After Artoria dispelled her "Invisible Air: Boundary Field," the true form of her sword was revealed. It was a magnificent two-handed blade with a blue, crescent-shaped hilt and a golden blade. It was a sword that, once seen, could never be forgotten. Its distinctive appearance had forced Artoria, as Saber, to use the "Boundary Field" to distort the air around it, concealing its form and thus her identity.
"So it's you!" Diarmuid's eyes widened in recognition and his demeanor shifted to one of respect. He'd identified Artoria from her sword. She was the King of Britain, the monarch of all knights – Artoria Pendragon, the King of Knights!
Seeing this legendary king reveal her identity, prioritizing a good fight over anonymity, filled Diarmuid with a surge of excitement. It was a decision worthy of the King of Knights, a single act that resonated deeply within him. Had he lived in Artoria's time, he would have undoubtedly pledged his loyalty and fought by her side.
He was grateful to the Grail for granting him this opportunity, for allowing him to fulfill a dream he'd never known he had. He had fought against the King of Knights, and now, he fought alongside her. His spirit, upon returning to the Throne of Heroes, would surely rejoice.
Diarmuid's battle lust intensified. This was his stage, his challenge. They had answered his call. He wouldn't be left out. He shifted his stance, his twin spears shifting in color. The longer spear turned yellow, the shorter one red.
"So it's you, Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, the Shining One of Fianna!" Artoria exclaimed, recognizing Diarmuid's Noble Phantasms.
"It's an honor to fight alongside the famed King of Knights," Diarmuid replied with a grin.
"The honor is mine, Diarmuid. To fight alongside you." Artoria smiled back.
This was the allure of the Holy Grail War. Even Heroic Spirits with no desire for the Grail itself wouldn't refuse its summons. It was a chance to battle heroes from across the ages, a stage where legends clashed.
"Ready?" Ailin asked, no longer pretending ignorance. "King Arthur, and the Shining One of Fianna."
Neither Artoria nor Diarmuid questioned his recognition. Even in a place like Fuyuki City, they felt the subtle boost from local legends, a recognition of their fame. It wasn't surprising this Servant knew their identities.
"Indeed! Let round two begin!" Diarmuid laughed. Having concealed his identity, he'd held back some of his signature techniques. Now, with his identity revealed, he wouldn't be so restrained.
With a burst of speed, enhanced by his Noble Phantasms, Diarmuid shot towards Ailin like a red blur against the night sky.
Ailin swung his Zanpakutō, unleashing a slash that tore through the ground towards Diarmuid.
Diarmuid thrust his yellow spear, Gáe Buidhe, at the incoming attack, confident in its ability to "annul all magecraft."
BOOM!
To his surprise, his spear couldn't dispel Ailin's attack. The sheer force of the slash deflected Gáe Buidhe. He barely managed to bring his red spear, Gáe Dearg, to bear, using both hands to block the attack. Even so, he was driven back, his feet carved deep furrows in the ground.
"Such power!"
Diarmuid was shocked.
Normally, ranged attacks, even those amplified by magical energy, were weaker than direct blows. But this slash… it was at least twice as powerful as Ailin's earlier sword strikes. What level of skill could achieve such a feat?
Even in his prime, wielding both blades, Diarmuid doubted he could unleash an attack of that magnitude without using magical energy. Perhaps it was a difference in their sword styles.
Diarmuid felt he and Saber followed a similar path, a more direct, strength-focused approach. This unknown Servant, however, relied on technique, his skill surpassed even their combined might. Their different paths naturally led to different fighting styles.
WHOOSH!
Artoria transformed into a yellow blur and flashed past Diarmuid, attacking Ailin.
Ailin responded with another slash.
This time, however, Artoria's "Instinct" warned her of the attack's trajectory. She evaded it and the slash carved a hundred-meter-long gash in the earth.
RUMBLE!
Moments later, the shipping containers lining the gash, caught in its path, split in two and collapsed.
Having evaded the attack, Artoria closed the distance and brought Excalibur down towards Ailin.
CLANG!
Ailin parried the blow, but the force of the impact sent him staggering back.
"Such strength!"
He'd clashed with Artoria before she revealed Excalibur. Back then, her strength had been comparable to his current B++ rank. But now… it felt like she'd gained at least one rank, matching his strength when fueled by Mad Enhancement. Was she using her dragon bloodline, or "Mana Burst?"
Artoria's small stature belied her immense strength. This stemmed from two factors: her dragon bloodline, which granted her strength comparable to legendary heroes, and her A-rank Mana Burst, which allowed her to enhance her physical abilities by consuming magical energy.
While Ailin also possessed A++ rank Mana Burst, allowing him to temporarily boost his parameters to A++, he couldn't use it frequently. Artoria's Master, Kiritsugu Emiya, was a renowned magus with ample magical energy reserves.
Ailin's Master, Kariya Matou, however, was barely a magus. His magical energy was generated by the Crest Worms devouring his flesh and blood. If Ailin consumed too much magical energy, Kariya's body wouldn't be able to sustain it.
The Crest Worms would likely devour him completely. Thus, aside from the brief burst used to activate Sode no Shirayuki against Zouken, Ailin refrained from using Mana Burst. This was his fight. He wouldn't burden Kariya with its cost.
Sensing Artoria's increased strength, Ailin channeled his spiritual pressure into his Zanpakutō. Wisps of wind flickered around its blade. He used Shunpo to close the distance, and clashed with Excalibur once more.
BOOM!
Razor-sharp winds tore through the port, pulverizing everything in their path. Unlike their previous exchange, Ailin held his ground.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Their blades clashed repeatedly, causing sparks to fly with each impact. Shockwaves rippled outwards, carving deep gouges in the earth, the shipping containers, and the abandoned vehicles scattered around the port.
Artoria's eyes widened in surprise. She'd used Mana Burst to boost her Strength to A-rank. But aside from the initial surprise attack, she hadn't gained any advantage. At first, she'd assumed Ailin was also using Mana Burst to temporarily enhance his parameters. But she soon realized he wasn't. His ability to match her enhanced strength stemmed solely from his swordsmanship.
The wind flickering around his blade wasn't his spiritual pressure, but the condensed force of an unreleased slash, held in a state of perpetual potentiality, amplifying his attacks. It was a technique inspired by Ichigo Kurosaki's method of channeling his Getsuga Tenshō into his blade. However, the difficulty of containing a spiritual pressure-based attack like Getsuga Tenshō was far greater than containing a purely swordsmanship-based slash. Thanks to his centuries of training, and his A++ rank swordsmanship, honed and elevated by his ascension to the Throne of Heroes, Ailin could achieve this feat.
His slashes, amplified by this technique, were at least twice as powerful as his normal attacks. And Artoria's Mana Burst, while boosting her Strength to A-rank, only matched the power of Ailin's amplified slashes. Thus, they were evenly matched. If this continued, Artoria would be the first to fall and had magical energy reserves depleted.
But she wasn't alone.
BOOM!
Diarmuid deflected one of Ailin's heavy slashes, sending it crashing into the sea, where it carved a deep trench in the water. He then lunged at Ailin with his twin spears.
A blackish-red spatial ripple opened beside Ailin. A Zanpakutō emerged. He caught it in his left hand and parried Diarmuid's attack.
"Dual wielding?" Artoria's eyes narrowed.
Until now, Ailin had fought with only one hand. Given his earlier use of a magical attack, she'd assumed he was a magic-wielding swordsman. But now, his left hand displayed skill equal to his right. This, it seemed, was his true fighting style.
Sensing this, Artoria channeled more magical energy into Excalibur, the wind swirling around it intensified. Like Ailin, she attempted to condense her "Strike Air" onto her blade. But unlike Ailin, who maintained perfect control, her attempts were less stable. Still, even without perfect control, she could unleash wind-based slashes that rivaled Ailin's in power.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Yellow, blue, and blackish-red blurs clashed repeatedly at the port, each impact was creating a deafening roar. The shockwaves from their blows pulverized everything around them.
In less than fifteen minutes, the port was in ruins.
"They're so strong!" Irisviel, safe within Ailin's Shihō Dankū, watched the battle with a mixture of awe and concern. "No wonder they call this a 'war,' even with only seven Masters and Servants. Only a war could cause such destruction."