Within a world of orange-red fire.
Takumi held the flag-spear with his left hand forward and his right hand back. Shifting his feet slightly against the ground, he adopted the proper stance of a Spearman.
Mordred, possessing the [Instinct] skill and a hyper-aggressive, damage-oriented combat style, was nothing like Tristan. Takumi didn't delude himself into thinking he could win in one or two exchanges. No matter how he looked at it, he would have to trade blows for several rounds before any hope of victory emerged.
Not to mention, the weapon he was currently wielding—a spear—required the seamless coordination of both arms to truly shine. This battle was only going to be even more troublesome.
Takumi took a step forward, initiating the assault.
[Radiant Flame Rune Great-Flag]!
Over a dozen Runes materialized out of thin air, dancing on the wind before affixing themselves to the flag in Takumi's grasp, effectively "igniting" it.
The moderate distance between the two was crossed in the blink of an eye. The great-flag of fire traced a trajectory like a soaring dragon through the air before snapping forward with a vicious thrust, the cold gleam of the spear tip aiming straight for Mordred's throat.
So fast!
Having never witnessed Takumi attack in earnest before, Mordred's pupils contracted sharply. She hastily aborted her offensive stance, yanking her greatsword back just in time to block Takumi's ferocious thrust.
CLANG~!!
Sparks exploded in all directions in an instant. The spear and the sword rebounded simultaneously, forcing both combatants to stagger backward.
His strikes are incredibly heavy, too—!
Mordred gritted her teeth in secret, her brow furrowing deeply. Her hastily recalled greatsword nearly slipped from her grasp, and the distance she was pushed back was noticeably farther than Takumi's.
Her raw Strength parameter was actually inferior to his!
CLANG!
The soul-striking sound of a forging hammer abruptly echoed, causing Mordred's focus to falter for a split second.
Seizing the opening created by the recoil, Takumi twisted his body and swung the flag-spear in a sweeping horizontal arc.
[Blazing Form: A Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix]!
Countless fiery Runes silently rose into the air, transforming into a flock of flaming birds that instantly locked onto Mordred's position.
A wave of searing heat capable of melting solid steel constantly washed over Mordred's body. By the time she snapped out of her daze, all she saw was a superheated, flame-wreathed flag-spear sweeping directly toward her.
Her [Instinct] screamed a warning.
One trick after another...
"—So damn annoying!"
In an instant, violent crimson lightning—fueled by [Mana Burst]—erupted from the Sword of Rebellion, completely engulfing a ten-meter radius around Mordred.
The sudden, explosive burst of energy forced Takumi back.
Upon stabilizing his footing and looking up, he saw a furious Mordred standing her ground. Surrounded by a maelstrom of lightning, she looked as if she had been possessed by a God of Thunder.
Completely ignoring the physical toll the [Rampage] blessing was taking on her body, Mordred fully unleashed the magical energy within her. She was treating [Mana Burst] like a passive, continuously active skill, relentlessly driving the Sword of Rebellion to generate violent lightning to act as a defensive shield!
Being directly supplied with near-infinite magical energy by the Lion King, Mordred truly possessed the capital to squander mana so recklessly.
Fall!
Unfazed, Takumi willed the flock of fiery birds circling in the sky to dive-bomb Mordred's position.
Simultaneously, Takumi activated his ultra-high-speed state and closed in once more.
The firebirds assaulted her from every conceivable angle, bringing with them surging waves of blistering heat. Yet amidst the fire, the spear tip—gleaming with lethal cold light—tore through the lightning and thrust toward Mordred's body once again.
Takumi knew how to use Mana Burst, too!
While he couldn't use it with the same reckless abandon as Mordred, utilizing it intermittently in short bursts put very little strain on him.
But Mordred was no pushover either. Realizing it was incredibly difficult to track Takumi's movements through normal observation, she simply abandoned relying on her eyes altogether. Entrusting the entire battle to her intuition and instincts, she forcefully parried the relentless, rapid-fire spear thrusts.
It was identical to the method Beowulf had used to counter him earlier.
Except, Mordred had it much easier than Beowulf. Back then, Beowulf was fighting Takumi while he wielded Rama's Spirit Origin. Right now, Mordred was fighting a Takumi whose right arm was merely a projection, preventing him from fully executing his spear techniques.
Fire and lightning ravaged the battlefield as they clashed. The two of them fought from one hilltop to the adjacent one, leaving behind nothing but burning trails of fire and arcs of crimson lightning.
The shockwaves generated by their battle pulverized the ground wherever they went. Dead trees and solid boulders were ground into fine dust.
The dizzying, hyper-intense combat rapidly drained the mental and physical stamina of both fighters. Yet, neither showed any intention of giving up halfway. As their gazes crossed, it seemed as if they wanted to keep fighting like this forever.
Takumi retreated.
Mordred's fighting style showed absolute disregard for her own condition. As the effects of [Rampage] gradually intensified, the magical energy erupting from her body escalated from a small stream to the floodgates of a dam bursting wide open. Under the terrifying output of her Mana Burst, even Takumi—protected by the Holy Flag—felt a dull ache whenever the shockwaves hit him.
Such a massive surge in power didn't come without a price. Takumi estimated that by now, Mordred had lost the ability to control the outburst of [Rampage]. She had truly stepped into a state of berserk overdrive. Even if he did absolutely nothing, Mordred was destined to burn out and exit the stage due to her Spirit Origin shattering.
In other words, as long as Takumi focused entirely on his defensive capabilities, he could absolutely drag this out until Mordred killed herself.
—But if I do that, she'll absolutely laugh at me for the rest of my life...
Which was why, the moment Takumi leaped back, using such a "cowardly" method to defeat Mordred had never crossed his mind.
A sharp glint flashed in Takumi's eyes. The instant he gained distance, he swung the great-flag of fire, manipulating the Rune characters in mid-air to forge "weapons" one after another.
Discs, javelins, staves, short clubs, tridents, greatswords, chain-whips, giant hammers, bows and arrows...
These were the weapons that had manifested within Rama's Noble Phantasm, [Vishnu Bhuja]. Having utilized Rama's Spirit Origin, Takumi had memorized their power and forms. He now used the power of Runes to fill in the gaps and simulate their structures, recreating their devastating might—
[Simulated Divine Armaments: Era of the Profound Heavenly Sword]!
Holding two fingers together like a sword, Takumi's eyes tracked his hand as he slowly drew it backward.
Following his motion, the myriad simulated weapons hovering in the air converged in front of his fingertips, gradually warping and assembling into a massive flaming greatsword over five meters wide...
"Finally decided to show me what you're really made of?!"
Sensing the lethal danger emanating from Takumi's actions, the excitement in Mordred's eyes peaked. Without hesitation, she purged her full-body armor and activated her Noble Phantasm.
"This is the evil sword that destroyed my Royal Father—"
Both combatants channeled their ultimate moves with the absolute fastest reaction times and speeds possible. Remaining in his ultra-high-speed state, Takumi naturally had the initiative, but because his full-power attack required a slightly longer preparation time, the two attacks ultimately completed at the exact same moment.
"—[Clarent Blood Arthur: Rebellion Against My Beautiful Father]!"
A colossal pillar of crimson lightning erupted outward, just as the Rune-simulated divine greatsword—propelled by Takumi's "swing"—launched forward like a fired ballista bolt.