Meanwhile, not long after Guinevere had picked up Sakura, the two were already rushing toward Homurahara Academy at a considerable speed.
On the playground of this high school, a red Archer and a blue Lancer had already fought for several rounds.
Because her classmates had become weak, and because she felt the Bounded Field that drained life force the moment she stepped into the school, Rin Tohsaka, the current mage administrator of Fuyuki City, still went to the school to inspect it after nightfall, working without rest.
If there was any mage in this battle who harbored a desire for the Holy Grail, Rin Tohsaka was one of them.
"Archer!"
"Master, you don't need to worry so much. I won't lose so easily."
With short white hair that seemed to be styled with hairspray, the body with striking muscle lines wore a tight-fitting special cloth armor, and covering this cloth armor was a two-piece trench coat consisting of a vest and a sash.
As for the material of this trench coat, it was, of course, the Holy Shroud.
"Indeed, young lady, your Archer is more troublesome than I believed. An Archer who uses twin swords, I've never heard of such a Servant!"
Opposite the red Archer, the blue Lancer held a slender red long spear. He had blue short hair of the same color as his tight-fitting clothes, and this short hair also had a small braid left at the back of his head.
As he spoke, his body sank and leaned forward, his stance ready for attack, like the most vicious of hounds.
"Heh, you've never heard of me, but your True Name is all too obvious. Such fierce spearplay and that crimson spear... the only one it could be is the Hound of Culann, the Child of Light, Cu Chulainn, right?"
The battle began with Archer of Red testing him with a single sword, then proceeded to a phase where Cu Chulainn repeatedly shattered the twin blades Archer of Red had switched to.
They stared at each other, probing for each other's True Names. But the answer was obvious: Cu Chulainn couldn't guess Archer of Red's True Name, while Archer of Red had no hesitation in stating Cu Chulainn's.
This enraged Cu Chulainn, and his posture with the spear gradually shifted to that of preparing to unleash a Noble Phantasm.
After all, if one's True Name is revealed, there is no point in hesitating to use a Noble Phantasm, and besides, releasing the [ Gáe Bolg ] against a single target does not consume much energy. He could use it again after a short rest.
But just then, all three on the playground heard noise coming from the direction of the school building.
It was none other than Shirou Emiya, who had just finished work at the student council office and was heading home.
As Kiritsugu Emiya's adopted son, he had not been taught much Magecraft. The only Projection Magecraft he knew could only be used to repair broken appliances.
Furthermore, he knew nothing of the Mages' world or any information regarding the Holy Grail War.
When he saw the battlefield on the playground from the school building window, his first reaction was that this intense conflict could only happen in myths; his second reaction was how Rin Tohsaka could be here?
As a classmate, Shirou actually had a lot of goodwill toward Rin, which could even be considered a secret crush.
But Shirou also had his reasons. After all, Rin Tohsaka was beautiful, and beneath her seemingly aloof and superior attitude, she actually had a face that easily blushed.
Therefore, he was captivated, whether it was by the nervous Rin Tohsaka nearby or the surreal battle in the center of the playground.
His captivation lasted until he was discovered by the three on the battlefield, and the Lancer in the blue bodysuit cast a fierce murderous intent upon him.
With just a single glance, Shirou's body froze, and the thought that he would definitely die frantically flooded his mind.
Some people will stand still and offer their necks to be slaughtered when facing a death crisis, while others will have their adrenaline surge when facing a death crisis, instantly understanding whether to fight or flee.
"Winning is impossible."
The next second after the glance, when this thought arose in Shirou's mind, he instantly took off running, though for a moment he didn't know where to run and could only try to get as far from the playground as possible.
With a normal person's physique, how could he possibly outrun a Servant?
"Archer's Master, according to the secrecy principle of the Holy Grail War, this unlucky bastard who witnessed a Servant battle, will you kill him, or should I? Heh, I'll let you off the hook today; my Master only sent me out to scout."
Saying this, Lancer waited for a response from the other party, but when none came, he directly spiritized and vanished, pursuing Emiya in spirit form, who had never left his range of perception.
Just as Emiya was running out of breath, Lancer appeared in front of him in the corridor and spoke with a look of pity for a pathetic creature:
"Kid, do you have any last words?"
"Last words?"
If there was any shred of hope just now, then after Lancer personally said those words, there was no hope left in Emiya's heart.
He understood that winning was impossible, but he really wasn't the kind of person who would offer his neck to be slaughtered.
He took out a book that had been reinforced with Projection Magecraft, and the book was rolled into a tube in his hand, looking a little bit threatening, and ninety-nine percent hilarious.
"Ha? Hahahaha ahaha! You're good, you actually have the guts to raise a sword against me, and what's even better is that you used reinforcement-type magecraft on this book, right?"
"Heh, of my own volition, I don't wish to harm innocents. But if you're a Mage, killing you won't count as harming an innocent!"
As Lancer's words fell, the tip of his over two-meter-long spear had already shattered the reinforced book in Emiya's hand, stopping just a hair's breadth from Emiya's heart.
It was at this moment that Lancer's spear halted its advance. He leaped backward with maximum speed and seriously assumed a combat stance.
Rider Medusa had almost failed to arrive in time.
And one had to be grateful that among the choices of killing Emiya, being killed himself, or stepping back to regroup, Lancer chose the latter.
"Kid, are you not only a Mage, but also a Master?"
At this moment, Emiya sat fallen on the ground. His gaze could only see the back of Medusa, who crouched low, holding the two ends of her chains in her hands, ready to launch an attack on Lancer.
Will they fight? Will they fight? While the suspected Master and Servant on the opposite side remained silent.
Finally, after Lancer frowned, seemingly having heard some command, he clicked his tongue and vanished.
Following Lancer's disappearance, the sound of a woman's leather shoes stepping on the indoor floor immediately followed.
At the stairwell's corner, Rin Tohsaka appeared, and just then Medusa had already risen, silently swapping positions with him again to stand in front of Emiya, conspicuously protecting him.
At this moment, of the two people and two Servants present, only Medusa, who had received her orders, was not in a state of confusion, but this was because she had nothing to think about other than protecting Emiya.
As for Rin, she also assumed Emiya was a Master and Medusa was his Servant.
So she also remained silent, and in the middle of Emiya's expression as if he wanted to say something, she retreated, guarded by the already revealed Archer of Red.
"Rin, do you know that man?"
"Yes, he's my classmate, and he gets along very well with Sakura..."
Rin was slightly dazed, unable to accept the idea of having to become Emiya's enemy next, while Archer of Red was even more dazed, because his True Name was Shirou Emiya, the Shirou Emiya of another timeline who attained Heroic Spirit status in the future.
In Archer of Red's timeline, the current development shouldn't be like this, but instead should be Lancer piercing Emiya's heart, and Rin using her jewel necklace to heal him, though he actually came back to life because of the King of Knights' holy sword's scabbard, Avalon, inside his body.
Setting aside the dazed Rin and Archer of Red, returning our gaze to Medusa and Shirou Emiya...
The tall Medusa dispelled the chains in her hand and reached out to Shirou Emiya, who was currently sitting on the ground in the moonlight.
"I ask you, are you Shirou Emiya?"