By the shore near Fuyuki Pier, on the nighttime beach, a cool sea breeze blew through the pure white hair of the Damselette who looked like an elf.
Beside her was a handsome, blond butler with a straight posture and a smile on his face.
"So this is the ocean! The sea breeze feels so good! Saber!"
The pretty, white-haired Damselette put her hands behind her back, tilted her head to reveal a pure and cute smile, and her fingers gently brushed the hair blowing against her cheek.
Saber's eyes held a hint of tenderness as she watched the Damselette before her with such doting affection.
The Damselette crouched down, took off her shoes and socks, and felt the refreshing coolness of the seawater with her delicate little feet.
"Hahaha~ Saber, come join me! It really feels great! Hup~"
While Saber was dazed, Irisviel scooped up a handful of spray and playfully splashed it at Saber.
The spray hit her face, and Saber also stepped toward the edge of the waves.
Just as she was about to take off her shoes, she seemed to sense something and frowned, looking toward the containers at the pier.
At the same time, a circular, milky-white band of light appeared in the sky over Fuyuki City.
"A band of light composed of magical energy... Is it some kind of magecraft? To have been constructed so silently on such a massive scale..."
"The amount of magical energy is highly abnormal. If it's a Servant, this has already far exceeded the scope of a conventional Servant..."
Holding her shoes and socks, Irisviel looked up at the abnormal band of light in the sky, her voice tinged with a hint of worry.
A city wall is not built in a day; to construct such a large-scale magecraft in a short time without anyone knowing...
The caster themselves would need extremely high attainment along with a massive amount of magical energy.
Moreover, the caster didn't seem to intend to hide their location; the oppressive magical energy at the pier containers seemed to be intentionally announcing its presence to the surroundings.
"Saber, what should we do...?"
Quickly putting on her shoes and socks, Irisviel put away her playful thoughts and looked at Saber with a serious expression.
Hearing this, Saber's eyes sharpened. A flash of light erupted from her body, and she was instantly clad in her blue and white medieval knight's dress and armor.
"Since the opponent has already issued a challenge, we have no choice but to respond."
"That's true. You'll definitely protect me, right, my knight?"
Irisviel leaned forward slightly with her hands behind her back, saying with a soft smile.
Saber gave a faint smile and responded with an elegant knightly salute, hand over her chest.
"Of course, my princess."
Afterwards, the two walked side by side toward the source of the magical energy.
When they arrived at the source, they saw a man wearing a jumpsuit-style robe of the ancient Israeli royal court, colored in a fusion of red, white, black, and gold.
The man had Wheat-colored skin and long, pure white hair, part of which was tied into a braid falling over his chest. His expression was calm and majestic, with an extraordinary aura.
On the ten fingers of his hands, he wore rings with gold as the primary color.
The man's golden eyes slowly shifted toward the intruders, namely Saber and Irisviel.
Those indifferent eyes completely lacked the colors a human should have; in their eyes, this person was simply like a machine.
And...
They both felt that before these eyes, they had no secrets to speak of, as if everything about them was seen through.
"King Arthur—Artoria Pendragon, the vessel of the Holy Grail... Very well... Exit the stage."
The man spread his hands, and a golden star-like ring of light appeared above his head. The ten rings from his fingers floated within the ring of light, forming a circle.
"Irisviel, don't move a single step away from my side!"
Saber's pupils constricted suddenly. A weapon with its form distorted by wind pressure appeared in her hand, and she instinctively made an upward slashing motion.
Swish, swish—
Several arrows of light descended at the speed of light, striking directly at Saber and Irisviel's position, but Saber's reaction was so fast that she barely managed to block the attack.
However, despite it being a seemingly ordinary beam of light, Artoria, who had blocked it, was already down on one knee, a bead of cold sweat rolling down her cheek.
Artoria gritted her teeth, her eyes flashing with disbelief. If she wasn't mistaken, each of these beams of light was at the level of an A-rank Noble Phantasm!
And seeing the opponent's nonchalant manner, this seemed to be just a plain, ordinary basic attack?
Artoria stood focused in front of Irisviel. This enemy, who appeared to be a Caster, was definitely no ordinary Servant.
Grand...
In the mind of Artoria, who had been granted knowledge by the Holy Grail, a word suddenly surfaced.
"A Grand...!?"
Although she didn't know the opponent's identity yet, she trusted her intuition; the opponent was definitely one of the seven Grands.
And a Grand Caster at that!
"Ten rings, absolute composure, a perfect kingly aura... This is likely the legendary King Solomon... Saber."
"As expected of a Homunculus of the Einzbern family; your knowledge is quite extensive, worthy of praise. But this King is an unparalleled existence even if his True Name is known. Exit the stage now."
An extremely arrogant and composed voice echoed through the container-filled pier, making Irisviel shake her head as she looked around for the source of the voice.
King Solomon did not show any signs of panic because his True Name was exposed. His gaze remained as ever, filled with indifference toward everything.
This was a kind of numb void that had seen through the essence of all things in the world, a manifestation of pessimistic self-abandonment.
Possessing these eyes, he saw through everything, did not believe in miracles, did not believe that humanity could save itself, and took the maintenance of Order as the highest goal.
"The Time of Birth has Come, He is the One who Corrects All (Ars Almadel Salomonis). The spell has already been deployed. The outcome of this Holy Grail War is already decided; resistance is futile."
King Solomon looked up at the band of light encircling the world and spoke without any emotional fluctuation.
It was as if he had already seen the conclusion of this Holy Grail War; he didn't even seem to care about the Hero King or Enkidu.
Although there were some blurred images in the fragments of the future, it didn't affect the final outcome at all.
Suddenly, an eagle made of threads charged at King Solomon, but he merely watched the eagle rush toward him with indifference.
The moment the eagle reached him, the threads instantly disintegrated, and the magecraft vanished into nothingness.
"In my presence, any magecraft is useless."
King Solomon reached out toward the two, and multiple magic circles appeared around them.
Fire, frost, lightning, and so on—magic of various attributes enveloped them, finally resulting in a booming explosion.
As the smoke cleared, Artoria could be seen protecting Irisviel with one hand, while the other held a luxurious greatsword that had already revealed its form to block from above.
At this moment, Artoria's expression looked slightly fatigued, and the dress armor on her body was somewhat damaged.
Even with A-rank Magic Resistance, it was difficult to withstand multiple magical attacks.
The enemy was simply too overpowered; casually firing beams equal to A-rank Noble Phantasms, and then casually performing chantless magecraft.
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