin, domination without misfortune - that is the true conquest!"
Proclaimed Rider, holding his chest steady; then he drew the sword at his hip and cut through the empty air with a wielding, furrowing the empty space.
A huge shining Noble Phantasm appeared at once, galloping accompanied by whirlwinds of prana. Waver felt as if he were about to be thrown into the sudden storm, swallowing his cries and squeezing the iron frame even more tightly.
"Observation is over. We join the battle, boy."
Before his words were finished, Rider had ridden the Noble Phantasm with a jump, his cape flapping.
"You idiot! You idiot! You're acting nonsensical!"
"Oh? If you don't want to go, you can stay here and watch."
"I'm going! Take me away, you idiot!"
"Well, that's more in keeping with my Master!"
Rider gave a clear laugh, gently took Waver by the collar of his jacket, and let Waver ride on his own.
"Now come on, Gordius Wheel: Wheel of Heaven's Authority!"
The Noble Phantasm responded to the call of the King of the Conquerors with a thunderous tremor.
…
A storm arose. A confusion of life and death.
The moment Drako and Lancer slid past each other, bright crimson flowers fluttered and bloomed briefly... before disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Drako, who had charged forward, stopped. He stopped imbuing Laevatein with his magical power, so the glow of the sword disappeared along with the heat it emitted.
Behind Drako was Diarmuid, or what was left of him.
Just as Drako had planned, Diarmuid's body had been split in two by a diagonal cut from his waist to his right shoulder. Both body parts had fallen in different places, leaving a bloody scene.
"So here ends my participation in the Holy Grail War. I am sorry, Master."
Those were Lancer's last words before he disappeared into magical particles.
At that moment, Drako heard [Sage's] voice.
[47,500 experience points have been obtained]
[Due to the increased difficulty, 47,500 experience points have been obtained.]
[Because of the effects of Title Skill [Walking Egg], another 95,000 experience points were obtained.]
[The level of [Nephalem Great Dragon King] had risen from 118 to 227]
"Unbelievable..." Drako couldn't help but mutter as he watched the notices that [Sage] was showing him.
Apparently, although [Sage] had increased his difficulty level by being born, Diarmuid was still weaker than Ladon. It seemed that this world was considerably weaker than DxD, as even with [Sage's] meddling, they were still no stronger than the superpowers of Kuroka's homeworld.
With Ladon, Drako had gained a total of 100,000 experience points. With Diarmuid, Drako should have gotten 95,000, but with [Sage's] meddling, he had gotten a total of 190,000.
Total madness.
In total, Drako had climbed 109 levels. Therefore, his statistics had gone up quite a bit.
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Drako
Race - Nephilim Great Dragon King
Level - 227/250
HP - 950.000/950.000
MP - 980.000/980.000
STR - 3225 -> 5125
END - 2850 -> 4750
AGI - 3575 -> 5475
MAG - 3000 -> 4900
Great Dragon King: END X200 for HP, MAG X200 for MP, END X30 for HP Regen, MAG X30 for MP Regen
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An incredible rise in stats, just as those more than one hundred levels deserved. Although, in his human form and with the two boosters that Drako had applied, his stats right now were the following.
STR - 9225
END - 8550
AGI - 19710
MAG - 8820
Right now, his stats even exceeded Artoria's. In other words, Drako had probably become the strongest Servant in terms of stats.
Going back to what had happened in those brief moments of battle when Diarmuid had ended up dying.
Against the Noble Phantasm Gae Dearg, Drako could not defend himself with just his armor because of the spear's properties. However, the other Noble Phantasm of Diarmuid, Gae Buidhe, could not pierce Drako's armor.
In fact, if it weren't for Gae Dearg's special feature, this spear could not pierce Drako's armor either.
Diarmuid would never have expected Drako's armor to be so hard as to completely repel Gae Buidhe, and he planned to use Drako's great speed to pierce the armor completely by his heart.
Because of Gae Buidhe's special effects, which prevent the wounds generated by this weapon from regenerating, there was no way that Drako would not die if it impacted the way Diarmuid wanted.
But... this was a battle that Lancer was destined to lose.
"The first warrior of the Knights of Fianna... Diarmuid of the Mole of Love It has been an honor to fight you, as well as to give you an honorable death. Who knows, we may meet again in the future."
The Servant participating in the Fourth Holy Grail War, Lancer... the Heroic Spirit of the Celts, Diarmuid Ua Duibhne.
In the original story, he creates a bond with Artoria through the various combats they coincide with (they should have been both enemy and ally). One of his wishes was to have an honorable death against her.
But his most important desire is to serve his Lord to the best of his ability. The mere fact that he was summoned to the Holy Grail War can be considered to mean that his wish has already been half fulfilled.
Drako's favorite Servants are those of the Saber-class and those of the Lancer-class, and the latter is placed above the former. This is because the Lancers Drako meets through anime are all incredible.
Diarmuid in Fate/Zero, Cu Chulainn in Fate/Stay Night, and finally Achilles and Karna in Fate/Apocrypha. All of them are incredible characters that Drako adored and admired in his past life; he had always wanted to be at least half as strong and cool as them.
If Drako could have all four Servants working for him, the dragon would not hesitate for a second. In fact, he had thought of inviting Diarmuid. Still, he knew that he couldn't betray his Master because of his personality.
That's why Drako couldn't do anything else but kill him.
Now...
"Who's next?"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone