"You heard it too—next, I'll go for the kill."
Lancer finally gripped the deadly weapon that had revealed its true form with both hands and spoke in a low voice.
Saber likewise lowered the longsword in her hand, calculating the distance between herself and Lancer even more cautiously than before.
With the advantage of her invisible sword, she had repeatedly gained the upper hand in the earlier battle, but Lancer had skillfully defused every killing move. She understood just how superb her opponent's skill was.
This man was truly formidable!
Lancer also lowered his body, like a hunting hawk, excitement gleaming in his eyes.
Only he himself remembered how much effort he had poured into mastering his twin spears. Yet from his very first attack until now, merely forcing Saber back and carefully keeping her from closing in had already taken everything he had. He had no chance at all to turn defense into offense.
Whether it was that sword whose true form he could not see, or the master swordswoman wielding it, both had brought Lancer unprecedented pressure.
This woman was incredible!
But both Saber and Lancer understood that this stalemate would surely burst like a soap bubble beneath the power of Noble Phantasms.
The effects a Noble Phantasm could unleash generally fell into two categories. One was to invoke its true name and unleash a finishing blow; the other was to use an attribute already possessed by the weapon itself as a Noble Phantasm.
Lancer's crimson spear was—
Saber instinctively believed it belonged to the latter category. Judging by Lancer's stance, he intended to continue fighting Saber directly. She could not yet sense the oppressive feeling that the next move would decide everything.
"..."
The two remained silent, but the atmosphere grew twice as tense. Step by step, they moved closer together.
—Lancer moved first.
Compared to the freely shifting spear dance that had seemed almost divine before, this straight thrust appeared far more rigid. Lancer no longer seemed to be calculating how to keep his distance from Saber's longsword hidden beneath the Wind Barrier. No—he even seemed to have abandoned his own defenses.
Saber naturally responded in the simplest manner, easily parrying Lancer's spear with the sword in her hand. The thrust was neither especially heavy nor particularly fast, just an utterly ordinary stab. But...
The anomaly began with a violent gust.
Centered on the spear and sword locked against each other, a whirlwind rose for no apparent reason.
"What!?"
As golden radiance suddenly appeared, Saber's cry of surprise rang out alongside Lancer's triumphant declaration:
"Your hidden sword has been exposed, Saber!"
The message has been received. Keep supporting us with confidence.
The golden color briefly illuminated the dim darkness before swiftly being concealed by the gathering currents of wind.
Only the two involved truly understood what that brief, bizarre phenomenon had been.
That wind had come from Saber's sword... more precisely, from her ability, Wind Barrier.
It used magical energy to gather a massive amount of air and bind it around the longsword, altering the refraction of light and rendering the entire blade invisible. As Noble Phantasm abilities went, it was hardly anything extravagant, but in close combat, it could produce enormous results.
Enemies fighting Saber would be struck by an invisible sword, while their own attacks would be blocked by that same invisible blade.
Impossible to grasp, impossible to judge.
As a result, Lancer could only widen the distance between them when dealing with Saber's longsword, staying outside her attack range. His flowing and magnificent spear techniques, which seemed to have given him the upper hand, were only surface appearances. Though he had repeatedly confused Saber and blunted her momentum with unorthodox moves, he likewise had never found an opportunity to land a decisive strike.
But beneath Lancer's vermilion spearhead, the Wind Barrier had failed.
The compressed air capable of altering light refraction scattered in that instant. When the blade collided with Lancer's spear—the magical energy binding the currents of wind around the sword had actually been undone.
At the very instant the barrier broke, Lancer caught sight of the golden sword's true appearance.
"I can see the blade now. This time, I won't be confused by the length of that invisible sword anymore."
Lancer shouted and immediately thrust again.
Just as he had said, after grasping the blade's length, Lancer's spear attacks suddenly intensified. His strikes became fiercer and more certain, and his spearwork grew more precise. Saber judged that if even one thrust slipped past her guard, it could deal fatal damage—so she could not rely on dodging alone. She danced her sword, knocking aside every stab and defending completely.
The golden sword cast streak after streak of afterimages.
"Urgh..."
Air pressure leaked from the Wind Barrier again, turning into a continuous rolling gale that violently whipped Saber's golden hair. Lancer's red spear was indeed weakening the Wind Barrier. Whenever the longsword crossed with the relentlessly advancing spear tip, Saber's originally invisible sword revealed its form. As their weapons clashed again and again, the complete shape of the golden sword gradually emerged, like an animation revealed frame by frame.
"But... if it's this kind of spearwork..."
There was still a way to deal with this style—Saber encouraged herself.
If he was wielding one spear with both hands, then it was the ordinary spear technique Saber knew well.
In the midst of battle, Saber keenly caught a flaw. Lancer's next thrust was aimed at her abdomen, but she did not need to block this attack. The hardness of her armor alone could withstand Lancer's strike.
This was a perfect opportunity to counterattack.
Saber decisively turned her sword and thrust toward Lancer's shoulder, ignoring the spear tip that grazed her ribs, intending to severely wound Lancer with a single strike.
"Alas..." Far away on Fuyuki Bridge, the two men watching sighed in unison.
It was like a ball game. If a player made a terrible kick, even someone who was not a fan would feel regretful.
"A miscalculation."
"Yes. Being too confident can sometimes be a weakness."
Webber, who had only just recovered, fell into confusion again upon hearing their assessment.
"W-why?"
With the aid of magecraft, Webber could barely make out the clash between the Servants. "Lancer's spear trajectory clearly deviated. As long as Saber's armor was hard enough, she could use that chance to counterattack... There was nothing wrong with that decision."
Before he had even finished speaking, the two Servants in the magical image had already passed each other.
At the critical moment, Saber suddenly withdrew her sword and rolled back, but she was still a fraction too late. Lancer's whistling spearhead had already drawn several drops of blood.
Whose blood it was went without saying.
"Clink!" Sakutsuki and Iskandar clinked their cups, drinking to the brilliant exchange, though their conversation had shifted in another direction.
"Did you notice it, Rider?"
"Ha, even I did not expect that. If he had lived in ancient times, he would certainly have made a fine strategist."
"Me?" Only then did Webber realize it, pointing at himself in surprise. "But I clearly misjudged it?"
"Do not belittle yourself, Webber!" A giant-like hand landed on his frail shoulder, nearly knocking Webber flat.
The burly red-haired man laughed loudly and pointed out Webber's oversight. "Because Lancer's spear does not cut through air—it cuts through magical energy. Anything woven from magical energy will be nullified the moment it touches that spear."
That was precisely why Saber's armor, woven from magical energy, was nothing more than a burden before that demonic spear.
And on the battlefield, Artoria reached the same conclusion.
The girl-like knight pressed a hand to her side. Irisviel had already healed the wound, but she did this to confirm the source of her injury.
There was not a single mark on her armor.
Yet the wound had undeniably existed, and Lancer's spear tip was still stained with blood.
Combined with the inexplicable shattering of the Wind Barrier—only when it collided with Lancer's spear did the wind-gathering barrier develop holes.
Then the truth was obvious.
"A spear capable of severing magical energy..."
"Exactly. If you intend to rely on that armor for protection, I suggest you forget it, Saber. Before my spear, you are as naked as can be."
Lancer's somewhat frivolous taunt drew a disdainful snort from Saber.
"If you are this pleased with yourself merely because you stripped away my armor, then I will have quite a headache."
Now that she knew the threat posed by Lancer's spear, Saber felt even less fear. The situation remained evenly matched.
A crisp aura blossomed, and the silver-blue armor covering Saber's entire body suddenly scattered like splashing water.
Irisviel drew in a surprised breath, while Lancer's eyes turned wary.
Saber had voluntarily removed her armor. Her breastplate, bracers, skirt-like armor, and even her greaves—she left none behind. As the fragments of armor scattered with clear metallic chimes, deprived of the magical energy sustaining them, they immediately vanished like clouds at sunset.
"Mm, as expected of Saber, whose average stats are A. She's an A in that regard too." Sakutsuki stroked his chin, his golden eyes shining as he watched the stunning figure beneath the bright moon.
"Hmm?" Naturally, Iskandar could not understand this sort of modern slang. "That regard? Which regard?"
Incidentally, this burly man's pectorals were at least B or B+.
"Nothing." Sakutsuki naturally did not explain, merely smiling. "Keep watching. This battle will soon reach its final showdown."
As though answering Sakutsuki's words, Saber, now lightly dressed in a blue tunic, lowered her longsword and cried out sternly:
"Since I cannot block that spear, then I will kill you before I need to defend. Prepare yourself, Lancer!"
Saber assumed her stance again. She lowered the longsword, letting the blade swing behind her as she turned sideways to face Lancer. This stance showed that she no longer cared about defense and sought only to pour all her strength into a rising diagonal slash.
Clearly, she was ready to use this desperate strike to determine the outcome.
"How decisive. You intend to settle it in one move?"
Lancer revealed a satisfied expression, as though he had seen something nostalgic. Yet his tone clearly carried tension.
"I rather like that courage of yours, and that decisive resolve..."
Like a matador facing a raging bull, the agile man took light steps deliberately meant to provoke his opponent, continuously shifting sideways.
"But under the current circumstances, this is a mistaken choice, Saber."
"Say that after you block my next attack."
Saber refused to yield.
For her, there was a vast difference between wearing armor and fighting lightly equipped.
What Saber gained after losing her sturdy defense was greater agility and enhanced Magic Burst.
Magic Burst was a powerful skill that stored magical energy under high pressure in one's weapon or limbs, then instantly released it in any direction to greatly enhance physical performance.
In terms of physique, Saber was no more than a petite girl. The secret to why she could effortlessly wield a greatsword and fight like a powerful warrior lay in this as well.
Saber could convert all excess magical energy into close-combat mobility. With A-rank Magic Burst, even a mere short stick could become a weapon of enormous power. If she used even the magical energy required to maintain her armor for Magic Burst, her strength and speed could increase by at least sixty percent... Her destructive power would become enough to deliver a one-hit kill.
Using the advantage gained by abandoning defense to compensate for the disadvantage of having her defense stripped away. This was Saber's answer to Lancer's spear that shattered magic.
For a moment, the field fell silent. The stalemate between the two Servants seemed to freeze even the air.
Both were masters, both capable of judging the other's next movement through shifts in magical energy and muscle. Thus, though they had declared their certainty of victory, they remained in confrontation without attacking lightly.
Until—Lancer's right foot stepped onto a patch of sand.
Their fierce battle had long since torn up the asphalt road, exposing the loose gravel layer beneath.
Lancer lost his footing, and his movement stalled for an instant.
Saber had no intention of giving Lancer a chance to regain his stance. A violent explosion shook the air, and the once-invisible golden sword now glittered in the night sky.
The Wind Barrier had been voluntarily released.
This was another of Saber's methods. At the instant she dispelled the Wind Barrier, the bound air would be released all at once like a weapon, propelling her toward the enemy like a cannonball.
That was Saber's plan: using her physical abilities, Magic Burst, and the Wind Barrier to shatter Lancer's prediction with triple the speed and swing a sword of certain victory.
A dash several times faster than sound tore through the atmosphere, its shockwave blowing the surrounding ruins into the air like leaves.
In this state, Saber had no possibility of holding back. Even if Lancer's counterattack would inflict grave injury upon her, she was prepared to take his life in that instant.
Facing Saber's high-speed charge, Lancer seemed to abandon any attempt at interception. His red spear remained utterly still.
The one that moved instead was—his foot.
That tiny opening Saber had caught was intentional. His purpose had been to reach this position, the place where Lancer had left something behind.
I have won, Saber.
Before you continue