Ninja vs. Warrior

Faced with Leonidas's iron-vise-like brute strength, the assassin, even with all his might, couldn't budge his arm! Such immense power!

While the assassin's B-rank Strength was indeed rare for an assassin, combined with his A-rank Agility, it allowed him to unleash terrifying offenses. However, within the overall context of the Holy Grail War, his abilities were only upper-middle tier, nothing truly remarkable.

Realizing this, the assassin decided against a direct clash of strength. He rapidly twisted his waist, channeling power from his core to his toes in an instant. Turning, he unleashed a flying kick aimed at Leonidas's face.

Leonidas neither dodged nor flinched, simply taking the kick head-on!

Thump!

The sound of the attack hitting his helmet.

He remained unmoving.

There was no collapse of the nasal bone as expected, nor a pained grunt.

Admittedly, the assassin's speed surpassed Leonidas's reaction speed.

But... what did that matter?

The unmoving, imposing figure embodied a single concept: helplessness.

Yes. Helplessness.

The spinning kick, delivered with the assassin's B-rank Strength, was utterly ineffective!

"?! Could it be... Endurance is EX rank (Unfathomable)..."

For the first time since the battle began, the assassin spoke, his voice a disbelieving low growl.

Endurance was the measure of a Servant's vitality and resilience. It primarily indicated the physical toughness to withstand damage.

For instance, the assassin's Endurance was C, nothing special. A skilled mage or a heavily reinforced Muay Thai fighter could pose a threat to his life. In essence, the assassin, Hattori Hanzo, was like a sharp dagger specialized for offense; while more lethal than ordinary weapons, he was also more easily broken.

In contrast, the Lancer before him was clearly a warrior in the truest sense. Strength, Agility, Endurance—all were excellent ranks without exception. To use a weapon analogy, he was a heavy-bladed saber, designed from the outset to cleave enemies head-on on the battlefield. Rather than sharpness, its selling point was the crushing power derived from its sheer weight.

An A-rank Endurance was already an exceptionally powerful level, yet even so, he shouldn't have been able to ignore a B-rank spinning kick... It could only be EX rank... Unimaginable.

Leonidas's Endurance had already been thoroughly proven during his last stand at Thermopylae. Furthermore, the sudden re-release of "300 Spartans" across China had boosted his fame. The film, originally an exaggeration, had transformed the perilous battle of Thermopylae into a heroic saga of three hundred against hundreds of thousands, making the Spartan warriors a symbol of strength for countless people. Leonidas himself had become synonymous with toughness.

In this regard, Leonidas and Hattori Hanzo were similar; both had their powers amplified due to deification and misinterpretations by later generations, fueled by their widespread fame.

With his attack failing, the assassin's mind raced. The man hailed as the God of Ninjas was certainly no fool. He refused to believe in invincible enemies. Since he couldn't win through sheer strength, then...

His foot, still planted on Leonidas's face, rapidly descended. Bending his knee, he struck Leonidas's broad upper arm muscle like a chisel. His lower leg then coiled around Leonidas's thick, powerful arm like a snake! Immediately after, the assassin's other leg kicked up, landing on Leonidas's ribs. His legs clamped onto Leonidas's arm like scissors, and he then embraced Leonidas's arm with both his own, clinging to it with all his might! This further highlighted Leonidas's terrifying strength; an adult man was hanging from his arm, yet Leonidas, who would normally have his arm dragged to the ground, kept it rigidly extended, holding the assassin aloft!

Knowing Leonidas's strength, the assassin didn't bother with trivial attempts to make him lower his arm. Instead, he twisted Leonidas's wrist to the side...

Crack!

The crisp sound of a joint breaking.

A joint lock!

The quintessential tactic for the weak to overcome the strong! It involved twisting an opponent's limb in a reverse-joint motion, causing immense pain and incapacitating their will and combat ability—a method perfectly suited for the weaker party.

Most Servants were ascended humans, and thus their physical structures were human. Any human whose elbow joint was broken would be unable to exert force.

However...

"Hah, only this much?"

The King of Sparta mocked dismissively.

His rock-like face, frozen in a permanent, stiff expression of mockery, was like a sculpture. Despite the agony of his broken arm, the Lancer acted as if nothing were wrong, not even flinching.

For some reason, the assassin felt a strange sensation, as if the Lancer's combat power... had increased?!

Leonidas swung his dislocated arm, swaying his body slightly backward. Using this minimal momentum, he slammed his fist into the icy floor with a resounding boom! Startled, the assassin quickly leaped off his arm, soaring through the air towards the ceiling. His arms made contact with the ice wall first, followed by his feet. Like a bat, he hung upside down.

Before he could even regain his footing, Leonidas's fist had already ripped free from the icy floor! The dislocated elbow was clearly strained by the immense force, with small spurts of blood continuously spraying out.

Large shards of ice were propelled forward by the powerful momentum of the fist's extraction. Leonidas's toe kicked his spear, and the steel blade, following the force, transformed into a disc in mid-air! Leonidas caught the spear with one hand, using it like a baseball bat. With a horizontal sweep, he swung the flying ice shards, treating them like baseballs, towards the assassin!

He shouldn't have! He absolutely shouldn't have been able to do that with a broken elbow joint!

Even Servants couldn't ignore such damage, especially to their limbs. While magic could heal it, that required time! And all this while, Abner slept soundly, showing no inclination to support his Servant, nor was he even stirred by the thunderous noise!

No one was healing the Lancer. He, he should be in a state of a broken right arm right now!

Yet, it was that broken right arm that had forcefully grasped the spear, and he was even smashing the shattered ice armor like a baseball, the immense power simulating the roar of a cannonball, aimed directly at the assassin!

The assassin dared not remain in place. The air was the most disadvantageous terrain for human combat; with no leverage, aerial combat was a weakness for all but specialized Servants. Facing the whistling ice cannonball, the assassin quickly leaped to one side. Using the reaction force transmitted through his toes, he plummeted downwards like a javelin in a specific direction.

Simultaneously, Leonidas had already calculated his landing spot! He hurled his shield towards the assassin's trajectory! The golden greatshield, like a life-reaping saw blade! Leonidas, carrying his spear in one hand, charged forward like a heavy war chariot!

The pain from his broken arm had no effect on him whatsoever?! The Spartan's right elbow joint was clearly bruised purple-red from this reckless action, a stark contrast to his tanned skin.

This was the power of Leonidas's Noble Phantasm, Unleashing the Spartan Spirit!

As the name implied, this power was the ability gained from fighting desperately for three days against enemies numbering several times, even tens or hundreds of times his own at Thermopylae. Having experienced countless fierce battles over those three days, it was doubtful anyone in the world could match his sheer volume of death-match experience.

Therefore, he received a power boost in any death-match.

Whether it was being "surrounded," being "jointly attacked," or even... being "injured and in a dire situation," this ability would activate, causing the Lancer Leonidas's combat power to surge!

If he were simultaneously besieged by several Servants, the already terrifyingly high stats of the Lancer could even double, meaning...

If caught in a "death situation" where he was ganged up on by enemies and severely wounded, Leonidas would transform into a terrifying weapon with all stats reaching EX rank, except for Magic and Luck!

Moreover, the Spartan's tenacious will allows him to ignore physical pain. No amount of agony can strip this Spartan of his will to fight; only death can make him cease his attacking blade!

His only drawback is... this skill doesn't heal wounds. In other words, the damage Leonidas receives is real damage. He simply forces himself to ignore the wounds through sheer will, rather than healing them. Therefore, while he grows stronger the more he is injured, he also becomes more vulnerable to being killed.

His arm was just broken by the assassin, but the Lancer didn't care. The moment his arm broke, he could clearly feel his strength surging! As for the pain? How many more powerful attacks than this had he endured at Thermopylae?

Xerxes claimed his arrow rain could blot out the sky.

Compared to that elite Persian army, the assassin was not even worth mentioning.

Lancer... no, this is simply Berserker! A crazed smile spread across Leonidas's lips.

That Abner fellow is clearly no ordinary [Master].

Although Abner is taboo for Leonidas in two ways: slave owner and mage, just as Leonidas declared: Abner provides the magic, and he will repay him with spear and shield.

Now is the time to repay his Master's trust. The fact that the man is lying here, completely unprotected, is the greatest trust placed in him.

Spartans are savage and ferocious, but they are never treacherous. Even when surrounded by Xerxes' army, the Spartans held Thermopylae as agreed. To the last man.

Compared to that life-or-death struggle, the current situation is truly too weak. Protecting one person from a single assassin, heh.

Repaying trust... Hmph, the best way to do that is to take off the enemy's head, isn't it?

The spear whirled in the Lancer's hand. Though forged entirely of steel, the rigid [Hard Spear] was wielded by the Lancer with a dusty yellow arc, like a dazzling yet deadly splash of color. Sharp gusts of wind were continuously sliced out by the spearhead, flying out in all directions along with the centrifugal force. The Lancer's spear thrust towards the assassin in mid-air!

A shield blocked the path ahead, and a spear intercepted from behind!

The Assassin is in grave danger!

The Lancer was utterly convinced that his next strike would pierce the silhouette's body! No matter how fast he was!

I must... take down this guy who only knows how to stab from the shadows!

Just like at Thermopylae... If only there hadn't been that scoundrel who secretly sabotaged the Greek coalition...

Leonidas's eyes were bloodshot, making him look even more like a Berserker!