Even though I just said all that, fighting a Servant one-on-one especially the one i fight is Saber is really impossible for me.
But from my observation, this dark Saber or what Lady Ava calls an "Alter" is completely different from her normal version.
She is far more aggressive, and her mind is so clouded by rage that she can't think straight. I can probably use that lack of composure to my advantage.
With my Mystic Eyes i can clearly see the jagged, red lines of death tracing across Saber's body and her darkened armor.
And just like before, there is absolutely nothing on Excalibur. My projected weapons definitely can't handle blocking a Divine Construct, so I have to play it extremely safe.
But while I am still trying to form a strategy, Saber's figure in the distance suddenly blurs. With an explosive burst of Prana, she crosses the gap in a fraction of a second, appearing right in front of my face.
"Whaaa!?" Seeing the blackened Excalibur swinging horizontally toward me, I hurriedly try to dodge. But even with Reinforcement, my human speed just isn't fast enough to escape the range of her blade.
"Barrier~"
CLANK!
The heavy blade is abruptly stopped by something invisible to the naked eye.
Thanks to my Mystic Eyes, I can clearly see the fragile lines of a dense wall of Prana that Lady Avalon conjured right in front of me, taking the full brunt of the strike.
"Rikka, if you just stand there, you are going to lose, you know! Here, Hero Creation just for my cute disciple~" Lady Ava chimes in from behind me.
Suddenly, my body glows with an intense, warm red light. A massive surge of magical energy floods into my circuits, making my entire body feel incredibly light and overflowing with raw, explosive power.
Is this Lady Ava's ace card buff? "Thank you, Teacher!"
With this insane buff boosting my physical parameters, my body should finally be able to keep up with Saber Alter's movements, far beyond what basic Reinforcement can do.
Without hesitating, I quickly sidestep the barrier and dash away from her to create some distance.
"Where do you think you are going?!" Saber Alter roars.
Suddenly, Saber's Excalibur bursts with dark energy. With a fierce horizontal slice, she unleashes a wave of dense Prana that rushes toward me at blinding speed.
As the dark wave rushes closer, I focus my Mystic Eyes. Right in the glowing center of the roaring Prana blast, a thick, jagged red Line of Death manifests.
So that means I can kill it!
Without hesitating, I project a dagger into my right hand and bring the blade down in a sharp, precise slash right through the red line floating in the middle of the dark blast.
Zip.
The moment my blade cuts the line, the terrifying wave of black energy completely loses its form.
The violent roar cuts out, and the destructive blast instantly dissolves into a harmless breeze of fading dark particles that blow past my face.
Saber's eyes widen in genuine shock. "What... did you just do?!" Then, she finally seems to realize that my eyes have changed. "Those eyes... what are they...?"
The moment our eyes meet, a visible shiver runs through her entire body.
Servants aren't made of flesh and blood-they're physical constructs of pure prana anchored to a Saint Graph. And right now, my eyes are staring straight at her Saint Graph that holding her existence together.
She can feel it. She doesn't know what my eyes are, but her Instinct is already screaming a warning as her body recoils from the cold aura in my gaze. She realizes I'm not aiming for her armor or her sword.
She realizes I am not looking at her armor or her sword. I am looking directly at her Death.
"A child..." Saber Alter murmurs. Her blade trembles slightly as she takes a cautious step back to maintain her distance. "Just what kind of child are you...?"
"What kind of child am I, huh...?"
That is actually the very first question I asked myself right after 'where am I?'—when I first woke up in this world.
I realized that I only regained consciousness when I was already a baby, left right in front of an orphanage. It is weird, because if I had properly reincarnated here, I should have been conscious the exact moment I was born.
Even if I couldn't see anything as a newborn, the memories and knowledge from my past life mean I should have been able to think.
But since I only managed to wake up in front of that orphanage, that means my situation is transmigration, not true reincarnation.
Basically, my soul took over someone else's body.
Still, just like Saber said... what kind of child am I? Why do I have these terrifying eyes that can see the death and the end of most things? Why can I somehow connect directly to the Root?
Why is it that I haven't even been in this world for ten years, yet I have already gone through so much insane stuff and met ridiculously weird people like Lady Ava?
"You know, Saber, I don't even know what kind of child I am either," I say, staring right back at her with my glowing eyes. "But who cares about any of that? Even if I am just some weird anomaly that shouldn't exist, I am still standing right here, and I am definitely not running away anymore."
"You want to reject the vision I showed you, right? While I am trying to make you accept it, both of us clearly want different things. So, let me show you my resolve!"
After saying that, Saber goes silent for a while. I don't know what she is thinking, but I will gladly take this break if it gives me more time to prepare.
"You are right, Reina... No, Rikka. It does not matter who you are," Saber says, her voice low. "Just as you said, I will not accept that vision of my Britain being sacrificed for the Age of Man. My people, my knights... everyone just becoming a stepping stone for the World. I will never accept that!"
I can see her fixing her posture, standing up straight while gripping her sword tightly.
"Fighting against children, no matter who they are, goes against my code as a knight..."
Did she really just realize that right now...? Even Gilgamesh doesn't usually fight children. Well, she did do the whole primae noctis thing in her mythology, meaning she claimed the right to sleep with every new bride on their wedding night before the husband could, but still.
"So, can we stop fighting then? We can just argue, right? Like normal people," I say to her.
"...Yes, that is not a bad idea." Hearing that from Saber makes me exhale in massive relief. It seems like I don't need to put my crazy plan into action after all.
But then, suddenly, I see her raise her sword with both of her hands. "But still, at the very least, you must let me beat you up with my sword as punishment for forcing me to watch my kingdom's destruction for thousands of years."
"Fuck no! If you do that, I am going to end up dead either way!!"
"That would be true if you were a normal child, but you are not. I am sure you can handle this." With that, Saber violently kickstarts her Dragon Core again.
Dense, dark Prana bursts from her body, instantly making the atmospheric pressure around me incredibly heavy.
"Shiitttt, not again! Seems like I need to do this anyway." I stare at her closely, focusing my Mystic Eyes so I can react the moment she tries to do something.
"Huh? What is that?"
Through the chaotic web of jagged red lines covering her dark armor and skin, I notice one line that looks completely different.
It isn't etched onto Saber's body like the lines representing her physical death.
Instead, it is a thick, glowing red thread extending out of her chest and stretching far off into the distance, disappearing into the empty space behind her.
It is a connection. A tether. Because she is constantly spamming her Dragon Core and Mana Burst, she is aggressively forcefully draining her Master's Od.
That line is the Prana supply cord connecting her directly to Kiritsugu!
"Wait, wait, wait! Saber, you have been spamming your Mana Burst constantly! You are going to kill Kiritsugu at this rate!" I yell at her. If he dies, Irisviel is going to be devastated. No matter how much I hate him, Irisviel's happiness is way more important than him.
But instead of answering me, all she does is smile. It is a cold, knowing smile—she is fully aware that every time she spams her Mana Burst, Kiritsugu's Od is being violently drained.
"You actually want to kill Kiritsugu?!" Now this is incredibly bad. I need to end this fast. The longer this fight drags on, the higher the chances of Kiritsugu dying.
"Huuuu..." I let out a long breath. "Alright, everything is still the same, but the end plan has to change." I glance down at the red crests of the Command Spells on the back of my right hand.
I have three Command Spells. If I remember correctly, I can use these not just to power up Lady Ava, but also to forcibly power up myself, stacking it on top of the Hero Creation buff.
Magecraft isn't True Magic—it is basically just the art of using my Od to reproduce a specific phenomenon, turning a mental picture into reality.
Most normal magi need long chants, runes, and hand signs just to force their brains to visualize a spell's output.
But Lady Ava taught me a secret over those last three years. As long as you have the magical energy and a crystal-clear mental image of what you want to happen, your imagination becomes the blueprint.
So, that means I can definitely do this.
I raise both hands in front of me, crossing my index and middle fingers into that iconic cross-seal, and shout, "Shadow Clone!"
To build a clone with a real physical body, I have to do it in specific steps.
First, I project a solid optical illusion to form the outer shape. Next, I compress a heavy burst of magical energy inside that hollow shell, hardening the Prana until it takes on actual mass and weight.
Finally, I extend a thin Prana thread from my Magic Circuits straight into the clone's core.
By feeding a copy of my own muscle memory and combat intent down that magical tether, the clone can perfectly mirror my stances and react in real time.
Poof!
A burst of displaced air and glowing flower petals erupts beside me. The magical energy locks into place, leaving a solid copy of my eight-year-old self standing there—holding a projected knife, seamlessly connected to my thoughts, and perfectly ready to draw Saber's gaze.
Then, I quickly make another one on my left. Doing this drains my Od even more. Just like in Naruto, it seems like these shadow clones basically cut my internal reserves in chunks.
With two clones active, I now only have about thirty-three percent of my Od reserve remaining.
But that is exactly why I have a backup plan. "By the power of this Command Spell—burn! Refill my Od!" One of the red strokes on my hand glows violently and burns away from my skin before fading completely.
In an instant, a massive surge of pure magical energy floods my circuits, and my entire body feels completely refreshed again.
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For a few long, tense seconds silence falls over around us.
It feels exactly like one of those dramatic anime scenes—the kind right after a commercial break where the camera slowly pans in a wide circle to show the standoff.
Three of me stand side-by-side, our projected daggers gripped tightly in our hands.
Across from us, Saber hasn't moved a single inch. The dark Prana around her is still there, but her golden eyes dart cautiously between my clones and my real body.
She saw me completely erase her dark energy blast earlier with a single swing, so she knows perfectly well that my eyes can bring her death. And now, she has to figure out how to deal with three of me at the same time.
From the sidelines, I can hear Lady Ava clapping her hands together in delight.
"My, my... using a strange hand gesture to turn my illusion magecraft into a solid physical clone without an incantation... you truly are a marvelous, unpredictable child, Rikka-chan!" Lady Ava says with absolute praise, her cheerful voice cutting right through the heavy tension.
Right beside her, Gilgamesh simply crosses her arms as her armor clinking loudly.
"Heh. Creating a solid puppet with a simple twist of your fingers... a quaint trick, but beautifully executed," Gilgamesh says, a smug, arrogant smirk spreading across her face. "Do not disappoint me now, little Guardian. Show that crude knight the worth of the girl I take interest for myself."
Wait, what? I definitely just heard something incredibly scary mixed in at the end of that sentence. Claimed for herself?! When did that happen?!
A bead of cold sweat drops down the side of my face, but I forcefully shake my head and lock my glowing eyes back onto the corrupted Saber in front of me.
I do not have the time or the mental capacity to process what Gilgamesh just said. I am just going to completely ignore that for now. I need to focus on surviving this fight first!
Now that Saber's eyes are locked onto the three of us standing together, I need to hide our movements.
I raise my hand, channeling a heavy pulse of magical energy directly into the air around us.
Through basic Elemental Magecraft, I dump Prana into the surrounding Ether, flash-boiling the moisture and transmuting the dust particles into physical carbon.
A massive, opaque cloud of real black smoke erupts from the ground, instantly swallowing me and my two clones.
It is heavy, physical smoke that chokes the air and completely cuts off Saber's vision. Wrapped inside this thick black wall, I leave Saber totally blind and forced to guess where the real me is hiding.
My two clones sprint out from the sides of the smoke screen, splitting left and right. Through the Prana threads connecting us, their eyes feed a cross-view of the plaza directly into my head. I can see Saber from both flanks at once.
Just like I planned, we use the exact same method Assassin used when she attacked Denial. We run in rapid circles around Saber, throwing projected knives over and over again.
Of course, that is not actually going to work. Our projections are hollow, so Saber's heavy armor and dense Prana casually deflect every single blade without her even trying.
But as Saber turns her body to track the left clone, her right flank and back are left exposed to the smoke. Through my clones' vision, I see the exact gap in her guard, giving me the perfect opening to launch my spell.
I once again raise both of my hands—not just up, but high up above my head.
"Ignite, Ether of the earth! Compress the heat, unleash the roaring flame!"
Hidden deep inside the thick smoke screen, I chant my Aria, channeling a massive surge of Prana into the surrounding Ether.
The temperature in the smoke spikes instantly as a sphere of ultra-compressed, roaring white fire condenses right on top of my hands.
The clones' only job is just to buy me enough time to cast this.
"Infernal Burst!"
I release the spell. A giant, high-speed fireball shoots out from the smoke cloud, roaring across the plaza. It carries enough raw kinetic force and extreme heat that even Saber cannot just casually tank it.
She is forced to ignore my two clones and prepare to dodge to the side.
Saber sees the fireball roaring toward her and tries to bend her knees, preparing to leap to the side out of the blast radius while completely ignoring my two clones.
But before her feet can push off the cracked asphalt, my two clones use that exact chance. Capitalizing on being ignored and underestimated, they dive low, throwing their physical weight against the back of her knees and wrapping their arms tight to lock her legs in place.
They definitely can't overpower her ridiculous strength, but by pinning her joints like that, they ruin her footing and stop her from leaping away.
"Tch—insolent puppets!" Saber snarls, trying to rip her legs free, but the clones firmly hold their ground to pin her down for that one crucial second.
Realizing she can't dodge in time, Saber grits her teeth. She shifts her stance and swings Excalibur upward, opting to slash the fireball directly instead of worrying about the clones at her feet.
BOOM!
The blackened heavy blade slashes right through the spell, detonating the compressed fireball right in front of her face in a blinding explosion of roaring flames and thick smoke.
That is exactly what I am waiting for.
Using the exploding fireball as my shield, I charge straight through the smoke, riding right behind the blast wave.
As the flames shatter apart, I erupt out of the fire, appearing mere inches from Saber's face while her sword is still fully extended from her heavy swing.
Before she can even try to recover her guard, I thrust my open hands forward and unleash a point-blank technique straight at her.
I squeeze my own eyes shut tight for the microsecond of the flash.
"Solar Flare!"
Because my Magecraft projects the light strictly forward and away from my face, the flash doesn't blind me.
But even through my closed eyelids, a brilliant white glare bleeds through as a searing burst of optical Prana detonates outward from my spread fingers.
The directional flash erupts right into Saber's eyes at point-blank range. She winces with a sharp gasp, turning her head instinctively as her physical vision is completely whited out and her guard finally drops.