"For other Servants, Iskandar, the King of Conquerors, with his tens of thousands of soldiers, is invincible. Even the strongest Servant couldn't possibly defeat the King of Conquerors' vast army."
"But unfortunately, Archer possesses a Noble Phantasm capable of easily cleaving through space. Against such a weapon, a Reality Marble is largely useless; it would simply be sliced open, inflicting grievous damage."
Of course, Ailin didn't mention that even if Gilgamesh didn't use the space-cleaving ability of Ea, simply unleashing Ea's true name ability would be enough to annihilate Iskandar's army.
Even Artoria's Excalibur couldn't achieve that.
In terms of attack range, Excalibur was an Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm.
Ea, however, was the strongest "Anti-World Noble Phantasm."
Unless Artoria obtained her scabbard, Avalon, allowing her to maintain peak condition and repeatedly unleash her Noble Phantasm's true name, she could only match Iskandar.
Otherwise, after exhausting the magical energy needed to unleash her Noble Phantasm, even the strongest Artoria couldn't single-handedly defeat an army of tens of thousands.
As for Ailin, even without using a Noble Phantasm, relying solely on his swordsmanship, he was confident he could cut through Iskandar's army and utterly defeat him.
"An Anti-World Noble Phantasm?"
Hearing Ailin's words, Artoria was shocked.
An Anti-World Noble Phantasm was a powerful weapon with an attack range far exceeding an Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm.
If she had Avalon, Artoria was confident she could fight Gilgamesh.
However, having been summoned as a Saber-class Servant, this particular iteration was a fragment of Artoria's existence after her battle with her son, Mordred.
In this form, Artoria had already lost her scabbard, and her power was not at its peak.
She tightened her grip on Excalibur, concealed by the Boundary Field of the Wind King.
Artoria could hardly believe that after answering the Grail's summons, she would encounter so many powerful individuals in this Holy Grail War.
There was Iskandar, the King of Conquerors, who possessed a Reality Marble, and Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes, who wielded an Anti-World Noble Phantasm, and Berserker, who aimed to become a god…
Even Diarmuid, summoned as a Lancer-class Servant, possessed martial prowess worthy of Artoria's admiration.
Especially Diarmuid's two spear Noble Phantasms.
Artoria felt that if Berserker hadn't suddenly appeared that day, she might have been at a disadvantage against those two spear Noble Phantasms, had she not known Diarmuid's true name.
She didn't know which hero Caster was.
But judging by the commotion from the Mion River the previous night, he was also a formidable opponent.
Only Assassin was weaker, relying solely on numbers.
"Yes, an Anti-World Noble Phantasm. It's the weapon you saw. It was the strange 'sword' he pulled out at the end of my previous battle with that fellow."
Ailin's words jogged Artoria's memory.
Indeed, when Gilgamesh was preparing to unleash that Noble Phantasm, Artoria had sensed an immense threat.
However, Artoria hadn't expected that Gilgamesh had intended to use an Anti-World Noble Phantasm at that time.
It seemed that, like Iskandar, this most ancient king wasn't someone who cared about the lives of others.
After gesturing for Artoria to step back, Ailin turned into his spiritual form and vanished.
…
Ailin looked up at the sky. The moon was directly overhead.
That meant this feast had lasted for over three hours.
"For others, tonight is over."
"But…"
Of the seven Servants in this Holy Grail War, Caster, Gilles de Rais, and Assassin, Hassan-i Sabbah, had already been eliminated by Ailin.
Of the five remaining Servants, the other three kings had decided not to fight tonight, and Ailin wouldn't force them.
That left only Lancer.
"Since ancient times, lancers have had E-rank luck…"
Ailin murmured.
The Lancers of the Fourth and Fifth Holy Grail Wars had both pledged their loyalty to their Masters.
But unfortunately, their fates were to be forced to commit suicide by their Masters using Command Spells.
Compared to Cú Chulainn, the Child of Light of Ireland, Ailin felt more sympathy for this Lancer, Diarmuid Ua Duibhne.
Because of an illicit love affair, Diarmuid suffered the suspicion and resentment of his lord.
In Diarmuid's era, his lord had deceived him, exploiting his loyalty to ultimately kill him.
However, even in death, Diarmuid harbored no resentment towards the lord who had killed him.
After becoming a Heroic Spirit, Diarmuid answered the Grail's summons, not because he had a wish to entrust to the Grail, but because he wanted to atone for the regrets of his past life, to be loyal to his lord.
But, as if by a cruel twist of fate, Diarmuid's Master this time, Kayneth, in order to increase his chances of winning the Holy Grail War, had brought his fiancée, Sola-Ui Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri, to Fuyuki City and summoned Diarmuid.
Ailin didn't know if Kayneth's fiancée, Sola, had already been seduced by the love spot on Diarmuid's face.
But it seemed that even if Sola had been charmed, it hadn't yet reached the point where Kayneth would use a Command Spell to order his death.
Since that was the case, he would fulfill Diarmuid's wish for him!
Lest he be caught and controlled by Kiritsugu Emiya, and forced by Sola's life to have Kayneth kill Diarmuid.
In the sky, Ailin raised his hand high.
"Bakudō #58, Kakushitsuijaku"
Circles of spiritual pressure spread from Ailin's fingertips. Soon, the spiritual pressure of everyone in Fuyuki City was captured by Ailin.
"Found you!"
Withdrawing his spiritual pressure, Ailin turned his gaze to a villa in the eastern suburbs of Fuyuki City.
"Whoosh!"
Ailin's figure flickered in the night, each flicker carrying him a hundred meters forward.
In just over ten seconds, Ailin's figure arrived outside the villa's iron gates.
Without entering the villa, Ailin released his aura outside the gates, challenging Lancer to battle.
…
Inside the villa, Diarmuid, sensing Ailin's aura, instantly materialized and knelt before Kayneth's bedroom door.
"Master, a Servant's aura has appeared outside the villa. Please, you and the mistress leave immediately to seek safety. I will remain here to hold off this Servant."
Bang!
Before Diarmuid could finish speaking, the bedroom door was violently thrown open. Kayneth, dressed in his magus robes, emerged from the bedroom.
"Lancer, which Servant is it?"
As the head of the Archibald family, a magus family with a lineage spanning nine generations, Kayneth had been a "genius" since childhood. There was no problem he couldn't solve.
This time, participating in the Holy Grail War, even though his prepared catalyst had been stolen by his student, Waver, Kayneth believed he could claim the Grail through his own abilities.
Even with the most lackluster Servant, Kayneth didn't doubt this.
If anything, Kayneth had hoped to summon a weaker Servant, so that his victory in obtaining the Grail would be even more impressive.
But unfortunately, after truly witnessing the power of Servants, Kayneth realized how arrogant his previous thoughts had been.
A battle between just seven Servants was called a "war," and this was no exaggeration.
After discovering that the Servant he had summoned was the weakest in this Holy Grail War, Kayneth had been forced to take his fiancée, Sola, and flee the hotel where they had been staying overnight.
However, Kayneth hadn't expected that before he could even begin to attack the other Servants' Masters, his hiding place had already been discovered by another Servant.
"Lancer, which Servant is it?"
"It's Berserker, Master."
"Oh?"
Kayneth raised an eyebrow.
Kayneth had, of course, witnessed that battle.
To be honest, Berserker's power had frightened Kayneth.
Fighting one against two, cleaving Rider's Noble Phantasm, a single slash splitting the sky…
However, even so, Kayneth didn't believe he would lose.
A mass of flowing, silvery-white mercury flowed beside Kayneth.
Kayneth extended his right hand, the Command Spells on the back of his hand glowed crimson.
"Lancer, by the authority of a Command Spell, I order you, even if you must sacrifice your life, you must hold Berserker here. I will go and find Berserker's Master. You only need to hold on until I kill Berserker's Master. Do you understand?"
"Understood!"
One of the strokes on the design on the back of Kayneth's right hand instantly dimmed.
Simultaneously, red light emanated from Diarmuid's body.
Under the effect of Kayneth's Command Spell, Diarmuid had been strengthened.
Seeing Diarmuid dematerialize and depart, Kayneth wasted no more time and began to leave the villa to search for Berserker's Master.
The mass of flowing mercury followed closely behind Kayneth, occasionally firing sharp spikes to destroy obstacles in his path.
This mass of mercury was Kayneth's Mystic Code—Volume Hydrargyrum!
It was Kayneth's proudest and most powerful creation.
Kayneth had embedded search, defense, and attack formulas within it, allowing it to automatically search for enemies and attack them. When it sensed an attack directed at Kayneth, it would also transform into a defensive form to protect him. It was a very "intelligent" Mystic Code.
This spike form was Volume Hydrargyrum's search mode.
However, to Kayneth's confusion, aside from Berserker outside the gate, Volume Hydrargyrum didn't sense any other enemies.
"How is this possible?"
Kayneth frowned.
It seemed the enemy's methods were even more sophisticated than he had imagined.
Kayneth didn't believe any Master would be foolish enough to not keep their Servant by their side, instead simply giving them an order and letting them carry it out.
Was that Master unafraid of being killed by another Master while their Servant was absent?
…
"Yo, Lancer. Our battle was cut short last night. Tonight, I've come to continue where we left off."
Seeing Diarmuid, bathed in red light, appear before him, Ailin, hands in his pockets, said, "However, tonight is different from last night. Yesterday was merely a contest of skill. Tonight, I will show no mercy."
"That is exactly what I desire!"
Diarmuid assumed an attack stance, both his spears already released. The long golden spear and the short crimson spear were held firmly in Diarmuid's hands.
"I'm coming, Berserker!"
"Come!"
"I will fulfill your wish, and allow you to be loyal to your lord!"
Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz…
Blackish-red spatial ripples appeared behind Ailin. Dozens of ripples shimmered, and the tips of Zanpakutō, crackling with blackish-red lightning, emerged, pointing at Diarmuid.
Whoosh!
Diarmuid pushed off the ground, leaving two small craters where his feet had been, transforming into a streak of red light as he charged towards Ailin.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…
A streak of red light charged towards Ailin, and from the spatial ripples behind him, streaks of blackish-red lightning also shot towards the red streak.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Streaks of blackish-red lightning rained down. Diarmuid was forced to brandish his twin spears to deflect the attacks of these Zanpakutō.
Clang!
The yellow spear collided with an incoming Zanpakutō. The immense force caused sparks to fly between the yellow spear and the blade.
"Such power!"
Diarmuid was secretly shocked.
The force of the Zanpakutō had directly halted his high-speed advance.
Behind him, two more streaks of blackish-red lightning struck.
Clang!
The yellow spear spun, deflecting the Zanpakutō, carrying blackish-red lightning, sending it crashing into a nearby tree, shattering it to pieces.
Then, Diarmuid met the two incoming streaks of blackish-red lightning with his twin spears.
Clang!
Clang!
Sparks flew as Diarmuid was forced back by the force of the two Zanpakutō, his feet carving two deep furrows in the ground.
Boom!
The blackish-red lightning continued relentlessly. Diarmuid danced with his twin spears, constantly deflecting the incoming Zanpakutō.
Each parry deepened and lengthened the furrows beneath Diarmuid's feet.
Ailin, hands in his pockets, watched Diarmuid retreat under his attacks.
He had said he wouldn't hold back, and he wasn't joking.
The Zanpakutō thrown from the spatial ripples this time weren't the nameless, low-level Zanpakutō embedded in the ground, but the named Zanpakutō with various abilities, embedded in the Sword Hill.
Each named Zanpakutō, after being released, was at least C-rank.
Therefore, the power of each Zanpakutō's attack was at least three times greater than that of an unnamed Zanpakutō.
Amidst the blackish-red lightning, Ailin strolled forward, arriving before a Zanpakutō that had been deflected by Diarmuid and embedded in the ground. He reached out and pulled it out.
"So, it's you…"
Holding the Zanpakutō, Ailin instantly knew its name.
Even among the officer-level Zanpakutō, this blade was considered quite good.