"Damn it!" Lancer reacted at once, swiftly swinging the spear in his hand and severing more than a dozen tentacles.
Berserker and Rider were too far away to come to his rescue.
But it had little effect. There were simply too many tentacles. Perhaps the Sea Monster had long noticed this little nuisance capable of disabling its regenerative abilities and had set a trap for him.
Berserker possessed extraordinary divine strength and could tear apart the tentacles to continue fighting, but Lancer could not. He had always been a technique-oriented fighter.
It seemed he would be unable to help his lord fulfill his wish.
The Sea Monster's counterattack had arrived. Its once-thick tentacles had mutated into spear-like spikes during the battle. If one of them struck him, he would surely die.
Still, this counted as fulfilling his duty, didn't it? Lancer gave a bitter smile and waited for death to come.
Silver ropes sped over from behind, rapidly gathering before Lancer and transforming into layer upon layer of densely packed, scale-like defensive nets.
"Lancer, how much longer are you going to stay distracted?" Kaineth's reprimand came from behind. "Don't embarrass me!"
"Yes." Lancer came back to his senses, quickly dealt with the tentacles around him, and leaped out of the encirclement.
"What a troublesome thing." Blue butterflies fluttered around the smaller Sea Monsters, scattering glittering scale powder that was dazzling and magnificent.
But to the Sea Monsters, those butterflies were utterly terrifying. The scale powder was steadily draining away their life force. Having lost vast amounts of vitality, their bodies gradually shriveled and stiffened, until they collapsed to the ground like sun-dried seaweed when the wind blew.
The Matou Family's magecraft was actually quite powerful. It possessed the qualities of absorption and bestowal upon its user, and could even be used as a restraint to bind others.
Unfortunately, Li Zihan was not someone with a water affinity. Giving such top-tier water-element magecraft to him was truly a waste.
Compared to his master and fellow apprentices, Waver's situation was rather awkward. His combat strength was directly proportional to his magical energy, and he was pathetically weak.
Even so, Waver still had the ability to support Rider.
"By the power of my Command Seal, I command my Servant, Rider: fight in your best condition!"
"Well done, boy. My blood is practically surging." Rider laughed heartily. The Divine Bull ran through the air, and the lightning it carried roasted the Sea Monster tentacles trying to drag Rider down until they were thoroughly charred.
As the Servants fell into difficulty, the Masters also arrived on the battlefield and joined the fight.
But that had nothing to do with him. Waver silently retreated behind Kaineth and Li Zihan, looking despondent. Going to the front lines with his level of combat ability would only hold everyone back.
Just then, his phone rang, utterly out of place on this battlefield strewn with flesh and blood.
"Y-you, who are you? What do you want with me?" Waver asked doubtfully as he answered the call.
"Who I am isn't important! But I want to know, Rider has a Territory Creation, right? Please have him move the Sea Monster away, then hand the phone to Lord Kaineth."
P.S. Two and a half hours for 2,100 words... Was I always this slow at typing?
The End of the Campaign
Who the hell are you?! What's your mother's maiden name?! Which vegetable patch did you crawl out of?!
You wanted Rider to unleash Territory Creation, the ultimate technique of magi? Had all the nutrients in your brain been absorbed by your cerebellum?
If Waver had been a Zaunite from some league, Kiritsugu Emiya's entire family tree would already have ascended to heaven. But Waver was a polite English good boy, so he merely hesitated before asking, "Sir, who are you?"
The other end fell silent. After a long while, a voice finally came through. "Kiritsugu Emiya, Saber's Master. I have a way to eliminate the Sea Monster, but I need your cooperation."
Before you continue