"…"
But Saber was a seasoned warrior—how could she be distracted by mere words?
Seeing that words were useless, Lancer simply brandished his spear and continued his assault. No matter what, he had to fight to the death!
The spear thrust forward in myriad ways, feinting and striking, but Saber remained unshaken, calmly blocking each attack.
"An opening!"
Although the spear holds the advantage of reach, it also leaves significant openings when the distance closes. After blocking several strikes, Saber noticed her opponent had left a gap!
Without a second thought, she swung her sword and slashed directly.
"Clang!" The sound of collision rang out again, but this time it was Lancer's short spear that blocked it!
However, this block was forced, because the sword in Saber's hand was completely invisible!
"Impressive!" Saber praised, seeing her lethal move blocked and foiled.
The coordination between Lancer's two spears was flawless. She wondered how much research and effort it had taken to reach such a level!
But Lancer wasn't feeling too good either. Although he possessed high agility—and as the saying goes, "the fastest technique in the world is invincible"—he had relied on his high agility to launch a rapid series of attacks from the start. While it seemed he held the advantage on the field, it had consumed a great deal of his stamina. Moreover, no matter how fast Saber's sword moved and clashed, it was as if it were shrouded in wind, distorting his vision and making it invisible. Though it seemed useless, in high-speed close combat, it required him to devote considerable attention to counter it!
Not knowing the length and width of his opponent's sword, Lancer naturally grew somewhat anxious, as he couldn't execute every attack perfectly.
"It's about 12.3 centimeters in length and width, with minimal fluctuation." At that moment, a faint voice spoke up, resolving Lancer's doubts.
Irisviel heard Ryougi Raku's words and looked at him in surprise, unsure how he had calculated it.
But for Saber and Lancer, it wasn't just surprise—it was sheer shock! If someone could deduce the length and width of a sword through direct combat, it would only mean their understanding of the sword had reached an extremely high level. But to discern it just by watching? That was simply unbelievable!
As if sensing Saber and Lancer's shock, Ryougi Raku, standing nearby, smiled faintly and explained, "As long as you sense the airflow caused by the sword's swings and perceive the changes in air density, analyzing the sword's length and width isn't difficult." His tone was light, as if it were no more remarkable than eating or drinking.
"No, it's not just difficult—it's incredibly difficult!" Saber and Lancer inwardly complained, listening to Ryougi's words that made it sound as easy as breathing.
However, this made Saber even more wary of Ryougi Raku. Regardless, it proved that his swordsmanship was extremely advanced. If he were to suddenly attack her Master during battle, she would lose inexplicably. Although, for some reason, she believed Ryougi Raku wasn't that kind of person...
Ever since Ryougi Raku's power awakened, he had always sought opportunities to analyze the natural forces of the entire world. Although his progress was average, he was highly sensitive to all changes in nature. Thus, performing the aforementioned actions wasn't difficult for him.
Because of this, he also sensed Assassin secretly observing from not far away, but he paid no mind to Assassin transmitting information or Tōsaka Tokiomi's evaluation of the two sides in battle. Although the Holy Grail War was a war, its destructive power was limited to a certain degree. After all, it was only a conflict among seven Servants, not thousands of troops. In such a scenario, intelligence wasn't that crucial. As long as one possessed absolute military strength and avoided being surrounded, defeat was unlikely.
If it were truly a battle between two armies, Ryougi Raku would have long since struck Assassin with his sword. In a war between armies, intelligence gathering would be extremely important...
Of course, besides Assassin, there was another person spying on him—likely Emiya Kiritsugu and his assistant...
…
Emiya Kiritsugu set up his sniper rifle on a container between the quay walls and observed the entire scene through his electronic scope.
Activating the thermal sensor, all the people in the scene were displayed. Emiya Kiritsugu was quite satisfied with the result.
"The enemy Master is actually such a young boy?" Emiya Kiritsugu was surprised by the enemy's identity but quickly calmed down. To win, for him, it didn't matter if the opponent was a child, an elder, or a relative—he treated them all equally!
"And he actually appears so openly with his Servant. Is there another reason, or..." Due to Saber's strength and his own plans, he had allowed Irisviel to appear openly to attract others' attention. But he never expected Lancer's Master to show up so straightforwardly as well!
"Maiya, can you see the enemy Master?"
"No problem, he's completely within sight."
"Good, aim at the target and await my orders..."
Emiya Kiritsugu aimed the sniper rifle's crosshairs at Ryougi Raku's chest, not his head. Compared to the chest, the head's target area was too small. At this distance, the chest was more likely to be hit. Moreover, with such a powerful sniper rifle, whether it hit the chest or the head, it would be fatal to an ordinary person!
Just as Emiya Kiritsugu aligned the crosshairs and prepared to attack, he found that the target, who had been watching the battlefield, shifted his gaze and looked directly at him along the sniper rifle's trajectory. In that moment, Emiya Kiritsugu shuddered. He seemed to see a pair of strange, inverted black-and-white pupils exuding a profound terror, making him feel as if he had fallen into a confined space surrounded by endless darkness!
Soon, the strange sensation vanished, but Emiya Kiritsugu was left gasping for breath, drenched in cold sweat.
"What was that? Mystic Eyes..." Emiya Kiritsugu was still unsettled by the earlier experience.
"...Maiya, hold on. They've spotted us." Emiya Kiritsugu stopped Hisau Maiya. Remaining calm even when knowing a sniper was targeting him—he was either a fool or had some special means to protect himself from snipers. According to the information, he had killed a Clock Tower instructor to participate in the Holy Grail War, so he certainly wasn't a fool. Attacking him knowing he had a contingency plan was irrational.
"...Let it go for now. Wait!" Before he could even say "abort," Emiya Kiritsugu spotted Assassin standing on the crane. Seeing that Assassin hadn't noticed him, Emiya Kiritsugu breathed a sigh of relief, but his heart tightened again. Even Assassin hadn't sensed him, yet Ryougi Raku had...
No matter what, if he had fired just now, he would undoubtedly have been killed. Assassin, though the weakest among Servants in direct combat, was still a Servant, and Emiya Kiritsugu didn't believe he could defeat one.
"Maiya, do you see that thing above the crane?"
"...Yes, it's Assassin!" Hisau Maiya had seen it too.
"Abort the original plan. Maiya, you observe Assassin, and I'll observe Lancer..." After a pause, he added, "And the enemy Master!" Clearly, he was still shaken by Ryougi Raku's earlier reaction.
"Understood!"
Setting aside his thoughts, Emiya Kiritsugu observed quietly.
"In this situation... hmph, I'll just have to rely on you, King of Knights!"
…
Ryougi Raku paid no mind to the rat spying on him. He had merely used his Mystic Eyes to warn the other party. The strong would always be strong and couldn't be easily resisted by the weak. Ryougi Raku's attention remained on the battlefield. Lancer was finally about to use his Noble Phantasm!
Ryougi Raku carefully observed and analyzed Lancer's Noble Phantasm, but it was, after all, a Noble Phantasm. With his current strength, he wouldn't succeed in a short time!
"The Holy Grail War won't end for several days yet. I'll use my free time during the day to analyze Lancer's Noble Phantasm. If successful, my Origin Power will also gain demon-breaking and curse-breaking properties. My future tactics will be more diverse, and I'll be better equipped to handle strange enemies. This will be crucial for improving my strength..." Ryougi Raku secretly planned for his future.
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Lancer finally revealed his Noble Phantasm. There was no need to call out its true name. As a permanently active-type Noble Phantasm, Gáe Dearg could take effect simply upon contact!
Therefore, unaware of the specifics, when facing Lancer's attack, Saber naturally used her sword to block the spear's thrust.
Without warning, the Wind King's barrier was broken. A hurricane erupted from the point where the weapons met, and Saber's weapon revealed its true form for the first time!
Though only a glimpse, it was enough. Its length and width matched the values Ryougi Raku had mentioned earlier, with minimal fluctuation.
The battle continued, but unlike before, each clash of weapons no longer produced the sound of steel but was accompanied by hurricanes, and the sword in Saber's hand gradually revealed its full appearance.
"Now!" Seizing the opportunity, she planned to use her armor to block Lancer's attack and seriously wound him, but the result was the opposite of her plan!
"Drip, drip." The sound of blood dripping was clearly audible. Gáe Dearg ignored the armor Saber had transformed with magical energy and easily injured her!
"Saber!" Irisviel cried out in alarm, then quickly used healing magecraft.
"Thank you, Iri. It's fine now. The magecraft worked!"
Saber eventually discerned the secret of Lancer's red spear and decisively discarded her armor. Then, as was inevitable, she remained bewitched by Lancer and was stabbed by the yellow rose of certain death...
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(TL : More Chapters @)[1]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/c/Gooberilla