The seventh class card, Saber, widely recognized as the strongest class in the Holy Grail War.
Quietly leaving the Emiya Residence, Ritsuka walked down the broken slope and came to the nearest open area, which was empty of people.
It had been dark for a while, and no one was wandering nearby, clearly due to the influence of magecraft.
"Saber..."
Ritsuka whispered softly.
At the other end of the clearing, a knight clad in silver-white armor approached. Their hands were positioned as if holding a sword, yet no sword could be seen. Ritsuka became vigilant.
"Trace On!"
Her attire transformed into her combat gear, and a slender Demonic Blade named 'Murasame' emerged at her fingertips.
The Divine Energy emanating from her belt flooded into the blade. Azure magical energy enveloped it, and precise circuit-like patterns swept through every part, filling the Demonic Blade itself with blue light.
Lowering her body, Ritsuka observed the quiet figure.
Silver-white full-body armor; because of the helmet, their appearance was hidden. Their aura was not weak, giving off the feeling of an ultra-orthodox knight.
Moreover, this person was somewhat different from the previous two dolls. Whether it was the Hooded man of the Rider class or the Lancer's Lemon Head, the pressure they brought was not as great as the one before her.
The opponents were getting stronger and stronger!
The two faced each other from a distance, silently observing, but clearly, the one holding the Saber class card did not want to waste time.
Stepping forward, their metal sabatons cracked the ground as the person wielding the invisible sword launched a charge.
Their speed was slightly inferior to Lancer's, but their strength was clearly greater than that of the spearman. After a brief judgment, Ritsuka took the initiative to meet them.
Clang!
The Demonic Blade and the invisible sword separated immediately upon contact. Because she couldn't see it, she couldn't grasp the optimal intersection distance.
Every weapon has its most suitable attack range, which is why polearms can suppress short weapons when there is enough distance. The biggest problem with an invisible sword is that the intersection distance is unknown.
Fighting while retreating, the Demonic Blade drew a blue light as it collided with the invisible sword that emitted faint golden dust, striking sparks between them.
Excellent swordsmanship clashed. The airflow stirred up by the flashes of blades alone carved deep marks into the surrounding ground. The storm of magical energy centered on the two of them roared as if it were about to destroy the entire clearing.
Neither had any intention of holding back!
Boom—!!
The ground felt as if it had been struck by a heavy sledgehammer, and a crater over ten meters in diameter was smashed out. Saber, who had dealt such destruction with a single swing, pressed forward.
Even though Saber was slightly weaker than Ritsuka in terms of strength, they were currently able to match her or even push her back.
'It might be some kind of skill...'
Hesitating no longer, Ritsuka suppressed her own body's rejection and infused the Divine Energy from the belt into herself.
All her attributes increased significantly. This sudden surge in strength caught Saber off guard. Her blade struck the invisible sword, and the ground beneath her metal sabatons exploded. Centered on the point of collision, a wind-like shockwave swept through the field.
The air was directly torn apart by this strike.
Saber was jolted back repeatedly, their sabatons dragging two furrows into the broken ground. Ritsuka followed them like a shadow.
With a series of slashes from her long blade, the brilliant flashes were overwhelming. When the invisible sword was knocked aside, Ritsuka delivered a kick.
Bang—!
The sound of a sonic boom compressed against Saber's armor; this kick felt as if a sledgehammer had landed on their body.
Saber flew out uncontrollably, crashing through countless obstacles along the way.
The Projected Demonic Blade in her hand shattered. Ritsuka tossed it aside, and in a flash of azure light, another Demonic Blade was Projected and held firmly in her hand.
She had become stronger, far stronger than when she fought Lancer. This was likely the result of the increasing degree of replacement. Lancer and Saber's strengths weren't that different; in a sense, her getting stronger was equivalent to her opponent being weakened.
However, a higher degree of replacement also had downsides; her body's rejection of the Divine Energy was becoming increasingly extreme.
Her fingertips brushed the edge of the blade, and Ritsuka's eyes narrowed... Saber climbed up from the ground. The armor at their chest was basically shattered, and blood seeped from the edge of the helmet, indicating they had sustained some injuries.
But the more this was the case, the heavier the sense of threat the opponent gave Ritsuka.
They definitely have some incredible Noble Phantasm as a trump card!
I can't give them the chance to use it.
Pulling her right hand back, the tip of the blade pointing diagonally at the ground, Ritsuka charged forward.
A cold light rose from below. The azure brilliance directly pierced through the shoulder armor, and the Demonic Blade nailed itself into the joint where Saber's shoulder and arm met, locking it in place.
"Ughhh..."
With their left arm hanging limply, Saber suddenly stepped forward and smashed the hilt of the sword into Ritsuka's face.
The sword in their hand slashed three times. Wind twisted around the blade, smashing fiercely against Ritsuka in mid-air, and the storm ground her against the earth.
[Diomedes' Man-Eating Mares]
Activating Alcides' Noble Phantasm, Ritsuka punched the ground beside her and used the momentum to leap out of the storm's range.
A high-pitched neighing sounded in the center of the storm as a pack of man-eating mares with sharp teeth were summoned, forcibly tearing the remaining hurricane to shreds.
Immediately after, the bronze monstrous bird and Cerberus, which had appeared once before, also rushed out from various corners, charging toward the Saber who had been stripped of one arm's use. For a moment, life forms that only existed in myth stepped onto this land.
Drawing her bow and nocking an arrow, Ritsuka used the summoned creatures to pull away and locked onto the fellow trying to manipulate the wind.
With ultra-rapid continuous fire, supersonic Noble Phantasm-grade arrows flew. The moment Ritsuka began drawing her bow, it was like a volley from an entire army.
Arrows carrying Hydra Poison were partly blocked by the armor, but a small portion still injured Saber, and the poison began to tear at his nerves.
The summons continued their justice of a group beatdown, and Saber, struggling to defend from all sides, had his butt bitten by Cerberus.
For a time, Saber was completely restricted.
The helmet cracked under the barrage of feathers released by the bronze monstrous bird, and the bottom half fell off. The man using the Saber class card shouted, "Ughhh... Strike... Air!"
The wind bound to the invisible sword was released all at once, smashing down head-on like a sledgehammer.
Ritsuka jumped to the side, easily dodging this blow that could only deal with small fry.
'Converging and compressing air... if it's only at this level...'
Ritsuka became even more cautious. How could a Noble Phantasm of this level be the trump card that brought her such a sense of threat? It would have to be at least an Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm, right?
Cerberus, the bronze monstrous bird, and the Man-Eating Mares were all caught in it and were heavily injured by the wind pressure on the spot.
Within the storm's tornado, a golden sword manifested. A holy and solemn aura washed over her, and in that instant, Ritsuka's pupils constricted.
"This is!?"
The moment she saw it, Ritsuka understood.
That knight was absolutely an ultra-orthodox knight, and that golden sword was naturally the sword of the King of Knights. It was a divine sword forged by the planet, absolutely beyond the reach of mortals.
The Sword in the Lake, Excalibur—
That was the ultimate Holy Sword of the Planet!