This was a textbook-level duel between Heroic Spirits.
Saber's swordsmanship was grand and imposing, heavy and powerful, each strike carrying enough monstrous strength to shatter rocks—
This was thanks to Hansen's unreasonable supply of mana.
Lancer, on the other hand, excelled in agility and trickery; his twin spears were like a venomous snake's tongue, always finding incredible angles to launch counterattacks.
"Good! Truly excellent!"
Lancer grew more excited as the fight progressed, his handsome face filled with fighting spirit. "This intensity of mana, this flawless swordsmanship! You truly are the opponent I expected!"
"The same to you, Lancer!" Saber said, though she felt a bit stifled in her heart.
If not for her consideration of a knight's honor, with the mana currently overflowing within her body, she could have ended the battle long ago by simply washing the ground with a beam of light.
But that would be too lacking in technique, and... she stole a glance toward the top of her head.
That hateful guy was actually just watching the show!
"Hit the left! Oh, if that spear had been 0.5 seconds faster, it would have hit!"
"Beautiful! That'Sweeping a Thousand Armies' move was interesting, too bad it missed!"
"Tsk tsk tsk, Lancer's beauty mark is a bit flirtatious. Alice, do you like this type?"
Hansen sat atop a shipping container, tossing popcorn into his mouth while providing a mindless real-time commentary on the life-and-death struggle below.
Irisviel was caught between laughter and tears. "Mr. Han Sen, Lancer is the famous 'Graine of Radiance,' a legendary handsome man."
"Pfft, just a pretty boy," Hansen curled his lip disdainfully. "He's far from my kind of masculine beauty."
"Yes, yes, Mr. Han Sen is the most handsome," Irisviel coaxed, giving him face.
Below, the veins on Saber's forehead throbbed as she listened.
She was distracted!
In that instant, Lancer keenly captured a slight opening in Saber's defense.
"Being distracted on this battlefield is a grave mistake! Saber!"
The yellow spear in Lancer's hand, 'Gáe Buidhe,' thrust out like a venomous snake, aiming straight for Saber's shoulder.
Saber was startled and hurriedly defended. Although she blocked the spear tip, she was hit by the shaft, sliding back several meters.
"Oh ho, Saber seems to be at a disadvantage," Hansen's voice rang out at the right moment. "Do you want some outside assistance? It'll cost you a favor, no interest required."
...Shut up!!!" Saber finally couldn't take it anymore and roared upward. "I don't need it! I can handle this myself!"
An enraged King of Lions was a terrifying thing.
With a roar from Saber, the concrete ground beneath her feet instantly shattered, and she charged at Lancer like a cannonball.
Gales howled, and invisible sword winds surged like a storm.
The two sides clashed once more, and this time, Saber was clearly truly angry.
The girl king's sword momentum became even more ferocious; under her 'Mana Burst,' her monstrous strength, speed, and physique were fully displayed!
Clang—!
The invisible 'Invisible Air' collided violently with the red spear.
Clang clang clang clang clang—!
The dense sounds of clashing metal formed a continuous line.
Saber didn't even move her feet; relying solely on the flick of her wrists and subtle body adjustments, she parried all of Lancer's attacks.
Furthermore, every parry was accompanied by the counter-shock of 'Mana Burst.'
After dozens of exchanges, Lancer not only failed to gain an advantage but instead, due to that constant vibrational force, his arms began to go numb and his breathing became ragged.
"How is this possible... My spear techniques have been completely seen through?"
Lancer grew more alarmed as he fought, but in the next moment!
He felt an overwhelming force surge through the spear shaft, instantly splitting the webbing between his thumb and index finger!
"What—?!"
Lancer was sent flying as if hit head-on by a high-speed train, his feet plowing two deep furrows into the ground as he was forced back over ten meters before barely stopping!
"This monstrous strength... how is it possible?!"
The battle-hardened Lancer instantly fell into a disadvantage.
"Hmph, truly disappointing."
Just then, a sinister voice suddenly echoed in the night sky, carrying the obvious effect of amplification magecraft, coming from all directions.
"The famous Einzbern family has actually fallen to such a state."
"Bringing such an ill-mannered bumpkin to participate in the Holy Grail War—are you treating this sacred ritual as an outing?"
The voice was filled with arrogance and disdain; that aristocratic sense of superiority etched into the bones made one want to strike the speaker.
Lancer's movements stiffened. Using the force of Saber's slash, he leaped back to create distance, a trace of embarrassment and helplessness on his face.
This was the voice of his master, Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald.
"Oh?"
Atop the shipping container, Hansen stopped eating popcorn.
He brushed the crumbs off his hands and tilted his head slightly, looking toward the top of a tall crane in the distance.
There, he could vaguely sense the fluctuations of mana.
"Where did this fly come from, buzzing around? So annoying."
Hansen stood up, and his previously lazy, spectator-like aura vanished instantly.
Replacing it was an oppressive force as deep as an abyss and a hair-raising sense of suffocation.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, those eyes burning with Platinum Divine Fire accurately locking onto the hidden Kayneth from hundreds of meters away.
"Lancer's master, right?"
Hansen's voice wasn't loud, yet it clearly pierced through the sound of the wind, echoing throughout the harbor.
"Just now... were you trying to tell me how to do things?"
The words fell.
Boom!!!
An invisible force field suddenly erupted!
The giant crane in the distance, weighing hundreds of tons, instantly let out a tooth-gritting sound of twisting metal.
Then, under everyone's horrified gaze.
That steel beast was crushed as if by a giant invisible hand, its steel supports bending and snapping like noodles!
"Aaaaaahhh!!!!"
The Mystic Code 'Volumen Hydrargyrum,' capable of both offense and defense, instantly deployed a barrier, but Kayneth's screams still came from within the twisted scrap metal, clearly having suffered significant injury.
Lancer stood rooted to the spot, watching this scene in disbelief.
Saber also stopped her movements, staring blankly at the man above who looked like a demon god.
The entire field fell into a deathly silence.
Hansen casually sat back down on the picnic mat, picked up a bottle of Cola, and pulled the tab.
Pshhh—!
The sound of bubbling carbonation was exceptionally clear in the silence.
"What are you staring for?"
Hansen took a sip of the Happy Water and waved at the two dumbfounded people below.
"Keep the music playing, keep the dance going."
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