The battle between "Red" Saber and "Black" Assassin consisted entirely of a series of flows: Saber deflecting Assassin's feints, and Assassin creating distance to evade Saber's slashes.
Assassin understood she couldn't win in close combat against Saber, and above all, Saber's heavy armor deflected all of Assassin's attacks.
The armor was troublesome, but what was inside, in other words, Saber's physical body itself, also seemed to have considerable durability. Her boar-like, reckless offensive style seemed to lack rationality, yet it was very logical. Even when Assassin threw knives to create openings, they couldn't inflict more damage than a mosquito bite.
Even so, the reason Assassin could fight Saber was that Assassin herself was positioned such that Saber always had to cover Shishigou with her back.
If she evaded Assassin's attacks, the knives would reach him.
Therefore, Saber had no choice but to constantly be aware of her positional relationship with Shirou and couldn't simply cut down Assassin without question.
"You keep doing all these annoying, fiddly little things! Are you scared!?"
"Scared? Not at all. Correctly grasping the difference in strength and fighting accordingly is an important tactic, right?"
In a lisping manner of speech, Assassin sneered.
This guy, Saber clicked her tongue inwardly.
This Assassin was clever.
If Saber was a tiger that crushed and devoured enemies head-on, then Assassin was a spider that set traps, probed for weaknesses, and reliably stopped the enemy's breath.
She avoided the folly of clashing directly with Saber and constantly tried to take positions from which she could target Saber's only weakness: her Master.
It didn't matter if it was a tiger or a lion. All Servants equally possessed this fatal weakness. The Master was human, and without a Master, a Servant could not remain in this world. And the more powerful the Servant, the sooner and more intensely the absence of a Master affected them. The Master was equivalent to an exposed heart for a Servant. Even a weak Assassin could sufficiently aim to win the Holy Grail War by targeting the Master.
Assassin continuously avoided entering the range where Saber's sword could exert its power, and threw knives in a manner that kept Shishigou Kairi in her line of fire. Saber had no choice but to stop her feet and protect Shirou with her sword and body.
A proper Heroic Spirit wouldn't use such methods.
Their heroic pride wouldn't allow it. But this Assassin had no such noble thing as pride. A pure murderer, Assassin struck at the enemy's openings, targeted their weaknesses, and dirtied her hands for victory. She felt no resistance to this, and possessed the cunning to use even the heroic pride Saber held if she thought it would be useful.
"You can move that well even in our fog. Amazing."
"Shut up, Assassin."
If Assassin was a spider, this fog was her web. A tool for capturing prey, a stage for Assassin to exhibit her full power.
Assassin, hidden in the fog, couldn't be seen, and her voice echoed, making it impossible to pinpoint her location. If they took too long, Shishigou would be affected by the fog.
On top of that, Assassin's 'Presence Concealment' skill combined with the fog made her location even more unknown. Normally, 'Presence Concealment' rank drops significantly when taking offensive action, allowing location to be determined, but Assassin, hidden in the fog, constantly had her presence erased.
Saber rattled her armor in frustration.
"Ah, I see. You're a woman."
At the voice heard from somewhere, Saber gritted her teeth.
"So what?"
"So, what?"
At that moment, the sensation that ran through Saber's entire body was too lukewarm to be described as a chill. It was an unpleasant feeling, as if a slug was crawling up her spine. Her 'Instinct' was sounding an alarm. Misreading a single moment would directly lead to death.
In other words, a Noble Phantasm? From Assassin's words, Saber inferred something fatal to herself.
"Ha! That's why I said, don't underestimate me, murderer."
But Saber declared without flinching.
Fatal? So what? She had experienced that sort of thing plenty in her previous life. Mordred, who struck down Gawain, fought King Arthur to a near mutual kill, and ended Britain's glory, would never be killed by such a small assassin, even if heaven and earth reversed.
"Crimson Lightning."
Lightning the color of fresh blood overflowed from Saber's entire body.
If the fog was a hindrance, she just had to blow it away.
It was truly like clouds scattering and mist vanishing. The yellowish fog was painted over by Saber's crimson and scattered into the night darkness.
All that remained was Assassin, sitting flat on the ground before Saber.
"It's over, Assassin."
"No way. I'm still hungry."
As if throwing a tantrum, Assassin readied her knife. Fine by me, Saber thrust out her sword.
With the fog cleared, the chill that had been tormenting Saber also vanished. Apparently, being inside the fog was the problem. Now that she was back in perfect condition, Saber was confident she could cut down Assassin in a single strike.
Shishigou Kairi, who had kept his distance, hid himself in the shadows and deployed a wide-area Bounded Field to keep people away. It was a strong field, capable of depopulating even a main street in a big city. As long as they didn't worry about damage to buildings, they could fight without holding back.
"Alright then, it's over, steak."
Maintaining appropriate caution, Saber attacked in one vigorous effort.
It was only natural to think of defeating the enemy under favorable conditions before Assassin could reconstruct her fog. Saber never liked plotting and scheming in the first place. If there was an enemy before her, she crushed them. She preferred simple, clear tactics.
On the other hand, Assassin was no longer allowed to escape and had to overcome Saber by any means necessary. She finally understood that this battle was inevitably headed for defeat, and realized that to survive, she needed to create an opening to retreat, even if she couldn't outright defeat Saber.
Therefore, Assassin had to challenge Saber with all her might. Otherwise, she couldn't hope to so much as scratch Saber.
Her target was the only place the blade seemed likely to penetrate: the neck. She had to slip her blade through the gap between the armor and the helmet.
Fortunately, Assassin had the skill for it. She would slip past Saber's sword and wield her knife.
To gain the acceleration needed for that, Assassin also charged forward. Her initial dash, utilizing her high agility, was fast enough to overtake world record holders in track and field.
Grasping the enemy's condition, position, ability, current state, elements, through sensation, calculating, Saber was convinced of victory. She could behead the murderer before her in less than a second. However, at the same time, Saber became aware of her own death.
It wasn't Assassin.
Someone else was targeting Saber from a distance. The possibilities were a thrown weapon or a sniper shot. Lancer or Archer.
Saber ignored Assassin and twisted her body. She changed her course abruptly using 'Mana Burst'. Her body screamed from the core at the unnatural movement, but she forced it down with willpower.
Assassin was caught in the blast of 'Mana Burst' and sent tumbling.
Right at that moment, a single sword stabbed into the spot where Saber and Assassin would have collided, and exploded.
____________________________________________________________________________
The arrow landed exactly where it was aimed.
"How's it going?"
"It looks like I missed. Saber, as expected. Her intuition is sharp. It looks like she dodged at the last moment."
"What about Assassin?"
"I missed her, too. It seems Saber's Mana Burst pushed her back."
Archer and Fiore were watching the battle between "Red" Saber and "Black" Assassin from a high vantage point. The clocktower, one of Sighisoara's landmarks, stands 64 meters tall and commands panoramic views in all directions. Archer and Fiore were standing atop the clocktower's spire.
Fiore didn't particularly criticize Archer after receiving his report. He had never expected to defeat a Servant with just this. It would be a stroke of luck if he did. Even if not, he was just hoping for at least a hand injury.
The wind blew across the spire. A normal person would lose their balance and fall to the ground. It's only natural that Archer, a Servant, would be unfazed by this environment, but what about Fiore?
She was born with congenital paralysis. There's no room for a wheelchair here, and it's impossible for Fiore to be here in this situation.
But that's just the normal Fiore. Right now, Fiore is a magician ready to go into battle. She left her wheelchair on the lower floors of the clocktower. Instead, her limbs are the Bronze Link Manipulator, a connection-enhanced Mystic Code. At first glance, it's a collection of bizarre metal arms reminiscent of a four-legged spider.
"It appears Assassin has decided to retreat. What shall we do?"
"Then, as originally planned, let's move on to the battle with Saber of Red. I'll take on Shishigou Kairi, and you take Saber."
"Understood, Master."
Archer nocked an arrow to his bow and looked at Saber. Archer, with the best eyesight of the seven classes, could see Saber's face even from here.
For some reason, Saber had removed her helmet. Her exposed face was filled with rage, and overflowing magical power was leaking from her body in the form of red lightning.
"..."
Fiore sensed that Archer had become slightly shaken.
"What's the matter?"
"Nothing."
"I see."
He was hiding something again. Fiore felt annoyed. But it wasn't time to press him. He could ask later. For now, he had to focus on the battle at hand.
"Good luck, Archer."
"You too."
With that, Fiore left the clocktower. He bypassed the "red" Saber and headed for Shishigou Kairi.
After seeing Fiore off, he glared at Saber. It seemed they were also fully prepared to fight.
"I never thought I'd end up fighting you."
Archer's words drifted away in the wind, unheard.
Confusion and sadness crossed his face.
Archer knew the true name of "Red" Saber. He could never forget. His encounter with her still shone brightly, unfading even in his memories, worn away by the battle.
Her fighting style, her words and actions. Considering how they faced each other in the past, it was impossible that they were the same person. This narrowed the identity of the Servant who shared her face to just one possibility.
Saber seemed to possess a skill or Noble Phantasm that allowed her to conceal her true name, but it seemed unable to interfere with Archer's memories. It had been a mistake to carelessly reveal her true face.
Red Saber was so obviously in a bad mood that even her master, Shishigo Kairi, was astonished.
She glared at the clock tower with a look of rage on her face.
"Hey, Master. It's that Archer again."
"Yeah. I can't believe they were here too. What shall we do?"
"Of course I'll kill them. I'll teach them to their very core that the hatred of those they prey on is terrifying."
"I told you not to, but you still won't listen. Go ahead, go ahead and do it to your heart's content."
"Yes!"
Saber stomped her foot with a bang and ran straight toward Archer. Taking on an archer head-on was a foolish plan; Archer had already hurt her once before. Even so, Saber charged forward.
Shishigou also sensed the signs of battle.
Probably Archer's Master. He was probably planning to kill her while Archer distracted Saber.
This suggested that this Master was Fiore Forvedge Yggdmillennia, a powerful Master among the "Black" Masters. Darnic was likely Lancer's Master, and it had already been revealed that Goldo was Saber's Master. It was only natural to assume that the Master of the remaining "Black" members was Roche, a golem user. This meant that Fiore was the only remaining "Black" Master likely to fight directly on the front lines.
"That's terrible, seriously."
It was natural for a magician to fight without emotion. But even so, fighting a young girl didn't seem like a good idea.
Even Saber of "Red" was well aware that Archer of "Black" possessed incredible abilities.
Saber's first opponent was Archer, and she demonstrated her arrows, which were on par with those of an anti-army Noble Phantasm, and her dual sword technique, which provided impenetrable defense.
The entire battle saw Saber being played around in Archer's hands, and the fact that they were unable to reach a conclusion still makes me angry when I think back on it now.
An arrow cuts through the darkness and comes barreling down.
This arrow, unlike the sword-like arrows she had seen before, was a normal arrow. But that was only in appearance. Its power was strong enough to easily penetrate steel plate and dig into the ground. Of course, it was no more than a peashooter against Saber's thick armor.
The arrow's power was such that it could penetrate the thinner parts of Saber's armor. It would be able to reliably block heavily armored parts like her chest. Its speed easily exceeded the speed of sound. Its rate of fire was over five arrows per second. Its accuracy was guaranteed. But that was all.
"If you want to shoot me, you'll have to be better than Tristan, Archer."
With this boast, Saber swung her sword and zigzagged to dodge the arrows. Normally, she'd be riddled with bullets at this point, but they posed no real threat to Saber, renowned as the ultimate Servant.
However, it's unlikely that Archer's archery skills were inferior to Tristan's.
While she didn't know which Heroic Spirit this was, Saber was certain that this monster was on par with the greatest archer she had ever known. Saber was confident, but she was no fool to underestimate the skill of her opponents.
Arrows were fired to keep Saber from getting close. If there was no intent to kill, no matter how flawless the technique, it wasn't terrifying.
"Are you kidding me, Archer...!"
Irritation grew at his lack of murderous intent.
But the next moment, she realized it was all an illusion.
The arrows suddenly stopped.
A moment later, countless swords covered Saber's field of vision in confusion.
"What the hell is that!?"
She couldn't help but scream.
Countless swords fell from the sky, their points pointing downwards.
Archer's arrows hadn't packed any power into them, perhaps because he was directing his strength at them.
It was truly a rain of swords.
"Ugh... that's bad!"
Saber's face looked alarmed.
Swords are heavier than arrows.
That simple principle determines whether or not they can pierce Saber's armor.
On top of that, Archer's swords explode.
Knowing this, Saber tried to distance herself from the rain of swords. However, she was blocked on both sides by buildings, preventing her from escaping.
The decision was made in an instant.
"Oooooh!!"
Saber gripped the hilt of her greatsword with both hands and struck with a flash.
Crimson lightning, like a powerful wind, met the rain of swords.
A brilliant flash of destruction cleared the darkness of Sighisoara.
The spreading explosion was a mass of pure magical power.
Even if it was just a sword and not a Noble Phantasm, exploding hundreds of swords at once would still be quite powerful.
However, it was still not enough to take down the "red" Saber.
Having survived the flash unscathed, Saber approached the clocktower with tremendous acceleration, as if to say that it was her turn.
As if aiming for the moment Archer expended his energy on his powerful attack, she scattered red lightning powder and accelerated explosively. She was using "Magic Release" to accelerate, but the acceleration was beyond anything she had experienced before. By removing her helmet, she was able to redirect the magical power that would have been consumed there into acceleration.
In the blink of an eye, Saber had reached Archer's feet.
All that remained was to run the full 64 meters of the clock tower. She didn't take conventional measures like using the stairs. She only needed twelve steps. Instead of climbing, she ran on two legs. Saber used her momentum to run along the clock tower's outer wall. Like a missile.
Archer then grinned, seeing that everything was going according to plan.
Saber never saw Archer's smile.
Because a massive wall was standing before her very eyes.
"What!?"
The wall that had suddenly appeared was a circular shield large enough to completely encase a person.
The blood-red, translucent shield was immediately identifiable as some kind of Noble Phantasm, judging by the magical power imbued within it.
"Guh...!"
Saber then crashed into the shield. A body slam was impossible to pierce through a shield that had been elevated to the level of a Noble Phantasm. Losing her momentum, Saber was pulled by gravity and plummeted toward the ground.
"Rho Ais, Seven Rings Covering the Fiery Heavens"
This shield is the hardest of all of Archer's defensive Noble Phantasms.
This time, instead of seven, he deliberately limited it to four incomplete shields.
There was only one reason for this.
A complete "Rho Aias, Seven Rings Covering the Fiery Heavens" would be too much of a strain to use in conjunction with another Noble Phantasm.
He naturally knew that Saber would run up the clocktower. He had witnessed a similar scene before.
Plus, he knew that Saber's personality would lead her to act on impulse.
Archer nocked the twisted sword to his bow.
As the shield disappeared and Saber's field of vision widened, a chill ran down her spine.
-This was bad.
It was nothing compared to the arrows she had seen so far. Extraordinary magical power. A chill ran through her entire body, commanding her to dodge at all costs.
Now that she had lost her footing, all Saber could do was use Magical Release to instantly accelerate.
"Well then, Mordred."
"Wha...?"
Saber clearly heard Archer mutter.
It seemed the Servant's extraordinary powers of perception had backfired.
Why did he know my true name?
That slight shock caused Saber to waste the time she needed to dodge.
Suppressing the urge to curse, "Damn it!", Saber resorted to her last resort in order to survive.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that her body was moving almost on its own accord.
With a crackling sound, Saber's greatsword changed shape. The change was instantaneous. The shining sword transformed into a sinister demon sword.
And then, the murderous intent of both sides reached its limit.
Amid a clash of magical power that distorted even space,
"False Spiral Sword Caladbolg II!"
Archer unleashed his arrow,
"Rebellion against my beautiful father, Clarent Blood Arthur!"
Almost simultaneously, Saber unleashed her Noble Phantasm.
It was incredibly powerful.
Archer broke out into a cold sweat as he saw Saber's Noble Phantasm up close.
Despite having cornered her, Archer was nearly vaporized at the very last moment.
The clocktower collapsed.
Stomping on the gravel with his boots, Archer faced Saber.
"Archer..."
It was no wonder Saber was angry.
After all, she had been forced to use the Noble Phantasm named after her father, whom she both loved and hated, in order to evade an attack. Even Archer hadn't expected her Noble Phantasm to be released in mid-air.
Just before the sword was released, Archer successfully analyzed it. This was because the effects of Saber's "Helm of Infidelity Concealment, Secret of Pedigree" were interrupted by the activation of the anti-military Noble Phantasm. Thanks to this, Archer was able to immediately understand that Saber's True Name Release was an anti-military Noble Phantasm.
If he hadn't used a broken illusion to blow up the "False Spiral Sword Caladbolg II" that was supposed to pierce Saber and deflect the torrent of crimson lightning, Archer would have suffered fatal damage by now.
The Noble Phantasm is ranked A+. The only reason it was able to cancel out the "False Spiral Sword Caladbolg II" was because Saber herself was in an extremely unstable situation and was unable to put all her power into activating her Noble Phantasm.
Even so, it had managed to burn one of Archer's hands, so a direct hit would have meant death.
Archer put some distance between him and Saber, who was on her knees and supporting herself with her sword.
Saber was now a wounded lion. On top of that, she was furious at having wasted her Noble Phantasm. She was also injured, and this was flat ground. This was Saber's turf.
Now that he knew Saber's true name, there would be no problem if he retreated now.
With this in mind, Archer conveyed his intention to retreat to Fiore.