Mordred's sword cut through the air and slashed across Saber-Mordred's neck, slicing through the chainmail surrounding it as if it was paper.
Blood shot out from the severed neck.
Mordred was not constrained to a single stance when executing Longsword of Light. He could even do it after a parry of the Water God Style!
After Hector saw Mordred execute this technique against him for the first time, his entire head instantly became covered in cold sweat and he stared at him as if he just saw something unholy.
Combining Flow and Longsword of Light, which was also fueled by Mana Jet Propulsion on top of it for instant acceleration!
This essentially meant that as long as Mordred parried the first strike, he could return a Longsword of Light counter with a 99% chance of instantly killing his opponent.
It was something scary. An ultimate technique that combined the Sword God Style and Water God Style!
Currently, Saber-Mordred's head and armored body fell and hit the ground separately.
Mordred didn't relax his guard as he brought his sword back and surged his Magic Power inside himself in preparation for anything.
However, after being cut down, Saber-Mordred soon turned into particles of light, dispersing and disappearing completely together with her sword and armor. Even Battle Continuation skill could not help her here.
Mordred let out a breath. It was over.
In the next moment, Morgan Freeman appeared in front of him in the throne room, leaning against the throne's arm rest.
Morgan lightly clapped twice. "Congratulations. Well, wasn't this quite easy? It was such a one-sided fight I even rooted for the original Mordred to win."
"..." Mordred was silent at the supposed sarcasm. To be honest, he did pity Saber Mordred for how badly she was beaten, but he certainly didn't root for her to win.
Morgan chuckled while observing him closely. "Do you have a name for the technique you just used?"
"Ah… No. I haven't thought of a good name yet."
"Then how about… True Light Reversal?"
True Light Reversal?
Mordred raised his eyebrows.
Light Reversal was an already existing technique of God Sword Style. It's a move of cutting off the opponent's wrist before they can launch Longsword of Light. Doing that is the only known counter for Longsword of Light. He naturally also practiced it.
But in fact, nothing is reversed or returned to the opponent. You just cut off their wrist, stopping their sword strike mid-swing.
For this reason the name True Light Reversal was very fitting.
An ultimate technique that returns a Longsword of Light at the opponent's face as a counter!
Using the same name wouldn't be alright, but adding 'True' before it gave it a nice flair.
Besides…
Secret Technique: True Light Reversal!
"It sounds good…" Mordred nodded and grinned.
Morgan smiled. "It's wonderful, isn't it? How much Mordred's advantages can be made to shine in that world? You didn't disappoint me. You really brought out Mordred's hidden potential thanks to the rules of that world and are currently even going beyond it. It's quite satisfying to see."
"... Thanks." Mordred smiled.
Longsword of Light, the overpowered technique of his new world, was his source of confidence here.
Although, there was still no guarantee he'd win.
Mordred said, "If she used Clarent Blood Arthur right at the gate, right at the very beginning, things would have gone differently."
If this happened, he would be quite literally cooked.
He'd still try to do something, trying to snipe her down first during the charging time, try to dodge it or hide behind the throne and raise some defenses, but it was still possible he'd end up in a miserable state afterwards.
That was the problem with Servants. Instead of using their trump-cards first and going for the kill, they begin with probing strikes.
This somewhat made sense when you have to conserve energy for a prolonged Holy Grail War and multiple battles, but here?
He was lucky that Saber Mordred didn't begin with blasting off Clarent Blood Arthur.
Morgan smiled and replied, "It isn't just luck. And it isn't because Mordred was conserving her energy that she didn't use it. It was just her arrogance and belief in her strength that made her charge ahead first. She firmly believed that she would not be defeated by anyone other than her father."
'Oh… So she's just an idiot,' Mordred thought.
He then smirked. Mordred was a dummy, but he still thought that she was a cool Servant. That's why he knew so much about her abilities and the Pendragon lineage.
Secretly, he warned himself against similar arrogance. He didn't have this problem yet, but who knows about the future.
"As I promised, here you have it." Morgan clapped his hands twice.
Before Mordred realized it, he now wore Mordred's nearly-complete armor just without the helmet.
In his hand, instead of Ascalon, was the larger and wider sword – Clarent!
Mordred slowly formed a satisfied smile. Finally, he had a fitting sword!
"Great! Look at you now, all dressed up. You almost look like a goblin paladin."
"..." Mordred was silent. He was still barely 140 cm tall. There was no helping it.
Morgan chuckled at Mordred's reaction, then said, "It would also be interesting to see you fight Sasaki Kojiro, but I can already predict the outcome and I don't want to go the route of showering you with abilities, Mister Protagonist. Instead, I will give you one final opportunity."
Mordred focused.
One more opportunity?
"What do you think of… fighting Saber Artoria next?"
Fighting the original Saber?
Mordred thought about it.
He defeated Saber Mordred quite easily. And now he had her sword Clarent, so he wasn't without a Noble Phantasm of his own anymore.
He was very enticed if he could gain Excalibur. Compared to it, Clarent might be a mere piece of trash!
But even so, Saber Artoria wasn't actually just a simple rank up from Saber Mordred. As he thought about it, the main issue was that her abilities actually countered him too well!
It was not even funny how much of a bad match-up they were.
-Saber had a stronger Magic Resistance skill, which might resist all of his Magic to a large degree. Railgun, Lightning Arrow and Gravity Magic, his trump cards, would all lose their effectiveness.
-She has a stronger Instinct skill, which might allow her to avoid or stop his Longsword of Light by predicting its trajectory in advance.
-And then perhaps higher specs over all and more experience, making it so that she could overwhelm him and simply kill him in close range…
-Then there was Excalibur. It might be faster to charge than Clarent and if it got unleashed, he was beyond cooked. And even if it was not unleashed, he would have to fight someone with an invisible sword – who knows if he could sense it with Mana Sense.
It would be a much more difficult fight!
"Yes, the risk is greater. You could die here. But if you succeed, you will earn all of Saber Artoria's Noble Phantasms and armor," Morgan said calmly.
"What? All Noble Phantasms? So Invisible Air too?" Mordred asked.
"It's Saber's sheath for Excalibur, so sure. I don't care."
"Avalon?"
Morgan smiled at him. "Dream on."
Mordred formed a bitter smile. One couldn't stop him from dreaming! Though if he had to fight Saber with Avalon, that would give him a serious pause.
That aside, he entered a deep thought, being very enticed with the proposal.
In particular, Excalibur was the greatest boon here. After all, it was the so-called 'strongest holy sword'!
However, when fighting Artoria, just what strategy could he use? Could he even win if she countered him so well and might even have higher specs?
Unfortunately, he had finished his duel with Mordred too quickly, so he couldn't judge his own level in comparison to her.
The way he saw it, perhaps he had a 60% chance of winning or so.
But as Mordred thought of losing an opportunity to acquire Excalibur here, from a single fight, he felt heart-ache. Even if he slaved away in Mushoku for hundreds of years afterwards, he might never get his hands on such a good sword!
Morgan stood there silently. He calmly said, "10 seconds. Make your choice, son."
A large digital clock with red numbers appeared in the air and began counting down.
Mordred felt his heart tighten.
The truth is that he was already extremely happy with his life! He was already very strong, he was handsome, had met the best girl and so on…
If he now died here because of recklessness and greed, leaving his current life, Eris and Benedicte, behind in the other world, he would feel too bitter and too full of regret.
00:06
The digital clock continued counting down silently without stopping.
Morgan's previous words reverberated in Mordred's mind once again: One shot, one opportunity. Will you capture it or will you let it slip?
And also: Life is a gamble.
It seemed as if these lines were only said casually by Morgan, but to Mordred they motivated him quite strongly to not want to back out.
That was it.
If he let this opportunity slip, he would surely always regret his choice in the future!
00:01
"I'll fight her!!!" Mordred cried out, indignant to give up.
He had one winning strategy and he had to bet his all on it.
Wasn't this what 'The Protagonist' is supposed to be about the most? About never giving up?
"Ah, yes. The Hero is the one who appears when things seem hopeless to turn the situation around, creating miracles. But can you win?"
Morgan clapped his hands twice.
***
Name: Mordred Kingdragon
Titles/nicknames: 16th Prince of Kingdragon, Miko
Age: 9
Height: 137 cm
Weight: 33 kg
Strength: C
Endurance: B
Agility: B (C)
Mana: A+
Luck: ???
[Instinct A]
[Mana Burst A]
[Magic Resistance (resistance) B]
[Dragon Reactor Core A+]
[Riding E++]
[Secret Technique: True Light Reversal A+ (A++)]
[Longsword of Light A+ (A++)]
[Railgun A+]
[Gravity Magic: Presence of the Demon God A]
[Flow D]
[Secret of Pedigree C]
[Sword Clarent C (sealed)]
[Clarent Blood Arthur A+]
[Demon Sword Ascalon]
....
Name: Artoria Pendragon (Saber)
Titles/nicknames: King Arthur, the King of Knights, the Strongest Saber (by many Fate fans)
Strength: B
Endurance: B
Agility: B
Mana: A
Luck: A+
[Instinct A]
[Mana Burst A]
[Magic Resistance (cancelation) A]
[Dragon Reactor Core B]
[Riding B]
[Charisma B]
[Invisible Air C]
[Excalibur A++]
***
This time Mordred found himself on a battlefield with blood pooling in the ruts of the earth.
There were no corpses, but the air reeked of blood and scorched flesh.
He stood on top of a hill. With black smoke rising, the setting sun made the numerous clouds shine with golden and orange light.
'Isn't this the Battle of Camlann?' Mordred made a guess.
In the next moment, a female knight materialized below the hill.
It was Saber Artoria.
"It's interesting we get to fight in this kind of place, Fake Saber," Artoria said. "Not that I necessarily-..."
As Saber continued her opening speech, Mordred already began to rush out from where he stood, shooting down the hill like a red line of thunder.
In this situation, the most important thing was to quickly close the distance and not allow Artoria to unleash Excalibur and use it as her first move! Although this is not how Servants normally fought, he couldn't take this risk here.
Additionally, Magic would be mostly useless here, so he could only fight and win in close range. If he used Gravity Magic, for example, then he would be the one losing out if Saber's Magic Resistance was stronger than his, or even if it was at the same level since he'd have to maintain the spell.
Saber clicked her tongue, "Tsk! No matter. I'll defeat you here!"
She held up her own invisible sword and also rushed out, as if not willing to lose the initiative.
In the blink of an eye, the two were about to clash.
Before the distance closed off, with it still being some between them, Artoria slashed out first. What she hold became visible and her sword beamed with overwhelming golden light.
'Damn it!' Mordred saw the attack's trajectory and evaded it with the aid of Mana Burst while simultaneously sending out his own sword strike - Longsword of Light.
Instantly, Saber saw a vision of her body being diagonally cut in half. She was shocked as she witnessed the enemy Servant using such a quick opening sword strike, while there was still a distance between them at that. It was a sword with a speed that made it impossible for her to block it!
However, she saw the trajectory of the strike in advance. As long as this was the case, she could avoid it!
Just as Mordred began launching his sword strike, Saber reflexively moved to avoid it.
In this manner, Mordred's sword ended up slicing the ground, while Saber's attack only mowed the air.
"Ha!" Artoria charged forward and returned an attack, sending out a thrust at Mordred.
Having already dispersed Invisible Air to go all out from the start, her sword was not invisible. This made things much easier for Mordred in a way.
Mordred brought his sword up, parrying the strike coming at him without an issue.
First, he focused fully on defense.
Artoria followed up with another strike.
Mordred parried it.
Then another one, and another one.
A few more attacks were also parried by him and he was gradually gaining confidence. It wasn't as bad as he thought!
The sounds of clashing steel spread through the battlefield.
Mordred used Flow to smoothly receive Artoria's strikes. As he did so, he gradually retreated, leading them to a more even ground.
Fully focused on defense, he didn't perform any counters yet.
After exchanging a dozen strikes, Artoria attacked once again, cutting upwards.
"Haa!"
It was a strike that was faster and more powerful than the others. Her sword blazed with golden light, scorching and upturning the earth.
Mordred saw it coming and used Flow together with Mana Burst to quickly meet the strike, parrying it and misdirecting it before the sword reached maximum velocity.
Her attack having failed, destroying a part of the hill instead, Artoria paused at a small distance.
After these few moves, there was a lull in the fight.
Holding up her invisible sword, Artoria looked straight at Mordred and said, "Good defense, but are you only going to defend?"
Mordred was silent.
By now he felt he had gotten quite used to fighting Saber.
He saw that he wasn't outmatched so far. He could meet her blows without being pushed back. The golden swords of light were dangerous, but his own Mana Burst could match them.
After a few moments of silence, he gathered his strength and slashed out while not moving from where he stood.
Longsword of Light.
'Again!'
Artoria's eyes suddenly widened as she predicted being cleanly cut diagonally at her right shoulder.
The enemy was too far. She couldn't stop that strike.
So she dodged again.
Once again, Longsword of Light was avoided.
Artoria plunged forward and sent out a counter-attack, using Mana Burst.
Mordred received in a manner as if the attack was already sent right at his own blade, misdirecting it to destroy a huge chunk of earth elsewhere. He pushed aside Saber's sword and then smoothly counter-attacked.
"Ha!"
Artoria blocked his sword strike and came back with an even stronger counter.
Mordred continued receiving Artoria's attacks and counter-attacking using Flow.
Only when Artoria used Mana Burst to try and overwhelm him, did he use Mana BUrst himself. Otherwise, he only relied on Flow.
The two traded several more blows, being evenly matched.
"Ha!!!"
After a few exchanges, Artoria sent out a powerful sword strike at Mordred again.
Mordred parried it, pushed it aside and suddenly returned a counter on a whole other level than before. "Haaa!"
Secret Technique: True Light Reversal.
'What?!'
Saber was shocked. She once again saw herself being sliced in half at her left shoulder.
And this time, it was without any warning. Too smoothly.
Her sword was controlled and pushed aside. Evasion was not enough.
She could only dodge, so she dodged.
But as she tried to dodge, she realized that she had walked into a trap. Mid-swing, red energy bursted out from the enemy's arm and his sword suddenly accelerated as it chased after her.
As it cut at her right shoulder, she dodged left.
However, the sword strike followed-through diagonally to strike just where she planned to move. It was impossible to avoid!
'Too late!'
Saber instantly summoned Invisible Air again to explode with a burst of wind to blow away herself and the enemy.
But it couldn't stop the sword flying at her, especially not now that she had already dispersed it earlier.
It was too late.
Even if she could predict her enemy's attacks, it meant nothing if she couldn't react to them!
The enemy's sword, even faster than before, cut into the area between her left shoulder and neck, cutting through her clavicle, chest and armor as if it was nothing.
In two miserable-looking parts, Saber's corpse dropped to the ground and rolled across the hill for a while before stopping.
"Aah… I've lost."
She looked up at the child that defeated her, frowning.
In her dying moments, she understood why she lost. She let down her guard.
She thought that as long as she saw that attack coming, she could react to it. But never would she imagine that this sword strike could be launched with so little preparation as a counter and accelerate this suddenly, becoming even faster.
After all, it was already a very deadly technique with speed that reached the extremes, which she could only counter thanks to her Instinct skill.
Already being used to dodging it, she planned to dodge it again, but this attempt made her unable to respond when the sword suddenly accelerated.
In fact. Even if it didn't accelerate, could she still dodge such a fast strike that happened this suddenly and at such a tricky angle, chasing after her?
She prepared herself for a long fight, yet was killed so early on…
Saber was filled with regret.
"Curse you, Fake Saber!"
Saber felt indignant. She didn't necessarily lose because she was weaker than her enemy. She lost to trickery.
Longsword of Light!
Mordred didn't hesitate and hacked off Saber's head, just for good measure.
As he surged his energies in his body, ready for anything, Saber's body dispersed into golden particles of light.
Mordred let out a breath. It's over, right?
Saber disappeared, but things were so intense and ended so quickly that he was still quite tense.
In the next moment, Morgan appeared on the desolate hill with his hands behind his back, saying, "Yes, it is over."
Mordred let out a breath of relief.
Morgan continued, "You know well how the Instinct skill works and you used it against Saber. After all, Instinct is a predictive danger sense that gives the owner advice on the most optimal course of action while predicting the future, but that is only in the moment and within the limits of the user's knowledge and experience. It cannot predict the enemy's future plans or secret techniques, so it's still possible to be tricked."
Mordred was silent.
In other words, if Saber assumed that his sword strike cannot be launched as a counter and suddenly accelerate even further, she wouldn't have thought of counter-measures for it. Her Instinct would tell her to dodge.
But there was more to it.
While Saber could predict Mordred's attack, Mordred also had Instinct and could predict how she'd react. He didn't act on it during the first few exchanges and freely allowed his Longsword of Light to be dodged to give her an illusion of safety, but he did so during his killing move.
Once he readjusted his attack to follow after her, also making it faster, it was already too late for her to avoid his Longsword of Light.
Not to mention, Mordred first aimed at her right shoulder exactly to make her dodge left.
It was a trap that he prepared from the start. Not something he had come up on the spot, but one of a few strategies he prepared in advance, should brute force and his Gravity Magic not be enough.
Mordred silently observed Morgan.
Morgan's smile was plain as he looked toward the burning horizon and said, "The Strongest Saber died after a brief exchange… Due to letting down her guard. Perhaps it was a fitting ending for the King of Knights. Although the result would have been the same regardless."
Mordred wanted to nod. Artoria… seemed quite naive for the most part. It's as if she had never lost any battles and felt that there would always be an opportunity for her to make a comeback and win…
But even if it wasn't for that, it seemed as if he could simply overpower her here. In terms of strength and speed, they were probably about matched, but he also had Flow and Longsword of Light to rely on. He wasn't aware of it, but his Mana Burst was also far stronger, so his maximum explosive speed and power were superior, or at least matched Excalibur at close range.
Perhaps he was already stronger than the Strongest Saber!
At least, he was stronger than he thought.
Morgan turned to him with a small smile. "Yes, you are stronger than you thought. What you lack most to bring out your full potential is unshakable self-confidence. Anyway, I'll stay true to my word. I only have one question – Excalibur or Excalibur Morgan?"
"That…"
"There is no difference except the visuals."
"Oh…" Mordred hesitated for a while, before he smirked. "Excalibur Morgan."
Morgan slightly smiled. "I knew you would say that."
Mordred forced a smile.
He personally liked the dark-themed visuals of Excalibur Morgan and Saber Alter more.
On the other hand, a holy sword with beautiful golden light would make him appear more like a righteous hero and earn him better public opinion, so perhaps that's what he should take if he wanted to be pragmatic.
But the biggest reason he didn't hesitate in his choice was to pay tribute to Morgan and satisfy him. In other words, he wouldn't dare to not choose Excalibur Morgan.
"Why are you helping me so much?" Mordred suddenly asked.
Morgan replied in a neutral tone, "I merely wish to witness Mordred Pendragon in full glory. I felt this character had a lot of hidden potential, that is all. You can consider yourself lucky. Besides that, do you know what's the most interesting aspect of your world's Fate franchise? It's the epic battles between Servants where each side uses their respective trump cards and tricks!"
"..." Mordred was silent. He could agree on that.
"Well, we are done here. This was my last opportunity for you. Let's consider it your graduation ceremony."
Graduation Ceremony?
Mordred raised his eyebrows.
Perhaps that was right.
After this event, he no longer felt as if he was a fake imitating Mordred Pendragon.
No. The fake had surpassed the original.
He surpassed Arthur!
"Now, let the story continue."
The Creator slowly clapped his hands twice.
And it was as if the lights turned off.
It was pitch black.
But that was it.
Mordred: "..."
"Oops. Let me do it again." Morgan clapped twice again.
***
***
***
[Excalibur Morgan A++]
[Clarent Blood Arthur A+]
[Clarent C (sealed)]
[Invisible Air C]
[Helm of Hidden Infidelity: Secret of Pedigree C]
Armaments: Arthur's Armor (dyed), Mordred's Armor (Alter version).