"Think whatever you like," Su Mo said with a shake of his head. "But I'm telling you—I'm not that guy." He then turned to the kneeling warrior. "So, Karna, son of Surya—there's no need for you to show me such reverence." With that, he directly revealed the identity of the Servant before him.
Karna—the son of the sun god Surya, one of the golden trio, and a top-tier Servant often referred to as "the Little Sun." The Hero of Generosity.
That radiant golden armor he wore was none other than a divine gift from his father—an armor that could reduce any incoming attack to a tenth of its original power. Hearing Su Mo call out Karna's true name, Lord El-Melloi (Kayneth), while already suspecting as much, still found the revelation troublesome. After all, a Servant's true name was something to be carefully guarded. While Karna didn't possess any fatal weaknesses, he was burdened with a curse. If they could've kept his identity secret, all the better.
Luckily, he had already loudly declared Su Mo's supposed divine name to everyone present. And while Karna was certainly powerful, he was only a demigod. That meant he wouldn't be everyone's top target. Compared to him, the likes of Indra, the war god, and Ishtar, the goddess of Venus, were much more likely to draw hostile attention.
As for Su Mo's denial? Kayneth simply chalked it up to a god wanting to conceal his identity. He believed in his Servant. There was no way Karna would mistake a deity from his own divine system. Especially not Indra, with whom he had such a fated connection.
On the other side, Rider could only let out a bitter smile. Even with all his grand ambition, even he hadn't imagined the Holy Grail War would become… this.
"I'd expected this to be a gathering of heroic spirits across time," he muttered, "but I never thought it would turn into a full-blown divine return."
"War god Indra, goddess Ishtar, and now the sun god's son, Karna…" The brawny red-haired king scratched his head and sighed.
"God-kings, high deities, demigods… all straight out of myth."
"With you all around, what's left for us mere mortals?!"
If even the great Iskandar the Conqueror was calling himself a "mere mortal," that said a lot about just how absurd this Holy Grail War had become. Still, his gaze drifted to the girl nestled in Su Mo's arms—Okita Souji, the Saber-class Servant. He finally breathed a little sigh of relief.
"At least Saber's still here. Makes me feel like I'm not completely out of place."
And for that, he was truly thankful. Earlier, when he saw Okita's breathtaking swordplay only to watch her collapse from illness soon after, he'd felt a pang of regret. A warrior like that, chained by sickness… it was tragic.
But after watching the clash between Su Mo and Ishtar—
He now felt that Saber's performance was… comfortingly human. It reminded him he wasn't the only one being overshadowed. His words resonated with the rest of the onlookers.
Be it Kayneth or Tohsaka Tokiomi, they'd all believed themselves unbeatable after summoning their Servants. They never expected the Holy Grail War to feature divine beings from myth—and a literal god walking the modern world.
It was absurd.
Among them all, the only one not amused by Rider's words was Saber herself.
"What do you mean, 'thank goodness I'm here'?!" Saber puffed out her cheeks in frustration, her signature ahoge standing upright like an antenna.
"You're clearly saying I'm weak, aren't you?! That I'm useless, right?!"
"I want to protect Master! I want to help him fight back these powerful enemies!"
"But Master is just way too strong! What can I even do?! I'm at my limit too, okay?!"
"Awakening divine-level power like that… That's just cheating! How am I supposed to keep up?!"
"What's even the point of me if Master's so overpowered… Uuuhhh…" Tears welled up in Okita Souji's eyes as she buried her face in Su Mo's chest, sobbing with embarrassment and grievance. Even her ahoge drooped with sadness.
Seeing her like this, the other Servants looked on with sympathy and understanding. Being summoned by a god was supposed to be an honor. But when your Master was this overwhelmingly powerful, it only led to crushing self-doubt.
Servants were Heroic Spirits—they had their pride too. But pride meant nothing in the face of divine might. Su Mo hadn't realized how much pressure had built up in Okita's heart. Today's defeat, and her two dramatic collapses, had clearly left a mental scar.
Especially collapsing right in the middle of trying to look cool. For a girl like her, that was deeply embarrassing. So, while he gently soothed the crying girl wrapped around him, he also made a silent note:
He had to find a way to lift the [Weak Constitution] curse from her. He wouldn't feel at ease otherwise. Thanks to Okita's outburst, the tension on the battlefield eased dramatically. Many of the Masters and Servants had feared that once Ishtar left, Su Mo might just start slaughtering everyone.
But now, seeing Saber like this...
There was no way a battle was breaking out again anytime soon. And yet—over on one knee, Karna still hadn't risen.
"O King of the Gods," he said solemnly, "Though you refuse to accept the name I called you by…"
"I descended here with a solemn vow—to win the Holy Grail War for my Master."
"So, I beg your forgiveness for the sin I now commit, for drawing my blade against you."
"If punishment is required… I will accept it without resistance." He was the son of a god, yet he had raised his weapon against the king of gods. It was undoubtedly a grave offense. Yet, bound by his vow to his Master, Karna had no choice but to stand against Indra—even if it meant being cut down by him.
As a hero, he could not break his oath.
Though born of a god, Karna had no desire to rebel against the King of the Gods. That's why he made such a humble request—hoping that the god before him would forgive his offense. Even if Su Mo were to punish him, Karna would accept it without hesitation.
"What a loyal warrior!" Rider exclaimed with admiration, clapping his hands in praise.
Even Lord El-Melloi (Kayneth), Karna's Master, was visibly moved. He had always trusted Karna because of the hero's legend, but he never imagined this Hero of Charity would go so far—willing to defy even the King of Gods for his sake.
"Well, aside from being a little dense, he's practically perfect," Kayneth thought with a wry smile. In his mind, since they were already enemies, there was no point in asking for forgiveness. Accept the fight and face it head-on. Why grovel before your opponent? That seemed like twisted logic.
But as a magus, he couldn't truly grasp the unwavering resolve that defined a hero.
In the center of the battlefield, Su Mo looked down at Karna's unguarded and earnest posture of repentance. With a casual wave of his hand, he spoke.
"First off, I'm not Indra. But even if I were, there's no reason to condemn someone for clashing blades with an enemy."
"We are on opposing sides. As warriors, fighting each other is simply the way of things. It's not defiance."
"A noble hero is bound to uphold his vows. So, stand Karna. I forgive you."
Su Mo felt no malice toward someone like Karna—rigid, but noble. Naturally, he had no intention of punishing him. With his overwhelming strength, there was simply no need to act so petty.
And so, with those words, Su Mo absolved him.
Karna's expression lit up with gratitude. "Thank you for your mercy, great one."
Whatever had happened in myths aside, Karna held genuine respect for the war god Indra standing before him. Not only had this divine figure pardoned his transgression, but he also called him a noble hero, and acknowledged him as the son of Surya.
Even for someone as composed as Karna, that kind of affirmation stirred a childlike sense of joy—as if being praised by a wise elder. Though technically still enemies, the mood on the battlefield grew unexpectedly harmonious. It was at that moment that Rider, who had been patiently waiting, finally stepped in.
"Ahem—are the god and the demigod hero finished with their conversation?" He let out a boisterous laugh, though his tone carried a trace of caution as he glanced at the two.
"If so, I have something I'd like to discuss."
"Go ahead, Rider. What is it?" Karna asked, looking to Su Mo for his approval before turning toward the Conqueror King.
"Heh, here's the thing…" Iskandar rubbed his hands together, smiling sheepishly.
"Lancer, how about we form an alliance?" With that, he dropped a proposition that couldn't be ignored.
"An alliance?" Karna repeated, unsurprised by the idea, but somewhat puzzled by the timing.
"Exactly!" Iskandar nodded seriously. "This Holy Grail War is far tougher than we anticipated. Gods and goddesses walk among us—enemies who are nearly impossible to defeat."
"If we so-called 'mortals' don't band together, we'll just be picked off one by one."
Despite his rough and bold exterior, Iskandar was a man of strategy and cunning. True to his nature, he quickly assessed the threat posed by the divine beings and arrived at one conclusion—only by uniting the lesser forces could they hope to survive.
And Karna, being a powerful demigod hero, was the perfect ally. Taking on the war god Indra might be out of reach. But defeating Ishtar, the goddess, seemed plausible if they played it right.
From what they'd seen, Ishtar's powers, aside from gemstone-based magecraft, included summoning the Bull of Heaven, and a divine attack that had been interrupted mid-cast.
Gemstone magecraft was completely ineffective against Karna. And while the Bull of Heaven was too much for Rider to defeat outright, he could still trap the beast for a few minutes using his Reality Marble. That window would be just enough for Karna to take on Ishtar, especially if she had already burned through her trump cards.
With this plan in mind, Iskandar offered Karna the alliance. His ultimate strategy was to first cooperate against Ishtar, then potentially team up with Karna to take on Su Mo. Step by step, whittling down their enemies—only then could victory even begin to seem possible. Of course, recalling how he'd thoroughly offended the goddess earlier, Rider wasn't optimistic about working with her. That's why he turned to Karna first.