(The red-haired youth's bowstring was half-drawn, his sharp arrowhead firmly locked onto Kuchiba Hiro, while he simultaneously looked with concern at the Knight Maiden who had just risen from the ground.
"Artoria, are you alright?"
The Knight Maiden —Artoria Pendragon —lightly shook her head and wiped the blood from the corner of her lips with the back of her hand. To one's surprise, the bruises and minor cuts on her cheeks were slowly healing at a rate visible to the naked eye. She stood up straight; although her skirt armor was covered in dust and she looked somewhat disheveled, her gaze remained as firm as ever.
"I am fine, Emiya." Her voice remained steady, carrying an unquestionable authority. "Thank you for your assistance. However, we were hired here to fight for money in the first place. If we were to outnumber the opponent, it would truly go against my chivalry. Please leave the rest of the battle to me." She paused, then added solemnly, "Also, please address me as Arthur Pendragon."
The red-haired youth called Emiya stiffened for a moment, his lips parting slightly as if he wanted to retort or remind her of something, but in the end, he swallowed his words, letting them turn into a faint, almost imperceptible sigh.
"Alright... Arthur," he replied, but when he uttered the name "Arthur," his tone was clearly tinged with a bit of unnaturalness and a deep sense of helplessness, as if he were playing along with a performance he was unwilling to participate in but could not stop.
Not far away, Kuchiba Hiro, who had remained on guard throughout, heard every word of their conversation.
Just a second ago, he was rapidly thinking about how to deal with a potential pincer attack from the two of them, his brain tensely evaluating risks and countermeasures. However, after hearing this conversation, his taut nerves couldn't help but stall. Immediately after, a strong sense of absurdity welled up in his heart, his mind filled with massive question marks.
Arthur Pendragon?
Wasn't this... the legendary King of ancient Britain from the myths children heard? The King Arthur who pulled the sword from the stone and established the Knights of the Round Table? A legendary figure who had passed away over a thousand years ago?
And that chivalry... so it wasn't just some pretty words said in passing; she was actually strictly adhering to those principles that sounded very 'Anteiku'? Even going as far as to refuse a companion's help in a life-and-death struggle?
Kuchiba Hiro felt his mind was a bit of a mess, as if he were choking on something. Through his visor, he re-examined the two people standing before him —the blonde-haired, green-eyed girl knight calling herself Arthur, and the red-haired archer called Emiya who had a face full of helplessness.
Their expressions didn't look like they were joking; that seriousness, combined with the girl's sense of "of course," only doubled the sense of absurdity.
"These two... they aren't mentally ill, are they?"
A remarkably blunt, even somewhat crude thought popped up uncontrollably. The way he looked at them shifted from seeing them as mortal enemies to unconsciously carrying a bit of the scrutiny one would have for a rare animal, along with a hint of unutterable... disgust?
He had spent his life in the lower rungs of society, accustomed to all kinds of people and the absurdities of reality, where one would do anything to survive and expose their ugliest side just to procreate. Yet these two before him, clearly possessing great power, were immersed in some... er, "role-playing" -like conviction and principles. In Kuchiba Hiro's eyes, this was simply incomprehensible stupidity and a detachment from reality.
Thoughts spun in Kuchiba Hiro's mind like precision gears clicking into place. This Knight Maiden calling herself King Arthur behaved absurdly and adhered to a seemingly ridiculous chivalry, but this was precisely what exposed her fatal weakness —she lived in a "reality" constructed by a strong self-perception that was completely out of touch with the modern world. This perception was her source of power, but it was also bound to be her Achilles' heel.
He remembered occasionally hearing things about mental hospitals. Doctors said that when dealing with patients with fixed perceptions, one shouldn't directly deny their delusions, or it could easily trigger violent confrontation or worsen the condition; one needed to guide them skillfully... He wasn't a doctor, and he had no interest or obligation to help "treat" her. As an enemy, he had found a shortcut that might allow him to win without shedding blood —or at least greatly weaken her will to fight.
"You..." Kuchiba Hiro deliberately elongated his tone, his voice through the visor carrying a strange mix of questioning and a purposefully crafted "inquiry," "Are you really King Arthur? The... Arthur Pendragon who pulled the sword from the stone and established the Knights of the Round Table?"
He specifically emphasized the tone of that legendary name.
"Shut up!"
Almost the instant Kuchiba Hiro finished speaking, the red-haired youth Emiya's expression changed drastically as he shouted a sharp command to stop! He suddenly drew his longbow again, the arrow tip pointing directly at Kuchiba Hiro, his eyes filled with unprecedented vigilance and a hint of... panic? He seemed extremely afraid that Kuchiba Hiro would continue this topic.
He actually ignored Arthur's previous interference and fired an arrow, aiming straight for Kuchiba Hiro's face! His intention was all too obvious —to interrupt the conversation and seal Kuchiba Hiro's mouth!
However—
*Clang!*
A golden figure was even faster! Arthur had picked up that invisible Holy Sword again at some point, and with a flash of sword light, she accurately struck the arrow out of the air!
"Emiya!" Arthur turned around, her emerald eyes looking at her companion with unquestionable authority, her tone carrying a rebuke, "I will say this one last time: you are not allowed to interfere in this fair duel!"
She faced Kuchiba Hiro again, her expression actually softening slightly, even carrying a kind of... patience meant for guiding a lost soul?
"I can feel that you are not a purely evil person, but merely consumed by the fires of hatred. If you can lay down your weapons and speak of your grievances, perhaps... we can find a different path. I swear upon my honor as a knight that I am willing to listen."
Watching from the side, Emiya's mouth twitched, and he completely lost his composure. It was a complex mix of "as expected", "it's over", and "I can't bear to look". He raised a hand to his forehead, almost letting out a groan.
Under the visor, Kuchiba Hiro's expression was similarly in a state of "seeing a ghost", finding it hard to keep a straight face.
"Is this something a person in reality can actually say?!" he ranted wildly in his heart. On a battlefield where lives were on the line, the opponent actually started talking to you with a straight face about "laying down the butcher's knife to become a Buddha," and even planned to offer psychological counseling? This wasn't just detached from reality; it was a dimensional reduction strike!
Emiya's overreaction was like a lighthouse in the dark of night, clearly pointing him in the right direction—
He was afraid! He was afraid of him delving deeper into the topic of "King Arthur"!
What did this mean? It meant that this seemingly solid shell of "King Arthur" might not be as invulnerable as it appeared! There were cracks, fragile points that could be pried open with words!)
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