FATE: Target of Grand Master

"Although I don't know what you're planning, I won't let you get away with it. Avenger!"

Instantly, rubble tumbled down from the large cavern. Gorgon's body remained still, but his hair transformed into several giant, purplish-red snakes that attacked the group.

"I'll hold them off."

Medea picked up Hecate's staff, floated into the air, and used high-speed chanting to unleash more than a dozen magic circles around her, firing a dense rain of magic bullets at all the giant snakes.

Despite their low power, the sheer number of those magic bullets still caused some damage to the giant snakes.

"As expected, since this is not the Age of Gods, the power of my magic will be reduced, but Gorgon, who is also a product of the Age of Gods, is not at his peak either."

Because of Medea's attack, the giant snakes focused all their attention on her alone.

Although Medea's agility was not outstanding, thanks to her floating in mid-air, she was able to temporarily contend with several giant snakes.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Xia Yan, Ilya, and Rin found a flat spot, took out two live chickens from their bags, and Xia Yan killed and used them on the spot to start drawing a summoning circle, while Rin and Ilya were responsible for guarding.

"I thought you were up to something. The Holy Grail War has already reached this stage, and you're still thinking about summoning Servants. In a Holy Grail War, each class can only manifest one Servant. That's common sense."

Matou Ryouken appeared in front of them and was immediately "warmly welcomed" by the magic bullets and golden needle magic.

However, these attacks only served to interrupt Matou Ryogen's speech.

The blue-haired youth's figure re-condensed a little distance away, and then he continued, "However, seeing how much you value this, just to be on the safe side, I'll still disrupt your plan."

Immediately afterwards, the various giant insects that had appeared at Ryudong Temple reappeared in front of them.

"Rin, Illya, please buy some time."

Xia Yan continued drawing the summoning circle while giving instructions.

"I understand, but we only have a limited amount of time, so you'd better hurry."

As Rin spoke, she threw five gems at the swarm of insects, instantly injuring two giant insects.

Ilya also tore off a small tuft of her hair and transformed it into several familiars, such as blades and birds, to attack.

Three battlefields suddenly appeared inside the large cavern, with explosions and collisions occurring incessantly.

Despite possessing near-limitless magical power and martial arts skills remaining in her spirit origin, Artoria Altera's fighting style became less agile after losing her soul.

Once Cú Chulainn closed in on her, Artoria Altera had no chance to unleash her Noble Phantasm. Her attempts to release her magic were also detected by Cú Chulainn during the battle, and she was either dodged by his prediction or interrupted by his attacks, making the fight very awkward.

In stark contrast to his experience fighting Artoria Alter, Cú Chulainn fully unleashed the wildness and agility of a Celtic warrior, growing stronger with each battle and throwing himself into the fight wholeheartedly.

The battle between the two gradually shifted from Saber's initial advantage to a fierce war of attrition.

On the other hand, Medea's situation was not so good.

After toying with the giant snakes for a while, those seemingly dim-witted creatures realized they had been outmaneuvered and all retreated back to the seemingly still-sleeping Gorgon. Then, the giant snakes opened their mouths in unison, and several laser beams shot out from their mouths.

"What?"

Caught off guard by the lasers, Medea hurriedly cast a defensive spell in front of her, but even so, she was still blasted against the wall by the combined laser fire of the giant snakes.

"Caster!"

Rin saw Medea being blasted away and wanted to help, but the pressure on her and Illya's side was not easy either.

Wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth, Medea seemed to be getting angry as well.

"Little girl, don't worry about me, just focus on what you're supposed to do."

After saying this, Medea floated into the air again, gently stroking the golden sheepskin, and her injuries were immediately healed.

"These mere monsters will show you the power of the Great Witch of the Age of Gods!"

A magic circle larger than herself appeared in front of Medea, and magic began to rapidly condense in front of her. She was about to release the compressed magic cannon that she had not been able to release at Ryudouji Temple.

Meanwhile, the giant snakes' second round of lasers was already poised to strike.

The magic from both sides was released simultaneously. After a few seconds of stalemate, Medea's compressed magic cannon, fired from the right side, gained the upper hand.

"How foolish of you to think you can compete with me in magic power."

Just then, a giant snake that had been hiding quietly emerged from the shadows at the top of the great cavern and attacked Medea, who was still unleashing her magic cannon.

"Oh no!"

Medea had no time to defend herself; she closed her eyes, bracing herself for the giant snake to bite her.

But this did not happen.

At the critical moment, Kuzuki Souichirou, wielding both black and white swords, pierced the giant serpent's head.

The giant snake, in pain, immediately retreated, and Kuzuki took the opportunity to push off and return to Shirou Emiya, who had lent him Gan Jiang and Mo Xie.

"Lord Souichirou!" Medea exclaimed with delight, but then asked in confusion, "What are you doing here?"

"Caster, just as you understand me, I understand you too. No matter how realistic your dolls are, they are not you. If I can't even see that, I'm not qualified to be your husband."

"Souichiro-sama!"

Medea's eyes welled up with tears, and her heart was filled with warmth.

"Caster, we can talk later. Focus on the battle first."

Souichirou Kuzuki once again grasped the twin swords projected by Shirou Emiya and stabbed back the other giant serpent that was attempting to ambush Medea.

"Yes, Soichiro-sama! Ha~~~"

Medea refocused her attention and increased the power of the magic cannon, finally blasting the giant snakes made of Gorgon's hair into charred remains, and also creating a huge wound on Gorgon's body.

However, Medea did not show any joy, because the wounds on Gorgon's body began to heal at a visible speed the moment the power of the magic cannon dissipated.

On the other side, Rin's firing rate and power of the Gatling gun were enough to be called the Fin Gatling gun, and the continuous stream of magic bullets blasted the approaching giant insects to pieces.

Meanwhile, Ilya's golden needle magic had already reaped the lives of countless giant insects. Thanks to the efforts of his companions, Xia Yan finally finished drawing the summoning circle.

He took out the small bag of gems that Rin had given him before he left and spread them on the summoning circle. Then he held a short sword in his hand that looked like it had a multifaceted gem. It was a gem sword that had been projected last night by Shirou Emiya's projection magic with the help of Rin and Illya.

After all preparations were completed, Xia Yan stood in the center of the summoning circle and began to recite the summoning incantation.

Its base is silver and iron.

The foundation is the great public principle of stone and covenant.

The doors, though open on all four sides, were all closed.

Emerging from the crown, it cycles back and forth along the fork in the road leading to the kingdom.

Fill it to the brim, fill it to the brim, fill it to the brim, fill it to the brim.

The cycle repeats itself, and then it becomes five.

However, the moment of abundance is also the moment of decay.

Seeing that the battles were not going well everywhere, Matou Ryogen once again called upon Gorgon.

"Avenger, open your eyes!"

Gorgon, who had kept his eyes closed, immediately opened them.

Suddenly, everyone felt their bodies sink, and then their bodies began to petrify.

"This is the Petrifying Demon Eye, and it was an attack launched by the Demon Queen from the Age of Gods."

Everyone present was affected by Gorgon's magic eye.

The two Servants were the first to be affected. Cú Chulainn was able to slow down the petrification effect somewhat thanks to his magic resistance, but Medea was not so lucky. The petrification made it impossible for her to maintain her floating posture, and she fell directly to the ground.

The rest were in even worse shape.

Rin Tohsaka instantly unleashed a Jewel Magic spell, slowing down the petrification of herself and Illya. Souichirou Kuzuki stepped in front of Shirou Emiya at the crucial moment, making Shirou the only one present who was not affected by the petrification.

Xia Yan, who was inside the summoning circle, was naturally also affected. The effect of the Divine Era's Mystic Eye was something that an ordinary person like him could not resist.

Perhaps because the large amount of magic power generated after the summoning circle was activated acted as a buffer, Xia Yan was miraculously not petrified instantly, but rather the petrification started from his feet and gradually spread upwards.

Meanwhile, on Matou Ryouken's side, the moment Gorgon opened his eyes, Matou Ryouken used black mud to envelop Artoria ALTER's spirit origin, and only the outer layer of black mud was affected by petrification.

As for Matou Ryouken's own clones and those unfortunate giant insects, Matou Ryouken didn't care at all.