The Ex-Machina on a Dimensional Journey

Faced with something so unfamiliar, Karna acted at once.

The massive spear showed no sign of slowing. Its piercing power surprised even Karna, and the strange energy around it seemed intent on invading his body. He had no choice but to dodge.

That was how he came to stand there, covered in dust beside a spear buried halfway into the earth.

"Could it be the Black faction's Archer?"

Only a Servant's Noble Phantasm could account for that power. Having felt it firsthand, Karna was certain. And of the seven classes, only Archer could have launched an attack from such a distance.

Karna looked up toward the direction the attack had come from, hoping to spot some clue.

He had come to intercept Ruler, only to be struck from afar by a Black faction Servant.

It seemed the other side had its sights on Ruler as well.

Karna prepared to head straight for Ruler's vehicle. If the enemy could pinpoint his position and attack from that distance, they might already have made contact with Ruler.

But just as he was about to move, something unexpected happened again.

Hum—

"!"

The massive spear planted beside him began to vibrate faintly. Then dazzling golden light spread across its shaft.

Golden energy poured from its tip into the earth. The cracks left by the impact filled with gold in an instant. Seen from above, they looked like a pattern painted in golden pigment.

A closer look revealed that the intersecting cracks were not random. Joined together, the golden lines formed an enormous Magic Circle.

At some point, the ground beneath Karna's feet had become the site of a vast Magic Circle.

And Karna was the only person still standing inside it.

He had never seen this Magic Circle and had no idea what it