Midnight. A deserted highway in Romania.
Lancer of Red sat perfectly still atop a large metal highway sign.
He was a warrior of legend, the Son of the Sun God, Surya. His True Name was Karna. He had not come to this desolate stretch of road to admire the dark, quiet countryside. He was here to act as an assassin.
His target was the anomaly of this Great Holy Grail War: the fifteenth Servant, Ruler.
Karna held no personal grudge against Ruler. He did not question the morality of his mission. He was a weapon, and his current Master, Shirou Kotomine, had pointed him in this direction. He would strike her down tonight. That was the plan.
"..."
Karna slowly raised his head. His sharp eyes narrowed as he peered into the dark sky.
A strange, heavy sensation suddenly pressed against his chest.
Whoosh!
The night air screamed. Something was approaching at an impossible speed.
A second later, a brilliant, golden streak of light tore through the clouds. It looked like a falling star, burning brightly against the black canvas of the night.
Normally, a shooting star would not capture the attention of a demigod. But this "meteor" was not a natural phenomenon. Its trajectory was far too precise. It was hurtling directly toward the highway sign he was sitting on.
As it closed the distance in a fraction of a second, Karna's supernatural vision pierced the glare.
It wasn't a meteor. It was a colossal, heavy lance, covered in intricate golden patterns.
A targeted strike!
Karna didn't panic. As the colossal weapon crashed down upon him, he didn't even attempt to dodge. He had absolute faith in his defense.
BOOMMMMMMM!!!
The impact was deafening. The sheer kinetic force of the strike shattered the highway sign instantly and drove deep into the earth. A massive shockwave rippled outward, throwing up a cloud of dust and debris that reached dozens of meters into the air.
A violent gale followed the strike, blowing away the thick dust cloud and revealing the devastation.
The smooth, paved highway had been completely obliterated, replaced by a massive crater over a hundred meters wide.
In the center of the crater, the giant golden lance was buried halfway into the shattered asphalt. And standing right next to it, covered in dust but otherwise unharmed, was Karna.
Where did that come from?
Karna brushed the dirt from his shoulders, his mind racing. The sheer destructive power of the attack was staggering.
He had survived because, at the very last millisecond, he had activated his primary defense: Kavacha and Kundala. It was the golden armor fused to his very flesh, a divine gift that reduced all physical and magical damage to a mere fraction of its true power. Furthermore, it possessed a terrifying regenerative property, capable of healing almost any fatal wound as long as his mana held out.
To summon Karna was to hold the ultimate shield and sword. But that power came at a steep cost: a massive, continuous drain on his Master's mana.
He had intended to take the hit head-on to test the enemy's strength. But the moment the golden lance touched his defensive aura, something unexpected happened.
The golden energy clinging to the weapon was completely alien. It wasn't normal prana. The moment it made contact, Karna felt his mana reserves being drained at an alarming, unnatural rate. Worse, the strange energy acted like an acid, trying to bypass his conceptual armor and invade his Spirit Origin directly.
Realizing the danger, Karna had been forced to abandon his pride and step out of the direct line of impact. That was the only reason he was currently standing beside the buried lance instead of beneath it.
"Is it Archer of Black?" Karna muttered to himself.
Such overwhelming destructive power could only belong to a Noble Phantasm. And a sniper strike from miles away was the signature tactic of the Archer class. It seemed the Black Faction had also set their sights on Ruler and was trying to eliminate him to clear the path.
Karna gripped his own golden spear. If the enemy had locked onto his position from afar, they must have scouts nearby, perhaps even closing in on Ruler right now. He needed to move, to hunt down the sniper's vantage point.
But just as he prepared to leap out of the crater, the situation changed again.
Vmmmm
The giant golden lance, still buried deep in the ground, suddenly hummed.
A blinding light erupted from the tip of the weapon. The strange, golden energy poured directly into the earth, flowing like liquid fire through the massive cracks the impact had created in the asphalt.
Looking down, it looked as though someone had poured molten gold into the shattered ground. The jagged cracks were not random. The energy connected them, tracing a massive, complex geometric pattern.
In the blink of an eye, the entire crater was transformed into a colossal, glowing magic circle.
And Karna was standing right in the dead center.
A trap.
Karna didn't rush to escape. He planted his feet firmly. The enemy had gone through great lengths to keep him here. They wanted to fight on this spot.
"Very well," Karna said softly, his warrior spirit igniting. "If you wish to challenge me, I accept."
Tap... tap... tap...
The faint, almost weightless sound of footsteps echoed from behind him.
"Who goes there?!"
Karna spun around, ready to confront the hidden Archer or whichever Servant had dared to trap him.
But as he turned, his eyes widened slightly.
He didn't see an archer with a bow.
Instead, a massive, jagged purple broadsword was already swinging toward his face, filling his entire field of vision. And wielding that colossal weapon was a small, petite figure wrapped in a dark cloak.
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