The moment their weapons met, the force of their clash shattered the ground beneath their feet.
To anyone watching, the fight was too fast to track. Lancer moved at a terrifying speed, his body forced past its limits as his red and yellow spears struck from every possible angle. Artoria held her ground, teeth gritted against the impact, letting out sharp grunts of exertion with every parry. The surge of mana from her Master heightened her reflexes enough to keep up, but she was still at a disadvantage. Lancer had two weapons, and his strikes came too fast to counter cleanly.
"From the left!" Lancer shouted, his voice strained through gritted teeth.
The red spear, Gáe Dearg, thrust right at her side. Artoria deflected it with her invisible sword with a harsh grunt, but before she could even shift her footing, Lancer's grip adjusted.
"Duck!" he warned.
Driven by the Command Spell, his arm forcefully swept the yellow spear, Gáe Buidhe, in a vicious horizontal arc aimed directly at her neck. Artoria dropped low with a sharp exhale, the cursed blade cutting through the empty air right over her head.
Sola-Ui had used a Command Spell to order him to kill them, but her mind was so clouded by jealousy that she forgot to give a specific method. She never commanded him to go all out or use his maximum strength. Lancer used that loophole to fiercely resist the order, shouting the direction of his attacks a split second before his body was forced to execute them.
Even with his warnings, the fight was intense. Every time their weapons collided, grunts echoed from both of them as shockwaves blasted across the area, tearing chunks of concrete and dirt from the ground. Artoria parried a rapid flurry of thrusts, gasping for air as the dual spears kept her entirely on the defensive.
Realizing she needed to break his momentum, Artoria planted her feet firmly into the cracked ground. Instead of just parrying his next strike, she gripped her sword with both hands, let out a low grunt of strain, and swung a massive, horizontal slash right at him.
Lancer reacted instantly, gasping for breath as he crossed both the red and yellow spears in front of him to block the invisible blade.
The moment her sword locked against his spears, Artoria use more of her Mana Burst. Thick, visible blue mana flared around her armor. The ground beneath her feet shattered completely under the sudden spike in pressure.
"Aaaahhh!" Artoria roared, a fierce, explosive shout tearing from her throat as she poured a massive wave of prana into her blade.
With a surge of raw physical strength, she pushed forward, using the blast of mana to forcefully launch Lancer away.
Lancer skidded backward across the ground before he finally managed to stop himself, putting a good distance between the two of them.
He gasped for air, his arms trembling visibly as he fought to keep his own muscles from lunging forward again.
Artoria stood her ground and lowered her invisible sword just a fraction. "Lancer," she called out, her voice cutting through the ringing silence. "Why are you warning me?"
Lancer tightened his grip on his dual spears, his expression twisted in frustration. "My Master ordered me to kill you, Saber. My body has no choice but to obey the Command Spell. But... I refuse to take your life as a mindless puppet. A cheap shot goes against everything my pride stands for."
Artoria looked at him. She knew her Master was already moving through the shadows to deal with Sola-Ui. Artoria just needed to keep Lancer occupied here until Rikka broke the curse.
But seeing his frustration, she realized this was the perfect chance to give him the honorable clash he wanted while successfully stalling for time.
"My Master is already moving to deal with your Master's condition," Artoria said, keeping her voice steady. "But until she succeeds, that Command Spell will keep forcing your body to attack me."
Hearing that an enemy Master was going straight for Sola-Ui should have made Lancer panic.
But surprisingly, he didn't feel worried at all. Even though he had only met Rikka three times counting today, he had seen enough of her personality to know she wasn't the type to just murder someone in cold blood. He actually trusted her to handle it properly.
And practically speaking, even if he wanted to run back and protect Sola-Ui, he couldn't. The Command Spell explicitly forced him to attack Saber, making it physically impossible for him to retreat to his Master's side anyway.
Artoria lowered her stance a little more, pointing her invisible blade toward him.
"Since we must fight to buy time, there is no need for you to suffer by resisting your own body," Artoria told him.
"Stop holding back, Lancer. If we are going to cross weapons, fight me with your own will. Let us have a proper duel until this is resolved."
Lancer stared at her, his eyes widening slightly as he understood what she was offering.
Slowly, the strained trembling in his arms stopped. He let out a long breath. He wasn't fighting the order anymore he was choosing to accept the battle on his own terms.
A fierce, focused smile crossed his face. "You have my thanks, Saber. Then... prepare yourself!"
Lancer lowered his stance. The frustration that clouded his face earlier was completely gone, replaced by the sharp, terrifying focus of a true warrior.
The sheer volume of prana surging through his body could no longer be contained. Visible waves of magical energy leaked from his skin, distorting the air around him. The immense pressure of his borrowed power caused the cracked concrete beneath his feet to actively splinter and groan just from him standing there.
Seeing his resolve, Artoria knew she had to answer in kind. She gripped her hilt tightly. The swirling, high-pressure wind that cloaked her weapon suddenly erupted outward in a massive blast, blowing away the dust and debris around them.
As the wind dissipated, the brilliant, golden form of Excalibur was finally revealed, casting a dazzling glow across them.
Lancer paused for a split second, his eyes widening slightly. Even in the middle of a deadly battle, he couldn't help but be amazed by the sheer craftsmanship of the golden blade. Any knight would recognize that famous weapon instantly. It was Excalibur.
Artoria lowered the holy sword into a flawless stance, showing Lancer she was taking this duel completely seriously.
A fierce, excited grin crossed Lancer's face. He kicked off the ground. There were no shouted warnings this time. He crossed the distance in a fraction of a second, thrusting the crimson Gáe Dearg straight at her chest.
Artoria reacted instantly, swatting the red spear aside with a sharp grunt. But instead of pulling back, Lancer used the momentum of her parry to spin his body. The yellow spear, Gáe Buidhe, swept toward her ribs in a brutal horizontal arc. Artoria stepped backward just in time, feeling the cursed blade slice through the air a mere inch from her armor.
The fight immediately escalated into a relentless, high-speed exchange. Lancer pressed the attack, his incredible agility pushing Artoria entirely onto the defensive.
He didn't just stand in front of her he constantly shifted his footing, using his dual spears to strike from completely different angles.
He utilized the longer reach of Gáe Dearg to keep her at a distance, thrusting in rapid succession to force her backward.
The moment she stepped into range to counter, he immediately brought the shorter Gáe Buidhe up in tight, vicious arcs aimed at her vital spots.
Artoria gritted her teeth, letting out short, sharp gasps of air as she tracked his movements. She parried a high thrust from the red spear, instantly dropping her center of gravity to deflect a sudden follow-up sweep aimed at her legs.
Every single time their weapons collided, deafening cracks echoed across the area. Shockwaves of raw force blasted outward, tearing deep trenches into the dirt and shattering whatever concrete was left around them.
The physical exertion was immense, but Artoria kept her pace, her endless supply of Prana fully fueling her reflexes.
Lancer lunged again, thrusting both spears forward in a synchronized strike. Artoria didn't try to block both.
She forcefully expelled a burst of mana from her armor, sliding her feet just outside the range of his attack.
Before Lancer could pull his weapons back, she stepped in close and swung a vertical slash straight down at his shoulder.
Lancer moved with terrifying speed. He sidestepped the attack, the golden blade violently carving a massive gouge into the ground right next to him.
Using the tiny opening, he stepped directly on the flat of her sword with his foot, pinning it down for a fraction of a second as he aimed the red spear right at her face.
Artoria let out a fierce grunt, forcefully twisting her wrists and releasing another burst of mana from her armor. The sudden physical blast threw Lancer off balance. He immediately pulled his foot back and flipped away to gain distance.
The moment his feet touched the ground, he sprinted to the side, circling her at an incredible speed. But Artoria still manage to tracked him, turning to keep him in her line of sight.
Suddenly, Lancer vaulted off a massive chunk of broken concrete. He launched himself high into the air, twisting his body mid-flight to bring both the red and yellow spears crashing down toward her in a fierce overhead strike.
Artoria didn't dodge. She pivoted on her heel, firmly planted her feet into the ground, and gripped Excalibur with both hands. With a fierce shout, she swung upward with full force to meet his falling attack.
The weapons collided with a massive explosion of force. The sheer physical power of Artoria's two-handed swing completely halted Lancer's momentum in the air.
The ground beneath Artoria spider-webbed outward from the immense stress of catching his attack head-on. Lancer flipped backward from the impact, landing smoothly a few yards away.
As he landed, he started to rush forward again, but he suddenly stopped. His eyes locked entirely onto her grip.
He had noticed her using both hands earlier when she forcefully pushed him away to break their initial clash, but catching a full-power aerial strike head-on was completely different. There was no hesitation, no weakness, and no pain.
"Your right arm..." Lancer said, his eyes widening in genuine shock as he lowered his dual spears just a fraction.
"I suspected it when you pushed me back earlier, but seeing you catch that strike flawlessly... The curse of Gáe Buidhe really is completely gone."
Artoria kept Excalibur raised in a flawless combat stance, a confident look in her eyes. "I told you, Lancer. My Master is exceptional."
A sharp laugh escaped Lancer's throat. The tension of fighting the Command Spell was completely erased, replaced by the pure thrill of crossing weapons with a worthy opponent. He gripped his dual spears tightly, his immense prana flaring up once more, cracking the dirt beneath her feet.
"She truly is," Lancer smiled fiercely. "Then shall we continue,"
He lunged forward again, his speed somehow even faster than before. Artoria met him halfway, their weapons clashing in another massive shockwave as the true duel finally began.
~~~
~~~
~~~
'What the fuck!? I can't even see anything! Just how fast are they moving?'
While I keep my presence lowered with my magecraft and slowly walk through the shadows toward Sola-Ui, I try to keep an eye on how Artoria and Lancer's fight is going.
But it is completely insane. They are moving so fast my eyes literally can't track them. Honestly, thank Void Artoria's Alter form was weakened when I fought her yesterday.
Kiritsugu's Od quality was complete garbage compared to mine. If I had to fight this current, maxed-out version of her, I would be dead in a second if I didn't use my ace card immediately.
"No, this is not the time to think about that," I mutter to myself, shaking my head to clear the stray thoughts.
I focus back on my target. Sola-Ui Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri... seriously, whoever named her needs to have their naming privileges revoked.
If I remember correctly, she has a pretty high amount of Magic Circuits in her body. That is the whole reason she came to Fuyuki in the first place—Kayneth needed her as a secondary mana battery to support Lancer.
But instead of just supporting him, she literally wants to devour Lancer right now all because of that stupid curse.
Sure, she doesn't actually love Kayneth, and he doesn't really love her either it is just the usual, arranged political engagement between two elite magus families but they weren't exactly on bad terms before this.
From what I remember in the anime, she never really uses any kind of offensive magecraft. But she is definitely capable of high-level healing.
She manages to save Kayneth after Kiritsugu shoots him, and she even heals her own stump right after Maiya chops her hand off.
Keeping my footsteps light, I slip through the broken concrete walls, staying well away from where Artoria and Lancer are going all out in the middle of the road.
Sola doesn't notice me at all. Her eyes are completely glued to Lancer, a sickeningly sweet smile stretched across her face as she watches him trade blows with Artoria.
With a quiet flicker of Od in my palm, I trace a brief projection formula, materializing a small knife in my grip.
I channel a bit more Od to my eyes, activating my Mystic Eyes. The world instantly shifts, and the familiar, jagged black lines spread across the environment.
I ignore the scenery and focus entirely on Sola. Her body is covered in the usual lines that dictate her life, but there is one specific line that clearly doesn't belong to her.
It wraps around her, pulsing with an unnatural presence. That has to be the love spot curse anchoring itself to her mind.
I step up right behind her. I have to be incredibly careful here. If my hand slips and I accidentally cut one of her actual life lines, she dies instantly.
Taking a calm breath, I raise the projected knife and cleanly slice the blade straight through that specific foreign line.
The moment the knife passes through it, the line evaporates like small paper being burned.
Sola gasps loudly. The sickeningly obsessed, blank look in her eyes vanishes instantly, and the normal clear light of in her eyes returns.
She jolts in surprise, looking around wildly for a second before she suddenly clutches her head.
Her fingers dig into her hair as she lets out a pained groan. It looks like her head is being crushed. Now that the curse is broken, every single thing she did, thought, and said while under its influence is probably flooding her mind all at once.
The sheer mental whiplash and embarrassment of remembering it all is just too much for her brain to process.
She lets out a sharp scream, her legs giving out as she completely loses consciousness.
I quickly step forward and manage to slow her fall before she hits the ground.
Her sudden scream echoes loudly down the road. The deafening sound of weapons clashing instantly stop.
Artoria and Lancer separate immediately, both of them turning to look straight over to where I am standing with an unconscious Sola in front of me.