As Arthur was thinking about what excuse he should make up to fool her, she had already attacked:
"Naughty children need to be properly punished!"
Wielding twin spears, the graceful Queen of the Shadow Country appeared before Arthur in the blink of an eye, her crimson spear stabbing toward the vital points all over his body—at the same time, Mordred suddenly stepped forward and shielded Arthur behind her!
Author's note:
It was a new day! Please continue supporting me!
The Entrance Exam's Little Disturbance
"I don't care who you are, but you are not allowed to hurt my brother!"
Mordred swept her greatsword across, blocking Scathach's attack.
"Oh, hmm?"
Scathach's reaction to that action was somewhat strange.
"A lively child?"
"I don't dislike that."
"But if you say something like that, then you are prepared to take his place as the target for venting my anger, aren't you?!"
Mordred said, "I don't care who you are or what you want to do. But if you want to hurt my brother, then I won't allow it!"
"So that's her personality. You taught her quite well, my disciple."
"Then let me see what else you have besides those big words—"
As she spoke, Scathach wielded her twin spears, engulfing Little Mo in a fierce, lightning-fast storm of attacks.
Her attitude was relaxed, and so was her posture. It was clear that she did not consider her battle with Mordred to be anything particularly important.
"—Damn it!"
In contrast, although Little Mo was brimming with aura, both her resolve and her desire to win far surpassed Scathach's.
But when it came to the most crucial factor—strength—there was a fundamental gap between her and Scathach.
If one looked at their stats, Little Mo was considerably inferior even to Arthur. After all, Arthur was a Frost Dragon, while Little Mo was merely a Little Dragon Girl.
As for technique, Little Mo was somewhat stronger than Arthur.
As mentioned before, Artorius was the commander-in-chief. He possessed so many troops and territories and ruled one side. Thus, it had become increasingly rare for him to personally go out and fight people. More often, generals like Little Mo were the ones doing the fighting. So Little Mo had gained more experience than Arthur.
And although Little Mo looked rather foolish on the surface, that was mostly an act.
The real Little Mo was very clever, perhaps even cunning. Especially after Arthur's careful instruction over the past two years, her adaptability in actual combat had become even stronger.
So—
"Do your best, Little Mo."
After Arthur, acting as a cheerleader from the rear, encouraged Little Mo, she had already realized that she was much weaker than Scathach. If she continued to clash head-on, she definitely would not be Scathach's opponent. Thus, just as Arthur had done in his battle against Scathach before, she shifted from offense to defense and responded with endless variations.
"She is a smart child. I don't dislike that either."
Seeing this, Scathach's lips curled upward into a pleased smile.
"Damn it!!"
Mordred took Scathach's words as mockery on the spot—though they were not, though Scathach was merely speaking the truth. Still, Little Mo bristled like an enraged lion.
"I'll definitely defeat you!"
Meanwhile, Arthur had completely adopted the perspective of a spectator, as though nothing had happened, and begun commenting on the match.
Little Mo's physical abilities are roughly on par with Teacher Scathach's. But her combat experience and techniques are far inferior to Teacher Scathach's...
Hmm, Teacher Scathach isn't using magecraft today either. She is still fighting purely with martial arts.
Even so, Little Mo's chances of winning aren't high.
Thirty-seventy, then.
As Arthur thought this, he diligently watched Scathach and Mordred's moves, studying their fighting styles and tactical ideas. He also considered whether those techniques and concepts could be integrated with his current techniques and ideas in order to strengthen himself.
"Teacher Scathach really is incredible."
"Hmm, greater reach means greater strength. Perhaps I should learn some Spear Techniques in the future. They have quite an advantage in duels."
Arthur could not help thinking.
Thinking back to the Holy Grail War, to that fight where the Lancer dueled Father King. It felt strange no matter how he looked at it. A one-handed greatsword against a two-handed spearman, yet the final result was evenly matched without either side unleashing their Noble Phantasm.
That probably meant Father King's actual combat strength was greater than Lancer's.
"Keep it up, Little Mo!"
Even while letting his thoughts wander, Arthur did not forget to continue cheering for his little sister.
"Ooooooh!"
Whether it was a roar or a response to her brother's call, in any case, after Arthur cheered her on, Little Mo truly seemed to gain a buff, and her combat strength grew even stronger.
They really do have a good relationship.
Seeing that scene, Scathach could not help thinking so.
Then she turned her attention to Arthur:
"My, my. Your little sister is fighting hard up front, while you, as her brother, hide in the back. Is that really all right?"
She spoke to Arthur with delight.
"As for me, I already fought the day before yesterday." Arthur's tone was equally relaxed. "If this is an entrance assessment, then this time it is Little Mo's turn."
"Hehehe."
The purple-haired older sister laughed happily.
Incidentally, long hair was clearly a great hindrance in battle. Yet Scathach had infused her flowing hair with magical power, and it moved as if alive, perfectly avoiding her weapons, line of sight, and even her skin.
In contrast, Little Mo would occasionally have her face brushed by the drifting strands of hair, making her feel a slight itch.
She could not scratch that itch with her hand, which made it incredibly uncomfortable. Little Mo was so furious that she could only roar helplessly.
"This older sister originally thought so too. But—"
The next second, multiple demonic spears appeared behind Scathach, who called herself an older sister.
At a glance, there were thirty-two Gae Bolgs in total—terrifying things identical in style to the crimson spear in her hands, and seemingly equal in power as well—
"But seeing you loafing around so freely, Arthur, makes me very unhappy."
With Scathach's words, those crimson spears all blasted toward him at once—
"Whoa—!"
At first, Arthur had wanted to imitate Berserker Lancelot and catch a crimson spear barehanded.
But unfortunately, his martial skill was still just a little inferior to Lancelot's, whose skills had been elevated into legend after becoming a Heroic Spirit.
And the demonic spear bombardment Scathach created with her spears was also far more powerful than that of a certain Golden Flash—
It was not that the demonic spears were of a higher rank than those Noble Phantasms. Rather, Scathach's control over and familiarity with Gae Bolg far exceeded that of a certain enthusiastic citizen, Gilgamesh—
That guy merely tossed those "collectibles" around casually. He was far from Scathach's realm of becoming one with spear and person.
Thus, after barely catching the first spear and using it to knock away the second, Arthur discarded the spear and drew the greatsword Clarent.
After all, using a weapon one was unfamiliar with in battle was not much different from courting death.
And so, Artorius Pendragon, the Frost Dragon, joined the battle.
Author's note:
Heroic Spirit Mordred gained the inherent skill: Brother's Encouragement A+: While fighting as Arthur's Servant, all attributes are slightly increased. When fighting alongside Arthur, all attributes are moderately increased.
You Have to Take Responsibility!
"Ooooooh!"
Very clearly, fighting alongside Arthur had encouraged Mordred.
"Come on, Brother! Let us defeat this witch together!"
As she shouted, she swung her greatsword with even greater ferocity and charged forward boldly.
"Hehehe."
Arthur gave a pleased hum or two in response to Mordred's words.
Though he did not want to offend his teacher too badly, under these circumstances, he could only brace himself and fight.
"I see. So they are this sort of children."
Scathach clearly noticed that during their charge, Mordred instinctively kept Artorius at her side, protecting Arthur's flank.
At the same time, Mordred's position allowed her to leap out at any moment and take a spear for Arthur if something unexpected occurred—of course, Artorius, who advanced in coordination with Little Mo without saying a word, was much the same.
They covered each other as Clarent and another greatsword, almost identical to Clarent in specifications and design, swung toward Scathach together.
Their tacit coordination and correct tactics did far more than double their power. They even managed to suppress a powerhouse of Scathach's caliber for a time.
Even with her unleashing Spear of Piercing Death in rapid succession, Artorius and Mordred still firmly held the upper hand!
We can do it. We can win!
The two greatswords suppressed the two long spears. Arthur and Mordred had nearly surrounded Scathach in the middle and were attacking her together.
"If this continues, victory will be ours!"
Artorius also felt somewhat happy.
Though he did not care much about winning or losing, if he could win, who would prefer to lose?
"Excellent, very excellent!"
Scathach's eyes gleamed—unlike her battle with Artorius the day before yesterday. That battle had been more about wisdom, cunning, and schemes.
Today's battle, however, was a head-on clash.
There was no cunning or strategy. No traps, no conspiracies—Artorius and Mordred had chosen direct, frontal tactics.
The reason for this, an important reason—or rather, the most important reason—was—
This style of fighting instantly ignited Scathach's warrior's heart.
"What wonderful children—both their physical abilities and their techniques are outstanding. It has been a long time since I was this excited!"
As she joyfully declared that aloud, twenty-five "Primordial Rune Symbols" suddenly appeared around her and began spinning rapidly. The dim, ominous crimson hue unique to the Shadow Country dyed the eyes of Scathach, delighted, excited, and nearly mad, blood-red.
In that instant, the pressure on Artorius and Mordred surged—
As one of the greatest Divine Era Magic users, Scathach, who possessed the Primordial Rune Symbols, had immensely powerful magical strength. She simply did not usually like displaying that power.
Compared to magecraft and such, what Scathach preferred, trusted, and excelled at was still the twin spears in her hands.
This time was no exception.
Rather than directly using magical power to create various methods of attack, Scathach used enhancement magecraft.
She used the Primordial Rune Symbols to strengthen herself—an immense degree of enhancement. Enhancement to an unbelievable extent—
It surpassed even the greatest Phantasmal Beast, a dragon. Even if Arthur further elevated the concepts of Frost Dragon and Dragon of Usurpation into the Dragon of Winter and the Imperial Dragon, he still could not reach that level.
"A god!"
"And an extraordinarily powerful god!"
"And a deity that had bestowed all of its 'power' upon 'physical strength'!"
"Teacher Scathach has already reached such a level?!"
Arthur had never seen any god before, so he had no basis for comparison. But he was certain that Teacher Scathach's strength at that moment had absolutely reached an unimaginable level!
"—!"
Before you continue