A violent gale erupted without warning, sweeping across the entire estate. The Matō family's carefully arranged, exquisite furnishings were caught up in the raging airflow and hurled skyward in an instant.
Almost simultaneously, a vertical blade of wind—like a hot knife slicing through butter—cleanly split open the roof of the Matō residence and shot straight toward the airborne Lancelot.
When a person is suspended in midair, lacking any point of support, it's generally impossible to properly apply force or maintain full control of one's body. On top of that, Yūto's technique, "Swift as the Wind," was a high-speed attack. For most Servants, suffering injuries in such a situation would have been unavoidable.
Unfortunately for Yūto, he had clearly underestimated Lancelot's martial prowess.
As one of the greatest knights in history, Lancelot's control over his own body had long since reached the pinnacle of perfection. The very moment he was blasted away by Yūto's punch, he had already forcefully adjusted his posture midair, preparing himself for the next exchange.
Originally, Lancelot had intended to use the momentum of his descent to compensate for the disparity in raw strength between them—but he never expected a massive slashing attack to come hurtling straight at his face.
Suspended high above the ground and lacking any ability to fly, Lancelot had only one option in the face of the oncoming wind blade—
He had to take it head-on!
Thanks to his earlier midair adjustment, he avoided being struck from an awkward angle. The fact that he could face the attack directly at all was already proof of his extraordinary bodily coordination.
By the time "Swift as the Wind" reached him, the azure blade had expanded to dozens of meters in length.
"KRAAASH——!"
A sharp, brittle cracking sound rang out as the colossal blue slash was finally stopped.
However, by directly blocking Yūto's "Swift as the Wind," the Gan Jiang and Mo Ye swords Lancelot had seized earlier finally reached their limit. Unable to bear the strain, they dissipated into the air along with the enormous wind blade.
Though they were ranked around C to B as Noble Phantasms, they were ultimately just magecraft projections—imitations. Their durability naturally couldn't compare to the genuine articles.
After losing his weapon and landing on the ground, Lancelot casually tore an electric utility pole out of the earth. Black-and-red patterns instantly spread across its surface, and in the blink of an eye, a brand-new Noble Phantasm formed in his grasp.
"As expected of the man known as the Knight of the Lake. Your parameters surpass most Servants, and your martial skill itself is flawless," Yūto said calmly."It's a shame—but I'm stronger than you. And the version of you I truly want to cross blades with… is the one who still possesses reason."
In Yūto's eyes, the reason the "ahoge king" from the original story managed to defeat Lancelot was obvious—Lancelot had practically handed over his own life.
In terms of raw parameters and inherent abilities, Lancelot was almost flawless, fully deserving of the title "the Perfect Knight."
Strength: AEndurance: AAgility: A+Noble Phantasm: A
Aside from Luck being B and Mana only C, nearly all his parameters started at A.
And beyond his impressive stats, Lancelot's innate skills were rated as high as A+.
A monster whose overall performance rivaled Heracles—combined with extraordinary swordsmanship—losing to the ahoge king?
Either it was the author forcing the plot… or Lancelot had decided from the outset to sacrifice himself for her.
Gripping the transformed utility pole, Lancelot crushed the ground beneath his knightly boots and launched himself toward Yūto once more at blinding speed. The two clashed again, erupting into another dazzling exchange of close-quarters combat that left the eye struggling to keep up.
"Is there anyone in this Holy Grail War weaker than Archer?" Rin Tōsaka muttered bitterly.
Watching Yūto and Lancelot battle across the roadway, both possessing Agility parameters as high as A+, Rin and the others—mere humans—couldn't see their movements at all. All they could discern were fleeting streaks of light cutting through the darkness and sparks exploding where weapons collided, barely enough to track their positions.
Faced with such overwhelming power, Rin—who had initially been brimming with confidence—felt an unmistakable sense of helplessness creeping into her chest.
"Rin… sorry for being such a third-rate Servant," Archer muttered with a wry smile.
Hearing Rin's complaint, EMIYA could only feel equally helpless. Sure, his parameters were on the low side—but his inherent skills were strong. The only reason he hadn't been able to show them off was because every opponent he'd faced so far was absurdly incompatible.
Gilgamesh.Lancelot with Knight of Owner…
Honestly, even Archer himself was starting to feel depressed. Being utterly dominated by one Servant after another had nearly made him believe the illusion that he was actually weak.
On the battlefield, Yūto and Lancelot continued to fight—but any perceptive observer could tell that as time went on, Yūto was beginning to gain the upper hand.
This outcome was perfectly natural.
Setting aside the fact that Yūto's parameters were slightly superior, even when it came to the same skill—"Infinite Martial Mastery"—Yūto's rank was a full level higher.
Moreover, Lancelot had manifested as a Berserker. Although his superb technique was etched into his body, the loss of rational thought meant his true strength was inevitably diminished.
Then there was the difference in weaponry.
Even without a fully awakened blade spirit, Yūto's Nichirin Blade—though only ranked B as a Noble Phantasm—was clearly in a completely different league from Lancelot's disposable, improvised Noble Phantasms like the utility pole.
With a single slash, Yūto severed the transformed pole. And just as the Nichirin Blade was about to cleave straight down toward Lancelot's head—
Lancelot suddenly did something Yūto never anticipated.
Staring at the long blade descending toward his visor, Lancelot reached out his right hand—straight toward the falling edge!
Whether it was instinct, an attempt to avoid a fatal blow, or a deliberate decision was unclear. But regardless, Lancelot's Knight of Owner made contact with the Nichirin Blade's edge.
Grasping the Nichirin Blade barehanded, Lancelot's palm instantly burst with blood—even through his heavy armor.
However, Knight of Owner was itself an A+–rank Noble Phantasm. That arm of his was clearly far more resistant to damage than the rest of his body. For now, it was only bleeding—his arm hadn't been severed.
But whether Lancelot was injured or not wasn't what concerned Yūto at all.
Even if Lancelot were to draw his true Noble Phantasm, Arondight, Yūto was confident he could still defeat him with ease.
The real issue was this—
Lancelot's Knight of Owner had grabbed hold of Yūto's Nichirin Blade!
The blade, originally a deep violet, began to sprout creeping black-and-red fissure-like patterns as Knight of Owner attempted to seize control.
Yūto's expression turned tense as he poured strength into his arms, trying to wrench the Nichirin Blade free—
And then, without warning, the Nichirin Blade erupted in dazzling brilliance!
The Nichirin Blade had always possessed two hues: the violet that covered its entire body, and the eerie silver patterns etched across its surface.
Under the侵蚀 of Knight of Owner, the violet blade had already begun to crack and darken, black-and-red veins spreading like fractures.
But when those veins reached the silver portions of the blade—
Yūto could clearly feel it.
The Nichirin Blade began to tremble violently in his hands.
At the same time, the silver markings flared with blinding radiance.
Ding.Your Nichirin Blade — Unnamed (A-rank) has begun to undergo transformation due to exposure to Heroic Spirit blood, a knight's heart, and invasive consciousness.The soul residing within the blade is responding to external stimulation and is gradually awakening.Blade Spirit awakening detected.Item rank recalculating…Item rank increased from A-rank to S-rank.
As Yūto stared in shock at the changes overtaking his blade, the long-silent system finally unleashed a rapid series of notifications.
Since obtaining the Nichirin Blade, quite some time had passed. During that period, Yūto had naturally tried to communicate with the so-called blade spirit—again and again.
Every attempt had ended in failure.
He'd even wondered whether his swordsmanship was insufficient to earn the blade's recognition, or whether awakening the blade spirit required some special condition.
What he never could have imagined—
Was that the blade spirit he'd failed to awaken countless times… would finally stir when someone tried to NTR his sword.
Watching the Nichirin Blade transform and recalling the system's message, Yūto felt stunned—and then overwhelmingly ecstatic.
Of course he was thrilled.
No matter how much he'd thought about it before, he never would've guessed the blade spirit would awaken in this way.
A piercing white light—like a sword cleaving through the darkness—burst forth. As the Nichirin Blade radiated brilliance, the black-and-red patterns were visibly forced back, rapidly retreating until the侵蚀 fully withdrew into Lancelot's arm.
"Looks like my blade really doesn't like scumbags like you," Yūto said with a grin."This is something forged from the weight of others' hearts, you know. If you could just snatch it away so easily… wouldn't that be betraying those feelings?"
After dispelling the power of Knight of Owner, the Nichirin Blade released a shockwave that blasted Lancelot's body away.
Sent flying, Lancelot glanced down at his right hand. Beneath his helmet, his face was a picture of utter bewilderment.
Knight of Owner was an A+–rank Noble Phantasm.
In theory, unless a Noble Phantasm had broken-spec Ex-rank specifications, there should have been nothing Lancelot couldn't seize and turn into his own.
Yet the reality unfolding before him left no room for denial.
That long-bladed Noble Phantasm had not only resisted Knight of Owner—
It had actively rejected him.
Just as the Assassin said, that blade truly seemed… alive.
But that should have been impossible.
No matter how powerful a Noble Phantasm was—even legendary treasures like the Sword of Promised Victory or Arondight bestowed by the fairies—
A Noble Phantasm itself wasn't supposed to possess life.
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