The closer the blade-to-blade combat, the more it strained a warrior's nerves and tested their instinctive responses. Even Diarmuid instinctively chose the best defense and counterattack, utterly unaware of the victorious smile curling at Saber's lips.
Silver armor instantly covered her upper body. Though Gae Buidhe could leave wounds that would never heal, it could not pierce armor woven from mana. Even that sharp spear had to pause for a moment before breaking through the armor's defense and slicing Saber's fair skin.
Blood streamed down, and the pain of the curse made Saber's brows tremble slightly. Yet her movements did not slow in the slightest. Maintaining her reverse grip on the holy sword, she used its blade to clash with the Red Rose rushing back to defend its master, while the hilt smashed fiercely into Lancer's left wrist.
"Urgh!" The impact assaulted his nerves, and Lancer's hand went numb beyond his control. The spear slipped from his grasp and was seized by Saber, followed immediately by the young knight's cry.
"Strike Air!!"
The raging gale swept through everything. By the time Lancer broke through the mana-filled wind field with his anti-magic spear, Saber had already pulled away successfully.
Though cursed wounds had been left across her shoulder and arm, Saber now held the source of the curse in her left hand—Lancer's Noble Phantasm, Gae Buidhe.
"...An impressive assault." After a moment of silence, Lancer revealed a smile mingling admiration and bitterness.
This was by no means a technique one could use in an ordinary match. To a warrior, any injury to the body would affect the speed and execution of their movements, and that was fatal in a clash of skill.
But precisely because they had descended as Servants, Saber could take such a dangerous gamble and employ this risky