Let us turn the hands of the clock back three minutes.
Within a bounded field of nearly infinite space, flames soared into the sky and starlight scattered in every direction.
The instant the battle began, Sovell and Karna both chose to go all out, holding nothing back.
As the strongest fighters on the Black and Red sides respectively, whoever won their battle would undoubtedly have an enormous impact on the balance of the war.
If Sovell won, he could support his teammates and further expand their gains.
But if Karna won, he could likewise support his teammates, perhaps making up for some of his side's disadvantage in the quality of their Servants.
Yet at that moment, Karna was gradually being forced onto the defensive.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The clash of spear blades rang out incessantly within the bounded field.
By any reasonable assessment, Servants with high magical output like Sovell and Karna generally would not choose to spend too much time locked in close combat.
For them, fighting up close with weapons was merely a hobby. Controlling the distance from range and suppressing the enemy with beams of light was the proper way to fight.
Someone like Achilles, who excelled at close combat but had no ranged options beyond a single Noble Phantasm-and who could only turn himself into a heavy truck and send his enemy flying if he really wanted to smash into them-was actually a rarity among these top-tier Servants.
The fierce melee between Sovell and Karna, which had now lasted a full two minutes, was clearly unnatural. There had to be a reason behind it.
Even an outsider, whoever they might be, could identify the true "instigator" simply by watching the rhythm of their footwork.
Should I unleash my Noble Phantasm? Karna asked himself.
*No,