Sasaki Kojiro. A swordsman of the ages whose name survives, though whether he truly existed is still a matter of debate.
He is said to have wielded the monstrous blade Monohoshizao, over three shaku long, and to have perfected the secret sword technique Tsubame Gaeshi, a strike so swift it could even cut down swallows.
He is known as the rival of Miyamoto Musashi, whose existence is firmly recorded, yet in the Go Rin no Sho written by that very Miyamoto Musashi, his name does not appear at all. There may have been a “plausible figure,” but the Sasaki Kojiro known in modern times can only be called a fabricated great swordsman, created by people’s imaginations afterward. A swordsman who used Monohoshizao, a swordsman who bore the name Sasaki Kojiro, and the stories of various other figures all merged together into that fictional person.
However, the swordsman now dueling Tohsaka Ren in Fuyuki is, while claiming the true name of that Sasaki Kojiro, in no way the same person. From the start, the Holy Grail had been tainted, and before it became a Singularity, Medea—the original occupant of the Caster seat now held by Cú Chulainn—committed the rule violation of summoning a Servant as a Servant, causing an error. Simply because he could use Tsubame Gaeshi, the Grail summoned a completely unrelated wraith.
And yet, considering that a Miyamoto Musashi from a pruned world once used a method so outrageous it amounted to blowing up her world’s Sasaki Kojiro and sending him flying, while against this nameless swordsman she insisted on an “ideal sword style” and a “goal to surpass,” refusing to back down from a head-on duel no matter how unfavorable the odds, it would be fair to say this nameless swordsman far surpassed the original Sasaki Kojiro.
On top of that, this “nameless swordsman” was now covered in mud and tainted. Though Archer’s handling of him left his mind and sword aura completely unshaken, it was impossible for that not to affect his Spirit Origin itself.
Normally, if one were covered in mud and turned into a Shadow Servant, combat power and parameters would be greatly reduced. The problem was that this nameless swordsman had originally been in a state where he did not even receive the class’s minimum correction. Since the parameters he possessed from the start were purely “innate,” there was nowhere for them to be weakened.
Instead, by becoming a Shadow Servant, he was absurdly recognized by the Grail as a “proper Servant.” As a result, this nameless swordsman ended up receiving stat correction as a Shadow Servant, and his parameters actually rose. It was a ridiculous situation.
That was not all. Being recognized as a “proper Servant” changed his Spirit Origin into that of a proper Servant as well. Though eroded by mud, a proper Servant was still a proper Servant. Since he had not originally been a proper Servant, he had not properly received land correction even in Fuyuki City, where he lived in life, nor had he received any fame correction at all. But once he was recognized as Sasaki Kojiro, everything changed.
First, because the “nameless swordsman” was in Fuyuki City, where he had lived in life, he was properly receiving land correction. On top of that, since this was Japan, where Sasaki Kojiro had operated, the land correction was at maximum. In addition, though incomplete, he was also receiving a considerable amount of fame correction as Sasaki Kojiro.
Under normal circumstances, this would have been impossible. But with Archer, who knew all about him, and the weakening of the Counter Force due to the Incineration of Human Order, plus the three factors of the tainted Holy Grail, the absurd result was achieved: by becoming a Shadow Servant, his parameters actually rose.
Even before any parameter correction, in close combat alone he was someone who could, though it was close to mutual destruction, once pierce through God Hand and A-rank durability to take Heracles’s head. And now he had become a Shadow Servant and had his stats raised even further. His E-rank durability became C-rank, and his C-rank strength did not rise enough to change the rank itself, but it climbed to something closer to B-rank than C-rank. No, it would probably be written as something like B- rather than C-rank.
With all these factors overlapping, his abilities had risen to a degree that would normally have been impossible.
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Frey style secret art
Three Slaughters Thrust - Sword Style Variant
The first thrust deflects the sword of Kojiro from the parallel world, and the second thrust, executed at the exact same time, deflects the sword of Kojiro from “this world,” the Kojiro who had been there from the beginning, opening his guard.
And then, just like the first two thrusts, the final thrust, also executed at the same time, slips through the opening in his guard and pierces Kojiro’s chest.
The three thrusts, performed “precisely simultaneously” through spatial distortion, unravel the three slashes produced by dimensional distortion. Two thrusts deflect the slashes, and the final thrust cuts through his chest and pierces the Spirit Core.
Puhak!
“Ghk!”
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Ah. So I really was a frog in a well.
The nameless swordsman, who bore the name Sasaki Kojiro yet could be said to have reached a far higher realm than the original, thought that.
“Kuh...”
He felt deeply ashamed of how, just moments ago, he had spread Tsubame Gaeshi and confidently declared victory. He did not know how it had been done, but his opponent had responded to Tsubame Gaeshi with three thrusts executed at exactly the same time.
And somehow, without even being cut by his sword, those thrusts had pierced his chest. It had clearly been three slashes, so how had he done it?
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Ugh, my ribs...
Hmph. Since Tsubame Gaeshi’s slashes are three in number, and the Three Slaughters Thrust is also three thrusts in total, normally they should collide and be unraveled—well, “unraveled” is just a fancy way of saying the swords clash and get knocked aside—but my sword has pierced the Spirit Core near Kojiro’s chest.
The secret is simple. In my current condition, with the coat on, I can’t block three sword strikes. Maybe one, but not three. In other words, I can deflect two of the slashes with thrusts, block the final slash with the coat, and then use the opening created when his sword is knocked aside by the second thrust to stab his chest.
Ugh. It’s embarrassing that I have to rely on tricks like this because my body is in such bad shape. If my condition were better, I would have crushed him purely with technique and not given him a chance to use it, or I would have dodged back before he could even bring it out. But because my body is so poor, I had no choice but to counter with Three Slaughters like this.
If only my left arm hadn’t been broken, I could have knocked it aside with Three-Thousand Forest-Piercing Serpent or something. Well, even in my previous life there were plenty of knights who relied on the DC Coat to cut down higher-level monsters... Still, winning a sword duel like this feels like I’m only winning with gear because my skill isn’t enough. Though, to be fair, deflecting a slash with a thrust is itself something only possible if your skill is clearly above the other side.
It’s not like I never fought people with swords like this in my previous life, but back then it was either for pure sparring or for outright killing, using ambushes and every dirty trick available. This kind of “fair and square” duel, where both sides are trying to kill each other, is a first. If I was going all out to kill, I wouldn’t have hesitated to use any number of underhanded methods, like calling in a fleet to bomb the whole base into oblivion. So fighting clean like this feels a little awkward.
“Cough! Hah... I can only think of the heavens above the heavens.”
“...What kind of monster uses dimensional distortion to fire off a triple strike all at once?”
“I don’t think you’re in any position to say that after deflecting that triple strike with thrusts and then stabbing me in the chest in return... cough!”
Talent monsters, seriously. Tch.
“Hmph. Well, if I leave out that last one, I didn’t get hit even once, but from the outside it probably looks like I lost.”
“Heh heh.”
Damn it. No, I definitely won, but I look more miserable. Blood is pouring from my entire body, soaking my clothes red. At least the coat’s life-support function stopped the bleeding enough to keep it at this level. If it hadn’t, I would have passed out from blood loss long ago.
“Cough... Come to think of it, I never learned your name. Would you tell me?”
“Consider it a parting gift.”
I leaned close to his ear and whispered it. Hm? Why? Because a name, if used properly, can be used for a curse.
“I see... That is a fine name.”
“Is it.”
Honestly, for me it was just convenient because it was similar to my previous life’s name and therefore less confusing.
“Ah. I managed to hold on somehow, but I can no longer continue.”
Golden particles began to spill from Kojiro’s body.
“Then, this is farewell. It was a good fight. If there is another chance, I pray we may stand together as allies then.”
“Sure.”
Well, goodbye. Golden dust scattered from Kojiro’s body, and then his entire form dissolved into magical energy and dispersed.
So he’s gone. As Kojiro vanished, I reached for the hilt of my sword lying on the ground and spoke to the trio of funny-faced onlookers who were staring blankly at me, as if wondering whether the fight had already ended.
“What, you just watching for fun?”
...No, seriously, these guys didn’t even help me after the fight was over?
Yo