Grievance. For Kyoko Sakura, there was no accusation more unbearable than this blatant slander. Clearly she had done nothing wrong, yet she was forcibly labeled a "murderer" based purely on one-sided testimony.
Clang! Her spear failed to penetrate the Knightmare's Energy Shield; even the thorny chains were effortlessly deflected, unable to harm the true enemy within.
Bang!! A discordant crash echoed from the rear.
"Jonouchi!"
"Don't worry, I'm fine." Despite the chaos, Kyoko breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing his response, though her emotions remained dangerously unstable.
"Tch." Kyoko spun her spear, focusing her intent purely on the mechanical foe ahead. She couldn't afford a single distraction; the slightest flaw would be seized by her opponent. While the Knightmare's defenses were formidable, she knew they weren't infallible.
...
"Seriously, it's one thing if they come one by one, but together? This is getting troublesome." The Flame Swordsman could only hold off one attacker at a time, requiring constant vigilance against the other. Without summoning a second monster, Jonouchi knew he was in a tight spot.
'But should I summon the Time Wizard now?' Surveying the battlefield, Jonouchi understood the gravity of the situation. The claim that Kyoko had killed "ordinary people" was preposterous. He knew her; she wouldn't do something so heinous even if her life depended on it. His trust in her was absolute.
"Can you move, Assassin?" Saber asked, glancing at Kenshin as he struggled to steady his blade.
"Ah, the magecraft cast on me isn't permanent; it's already beginning to unravel." The binding force was indeed dispersing. Such restrictive magecraft was tricky—if Saber hadn't intervened, Kenshin would have been in serious trouble.
"Caster joining forces with a Master-less Lancer... it seems our hidden cards have been exposed accidentally." Kenshin hadn't expected to find such an alliance here; it made the siege on Lancer far more exhausting than anticipated.
"In that case, defeating both of them here is the most efficient choice." Although Kirei Kotomine had initially advised against killing them, Caster's recent move had changed Kenshin's mind. This combination was far too unstable to be left alone.
"Hah!" "Yah!" The two warriors lunged forward in unison.
"Heh, I knew you'd try that! Trap Card activate! [Negate Attack]!" Having anticipated their approach, Jonouchi flipped his set card with a confident grin.
"Go! Flame Swordsman, seize this opening!"
"What?" "!" A peculiar sense of restraint washed over them. The warrior of flames swung his blade. Saber and Kenshin felt a sudden, dull weight in their arms, preventing them from completing their strikes.
"Tch!" They barely managed to raise their weapons in a desperate block. Though the Holy Sword and Divine Sword shielded them from a direct hit, the resulting explosion of air forced them both back.
"Is this his magecraft?" "How terrifying." The ability to impose such restraint mid-battle was lethal. A single mistake could mean the end.
"Heh, underestimating me is a mistake you'll regret," Jonouchi declared, giving himself a thumbs-up. "I won't be defeated so easily."
...
Kiritsugu held his position on the high-rise, his scope trained on Caster. He hesitated to pull the trigger.
"That machine still has three unknown cards. It's not time yet." In his estimation, Caster was a Heroic Spirit from the future; no other explanation fit his advanced magical creations. Sealing familiars and complex magecraft into cards for instant deployment was a technique far beyond current eras.
"The other Masters haven't arrived yet... Caster and Lancer..." Kiritsugu's brow furrowed as he pondered the alliance. A Master-less Lancer and a Caster whose Master was missing for ages. He sensed a deeper secret at play. Their supply of magical energy remained steady, overturning his previous assumption that Lancer was near exhaustion.
His eyelids twitched. He lowered his rifle. "Perhaps repositioning further away would be wiser for now."
...
BOOM!! Lelouch dragged Waver from the cockpit just as the thorny chains tore through the Knightmare's hull. He looked up, his expression grim.
"What happened, Rider?" Waver asked, breathless and confused by the sudden mechanical failure.
"Caster's magecraft..." Lelouch replied. He had felt the magical surge just before impact. He hadn't expected Lancer to possess such tricks. If his reactions hadn't been lightning-fast, they would have been caught in the wreckage.
"As expected, the magecraft granted by Jonouchi is formidable—practically indistinguishable from Magic." Kyoko stood in the breach she had created, clutching her spear with grim satisfaction. The card Jonouchi had given her, [Dark Ruler No More], had worked flawlessly, stripping Rider of his defenses in an instant.
"Now, it's over!" she shouted down at them.
"Sore wa dou kana (That's not necessarily true)," Lelouch countered calmly.
"What?!" Kyoko suddenly felt a tremor beneath her feet.
A roaring explosion erupted from within the Knightmare, engulfing the area in thick smoke.
"Whoa oh oh!!" Waver clung to Lelouch, eyes wide as he watched the destroyed machine burn.
"I anticipated someone might try to board us, so I planted landmines beneath the cockpit long ago," Lelouch explained. "It seems your borrowed magecraft doesn't account for simple explosives." Even as his Knightmare lay in ruins, Lelouch remained coolly calculating; if this took out his opponent, it was a worthwhile sacrifice.
"We've been sitting on landmines this whole time?!!" Waver screamed in terror at the thought.
Kyoko's figure was thrown clear, landing heavily on the ground some distance away.
"Sakura!" Jonouchi abandoned his confrontation with Kenshin and Saber, rushing to her side in a panic.
"So severe... Hey, wake up!" He knelt beside her, his voice trembling as he saw her battered, bloodied form.
"Jonou... chi..."
"I'm here."
"I... didn't... do it..." she managed to whisper, her eyes still holding that same stubborn pride.
Jonouchi lowered his head, a soft, resolute laugh escaping him. "Yeah, I know. You'd never do something like that. I believe you." He gently laid her back down and stood up, his expression hardening. A monster wielding a small cane emerged at his side.
"Rest now. Leave the rest to me. I will defeat them all!"