When Artoria changed her self-reference to 'this King', it meant she was truly angry.
Regarding this, Daniel was slightly worried.
She shouldn't get too heated and accidentally blow up the camper van here too.
"Aura, drive a bit further forward!" Daniel shouted to Aura in the driver's seat.
"Received!" Aura stepped on the accelerator, and the camper van moved slowly.
None of those people outside paid any attention to the camper van.
"...I'm sorry." Karna frowned slightly, feeling suspicious about this 'Ruler' who was not attending to her duties but had an overwhelming Aura... Could she really be a referee? But as a warrior, he still lowered his head and apologized to Artoria first. "Although it is the instinct of a Servant of the opposing faction, it was indeed my fault for ignoring you at the first moment. Please accept my apology."
"Saber of the Black Faction, it seems our battle will have to be postponed."
Just as Siegfried heard this and wanted to withdraw to the side, his master, who was best at ruining things, spoke up.
"Shut up! Lancer of the Red Faction, just honestly accept the disposition of my Saber and the Ruler!" Gordes reprimanded Karna with an expression of being confident of victory.
"Hmm?" Artoria's cold, sharp voice came from beside him, like ice, making his body and soul feel as cold as if they had fallen into an ice cellar.
"Do you want to interrupt the battle between this King and Karna?" Artoria asked coldly.
"Eh?" Gordes was a bit stunned. "No, this..."
"If you dare to interrupt the battle between this King and the Lancer of the Red Faction, then prepare yourself to be hostile toward this King." Leaving behind these words that left Gordes dumbfounded, Artoria walked toward Karna.
While passing by Siegfried, recalling Kriemhild's account, she couldn't help but glance at him.
A standard poker face, showing no emotional fluctuations.
Like a puppet? Or a marionette?
"My name is Karna, son of the Sun God." Although his true name had already been seen through, Karna reported his name once again. At the same time, the special effects of Mana Burst (Flames) began to circulate around his entire body. "If you have no fear of my spear, then come at me."
"King of Britain, King Arthur, Artoria Pendragon." Artoria lifted the holy sword in her hand slightly.
The next moment, both figures disappeared from where they stood and clashed their weapons together.
The collision of Mana Burst and the weapons created a disastrous scene, shaking the earth and sky within tens of meters around them.
"Tsk." Gordes unwillingly hid behind Siegfried, who had blocked in front of him just in time, and looked at the battlefield from under his arm.
No, with his eyesight, he couldn't see the battle form of Karna and Artoria at all. Rather, the speed at which the two were fighting was so fast that Gordes couldn't even see their hands.
"Siegfried, if you were to face those two Servants, could you defeat them in a few moves?" Gordes asked through gritted teeth.
"Although I would like to give you a positive answer, master, unfortunately." Siegfried had already seen something in the collision between the two.
"Facing the Lancer, I do not have the confidence to win, but if it is the opponent's Ruler, I have absolutely no chance of winning."
"What?" Gordes immediately showed an expression of not knowing whether to be happy or worried.
The bad news is that his trump card, as he thought, does not seem to have the strength to crush the Red Faction Lancer, and even seems to be slightly at a disadvantage.
The good news is that that terrible enemy attacked the Ruler, against whom Siegfried thought he had no chance of winning, so she is likely to be eliminated here.
"Subarashii!" Karna, who was becoming increasingly hot-blooded from the fight, had already used all his attack methods except for his Noble Phantasm within just a few seconds.
But all of them were easily blocked by the opponent.
And the opponent's powerful and fast attacks also caught him off guard, making him even want to spit out a few mouthfuls of blood to add to the excitement.
This was while he was still armored.
Among all attack methods excluding the power of Noble Phantasms, the opponent was stronger than him!
Most importantly, the opponent definitely had not used all her power!
This could be seen from her relaxed and easygoing attitude.
Although he did not know who had made the plan to attack the Ruler, Karna believed that this decision was undoubtedly wrong.
Because if this continued, his side would lose the powerful card of Lancer.
Moreover, this Ruler was a bit off; she was not the type who would rigidly adhere to her duties.
It was very likely that because of this attack, the balance in the opponent's heart would tilt in a direction unfavorable to the Red Faction.
However, he could not contact his master.
Even if he wanted to contact through the special channel between master and Servant, there was no response.
Instead, that priest would respond to him using other channels.
In what kind of state was his master, exactly?
Because there was no deviation in the mana transmission, Karna could feel that the environment his master was in was not dangerous at all, but rather quite safe and relaxed.
That was why he held an attitude of trust toward the priest.
But this couldn't go on.
Karna thought this as he was sent flying.
In a one-on-one fight, not a single Servant from the Red Faction was a match for the opposing Ruler.
If they tried to overwhelm her with numbers, they would instead give the Black Faction an opening.
This won't do; I must convey this to my master.
I cannot continue to attack the Ruler; if I keep at it, I will die!
"Gah!" Karna finally coughed up blood.
This blood finally allowed Amakusa Shirou Tokisada, who was in the church, to confirm the strength of the Ruler, Artoria.
"Is this, then, the trial of the Lord?" Amakusa slowly stood up and looked out at the night sky through the window, murmuring softly, "Chivalry and kingship—they truly are the perfect combination for the Ruler class."
With a thought, Amakusa Shirou Tokisada finally transmitted his latest order to Karna.
Retreat!
That's right, not running away, but retreating!
Even though Karna looked like he was about to be beaten to death, Amakusa Shirou Tokisada still deemed this probe a success.
But Karna was a trump card that absolutely could not be lost right now.
Even Achilles, the other trump card he held certain expectations for, could not overshadow his reliance on Karna.
After all, Karna's 'Discernment of the Poor' could not be deceived by falsehoods.
This was the trump card he had prepared to see through the Black Faction's false intelligence later on.
In order to hide the location of the greater grail, those guys would surely use every means possible, just like him.
Therefore, Karna absolutely must not be lost now!
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