Barren (Met Someone Interesting, So Here's a Bonus Chapter) / Bonus Chapter During the Day

This was precisely the charm of the Holy Grail War.

But—

Not everyone knew how to appreciate that charm.

"Games are over, Lancer—"

Chapter 17: Barren (I met someone interesting, so here's an extra update)

"Games are over, Lancer—"

The unfamiliar voice echoed through the empty warehouse district. From the commanding tone directed at Lancer, it wasn't hard to tell that the speaker was Lancer's Master, Lemon Head.

Saber and Irisviel raised their heads, searching for the owner of the voice, but it had come so suddenly that they couldn't tell where it had come from.

"Stop wasting time. That Saber is a formidable opponent. I'll allow you to use your Noble Phantasm. Finish this quickly."

Kayneth's words made every spectator tense. Noble Phantasms were Servants' trump cards, their strongest weapons. At last, the battle had reached its decisive moment.

"Understood, Master."

Lancer replied respectfully, changing his stance at the same time.

He casually tossed the short spear in his left hand onto the ground.

"Then... that long spear is Lancer's...?"

The talisman on the long spear in Lancer's right hand slowly came undone. It was a deep red spear. An aura of magecraft, utterly different from before, coiled around its blade like an ominous mirage.

"Exactly. This long spear is about to taste blood."

Holding the spear in both hands, Lancer finally adopted the standard charging stance of a spearman.

"Saber, do you gather wind with magecraft to make your sword invisible?"

Saber didn't answer. She simply lowered her stance, more carefully watching Lancer's movements. A Noble Phantasm was a Servant's trump card; it wouldn't be revealed until the moment that decided victory or death. Since Lancer had revealed his first, Saber naturally had to proceed with caution.

"I see." Lancer hadn't expected an answer from Saber. He continued, "Do you have some reason you have to keep your sword invisible? In other words, that sword would reveal your identity."

"I'm afraid you won't get to see what my sword truly looks like, Lancer." Saber stayed focused, tracking his every move. "The outcome will be decided before then."

"Is that so?"

Lancer advanced step by step, bringing an overwhelming pressure with him.

"Saber, I'll force that invisible sword of yours to show itself!"

Lancer struck first—

Compared to the elegant, varied techniques he'd used before, this straightforward thrust seemed almost clumsy. It was as though he hadn't anticipated Saber's next move at all—no, as though he didn't even intend to defend against her counterattack.

Saber naturally deflected the incoming spear with a deft swing of her sword. But this thrust, which should have been entirely harmless, somehow—

A strange wind suddenly rose.

Centered on the crossing of spear and sword, a whirlwind swirled up without warning.

"Huh?!"

"Your sword has been exposed."

"..."

Lancer murmured triumphantly, while Saber fell silent in confusion. Only the two of them, along with Wang Xiaoming and Medea, who were watching from the sidelines, understood what had happened.

A Noble Phantasm's effects generally fell into two categories. One unleashed a lethal attack while its true name was called. The other made use of an attribute already possessed by a weapon, wielding it as a Noble Phantasm.

Saber's Invisible Air belonged to the latter category, as did Lancer's long spear.

At the instant spear and sword clashed, the air compressed inside Invisible Air to bend the refraction of light had been released. Lancer had glimpsed a section of the real sword within the damaged barrier. His previous words had been proof that his spear had torn through Invisible Air.

"I've seen the blade of your sword. You won't fool me again."

And just as he'd said, every thrust was a deadly attack, without a single wasted motion. Each strike was precisely calculated. Saber could only do her best to forcefully deflect each one with her sword.

In an instant, the afterimage of a golden sword flashed into view.

The escaping air pressure gathered into a powerful gale that blew Saber's golden hair wildly about. There was no doubt that the red spear had dispelled Invisible Air. Amid their continuous exchanges, the Noble Phantasm that had been hidden from sight was now almost completely exposed.

Still, the techniques Lancer used with a single long spear weren't as difficult to deal with as the short and long spears together. He was an excellent spearman, but the moves he used with the long spear were all familiar to Saber. She could parry and counter without much trouble.

During the fight, Saber keenly spotted an opening in Lancer's defense. His next thrust was aimed at her abdomen. Saber was covered in sturdy armor, and even if she didn't block the attack, she could withstand it thanks to the armor's strength.

It was a perfect opportunity to counterattack.

Saber decisively turned her sword toward Lancer's shoulder, ignoring the spear tip as it grazed her side. She meant to land a devastating blow with a single strike.

"Saber!"

Seeing Saber finally escape Lancer's pursuit, Irisviel hurriedly used healing magecraft to staunch the blood seeping from the wound at her waist.

"Thank you, Irisviel. I'm all right. Your healing magecraft is working." Although Saber said this, the pained expression on her face hadn't faded. It seemed the pain from the wound hadn't fully subsided.

"Hey, take it easy..."

Wang Xiaoming looked at Medea, who was even more worked up than Saber in the middle of the battlefield. If looks could kill, Lancer would probably have been minced into meat by now.

Come to think of it, why did that look remind him so much of people whose figurines had been wrecked by little brats?

"So I can't win easily after all..."

Lancer didn't look disappointed at all. Instead, he shouted excitedly.

It seemed this man was devoted to fighting powerful opponents.

Saber gritted her teeth and touched the spot where the spear had struck her. The result shocked her—there was no wound. Her armor was completely intact.

Saber gritted her teeth and calmed herself. She pieced together the chain of events in her mind, trying to figure out what had happened.

Her armor had indeed stopped Lancer's spear, yet the weapon had still wounded her.

There could only be one explanation: the moment the spear touched her armor, the armor had disappeared.

Although Saber couldn't dematerialize, she could at least control whether her armor was materialized. That meant her armor was made of mana, unlike the clothes Irisviel had bought for her, which existed in the real world.

And when she considered the earlier collapse of Invisible Air... the barrier had weakened the instant his spear touched it.

"...I understand. I know the secret of your spear, Lancer!"

Saber murmured. Faced with the enemy's strength, she gritted her teeth once more.

That red spear could sever mana.

"Your armor is made of mana. If you're counting on it to protect you, you'd better give up, Saber. Before my Magic Spear, you might as well be naked."

"If taking off my armor makes you that pleased, I'll have a hard time."

Now that she understood the secret of Lancer's spear, there was nothing to fear. The battle's outcome was still undecided.

The silver armor covering Saber suddenly scattered in every direction.

Irisviel stared in astonishment, while Lancer narrowed his eyes.

Not a piece remained, from the breastplate and gauntlets to the greaves. Saber had dispelled her armor herself. Without mana to sustain them, the armor fragments gradually vanished like smoke.

"If I can't defend myself, then I'll just have to cut you down before you cut me! Prepare yourself, Lancer!"

Wang Xiaoming first squinted at Saber's decidedly modest figure, then shifted his gaze to Medea and nodded in satisfaction.

He hadn't said a word, but his gesture made Medea want to knock a few more bumps onto his head.

While I was looking at the comments, I came across two interesting readers.

So I added an extra update.

Thanks again to the two of you for your suggestions!

Chapter 18: Extra Update During the Day

"If I can't defend myself, then I'll just have to cut you down before you cut me! Prepare yourself, Lancer!"

Dressed in her thin civilian clothes, Saber resumed the battle. The spear tip thrust up from below. She nimbly dodged it and faced Lancer from the side. She no longer tried to defend herself, staying ready to turn the tables and cut him down in a single blow.

Saber decided to settle the fight with one final strike, regardless of the consequences. Everyone could see her resolve on her face.

"So, the final strike. Is this what they call an all-or-nothing gamble?"

Lancer spoke with nostalgic satisfaction, though there was clear tension in his words.

Without her armor, Saber didn't just feel lighter. The mana that had been used to maintain it could now be poured into her attacks. That was particularly significant for Saber, who had the Mana Burst skill.

Mana Burst meant concentrating a large amount of mana in one's weapon and limbs, then releasing it whenever needed to instantly enhance one's physical abilities.

In other words, Saber could accelerate every movement in an instant. This was also why Saber, who looked like a petite young girl, could wield that greatsword with ease and fight like a true powerhouse.

With all her remaining mana available for close combat, she gathered every bit of energy she could use for Mana Burst. As a result, her strength and speed were nearly sixty percent greater than usual. Every strike carried enough force to cause tremendous destruction.

She had turned the disadvantage of being forced to dispel her armor into an advantage by abandoning it altogether. That was her way of dealing with the "spear that broke magecraft."

"I admire your courage and decisiveness..."

Like a bullfighter facing a bull, Lancer moved sideways, taunting her.

"But now, I have to say—you've made a mistake, Saber."

"Try it, then. Say that again after you've taken this sword strike."

Saber refused to back down.

"Then try it. Say that again after you've withstood my next attack."

Both were experts, able to predict their opponent's next move from changes in their mana and muscles. So although they declared that they would win, they continued to face each other without making a rash move.

Until Lancer's right foot stepped onto a patch of sand. Their fierce battle had torn up the asphalt, exposing the soft sand and gravel layer underneath.

Lancer's leg sank into the sand, and his movements faltered for an instant.

Saber had no intention of giving Lancer a chance to regain his stance. A violent explosion shook the air, and the golden sword that had been invisible now gleamed in the night sky.

This was Invisible Air's second function. The moment the barrier was released, the trapped atmosphere burst out all at once like a weapon. It was an attack that could only be used once.

But this time, Saber didn't use it as a weapon. She used it as a booster.

The air released from the golden sword propelled her from behind. With her entire body channeling Mana Burst, she became a supersonic cannonball.

That was Saber's plan: to break through Lancer's predictions at three times her usual speed and deliver a decisive sword strike.

In this state, Saber had no way to stop herself. Even if Lancer's counterattack dealt her a grievous wound, she was prepared to take his life in that instant.

Facing Saber as she charged at high speed, Lancer seemed to give up on countering her. The red spear didn't move. Instead, the leg trapped in the sand did.

The opening Saber had spotted had been deliberate. Lancer had made it to reach this very spot—the place where he'd thrown away the short spear.

"This is where you went wrong." Lancer flashed a confident smile and kicked up the sand at his feet.

But it wasn't only sand that flew into the air. The short spear Lancer had thrown away moments earlier rose with it.

Its blade pointed straight toward the oncoming Saber. The talisman on the short spear had also been undone, revealing a golden shaft beneath it that radiated a sinister mana.

At that moment, Saber's innate sixth sense told her clearly that she'd been wrong.

She shouldn't have assumed a spear was a weapon meant to be wielded in both hands. This had been a trap from the start. Hadn't she felt even a little wary when she saw him wielding a spear in each hand?

Perhaps this was the proper way for Lancer to fight.

That Servant might once have been a Heroic Spirit feared for his "two magic spears."

And Noble Phantasms weren't necessarily limited to just one.

Saber's greatest mistake in this battle had been making assumptions about Lancer before the fight had even begun. With that preconception, no matter how skillfully he wielded his two spears, Saber had ignored it—until she stepped into the trap Lancer had laid.

Unfortunately, it was too late for her to realize it now.

Saber's body couldn't stop, and Lancer's spear wouldn't stop either.

All they could do was wait for the moment, a split second later, when the outcome became clear. Perhaps by then, it wouldn't just be victory or defeat at stake, but life and death as well.

The gale howled in reverse.