A die rolled and landed before Ei's eyes.
The face read: EX
Good grief. A one-in-six chance, and it's another Critical Failure. Am I related to Darius or something?
[You failed to pry open King Hassan's armor. Instead, because your bodies were too slick with lubricant, you lost your balance and accidentally fell down.]
The two were still fiercely prying at the armor, but their bodies began to slip uncontrollably.
In the moment of falling, Mordred instinctively grabbed the back of Ei's collar, dragging him down with her.
THUD!
The two tumbled onto the ground together.
Though he'd fallen, Ei didn't feel much pain. However, his forehead definitely knocked into something hard, while his hands met something soft and slick.
"Hiss..."
Ei cautiously opened his eyes.
That hard thing seemed to be Mordred's forehead.
He looked at the blonde girl beneath him, confusion etched on his face. Then his gaze drifted down, locating his hands: one was resting on her slightly slender shoulder, while the other...
...was pressed against her chest.
Ei: "..."
How to describe the feeling?
The touch was soft and elastic. Though not large, the experience was akin to entering a girl's room—regardless of whether her room was clean or messy, simply gaining access was a form of happiness.
You call this a Critical Failure?
This is clearly a Critical Success!
But Ei changed his mind the very next second, because he looked up at Mordred's expression.
That brave, beautiful face was now suffused with a maiden's blush, her cheeks bright red, her green eyes showing a hint of bewilderment.
Most importantly, her fists were instinctively clenched.
"..."
"..."
The two remained silent.
Ei quietly stood up and bowed to her.
"Thank you for the meal."
Having said that, he turned and ran without hesitation.
BOOM!!
A massive sound roared behind him, followed by a streak of crimson lightning that whizzed past his side, instantly blocking his escape route.
Mordred was suddenly in front of him, moving with a speed that defied her Agility B rank.
"Mochizuki Ei,"
Crimson lightning surged around Mordred—the external manifestation of her Mana Burst. In an instant, the entire VIP room was bathed in her blood-red magical light.
The highlights of Ei's life began flashing before his eyes.
"Mo-chan, let's talk this out first—" he quickly tried to say.
Mordred silently took a few steps toward him.
"First, that was just an accident. Second, when we fell, you were the one who pulled me down. In other words, this is the story you started..."
Hearing this, the red lightning around her intensified.
As she advanced, she grabbed the sleeping Ivan the Terrible nearby and, using her Strength B+, forcibly hoisted him up.
Ei let out a startled shout of "Holy hell!"
"You're using the customer as a weapon!"
Red, lightning-like magical energy flowed around Ivan the Terrible, yet he remained completely unconscious and fast asleep, clearly having become her weapon.
Ei suddenly realized he had made a critical mistake.
This wasn't the time for rational explanation, as angry people—especially Mordred—don't listen to explanations. The correct approach would have been to soothe her with kind words.
But he was probably too late for that, too...
Watching the Rebellious Knight approach, brandishing Ivan the Terrible and radiating intense pressure, he broke into a cold sweat, his heart pounding wildly.
Damn it. I escaped Kiara Sessyoin only to be killed by a mammoth swung by Mordred.
He glanced at King Hassan beside him. The Grand Servant was still unaffected by the commotion, remaining perfectly still.
He looked at the mammoth in her hands, then at his own empty hands, and finally at King Hassan.
"Ah, please forgive my rudeness...!"
He steeled his resolve and decided, In for a penny, in for a pound. He suddenly grabbed the entranced King Hassan next to him.
[You activate the skill "Knight Does Not Die with Empty Hands B"] [You acquire the temporary weapon "King Hassan"]
"Come on, Mordred. I'm ready to face your wrath."
Ei gripped King Hassan in both hands like a massive greatsword, adopting an aggressive stance and activating his own Mana Burst.
He couldn't help but wonder: everyone uses Grand Servants as disposable bombs, but is it really okay to use them like this?
"Die, Ei!"
Mordred charged forward like a chariot, swinging Ivan the Terrible high above her head to smash him.
Ei raised the Grand Servant in his hands and swung him back at her.
Question: What do you do when you accidentally make a friend angry?
Just kill the friend!
A short while later.
Enma-tei, VIP Room hallway.
Beni-Enma and Tomoe Gozen walked down the long corridor.
"I didn't expect the guests to be so fond of cricket fighting recently, chu," Beni-Enma chirped.
"It's normal," Tomoe Gozen replied. "After all, most guests at Enma-tei, like us, are Heroic Spirits from the Japanese class. Cricket fighting was very popular back then."
"That's true, chu,"
At this point, Beni-Enma remembered the two Heroic Spirits from other classes today, King Hassan and Ivan the Terrible, and looked worried.
"Mr. Li Shuwen, the masseur, took the day off. Is it alright to leave things to the new intern, chu? I'm a little worried about his situation. He's so young; can he serve the guests tenderly, chu?"
"We'll see for ourselves,"
They had reached the entrance to the VIP room, and Tomoe Gozen faintly heard a commotion inside.
She opened the door and peeked in.
After seeing the scene inside, Tomoe Gozen silently closed the VIP room door.
...That was strange. Let me look again.
She opened the VIP room door again and carefully surveyed what was happening inside.
"Tomoe, what's the situation in there, chu?" Beni-Enma asked.
"How should I put this..."
Tomoe Gozen wore a highly perplexed expression as she tried her best to describe what she saw.
"I saw a young man and woman, both drenched in lubricant. They are standing on a waterbed, lifting the guests high into the air and using them for cricket fighting."
"???"
"DIE!!!"
The angry roar of both individuals echoed from the VIP room.
Mordred and Ei, one wielding the Lostbelt King and the other the Grand Assassin, were locked in fierce combat.
The long tusks of the mammoth and the twin horns of the King of Hassan collided, sparking intense, blinding fireworks.
"What do the two of them think the customers are, chu?!" Beni-Enma cried out.