Maybe You Should Find Another Savior

With every step forward, he could sense the fluctuations of magical energy from the barriers.

"Twenty-three..." Xi muttered to himself. "No, twenty-four layers of barriers... Is Kayneth planning to turn this place into the Mage's Association's Japanese branch?"

As if answering those words, restless magical energy crept along the walls and ceiling, closing in on Xi from every direction.

It was a magical attack triggered when someone intruded upon the barriers.

Dark crimson currents rapidly coiled around Xi, letting out piercing shrieks.

Snap—

After a snap of his fingers, the currents vanished without a trace.

"Are you underestimating me, Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald?" Xi said as he continued forward, writing Rune characters in the empty air.

Each Rune vanished into the air the moment he completed it.

Xi did not dislike meticulous work, but he had no patience to waste time dismantling twenty-four barriers one by one right now.

So he might as well destroy them all at once.

A genius like Kayneth had naturally prepared countermeasures in case the barriers were destroyed, but those magical attacks were far too weak for Xi.

Not enough. Nowhere near enough.

This level of magical energy was not even comparable to the practical magic lessons taught by his mentor Scathach in the Shadow Realm, and every move carried the unmistakable air of a Clock Tower lecturer's craftsmanship.

Every step was proper and conventional, every attack perfectly timed to coincide with the barriers being destroyed.

That was why it was completely unacceptable. That was Xi's evaluation.

He was not a researcher, nor was he in the mood to study magical theory.

From the day he first came into contact with magic, what he had learned was how to use it in battle.

Using Rune Magic from the Age of Gods against modern Magi was somewhat wasteful, but Xi had always wanted to try using it as fully as possible.

Kayneth was such a genius and had prepared so thoroughly. This much should be no cause for concern, right?

With an excited smile he had not even noticed himself, Xi reached out and lightly grasped the empty air. Then he exerted a little force, and the entire space seemed to split apart completely before shattering and restoring itself.

"No... Impossible..."

Kayneth observed Xi through the barriers and his familiars. He had been brimming with confidence, intending to win through defense and counterattacks, defeat Xi Jianxi, and display his strength to his fiancée Sola-Ui, who was always cold toward him.

Yet the twenty-four carefully arranged barriers, which Kayneth had believed would drain most of Xi's magical energy, were all destroyed in an instant.

The twenty-four layers of barriers on the hotel's top floor vanished completely, leaving Kayneth without even a chance to casually repair them and wear Xi Jianxi down.

"In that case—"

He suppressed his temper, regained his usual composure, and slowly waved a hand.

Dozens of Malevolent Spirits and Ghouls serving as guard dogs emerged from the shadows, wrapped in magical energy.

Xi was slightly surprised when he saw those monsters.

There were many of them, and their magical energy was abundant. Kayneth and his accompanying fiancée alone could not possibly provide enough magical energy for them.

"I see. You brought a Mana Reactor from the Clock Tower specifically to participate in the Holy Grail War?"

Xi muttered to himself.

As expected of the Archibald family of the El-Melloi faction, one of the Clock Tower's great houses. Their resources were truly substantial; they had even brought along something so priceless.

While he was considering this, a ghoul hound had already reached him. The three-meter-tall spectral beast opened its enormous jaws, bared black fangs, and lunged at Xi.

Yet the familiar, lacking much ability to think, could not understand why it could no longer move. Only Kayneth could see clearly.

With a mere raised hand, Xi caught the ghoul hound by its upper jaw. As he slowly lifted his gaze, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes.

Dragging the ghoul hound around, he smashed it into another one that had ambushed him from behind.

In the blink of an eye, the corridor had become a veritable paradise for familiars. Hounds, wolves, lions, cheetahs, tigers... The Malevolent Spirits and Ghouls had taken the shapes of all manner of savage beasts, each possessing incomparable speed and strength.

With a single swipe of their claws, they could punch through the hotel's reinforced concrete walls.

A distance of more than ten meters could be crossed in a single pounce. The repelled spirits surrounded Xi once more, pacing slowly around him.

Magi were not skilled in close combat, which was why Kayneth had specifically prepared these familiars for emergencies.

Another snap of his fingers.

That movement became the monsters' signal to attack. Yet when they tried to leap upon Xi and tear into him, their bodies were swallowed by icebergs that had appeared at some unknown moment, then ground to pieces.

He spun and swept out a hand. Five bolts of lightning appeared around him, winding around the ghouls that had avoided the icebergs.

The struck ghouls immediately lost their strength, fell to the floor, and dissolved into clouds of black mist.

Watching it all indifferently, Xi stepped over shattered icicles with crunching sounds and continued onward toward Kayneth's location.

Of course, things would not go so smoothly. The Malevolent Spirits and Ghouls had merely been repelled, not completely destroyed. More monsters awaited him ahead.

In the dim, lightless corridor, the monsters gradually rose to their feet, transforming from beasts into beastmen.

"Oh? That's quite novel. So they have more than one form."

Xi swiftly retreated, avoiding the monsters' claws, then spun around and delivered a flying kick straight into one of them.

Mixed into the close-quarters battle were spells released by the monsters: wind blades, water swords, and more.

The exquisitely decorated top-floor hotel corridor became scarred and ruined in the blink of an eye.

From behind, Kayneth used magic to assist the familiars' movements and have them launch all manner of magical attacks.

"Still refusing to show yourself, Kayneth?" Xi shouted.

After evading several monsters, Xi landed at one end of the corridor.

"If you have what it takes, break through my familiars and come over here. The combat ability of a Sealing Designation enforcer should be more than just this."

Kayneth's confident voice echoed through the corridor, transmitted through magic.

"I see. Then I suppose... there's no need for me to hold back."

Xi's voice gradually lowered, though he had not held back from the very beginning.

The monsters charged at Xi from every direction, forming an inescapable net alongside the long-range attack spells. Seeing that he seemingly had nowhere left to run this time, Kayneth felt his spirits rise.

Slash—

The sound of something being cut apart interrupted Kayneth's thoughts. He realized that the familiars had been completely killed this time.

Xi stood where he was, a long spear somewhat similar to Gae Buidhe appearing in his hand.

Five Against One

Though Diarmuid habitually used twin spears, he was not a Servant who knew only one style of spearplay.

In life, he had wielded four weapons in total. Besides the Red Spear and Yellow Spear, there were also the Red Sword and Yellow Sword.

When Diarmuid judged the battlefield situation to be critical, he would sometimes take only the Red Spear and Red Sword into battle.

Having manifested as a Lancer-class Servant, Diarmuid could not use the Noble Phantasms of those twin swords, but that did not prevent him from fighting with only the Red Spear.

Morgan's spear technique was indeed exquisite, to the point that Diarmuid could not help becoming absorbed in the battle before him.

More than that, he had even detected traces of Celtic warriors within Morgan's spearplay.

Not knowing Morgan's true name, Diarmuid could only rule out the possibility that she was a Servant connected to the Celts. Otherwise, he would not have failed to recognize her.

Then he could only think in reverse: the Master named Xi Jianxi truly had deep ties to the Celts.

After all, he even knew the formation known as Qualities of the Shallow Brook.

With that, Diarmuid did his utmost to cast aside the distractions in his heart. His spearplay grew increasingly spirited, not only withstanding Morgan's offensive but even forcing flaws into her technique.

Finally, seizing the most fatal opening, Diarmuid used a deft upward strike to knock aside the Demon Spear in Morgan's hand.

"Forgive me, but my spear shows no mercy!"

Diarmuid roared as he thrust out the Red Spear, piercing Morgan's chest. Blood sprayed forth.

"...The Lancer-class Servant truly lives up to his reputation. In terms of spearplay alone, I am indeed not first-rate." Morgan's spear fell to the ground with a heavy clang.

"Not at all. Your spearplay is truly exquisite. It has reminded me of certain stories I heard as a child." Diarmuid offered his sincere praise.

As fellow Servants, he could feel Morgan's spiritual foundation gradually dissipating.

That left Diarmuid somewhat melancholy. Perhaps she had refrained from using magic because she was wary of Gae Buidhe's ability and his Magic Resistance.

That made Diarmuid feel that this duel had been somewhat unfair.

Berserker's body gradually turned transparent in the dim hall on the thirty-first floor, then disappeared.

The tangible sensation of the Red Spear piercing a body gradually faded as well. Diarmuid stood in place with the spear in one hand, preparing to pick up the Yellow Spear he had thrown aside before returning to his lord's side to help Kayneth repel Xi Jianxi.

Now that she had lost her Servant, a Master was no longer anything to worry about.

As Diarmuid thought this, before he could dematerialize, he sensed chilling killing intent from behind. His battlefield-honed instincts made his body move faster than his mind, and he turned to block with his spear.

"Who goes there?! Sneaking up from behind is far too despi... cable...?"

Lancer's rebuke gradually lost its strength.

Once he saw who had attacked him, he was utterly stunned.

It was none other than Berserker, whose spiritual foundation had just dissipated. She was slowly withdrawing the Demon Spear in her hand.

"How... is that possible..." Lancer was too shocked to speak.

It was neither an illusion nor a false image.

That strike just now had unquestionably been Berserker's spearplay.

It was still as sharp as ever, still pursuing a single fatal blow.

"Lancer, surely you did not think you could rest easy just because you defeated one of me?"

Morgan's voice rang out, but it came from behind him.

Turning around, Diarmuid saw... another Morgan emerging from the shadows.

Not only that, identical figures stepped out one after another from darkness in different directions. Each had the same clothing, the same face, and the same Demon Spear.

"Berserker... is there more than one of you?" Diarmuid's voice trembled slightly.

The hollowness of understanding the battle had already vanished. What now surfaced was his incomprehension of the situation before him.

"What is so strange about that, Lancer? Though I manifested as a Berserker, I am still a Magus." Morgan's faintly smiling voice was full of teasing mockery. "And since I am a Magus, making 'duplicates equal to myself' is something I can do however I please."

Looking at the five Berserkers before him, Diarmuid flicked up the Yellow Spear he had just dropped and grasped it once more.

The battle had turned around again. He could no longer calculate whether he had any way to survive against five Berserkers.

All he could do was fight with everything he had, without disgracing the name of a knight.

"Then please, fight to your heart's content, Lancer."

Morgan, the only one empty-handed, spoke calmly before turning and disappearing. Lancer had no way to pursue her.

That had to be the original body.

And the original was now heading upstairs.

Lancer could only hope that his Master would judge the situation clearly and summon him with a Command Spell.

Ignoring Lancer, Morgan shut the sounds of clashing weapons on the thirty-first floor behind the fire door.

Looking at the wreckage lining the corridor on the thirty-second floor, she was certain that Xi was still safe and sound.

After all, the magical energy pathway between them remained completely unobstructed.

Thus, the Fairy Queen walked unhurriedly through the ruined corridor.

The magic that created duplicates consumed an extraordinary amount of magical energy both to activate and maintain. As a Master, a Magus's magical energy was usually limited. The reason Morgan could use such magic so easily was simply because her Master was exceptionally outstanding.

The quality of his Magic Circuits was A-, their composition was classified as "abnormal," and their quantity was at the EX level.

Even that was not enough. What truly made Xi Jianxi special was his ability to draw upon the Greater Source, mana, a level completely beyond anything modern Magi could compare to.

Taken together, the magical energy supporting Morgan's actions basically came from the world's omnipresent magical energy.

That Master named Kayneth had brought a Mana Reactor to replenish his own magical energy consumption.

But to Xi, magical energy was like air, available everywhere. Just as breathing supplied oxygen, each breath allowed Xi to claim the Greater Source's magical energy as his own.