Diarmuid and Artoria, as King Arthur, were both battle-hardened warriors of legend. There's no need to say much about King Arthur's legend—its fame is simply off the charts. As for the peerless Diarmuid, his legends aren't inferior to King Arthur's at all.
Historically, he was the foremost warrior of the Fianna, Ireland's famed knightly order. Strictly speaking, rather than a spearman, Diarmuid would actually be better suited to being a swordsman.
Gáe Buidhe, the Yellow Rose of Mortality, and Gáe Dearg, the Crimson Rose of Exorcism—these two Noble Phantasms are, strictly speaking, among the simplest weapons Diarmuid uses.
Their abilities really are quite strong, but in practice, once the opponent knows what the two Noble Phantasms do, their effect becomes very limited. If Diarmuid hadn't tricked Artoria once, there's no way he could have injured Artoria using the Yellow Rose of Mortality.
King Arthur's practical combat ability and sheer power aren't something Diarmuid, who has only Eye of the Mind, can compare to. In FSN, she cut down the hero Heracles' seven lives with one sword—do you think that was a joke?
Moralltach (Furious Rage) and Beagalltach (Wrathful Rage)—these two demonic swords are Diarmuid's signature Noble Phantasms. Setting Wrathful Rage aside for the moment, in legend Diarmuid used Furious Rage to slay four thousand warriors of the Land of Faeries.
In a strict sense, Wrathful Rage's attached trait should be "Break," and paired with the Yellow Rose of Mortality its effect would be outstanding. But unfortunately, Diarmuid manifested in the Lancer class without bringing these two weapons, so it was all pointless.
As an aside, Artoria, as King Arthur, also wasn't currently carrying the Sword in the Stone (the Sword of Kings: broken), the Holy Grail (a relic of Jesus), or Avalon (which was with Kiritsugu).
Otherwise, a battle between Artoria at full strength and Diarmuid would be the most spectacular. But what they had now wasn't bad either—at least Meruem, watching the aerial battle, found it engrossing.
Meruem wasn't particularly skilled in weapon combat. He'd said long ago that his clone Musashi only used a katana. But that doesn't mean Meruem can't fight with weapons—just that compared to close-quarters martial arts, Meruem is better with fists and kicks.
So right now, he was absorbing the swordsmanship and spearmanship of the two warriors. Meruem's learning ability is MAX. Give him some time, and his sword and spear skills might even surpass the people he's learning from.
"Spectacular—truly spectacular. Both of them really are worthy of being humanity's strongest warriors." Even with Meruem's eyesight, he couldn't help praising them. Whether it was Nurarihyon, Naruto, Dragon Ball, Saint Seiya, or Hunter x Hunter, Meruem had never systematically learned weapon combat. Today was genuinely eye-opening—deep down, Meruem couldn't help feeling a desire to fight the two of them.
At the end of the day, although Meruem was a king, in his bones he still longed for battle.
Unfortunately, Artoria and Diarmuid's fight didn't last very long. You have to understand that many people were watching this battle, even though on the surface there were only a few people here.
Aside from the loving duo of Bluebeard and Ryuunosuke, basically all the other Masters and heroic spirits were in the vicinity.
"Yellow Rose of Mortality." In the end, Artoria was still careless. She fell into Diarmuid's trap and was struck by the cursed spear whose wounds cannot be healed. Her tendon was cut, and her thumb was severed—this had a definite impact on Artoria's performance.
You could even say that originally, Artoria's swordsmanship should have been above Diarmuid's spearmanship, but because of the unhealable injury from the Yellow Rose of Mortality, her combat power fell.
Although parameters aren't the key factor that decides victory for Servants, compared to Artoria's triple A parameters, Diarmuid only has Agility that really stands out. Without the demonic sword "Furious Rage," Diarmuid's overall strength is slightly inferior to Artoria's.
But as Artoria's injury worsened, the situation instantly reversed. The holy sword Excalibur is a two-handed sword—used one-handed, its power drops sharply.
"How could I be absent from a battle like this? To cross blades with heroes of different eras is what I yearn for most..." Along with a certain macho man's hearty laughter and a certain weakling's sobbing, a bolt of lightning struck down from the sky, smashing into the Fuyuki Bridge.
A magnificent chariot drawn by divine bulls appeared on the bridge.
The King of Conquerors held the Noble Phantasm "Cypriot Sword," drove the "Chariot of Divine Might," and, amid crackling lightning, charged toward the clash of the two great heroes, unleashing "Via Expugnatio" as he advanced.
With such a grand spectacle, even if Meruem wanted not to notice him, he couldn't.
"Oh? Looks like this guy couldn't hold back either. Then... I'll jump in too. How could a grand occasion like this be missing me?"
Meruem's figure vanished from the sky in an instant.
"Alalalalalala!" With countless lightning bolts weaving together, the King of Conquerors drove his divine chariot like a god descending to the mortal world, forcibly cutting between the two combatants.
The oldest veteran driver makes a dazzling entrance.
"That's enough. Before a king, both sides should sheathe their blades." Spreading both hands, the King of Conquerors declared with overwhelming dominance.
Honestly, his entrance was really cool.
Yeah—his styling looked exactly like that dragonfly squad leader's entrance in each Peace Star showdown in B-Robo Kabutack.
"I am Iskandar, King of Conquerors. In this Holy Grail War, I have manifested as RIDER." The Conqueror King really lived up to the title—he announced himself the moment he arrived.
Aside from a few anti-heroic spirits and those with personality issues, heroic spirits from the Throne tend to conduct themselves with open and upright bearing. Every Servant was a hero in life—"hero" isn't just an empty word. They aren't like those magi, scheming over all that messy nonsense, even hiding their Servant's True Name. The summoned heroic spirits have always disdained doing things that way. Of course... they also want the Holy Grail. But acting openly and fighting openly is their proper style.
Do you think Artoria and Diarmuid didn't want to announce themselves while fighting?
If their Masters hadn't forced them to conceal their identities, these heroic spirits would've introduced themselves the moment they appeared.
Well, put simply: Waver couldn't control Iskandar at all. Instead, he kept letting the King of Conquerors, the Servant, take the lead.
"What are you thinking, you idiot." A certain weakling on the divine chariot tugged at the King of Conquerors' clothes with teary eyes and said weakly.
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