With Vivian's command, Rider Artoria immediately tightened her grip on the reins. Dun Stallion reared its head, let out a long cry, and then charged directly towards the Lancer in front of them.
Thump-thump.Thump-thump. The horse's hooves galloped swiftly on the street, passing like lightning. The distance between Rider and Lancer closed in an instant. The sword in the girl's hand also glowed with white light. That sword, which had seemed ordinary, now, under Artoria's empowerment, displayed abilities far beyond the usual.
Duang! The blue Lancer raised his dark red spear forward, parrying Rider's charge. But it seemed his strength was no match for the formidable girl and her white horse. Perhaps there was some special reason for this. After a flurry of spears and blades, the two once again distanced themselves. And all of this was witnessed by Ian.
"..."
[You didn't not want to act; rather, you couldn't immediately decide how to enter the fray.]
[Because both the girl on horseback and the blue Lancer with the dark red spear looked somewhat familiar.]
[Furthermore, Vivian, who was giving orders from a distance, also greatly concerned you.]
[At this moment, you confirmed that she had indeed participated in the Holy Grail War.]
Yes. Just as Tohsaka Rin had judged. Vivian had indeed participated in the Holy Grail War. And from the Servant she was commanding, it seemed the situation was exactly as Ian had predicted earlier; it was neither Assassin nor Berserker, but Rider, a class second only to the Three Knight classes. For some reason, the moment this was confirmed, Ian felt as if a weight had finally been lifted from his heart. Thinking about it carefully, it was probably because he felt that if Vivian was one of the seven Masters in the Holy Grail War, Tohsaka Sakura would be safer. After all—she had taught Tohsaka Sakura for ten years; it wasn't likely that there was absolutely no affection there.
Vivian didn't notice Ian observing in secret. At this moment, she only wanted to eliminate the Servant in front of her, who had been confirmed as Lancer. This was the first enemy she had encountered since returning to Fuyuki City. Blue light began to swirl around the witch's hands—her meticulously researched spell. With its assistance, the New King of Britain's stored prana would be rapidly transferred to Rider Artoria.
Frankly, Vivian never dreamed that she would one day fight alongside her sister, with whom she had once been at odds. But she knew this was all necessary.
"Rider, charge! Slay this Lancer for me!" Vivian gave another command. Her tone was incredibly firm, and her attitude showed no hesitation. The thousand-year-old witch had long developed a heart of stone; even if her opponent begged for mercy, she would absolutely not relent.
Vivian's prana reserves were simply too abundant. Even though she had just completed a charge riding Dun Stallion, Rider Artoria showed no signs of fatigue. A powerful Servant combined with a powerful Master was beyond imagination.
"Whoa—!" Artoria skillfully controlled the legendary white horse named Dun Stallion. At this moment, although she wasn't at her strongest, her advantage lay in the sufficiently close connection with her older sister. This connection, empowered by the special spell, boosted the efficiency of prana transfer between them. Dun Stallion's characteristics were once again fully demonstrated on the battlefield. This was a famous horse from the end of the Age of Gods, possessing incredibly terrifying acceleration abilities. Just that small distance opened up was enough for it to display meteor-like speed.
"Dun Stallion—!" The girl called out the name of her victorious warhorse and once again launched a surprise attack on the blue Lancer in front of her. Horse hooves rapidly rose and fell on the city streets, stamping out white blurs of light. The blade in Artoria's hand gradually transformed into another shape. It was a form like Excalibur, yet definitively not that sword. This was the effect of Rider Artoria's Noble Phantasm, The Blade of Mortals. It was originally just an ordinary blade. But when the Master had sufficient prana, it could produce an effect similar to Excalibur by imbuing prana into the sword.
Of course, compared to the true Excalibur, it was still relatively difficult. Because the Artoria summoned by Vivian was not Saber, but Rider. The sword could only serve as her secondary weapon, not her primary means of attack. But—this was enough.
The glowing white Blade of Mortals struck towards the blue Lancer. This time, it was a much more formidable combat technique than before.
Duang! Sparks flew! The blue Lancer's dark red spear spun and flew through the air, finally landing somewhere. And he himself was sent flying alongside the spear, looking quite disheveled. The battle seemed to be one-sided.
But—was it truly so?
The blue Lancer stubbornly propped himself up and stood again. He re-grasped his dark red spear, a barely perceptible curve forming on his lips. "It should... be about time, right?"
[You sensed that something was amiss in the battle.]
[Although the difference in strength between Servants and Masters in the Holy Grail War can sometimes be vast,]
[You could clearly feel that the Lancer's state wasn't due to a lack of strength.]
[He seemed to be intentionally retreating.]
[This was a very classic tactic of enticement.]
[You felt that Vivian was about to suffer a serious blow.]
[For some reason, you found yourself moving.]
Lancer's true name was Cu Chulainn. In this Fifth Holy Grail War, he was summoned by his shishou (master), Scáthach. Of course, for Cu Chulainn, he had absolutely not expected his Master to be her—the Child of Light only later learned that this was a summoning performed through Gáe Bolg Alternative. It could only be him, and it was destined to be him. Now, he couldn't help but be honest.
However, despite that—Cu Chulainn keenly noticed something. That his shishou Scáthach was acting very strangely. Where was this strangeness mainly apparent?
Firstly, Scáthach ordered him to maintain an absolute distance from her and not to act as if they knew each other. This was very different from the Scáthach he remembered—after all, the old woman in the past would never have cared about such things. It was almost as if she was trying to prove something to someone.
Secondly, due to the aforementioned reason, Cu Chulainn usually had to disguise himself as a janitor at Homurahara Academy. He was very surprised to discover that rumors were circulating in this school about his shishou Scáthach dating a man named Ian. To be honest, this was something Cu Chulainn had absolutely not expected. That old woman, who was never moved, would actually tolerate this situation—was she not even trying to make the strange rumors disappear?
Hiss... Thinking about it that way. Could her earlier insistence on maintaining distance from him also be because of this man named Ian? Ugh, (Celtic expletive). A person who could make the old woman fall in love? What kind of level must that be? And speaking of which... the name Ian sounds a bit familiar too.
Cu Chulainn grew more curious the more he thought about it—if he had the chance, he really wanted to see what kind of person could make this thousand-year-old master fall in love. If all else failed, wishing for it with the Holy Grail wouldn't be out of the question.
Of course, thoughts are thoughts, and actions are actions. Although Cu Chulainn had many strange notions swirling in his mind that he wanted to verify, he would absolutely never bring these things up in front of Scáthach. On one hand, he was mainly afraid that if the old woman's weak spot was hit, she would become enraged and unleash her resentment on him. On the other hand, he still greatly respected this shishou, not to mention he was currently summoned by her as Lancer in the Holy Grail War. For all intents and purposes, he shouldn't joke about such things.
Moreover—if his shishou could truly have an emotional breakthrough, it might not be a bad thing. After all... she was indeed very lonely.
Getting off track. Cu Chulainn returned to reality. As an opponent, he absolutely acknowledged the Rider in front of him. Although the opponent looked like a very beautiful girl, her horsemanship skills were not flashy or impractical because of it. And the white horse beneath her also had excellent qualities. If only—Cu Chulainn truly wished he could have a proper fight with her.
But—not now. As Lancer, he felt his shishou Scáthach's obsession with winning the Holy Grail War. Therefore, they had to employ the method with the highest chance of victory. And such a method indeed existed. His shishou Scáthach was not just a genius with a spear. Her mastery of magecraft was also incredibly powerful—this was also why she was recognized by the Holy Grail as a Magus, allowing her to participate in this Holy Grail War.
This was a meticulously planned trap battle. Scáthach had already laid her magecraft in the vicinity. And what Cu Chulainn, the "pawn," had to do was feign retreat and lure the Rider and her Master to this area. Of course, while it was feigned retreat, Cu Chulainn was indeed getting quite a beating. After all, Rider and her warhorse were not mere decorations. However—as Lancer, Cu Chulainn possessed the abilities of "Battle Continuation" and "Disengage." The former allowed him to not die even from quite severe damage; the latter ensured he could disengage at a crucial moment, so he wouldn't necessarily have to take certain damage head-on.
Despite this, Cu Chulainn knew this wasn't a foolproof plan. The Rider and her Master in front of him were indeed incredibly powerful. Old woman, it's time, isn't it? Cu Chulainn silently observed the surroundings, gripping his Gáe Bolg tightly, adopting the posture of a defeated person struggling to defend.
Finally. The tide of defeat began to turn. Vivian, intent on securing this first victory, completely failed to notice a figure appearing in the shadows. It was Scáthach. At this moment, she had already woven her combat attire with prana—a misleading outfit sufficient to conceal her identity and prevent others from perceiving the truth. The magecraft she had prepared now took effect. This was something only a runic magecraft genius like her could accomplish.
Scáthach's hunts always prioritized efficiency. After all, she often faced extremely powerful opponents; even a single chance to struggle could result in a counter-attack. So—besides magecraft, the Queen of the Land of Shadows adopted a back-to-basics approach. That was to physically throw her Gáe Bolg Alternative, rather than activating it as a Noble Phantasm. In doing so, it would no longer be conceptual damage from magecraft. And defenses set up against magecraft attacks would become meaningless.
Of course, this required incredibly high skill from the user herself—after all, it lacked the empowerment of prana. But Scáthach had no worries about this. Because—she was the very embodiment of the spear!
Whoosh! The thrown Gáe Bolg Alternative flew towards Vivian. Artoria, the witch's Servant, completely focused on battling Lancer, failed to notice this threat to her Master. By the time she reacted, it was too late.
"Master—!" Vivian, startled by Artoria's cry, also spotted the long spear flying towards her. She tried to activate her prepared defensive magecraft, but found it suppressed by Scáthach's preparations. Before the spear could strike, it wouldn't have time to be effective! Was this... a certain death situation?!
However, the final outcome surpassed everyone's imagination.
Rip— Gáe Bolg Alternative indeed struck someone. But it wasn't Vivian. Ian, unnoticed, had rushed in front of her—this was completely unexpected by Scáthach and Cu Chulainn, making it impossible to stop.
The next moment, blood splattered. The man used his own body to forcibly shield Vivian from Gáe Bolg Alternative's attack. At this moment—she was clearly not his Master, yet she received his knightly protection.