What Archer had just activated was one of his personal Skills: Projection Magecraft.
This magecraft allowed Archer to recreate weapons purely from the shadows of his memories.
Even though the creations lasted only a few minutes and were merely projections, their power was enough to rival the originals.
On the other side, Rin pulled several red gemstones from the pocket of her jacket.
With a focused gaze, she prepared to chant, her fingers gripping the jewels tightly before throwing them forward.
The moment Rian's foot touched the ground, the world seemed to stretch. Time slowed. Larva's pink, cross-patterned eyes sharpened, locking directly onto Archer.
Before her small face, a condensed Mana Burst sphere formed—pulsing like a dark red star ready to explode.
The light reflected in Archer's eyes. His battle instincts screamed: This attack cannot be blocked.
With a tense but precise movement, Archer shifted his body to the side.
The instant he moved, the Mana Burst was unleashed.
A line of energy shot forth with violent speed, tearing through the air until it trembled. Archer's hair lifted, and the shot passed just a finger's breadth from his body.
But Larva didn't stop. In this world that seemed slowed to a crawl, her movements resembled a lethal dance.
Two more Mana Burst points ignited before her, then fired in a crossing pattern.
The bursts of light seemed to pierce space itself. Archer was struck hard—his left arm torn slightly open, blood scattering and glittering in the air like shards of red glass.
One of the other shots pierced his leg, making Archer stumble, his body beginning to feel numb.
To make matters worse, the wounds inflicted by the Mana Burst—enhanced by the Eye of Red Star—caused a medium-level petrification effect.
It was clearly visible on Archer's body as it stiffened, as though his skin and muscles were turning into stone.
At the same moment, Rin was just about to throw several gemstones.
But before they could slip from her fingers, a flash of cold metal swept across her vision: Knight Killer.
The thin dagger was drawn out from Rian's Infinity Ring. Its cold, sharp blade now pressed firmly against the skin of Rin's neck.
All of this happened within mere seconds in the real world.
Yet in the slowed perception of time, every movement Rian made seemed to unfold like a sequence of perfectly calculated strategy and execution.
On the other side, Larva's battle with Archer didn't last long either.
Unlike Heracles, who possessed God Hand, Archer was clearly nowhere near Berserker's level of durability.
Because of that, Larva could easily incapacitate him without allowing the fight to drag on too far.
Additionally, Larva had no intention of letting the battle continue. By using the Eye of Blue Star, she could assess Rian's condition directly.
Although Rian appeared perfectly fine, the truth was that the Mana reserves in his body were down to only about twenty percent, since he had not fully recovered.
In fact, Larva's Materialization during the previous summoning had consumed a considerable amount of his Mana energy.
If another intense battle were to break out—like when they fought Berserker—Rian would certainly be drained completely.
That was the one thing Larva wanted to avoid above all else. Even if she had to be a little ruthless, she would rather end everything as quickly as possible.
"Surrender," Rian said with a faint smile. "You've already lost, and… think of this as payback for being a bit rude earlier."
Archer and Rin remained silent. Rian slowly lowered the Knight Killer from Rin's neck, then gently set Larva down from the princess carry.
Larva stood at Rian's side. Her pink, cross-shaped eyes—once glowing and elongated—now returned to normal, gazing at Archer with a gentle expression, like a mother looking at her child.
After a few moments of silence between them, Rin finally spoke. "If we surrender, what will you do?"
Rian gave a mild smile and raised both hands casually. "Of course… let the two of you go. What else?"
Naturally, Rin wouldn't immediately drop her guard or surrender so easily.
She stared sharply at Rian, narrowing her eyes as she assessed his expression and body language.
"You… will really just let us go like that?" Rin asked in a tone of disbelief. "What are you actually planning?"
Rian let out a long sigh. "Are you going to surrender… or not? Besides, do you really think you can defeat us?"
Rin fell silent for a moment, thinking critically. Her gaze shifted to Archer beside her, whose eyes seemed to be advising her that this was indeed the best course of action.
Closing her eyes briefly, Rin exhaled deeply, then finally said, "Fine… I understand. My Servant and I surrender. Satisfied?"
"There you go," Rian replied with a crooked smile, then stored the Knight Killer back into the Infinity Ring.
Rian turned toward Larva and lifted her again into a princess carry as before.
Even though this was already the second—or rather, more than the second—time Rian had carried her, the girl still couldn't stop herself from feeling surprised.
Maintaining a warm smile, Rian glanced at Larva. "Mom, let's go home. It's getting late."
Larva looked at Rian for a moment, then nodded softly. Without a single word, Rian leapt off the building, leaving Rin and Archer behind.
Upon reaching the sidewalk, Rian set Larva down. The two of them then walked home calmly, as if they hadn't just gone through a major battle.
The walk to their home took only about ten minutes. Conveniently, by the time they arrived, the sun had begun to reveal the first light of dawn.
Seeing this, Rian simply let out a long sigh. He immediately entered the house without hesitation, only to be greeted by Fear's scolding—she had stayed up all night waiting for him to return.
Basically, Fear had waited just so she could sleep together with Rian.
Once her anger subsided, and since Rian himself was already eager to rest, the three of them—Rian, Fear, and Larva—finally fell asleep together on the same bed.
For some reason, this time sleeping together felt warmer in Rian's chest, different from his usual experiences.
It was a feeling difficult to explain, yet comforting enough to make him feel at peace.
In the end, the three of them fell asleep together in the same warmth.
Even so, in his heart, Rian had already made a plan: for the time being, he would rest completely at home until his Mana reserves fully recovered.
He did this to prevent any sudden Servant battles, given that his energy was still unstable.
It's important to note that most of Larva's energy consumption was directly borne by Rian himself, not by the Holy Grail—a burden that only underscored the importance of this period of rest.
***
"What is this… a Master's vision?"
As he drifted into sleep and entered the realm of dreams, Rian found himself witnessing fragments of Tiamat's past—before she had taken form as Larva Tiamat.
Following the flow of these visions, Rian recalled one important fact: the bond between Master and Servant is always deeply mental.
Because of this, they can share fragments of memories or past experiences through dreams.
In other words, what he was experiencing now was not something mysterious, but rather a natural aspect of the Master–Servant connection.
It's worth noting that, in reality, a Servant does not require sleep.
They lack the capacity to dream. Even when they choose to rest to conserve magical energy, what manifests are merely fragments of the Master's memories in dream form.
Thus, Larva's reason for sleeping was clearly not out of necessity, but a simple desire: to spend time with Rian and to understand herself more deeply.
For Masters, such dreams are sometimes only fully realized upon waking.
Sometimes, they are also aware within these dreams, yet remain unable to resist, even if it means witnessing or experiencing the thoughts of another.
Interestingly, the way these dreams manifest varies greatly. In rare cases, a Master can even appear directly within the dream—not merely as an observer, but as an active participant.
As the lengthy vision of Tiamat's past before becoming Larva continued to unfold, Rian accessed one of the privileges reserved solely for a Master.
This was a form of Clairvoyance known as the "Master's Perspective."
For each Master, this ability operates differently, adapting to the method that is easiest for them to comprehend.
In Rian's case, since he possessed the Infinity Room within himself, the "Master's Perspective" manifested like a status screen: displaying the Servant's attribute stats much like a system panel.
____________________
Name: Larva Tiamat
Race: Divini Spirit
Title: Daughter of Genesis
Job: Servant Alter-Ego
Level Authority: 2
***
STR: 60
VIT: 60
AGI: 40
INT: 100
____________________
"Hmm… at least Larva's physical attributes aren't too different from mine," Rian murmured, nodding slightly.
"But… her INT is only a hundred? That can't be her limit. I guess… her true power hasn't fully awakened yet, has it?"
___
Additional Note:
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