The Intruding Challenger

Boom!

In the forest near the artificial river, the red-clad girl Tohsaka Mina jolted at the thunderous sound that was deafening in every sense. Her gem-like eyes hurriedly turned toward the river, her gaze locking back onto the Ice Castle. A massive hole had explosively burst open in its sleek silver outer wall!

Beside her, the tall man mounted on a magnificent steed and clad in lavish armor could not help but snort at her cute reaction. His ornate armor rose and fell with the motion.

"Mm!"

Tohsaka Mina frowned in displeasure. Due to her bloodline, even her eyebrows were golden, and her violet-tinged eyes were full of irritation. That irritated expression only seemed to amuse the tall male Heroic Spirit even more.

"Rider! We've already seen that Heroic Spirit's abilities: Strength A, Agility B+, Endurance EX, Mana E-, Luck D, Noble Phantasm EX... Can you win?"

The girl decided not to stoop to his level. At a time like this, she had to act like a mature adult. Otherwise, there would have been no point in her joining the Holy Grail War.

Besides, Lancer's parameters really were frightening. Tohsaka Mina was not sure whether her Heroic Spirit could win.

It was true that this was Tohsaka Mina's first time participating in the Holy Grail War, but even she, as a newcomer, understood that such numbers were not something one could obtain casually.

The Heroic Spirit's own strength, the Master's strength, abundant mana, fame, and so on... These values clearly spoke of all of it.

Even so, when it came to parameters, her Rider was still superior... But...

The Noble Phantasm alone...

An EX rank meant it could not be evaluated. Basically, any Noble Phantasm that reached EX rank was, without exception, a terrifying weapon beyond ordinary people's ability to contend with. In that regard, her Servant was at an overwhelming disadvantage...

"Heh... What kind of foolish question is that..."

The proud male Heroic Spirit exhaled a breath of pride through his nose, the corners of his mouth lifting.

"I am—Lu Fengxian, the fierce general of Dynasty Warriors! No matter what kind of opponent stands before me, I'll crush them! Setting military strategy aside, in a duel..."

As Rider Lu Fengxian spoke, he jabbed his thumb against the beast-faced breastplate over his chest. At the same time, his sturdy right hand beneath his crimson brocade battle robe seized his "spear." Anyone with even a passing knowledge of Romance of the Three Kingdoms would recognize the weapon with crescent blades extending from both sides.

The Fangtian Halberd.

There was only one famed general in the world capable of wielding the Fangtian Halberd.

Now, he spun the heavy iron halberd in one hand with blinding speed. It was as if a tornado had suddenly swept through the forest. Leaves rustled, grass and trees wailed, and Tohsaka Mina felt the turbulent wind whipping her golden hair wildly about. She hurriedly covered her head with both hands and repeatedly shouted for him to stop.

"...I have never lost a duel."

Before Tohsaka Mina could say anything else, Lu Bu yanked the reins. The crimson steed beneath him surged forward, leaving behind laughter that was impossible to tell whether it was mocking or bold. His sudden movement gave her another fright, and Mina quickly cast a spell on him to keep civilians away!

Meanwhile, the battle between Assassin and Lancer continued inside the castle.

No—or rather, Assassin was being one-sidedly crushed.

Lancer's attacks grew ever fiercer. Knowing how formidable he was, Assassin could only abandon the assassination of the Master and focus on escape. With a ninja sword in hand, Assassin skillfully used his nimble footwork, his black nightwear flashing back and forth as he pushed hit-and-run tactics to the extreme. He absolutely refused to get drawn into a prolonged fight with Leonidas.

No matter how powerful Leonidas was, he could never reverse the disadvantage of wielding a spear alongside a Great Shield.

That was his inability to deal with swift attacks.

The Great Shield excelled at defense, while the spear excelled at offense, but both were massive weapons with limited room to maneuver and poor adaptability against rapid changes. They had originally been weapons for formation battles. Once it became a one-on-one fight, the oversized shield and overly long spear became disadvantages, directly placing Leonidas at a disadvantage in a duel.

But it was only a disadvantage.

Assassin was fast enough to attack before Lancer could react, yet he could not do anything to him either. With EX-rank endurance, this musclebound monster could probably cling to life even after taking a Noble Phantasm-class blow, couldn't he?

If he could not deliver a killing blow, his attacks would only raise Leonidas's combat ability. Once his Agility reached A, there would be no way out for him.

Thus, Assassin was in an extremely awkward position.

He could neither kill Leonidas in one strike nor accumulate enough damage to wear him down... He could not beat him, yet he could not kill him either...

As expected, a terrible start.

Assassin suddenly felt that his A-rank Luck was a joke. His first assassination had failed when the target summoned a Servant. His second assassination had run into a monster like this... How was that luck?

But in a sense, it was luck as well. While Assassin could not kill Leonidas, Leonidas could not inflict devastating damage on him either. Thus, he had effectively learned Leonidas's abilities in advance... That would be highly beneficial when devising tactics later.

So, he decided not to continue fighting and to withdraw while things were still favorable. He would tell his Master all this information and let her make the judgment. In that regard... his Master was someone who utterly disregarded law and order. That could also be called fortunate. She could use Assassin without the slightest guilt, employing every dirty trick without restraint to secure victory. For Assassin, that was truly good news.

Nothing was off-limits.

Having made up his mind, he sprang forward. His pitch-black figure was like a mass of flowing oil as he twisted and drove a punch straight at Leonidas's face. Yet Leonidas merely lowered his head slightly, and his metal helmet sank down to block Assassin's strike. Then, the spear in his hand turned, about to thrust forward...

Boom!

An explosion suddenly erupted from Assassin's hand. The violent shock instantly made Leonidas's helmet emit a shrill cry. The violently trembling metal plates kept scraping against his scalp, forcing him to grit his teeth and endure.

Before pain reached his ears, it struck his vision...

Everything blurred.

A gray smokescreen instantly enveloped the entire Ice Castle.

A smoke bomb?

Leonidas's brow tightened. He snorted in displeasure, quickly leaped backward to Abner's side, and used the Great Shield in his left hand to cover his Master's head. The spear in his right hand spun at high speed, forcibly transforming into a massive "spear shield." Under the protection of the two shields, a rapid series of crisp metallic clashes rang out. Assassin's shuriken!

That bastard! Is he trying to run?

Leonidas had already guessed it. That man might not have fought honorably, but he had indeed acted in a way befitting Assassin's class.

It was like demanding that an archer put down his bow, pick up a sword, and fight a duel. Asking Assassin to face him head-on in single combat would be unreasonable.

In war, the best soldier was not the one who could fight the hardest, but the one who fulfilled his role. If one was a standard-bearer, then one should never try to join the slaughter. One should instead do everything possible to survive and inspire morale.

From that perspective, Assassin's decision to retreat after his assassination failed was precisely what Assassin's class demanded.

As Lancer's spear swiftly stirred up a gale, the seemingly solid smoke was blown out through the shattered outer wall. The black figure stood beneath the moonlight, glaring viciously at Lancer with eyes full of resentment, as though he intended to remember this burly man forever. Then, he turned into a cloud of smoke and vanished.

That was the ability of Presence Concealment. Leonidas could guess that he was still nearby. However, he could no longer track him.

Leonidas did not pursue. He silently planted his spear upside down into the ground, walked over to the short sword he had thrown, and retrieved it.

"That should do it, right?"

He spoke to the empty room. His bold voice took on a strange quality in the ruined castle, blending with the dripping sounds of water to create an unusual stillness.

Something was strange.

Abner had clearly been asleep and showed no sign of waking up, so why had he...

No, before that, there was a more important question. If one thought about it carefully, the problem should become obvious.

Lancer and Assassin's battle had made such thunderous noise. A normal person should have woken up long ago. Why had Abner neither gotten up to help nor chosen to flee?

Was Abner stupid?

A Magus capable of thinking up a spell to lure enemies into a positional battle could never be an idiot. Therefore, the conclusion was obvious.

Because...

This was Abner's objective.

He wanted the Heroic Spirit who had come to ambush him to mistake the Abner staying in this Ice Castle for a fake double, and believe that the real Abner had long since fled elsewhere.

In fact, Abner had indeed prepared a second Magic Workshop for survival. Unlike this Disposable Workshop, that one was a genuine mana fortress exclusively belonging to Abner. Even Assassin probably could not infiltrate it easily.

As for this Disposable Workshop, it was, plainly put, a bomb. If the opponent was foolish enough to believe Abner truly lived here, then he would crush them here.

If he encountered an enemy he could not defeat, he would blow up the castle and freeze every enemy inside along with it. Perhaps the Heroic Spirits could escape disaster, but the Masters certainly could not defend against such a wide-range blast of freezing air.

If the opponent was clever, they would realize that "Abner" was not in this castle and instead go searching for Abner's true Magic Workshop. That workshop, however, was Abner's real workshop. Once a Servant entered it, Abner and Lancer working together would surely be able to dispose of any Servant with ease.

That was how tactics worked. It was not enough to think only about what he himself should do. He also had to consider what the enemy would do. Abner's path in magecraft was that flexible and fluid, like water. It could evaporate, freeze, pass through tiny cracks, and fill a vast ocean.

Judging by Assassin's performance, he probably had his own mission as well. Abner could clearly sense that Assassin had not used his full strength. Most likely, he had been ordered not to reveal his true capabilities, or perhaps gathering information was his priority.

"That will do. Leonidas, you worked hard."

"Worked hard? It was nothing... Though that fight was really unsatisfying."

Leonidas snorted, his brow deeply furrowed. As a warrior, he naturally longed for boiling-blooded battle, for head-on clashes.

In that regard, his battle with Assassin could only be called less than satisfying.

Yet hearing him complain like that, Abner actually laughed in good spirits. He climbed out of bed.

"Is it all right for you to get up?"

"Mm. Thank you for your concern. I'm fine now. As long as Assassin believes I'm a fake, that's enough."

Facing Leonidas's slightly concerned question, Abner smiled and gave his answer. He activated his mana and applied healing magecraft to Leonidas. Visible to the naked eye, the bold warrior's body rapidly recovered. The bruising at his elbow gradually faded, returning to its normal wheat-colored complexion.

Leonidas silently snorted, glaring at his elbow with faint disgust. He seemed to want to say something, but ultimately said nothing.

"Also, Leonidas. If you feel you haven't had enough fun, don't worry. The next enemy has already arrived. A Rider-class Heroic Spirit. And judging by the looks of it, he's your type."

"Oh! Is that so!"

The same type—Leonidas immediately understood what he meant.

In other words... a Servant skilled at charging through battlefields, one who enjoyed hard-hitting frontal combat!

Seeing Leonidas's fighting spirit reignite, Abner smiled softly. Like someone seeing off a close friend he had known for years, he took a deep breath and slowly activated his Magic Crest. Flowing mana surged from his slender body and merged with the castle.

With the workshop's support, even a Servant could not easily defeat Abner. Even if Assassin returned, he was confident he would not be at a disadvantage. Having made his preparations, Abner maintained his trusting smile and gave the order:

"Leonidas, please show me the magnificent fighting prowess of the Spartans from the movies."

"Hmph. Then watch closely, Abner."

What answered him was a confident smile.