Transforming into [Particle Form], Satsuki sped toward a desolate seaside park.
Though she could not use the Giant Tenseigan to scan this world's physical constants for instantaneous teleportation, that did not mean her speed was slow.
In fact, to call it running would be inaccurate—flying was more fitting. Each step she took produced violent recoil in the material world, each turn in the air strong enough to shake space itself.
Satsuki carried invincible confidence in her own combat power. By the usual pattern, her opponents would likely be the "strongest" of their respective domains. But she did not believe herself weaker than any of these heroes of history.
Her Tenseigan was already open, a torrent of ocular power flooding into her body through a mysterious space-time channel. Unlike ordinary Servants who relied solely on their Masters for mana, this was her trump card—an overwhelming advantage she held against Heroic Spirits.
The seaside park's eastern side bordered a warehouse district. This area, with harbor facilities, separated the new city from the eastern industrial zone. At night, it was nearly deserted. Dim lights cast a hollow glow across the streets. Unmanned cranes lined the shoreline like massive fossilized dinosaurs, an eerie sight.
Yet it was the perfect place for a Servant duel.
Satsuki stopped, and there she saw her enemy.
Lancer—through her Tenseigan's insight, she immediately discerned his true identity.
The son of the sun god Surya, the great champion Karna.
He was clad in golden armor, a red cloak flowing behind him, and two golden shields hovering at his sides. Gold earrings dangled by his ears. His blue eyes shone over pale skin and slender shoulders. Long lotus-shaped eyes, crimson lotus-like palms, a noble brow, and striking white hair completed his form.
He stood with unshakable dignity at the park's edge, radiating sunlight without restraint. His weapon was equally striking—a golden spear nearly two meters long, surpassing his own height. Yet its tip was not sharp, but formed into a sun-shaped crest.
Even from afar, with just one glance, Satsuki knew—this Servant was a formidable foe.
"You are a Servant as well?"
Karna's gaze shifted slightly, glancing at the black-robed girl walking toward him without hesitation. Her eyes revealed fighting spirit, and her will was equally unbreakable. He admired it.
"Something like that."
Satsuki, like Karna, shifted into her materialized form. Enormous mana gathered in her right hand, coalescing into a black sword.
"To be honest, I didn't expect the first to respond to me would be a female Servant." Karna's words, whether intentionally or not, carried open provocation. "Especially one who seems not to care about herself at all. No—not only yourself. You care for nothing."
"Are you not the same? Hero of Charity." With her Tenseigan, Satsuki could glimpse fragments of the past, and quickly saw into the heart of this emotionless Heroic Spirit. "You, who could abandon anything, who could acknowledge the worth of all things—you are only a step away from cold indifference."
An individual who treated all with boundless tolerance. Even the unknown, he accepted readily. Enemy or ally, no matter the situation, he would embrace it. Though his life had been filled with misfortune and injustice, he neither complained nor hated. A pure saint.
What a noble and selfless man—and yet, how terrifying.
"I don't sense any bloodlust from you… Have you ever killed?"
"How do you define 'human'? As a primate species of the genus Homo? Naked apes? Beings capable of language, complex societies, and technological progress?" Satsuki let out a light laugh. "If that's your definition, then the ones I've killed are countless. But if you mean my own kind, then so far—none."
Karna nodded in understanding. "Indeed. It all depends on definition."
"So, shall we begin?" Satsuki declared impatiently. "Or do you intend to attract more Servants here?"
"Oh? It seems you really wish to have a proper fight. But since you already know my true name, as courtesy, shouldn't you announce yours?"
"No need."
"Very well. I can understand that." Karna's expression instantly cooled. "Then, prepare yourself—nameless Servant."
In the next instant, mana surged like thunder exploding!
The golden spearman's thrust split the sky like light itself. This was no exaggeration or praise, merely fact. His divine spear pierced through the very concept of space, arriving before Satsuki in less than the blink of an eye.
Clang—!
Satsuki raised her right hand, black sword flashing upward from below, parrying the near-inescapable strike. Then, under incomprehensible control of force, the upward slash suddenly reversed into a downward strike, cleaving straight for Karna's exposed chest.
Karna's expression remained calm. For an opponent who still chose to fight after discerning his true name could never be a third-rate existence. With a subtle twist, his spear spun, golden shaft swinging upward to block the descending blade.
An explosion resounded across the coast. A few passing pedestrians froze, staring in that direction.
"Was that thunder?"
"Sounded like it came from the shore. Maybe another earthquake."
...
But the two culprits causing these phenomena showed no restraint, their powers clashing recklessly.
Both fought only with their emotions, pressing the battle onward.
Even Kayneth, observing through mysterious means from elsewhere, finally realized—this world truly held existences far beyond his talent.
That was what it meant to be a Heroic Spirit. That was what it meant to be a legend.
This was the kind of brutal duel that could only have taken place in ages long past.
An armored warrior and a graceful maiden, locked in desperate struggle amid flashing blades.
Yet the surging mana and searing torrents of heat declared this battle something far beyond the ordinary.
If this was merely cold steel clashing, then what of the violent winds that seemed to tear apart everything around them?
Each step shattered the ground beneath their feet.
Each swing of their weapons generated air pressure that severed dim streetlights.
Their super-high-speed movements had long surpassed human sight. To onlookers, only streaks of black and gold light could be seen.
Winds howled outward, even making sparks dance across the surfaces of the cranes that once seemed immovable.
Thrusts, slashes, sweeps, upward swings…
Karna was undoubtedly a master of the so-called [Uncrowned Martial Arts]. His archery rivaled Arjuna's, his swordsmanship equaled Arthur's, and his spear techniques could stand beside the Queen of the Land of Shadows herself.
A dazzling sequence of parries, thrusts, blocks, shifts of force, then parries again, thrusts again, blocks again, shifts of force again…
Everything completed in an instant, everything renewed in the next.
It was skill enough to defeat any formidable foe. Yet he found himself suppressed by the girl before him. More surprising still—even when his attacks occasionally broke through her guard, her seemingly frail body absorbed them head-on. Her frame only trembled slightly, while the recoil left his hands straining to grip the spear.
Though the black-haired girl's eyes held no trace of human warmth, and her blade swung with an air of casualness…
Her speed, strength, adaptability, and predictive insight into his every move were flawless—terrifyingly flawless.
After parrying twelve consecutive blows, Karna prepared to counterattack—only to realize in shock that his feet had sunk deep into the ground. The force of the girl's strikes had exceeded his imagination, smashing him into the earth itself.
Karna's strength was not weak. With B-rank Strength, he could match most Servants without falling behind. Yet to be overpowered so directly—this was a first even for the son of the sun god.
But a seasoned spearman like him naturally had ways to respond.
Such linear attacks carried all their force forward. To meet them head-on was folly, for one would bear the brunt of all that power. The proper counter was to deflect at an angle perpendicular to the attack, using lateral force to break the line of strength.
His hands shifted slightly back, feet wrenching free of the cracked concrete. With a half-step backward, he avoided the sword's reach. The spear spun midair, completing a half-turn, then swung outward in a horizontal arc with a counterclockwise twist.
The strike carried the full might of Karna's body—from his footwork, to the twist of his waist, to the power of his arms, until the final sweeping motion of the spear. The wind alone, stirred by the swing, sent the tides surging out to sea.
Yet the dazzling Tenseigan had already pierced through the move's trajectory. From the start of this battle, Satsuki had pressed this great hero head-on without even using her full strength!
Like a dream, her black sword seemed to twist the very laws of space, impossibly interposing itself in the golden spear's path. Karna's eyes widened as he realized—his full-power strike had not even shaken her guard.
The wind howled.
Against this defiance of physical law itself, the surrounding air screamed in nervous despair.
A frenzied storm erupted from their clash, tearing across the empty coastline, ravaging everything in its path.
Just two combatants in melee, and an entire street was destroyed.
After a brief pause, they drew apart.
"This feeling of utter disadvantage…" Karna looked with admiration at the unshaken maiden before him. "It is astonishing, my foe. Seeing you reminds me of something that should have existed, but was cut away from the past."
"I can feel it—your strength should be far greater." Satsuki cast a glance in a certain direction. "It's your Master dragging you down. He doesn't trust you. To him, you're nothing more than a tool."
"Regrettably, you're only half-right about that."
"Is that so? Yet even with such a Master, you still offer loyalty?" She tilted her black sword upward, its tip pointing toward the heavens. "Then what if I told you—if you don't fight me seriously, I could kill him in the next second? What then?"
"If that were truly the case, then I would do everything in my power to stop you."
Karna's expression sharpened with solemn resolve. He knew the girl was only trying to provoke him with words. Yet he could not help but answer, for such was the nature of a hero like him.
In the next instant, crimson flames wreathed the golden spear!
"What is that gaze!?"
Far away, Kayneth shivered as the black-haired girl's eyes fell upon him, a chill of death racing down his spine. Yet as a Master, he could not discern this mysterious Servant's attributes.
It was as though she possessed a Noble Phantasm or ability that shielded her from detection.
He was a genius—undoubtedly so. This was no exaggeration, no praise, but simple fact.
In his youth, no one solved problems more perfectly than he. His effort was not driven by any excessive ambition—he simply believed his discoveries would one day surpass all others.
Over time, he accepted the title of "genius" that others bestowed upon him. No one doubted it, no one threatened it, so there was no need for arrogance. He simply accepted "genius" as his rightful due.
He could do everything. He hit no walls, knew no limits. A scion of a noble family, inheritor of their Magic Crest, he possessed both lineage and unique talent worthy of the rarest treasures.
Later, at the Clock Tower, among countless scholars with outstanding achievements, he still rose to the top with unstoppable momentum.
Kayneth always earned envy, jealousy, and admiration. Yet none of it gave him satisfaction. To him, it was only the "inevitable result" of life.
It had always been so, and always would be so. A sacred and inviolable "life's covenant." To Kayneth, this was beyond doubt.
Thus, to insult that sacred order was equally an unforgivable insult.