There was a sound of spilling liquid—dark blood had dripped from under the cloth that covered the grotesque bowman’s face.
“If the power you were given had been a divine blessing, I would have slain you at once, but the power coursing through you is born of man and earth. The gods had no hand in it. And so, I praise this world, this age. You may have used the water serpent’s venom, but I congratulate you on producing a technique to destroy me while rejecting divine aid.”
Was his calm speech the mark of a Heroic Spirit who realized his end was near and meant to meet it with dignity?
John was under the illusion that it was, until Alkeides continued:
“And... I pity you, hero.”
“What...?”
Alkeides’ side was eaten away by the venom, melting into a black wound before John’s puzzled gaze...
But an instant later, the jet-black toxin was consumed by “mud” of an even more sinister hue.
“What?!”
The police officers, Flat, and the Berserkers froze in spite of themselves.
The mud-like mass of magical energy that welled up from Alkeides’ body enveloped the Hydra venom as if to consume it, to consume “death” itself, and was then sucked back into the wound.
“If I had merely thrown off the robe of godhood, I would have suffered and then gone to my rest.”
The poisoned wound that had eaten so deep it exposed his ribs and hipbone vanished, leaving his body fully restored in its place.
“Before my Spirit Origin was twisted, I would have been willing to fall to that scratch. This venom alone may have been able to eat through all of my countless lives.”
Then, he stood before the speechless John and declared:
“But... we have both been unfortunate.”
There seemed to be a faint hint of resignation in his voice, but it immediately turned to anger.
“I have lost my twelve lives... but know that you cannot vanquish me, afflicted as I am with vile mud, with deadly venom.”
With rage, not at John and the others, but at himself, at limitless “power” itself, Alkeides bellowed as if pronouncing a curse.
“It will take more than venom to dye my corrupted blood... the flames of vengeance that my soul harbors!”

Fate/Strange Fake: Volume 5, Chapter 15 ("Gold & Lions II")