“So... that leaves only Saber.”
Saber... If I remember right, that was the Knight King Alter, the so-called Black Saber. I can’t seem to remember Archer very well. I can remember the others more or less, though.
“That’s right. Saber is... hmm, I’ll give you a hint, so why don’t you guess?”
“...What’s the harm in just saying it?”
“Come on, try to guess. The hint is ‘Excalibur.’”
“...Ah, damn it.”
[What?! King Arthur?!]
“That’s right.”
“Ugh... I have fought that one before, though...”
“What? Seriously?”
“About ten years ago, we fought for various reasons... but it ended without a decisive result. Hmm. I guess I can settle it now.”
“Huh, you’re more impressive than I thought.”
“Well... I didn’t win, and it was basically a loss on points. If we’d kept fighting, I would’ve lost.”
“You’re surprisingly frank about it.”
“To be honest, it was a little annoying. No, really—his sword path was obvious, and he had no technique to speak of, but he was so busy blocking attacks that I couldn’t create an opening. And because of the Mana Burst, I couldn’t even get a joint lock in. His sword path itself was straightforward, but the foundation underneath was annoyingly solid, so there weren’t really any openings...”
Even if there are no openings, you can always make one. The problem was that, like I just said, the difference in physical ability was too great, so I was just struggling to block. On top of that, fighting Excalibur while carrying two perfectly good swords was rough. I wasn’t used to worrying about the durability of my weapons while fighting, so it was even harder. Back in my previous life, by the time I had enough combat power to smash weapons during battle, I was already using the AB Sword.
“Hmm! Truly excellent swordsmanship!”
“Damn it! You don’t have any technique at all, and yet you’re just bulldozing me with raw physical ability!”
...Ah, I’m getting a little nostalgic.
“Even if I managed to force an opening and land a hit, the armor would block it... and I had to keep worrying about my weapons’ durability because of that damned Excalibur...”
“...You had it rough.”
Haha...
“Oh, by the way, why did you rush in so quickly earlier?”
“That...”
Ah, damn it. Have I gotten dull after living too comfortably for too long? Idiot.
“Damn...”
“Hm? What is it?”
“Wait a second.”
Ignoring the Caster’s question, I spun my thoughts as fast as I could. Think. What policy would the enemy choose now?
We had occupied the leyline, and the Caster had already established a workshop. If we limited the fight to inside the workshop, the Caster was a class stronger than even Saber. We were basically holed up in a fortress.
If I were the one attacking an enemy entrenched in a fortress, what would I do? A textbook siege? No, that would be too inefficient, and success would be uncertain. Even an ordinary magus would be at a disadvantage inside a workshop. Let alone a Servant-class Caster.
Then... they’d either try to draw the enemy out of the fortress, or overturn the board entirely. The former was effectively impossible, so they’d choose the latter. In that case, how...? Could they do something to the Holy Grail itself... or blow up the fortress entirely?
But with what? It wouldn’t be easy to blow away a proper Caster workshop rooted in a leyline. Some means from outside? If that were possible, they wouldn’t have needed to waste time earlier. To do that, they’d need at least a Great Noble Phantasm.
A method from inside? How? Had they planted a bomb or something? No, there was no way something that small could blow away a workshop.
...Wait. A bomb?
“Archer’s true name, I don’t know, but his combat style was unusual. He’d fire off Noble Phantasms and turn them into Broken Phantasms.”
The Caster’s words flashed through my mind.
“...Caster, how powerful was Archer’s Broken Phantasm? Enough to blow away a workshop?”
“No, not that much. It could inflict damage, but not enough to completely wreck the workshop itself. Why?”
...Then that’s not it either... wait.
“It looks like some kind of bomb went off.”
At that moment, Ritsuka’s careless remark from the leyline we had stopped by earlier, the one I had absentmindedly agreed with, flashed through my head вместе with the scene there.
I had brushed it off without thinking at the time, but in fact, if you used wave energy to launch a wide-area attack like that, it wouldn’t look like a bomb had gone off. It wouldn’t leave a crater in the ground like a blast center. Well, it would dig the ground up, but still.
But there, it really had formed a crater as if a bomb had exploded. It was strange, but it would make sense if a bomb had actually gone off there. Then why had a bomb been planted there? Obvious. The leyline.
...And this place is a leyline too.
For an instant, a shiver ran up my spine. Ah, damn it! Idiot!
“Damn it...!”
“Shit! Caster! Protect Ritsuka...!”
Almost at the same time, Caster must have reached the same conclusion, because his eyes flew wide and he spat out a curse. Damn it! I hurled myself at Mash and shielded her with my body. In the corner of my vision, I saw the Caster frantically drawing something.
“Eh?”
Immediately after, an explosion rang out and the church collapsed.
Kuaaaang!!
++++
Ah, damn it. Is today the day of explosions or something? This is already the second time today I’ve been caught in one.
“Cough... Mash, are you okay?”
“Ah, yes... It hurts a little, but this is manageable. What about you, Ren?”
“I’m fine too.”
Thanks to the DC Coat.
“Ugh... Ritsuka, are you alive?”
“Don’t worry. I barely managed to deploy [Aegis].”
“I’m okay...”
“...Then get your head straight and prepare for battle. Tch, if I’d known this would happen, I would’ve given you some real combat experience earlier...”
[Spirit Origin reaction! It’s a Servant!]
Tch, having your first real fight be against a Servant is rough... Hm? Footsteps?
“Hahaha, hahahahahahahaha!!”
“Ah, damn it. What now?”
“...It’s Lancer. I’ve heard that voice before.”
“Ha, hahahahahahahahaha!!”
“That laugh is obnoxiously loud.”
“...Agreed.”
Thud, thud. Another set of footsteps approached. Just from the sound, this one was a serious expert.
Before long, a man wearing a purple jinbaori and carrying a long sword well over a meter at his waist emerged through the cloud of dust.
“An Assassin, huh...”
“For now, I am Sasaki Kojiro. Though I am not here of my own will in this body, I ask you to grant me a single exchange.”
“...Damn it. Two at once?”
No, I guess it’s lucky it isn’t three. In that case, I’ll take Kojiro, and Mash and the Caster can handle Lancer...
“It seems I was in your debt earlier.”
“...Rider?! Tch. I thought you were dead.”
“For now, I managed to preserve at least my Spirit Core.”
“Ah, damn it.”
Maybe I’d gone too hard on him out of habit, treating it like a normal fight. No, wait—what’s with a third Servant showing up right after I thought at least it wasn’t three?
“Tch... Ritsuka.”
“Y-yes?”
“I’ll handle Assassin, so you take the other two. Well, having to face two enemies as a Master for the first time is a bit much, but... do your best to hold out.”
“Uuugh...”
“Just finish them off as fast as you can and come help us.”
“...You’re telling me that when you said you couldn’t even handle a spear yourself?”
Honestly. I drew only one sword and advanced toward the Assassin, Sasaki Kojiro.
“You said you wanted a single exchange, right?”
“That is so, for now. Though it is not of my own will... even so, I find this not unpleasant.”
“Is that so... come on, then. I’ll let you have the first move.”
“Gladly!”
Ah, damn it. I haven’t had real combat in a while, so I’m not sure how well I’ll do.
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