Gáe Bolg and the Young Lady in a Dress

Sasuke frowned instantly.

Given this stance, it seemed Lancer was about to unleash his Noble Phantasm.

Rin Tohsaka had explained it to him before.

A Noble Phantasm is the ultimate armament of a Servant.

It could be called a materialized miracle, the proof of heroism held by a Servant, and is similar to magecraft.

It is an armament, a symbol, and a finishing move held by a Servant; naturally, it can be an excellent weapon or perhaps a certain skill.

Lancer's Noble Phantasm.

Shirou Emiya had used this as an example for Sasuke back then.

When Shirou Emiya first summoned Saber, Lancer was hunting him down; had Saber not fought him, he likely would have been killed by Lancer.

During the battle between Saber and Lancer, Lancer had used his Noble Phantasm.

[Gáe Bolg]

It is a technique that reverses the causality of the order of events; the moment this move is unleashed, the result—[the opponent's heart is pierced]—is created first.

The cause—[because the heart was pierced, the spear hit]—occurs afterward.

Without considerable luck, it could be said that once this move is unleashed, it is a guaranteed death sentence.

Because the result of [piercing the opponent's heart] already exists the moment it is unleashed.

Therefore, even if one were to kill Cu Chulainn first, it would not change the result, making it impossible to cancel the trajectory of the spear.

If not for Saber's sufficient luck, combined with her high-ranking Instinct and powerful Magic Resistance.

With the synergy of these three elements, even though Saber did not completely evade the [Gáe Bolg] unleashed by Cu Chulainn, she managed to avoid a fatal wound.

Because of this, Saber discovered Lancer's true identity.

The great hero of Celtic mythology, the demigod and Child of Light of Ireland—Cu Chulainn.

However, although Sasuke understood the capabilities of Lancer's Noble Phantasm, experiencing it in reality was an entirely different matter.

At this moment, Lancer charged toward Sasuke with the Gáe Bolg, his expression as ferocious as a wild beast!

"Pierce!"

"Gáe Bolg!!"

[Susanoo!]

Lancer's speed was indeed astonishing, but in that instant, Sasuke evolved his initial Susanoo into its third form!

The Susanoo, which previously consisted only of bones, instantly sprouted flesh and meridians and donned the armor of a Tengu, drastically increasing its defensive power!

Lancer, already halfway through his charge, released a powerful and sharp magical energy from the crimson Gáe Bolg in his hand.

The spear-shaped magical energy surged toward Sasuke like a blood-red dragon, slamming directly into the Susanoo with immense force!

In an instant, a powerful shockwave erupted!

Even in its third stage, the Susanoo was cracked by this strike!

But that was all; the magical energy of Lancer's Noble Phantasm began to dissipate.

It appeared as though the attack had been dodged, but in reality, the effect of Lancer's Noble Phantasm was only just beginning to activate.

The initial strike was merely an extremely rapid and powerful assassination attempt.

In other words, this strike had to be defended against or dodged regardless, or one might die instantly, without even needing to trigger the subsequent causal attack.

But the moment it was defended, due to the reversal of causality, regardless of the first strike, Gáe Bolg would strike the heart of the opponent within range.

And the Susanoo could not defend against the reversal of causality that followed Lancer's Noble Phantasm!

Sasuke had only intended for the Susanoo to block the initial strike used for the determination; he had his own methods for dealing with the heart-piercing causal attack that followed.

The moment the reversal of causality of Gáe Bolg activated, the surrounding time seemed to freeze!

The thrust that had struck the Susanoo began to rewind like a film!

It was as if that strike had never existed.

But in the next instant, the Gáe Bolg treated the Susanoo as if it were intangible, piercing directly through the defense toward Sasuke's heart!

Accompanied by the sound of flesh being torn, Sasuke's heart was pierced by the magical energy released by Lancer's Gáe Bolg!

In an instant, Sasuke was launched into the air by the magical energy, the soaring crimson light shooting straight into the heavens like a beam!

However, the Sasuke whose heart had been pierced was merely a Shadow Clone; even after suffering a fatal wound, he simply dissipated into a puff of white smoke.

Lancer's expression was indescribable, a mix of shock and a hint of a smile.

Because he knew Sasuke had dodged the lethal blow.

Sasuke walked slowly from behind a tree not far away, though his Mangekyo Sharingan had now reverted to three tomoe.

Just as he was about to have his heart pierced, Sasuke had used a Shadow Clone once again.

Therefore, even though Lancer had erased the previous Shadow Clone, it was to no avail.

In a sense, Sasuke had managed to dodge Lancer's fatal strike.

Or perhaps, death was never meant to be a part of this battle.

After all, Sasuke's true body was not even here.

"What an enviable brat."

"Not only does he possess powerful offense and defense, but he also has all sorts of inexplicable magecraft."

Thinking this, Lancer, knowing he had been bested, offered a wry, yet somewhat relieved smile:

"Tch!"

"It seems that guy Rider didn't lose unfairly; you really are no simple brat."

Though he knew nothing of Lancer's Master, Lancer's personality as a Servant was undeniably bold and unrestrained.

At the very least, Sasuke did not find him repulsive for the time being.

"Shall we continue, Lancer?"

Sasuke knew full well that if they kept fighting, Lancer would likely emerge victorious; after all, there was a limit to what a Shadow Clone could do.

Activating the third stage of Susanoo had consumed a significant amount of magical energy, but without it, the second stage of Susanoo would likely have been pierced by Lancer's Noble Phantasm, Gae Bolg.

If that had happened, he would have needed to use Shadow Clone twice in succession just to survive.

Even if Sasuke hadn't used Susanoo, the outcome would have been the same in the end.

However, although Sasuke had only used one Shadow Clone, the magical energy within this clone was nearly depleted, enough at most to barely manifest the initial stage of Susanoo or cast some basic ninjutsu.

Yet, considering this was merely one of Sasuke's Shadow Clone, achieving this much was already terrifying.

Lancer was well aware of this, and so he hoisted Gae Bolg onto his shoulder:

"No. If there's a next time, I'd rather have a real battle with your true body."

"Even though it's not your real self here."

"I'll still give you a friendly warning."

"The presence of another Servant is heading this way."

With those words, before Sasuke could respond, Lancer dissolved into spirit form and vanished into the forest.

Had Lancer not mentioned it, Sasuke might have simply dispelled the Shadow Clone, but since he had been warned, he was actually curious to see what kind of character this incoming Servant might be.

Suddenly.

The distant sky seemed to tear apart, emitting a roar that pierced the air!

Accompanied by a massive release of magical energy, a figure as large as a small hill slammed into the forest!

The powerful impact of the descent even uprooted several thick trees in the vicinity!

As the billowing dust and fallen leaves cleared, a muscular giant standing over two meters tall appeared in Sasuke's field of vision.

It was clear that this guy was the Servant Lancer had spoken of.

And in that Servant's massive palm, he cradled a young girl with silver hair and red eyes, dressed in a purple Western-style gown.