Lancer

The bright, full moon hung high in the starry sky of Fuyuki City. Winter seemed reluctant to depart, and the night wind carried a biting chill.

The rooftop of Fish Fresh House was a small terrace, typically used by the shop to air-dry fish.

However, a batch of premium dried fish had recently been cleared away, leaving the terrace empty.

Since it was already the dead of night and the streetlights had been extinguished, the entire shopping district was exceptionally quiet.

Sasuke looked at the tranquil surroundings, his heart equally calm.

Perhaps a life without conflict was what he truly desired most.

But Sasuke was also well aware that this world was not as simple as he had initially assumed.

After all, any method capable of summoning so-called Heroic Spirits into the present world was hardly the mark of an ordinary world.

In any world, ordinary citizens were always the easiest targets for persecution.

Just like those so-called magi; if they wished, they could toy with an ordinary person until they were spinning in circles.

The world was never fair.

With his Mangekyou Sharingan activated, Sasuke was re-examining this city.

Yet, there was always someone to interrupt at a time like this.

"Allow me to ask, are you the interesting fellow my Master spoke of?"

From some unknown moment, a person had appeared on the terrace of Fish Fresh House.

It was a man with a strange yet undeniably dashing style.

He had short blue hair and a pair of crimson eyes, with a few stray bangs drifting casually and a ponytail tied at the back of his head that reached his waist.

He wore a pair of silver earrings, a tight blue bodysuit that extended into gauntlets at his wrists, silver pauldrons on his shoulders, and held a scarlet long spear in his hand.

Clearly, this guy was no street thug or ordinary existence.

He was none other than Lancer, one of the seven Servants in this Holy Grail War.

Even while Lancer was still in spirit form, Sasuke had already sensed his presence and activated his Mangekyou Sharingan to lock onto him.

Realizing his movements had been exposed, Lancer manifested his true form before Sasuke.

Looking at those blood-red eyes, Lancer couldn't help but feel a hint of surprise:

"Mystic Eyes?"

"To be able to defeat Rider, as a modern magus, you kid will definitely be someone of note in the future."

Judging by his tone, Lancer was undoubtedly offering sincere praise.

However, Sasuke knew exactly what kind of existence the other party was, so he responded to the compliment with an indifferent expression:

"At this hour, I assume you didn't come here just to chat with me, did you?"

Hearing this, Lancer seemed a bit troubled, then laughed for some unknown reason:

"Although my Master only told me to observe, I didn't expect to be discovered by you. A bit of a miscalculation, truly."

"I originally had no interest in observing a magus, but you are indeed different."

"Since you possess the strength to kill Rider, you shouldn't mind sparring with me, right?"

"Of course, you are free to refuse."

Sasuke hadn't expected Lancer to say such a thing; he had assumed the guy would attack immediately.

Since the other party's attitude was sincere, Sasuke naturally wouldn't refuse an invitation to spar.

If he didn't agree, this guy would likely never give up until the Holy Grail War ended.

Sasuke could roughly sense the combative spirit within Lancer, so he replied:

"Fine, but we have to change locations."

Lancer naturally understood that they couldn't spar in a district full of ordinary people, so he tilted his head and looked toward the forest in the distance of Miyama Town.

"Let's go, we'll head over there."

Hearing this, Sasuke raised his hands and formed the Ram seal.

Shadow Clone Technique

White smoke burst forth beside Sasuke, and as it rapidly dissipated, a physical clone identical to Sasuke appeared before Lancer.

This maneuver by Sasuke drew an exclamation even from Lancer:

"A doll? No, it doesn't quite feel like one..."

"Neither a trick of the eye nor a doll; this is no longer a feat achievable through simple magecraft. You kid..."

"I retract my previous words. Even now, you are a hero capable of dominating a region."

"Choosing to spar with you was certainly not a mistake."

Sasuke remained unmoved by Lancer's unreserved praise.

Although Sasuke didn't know how this guy's Master had discovered his residence, as a precaution, his true body would not leave Fish Fresh House tonight.

Lancer could guess Sasuke's intentions, but he didn't care; instead, he turned into a spirit and flew toward the distant forest.

Sasuke's shadow clone followed closely behind.

Located directly west of the shopping district was the direction of Homurahara Academy, and to the northwest of the school lay the undeveloped suburban forest.

Fallen leaves in the forest were swept up by the cold wind, and the branches hanging on the trunks rustled as they were shaken by the breeze.

The two sparring partners were now in position.

The cold wind blew through Lancer's ponytail as he held his crimson spear and looked at Sasuke not far away:

"Before we begin, do you have anything else to say?"

Sasuke's expression was calm at this moment, his Mangekyo Sharingan already activated as he stared at Lancer:

"If you have nothing to say, then we can begin."

Lancer chuckled upon hearing this:

"I like your personality, kid."

"Then let's start."

The moment the words left his lips, Lancer's intuition told him to leave his current spot immediately!

A mass of black flames surged directly toward Lancer's face!

The instant the sparring began, Sasuke had unleashed Amaterasu upon Lancer.

However, as a Heroic Spirit of the Lancer class, peerless agility was his specialty!

Lancer dodged the black flames in an instant and lunged toward Sasuke with his crimson spear!

Susanoo!

At the very moment Lancer was about to pierce Sasuke's skull, bones grew and covered Sasuke in a dark purple radiance, shielding him.

"Bang--"

Lancer's crimson spear was intercepted by the sturdy bones, and the sheer force of the impact created a thunderous roar!

The surrounding fallen leaves were swept away by the shockwave, but Sasuke remained standing in place without moving an inch.

Sasuke kept his eyes locked on Lancer; it was time for his counterattack.

Flame Style: Kagutsuchi!

Several black flames clung to the bones of the Susanoo and, in the next moment, changed their form, turning into several black flame blades that thrust toward Lancer!

Seeing this, Lancer's expression turned fierce as he retreated rapidly, waving his crimson spear to block the black flames thrusting toward him!

Lancer used his sharp crimson spear to quickly sever the black flame blades and retreated to a safe distance.

A warrior's intuition told Lancer that he must not touch these black flames at all, or even as a Servant, he would likely be unable to escape.

Moreover, the defensive capability of that strange purple skeleton was truly astonishing; ordinary attacks could not shake it at all.

Lancer stared fiercely at Sasuke, who had activated Susanoo:

"Kid, this isn't your true body, is it?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at Lancer:

"So what?"

Hearing this, the corners of Lancer's mouth curled up slightly as he switched from holding his spear with one hand to two, lowering the spear tip.

In an instant, Lancer's entire aura became different from before.

Lancer's spear released a massive amount of magical energy at this moment, the outward-flowing energy appearing like a crimson blaze clinging to it!

"Because this will be my finishing blow!"