To make the final confirmation, Shiomi allowed Artoria and Saber to engage in combat. The sword techniques of the Holy Sword wielder and the Demon Sword wielder were equally matched, making it difficult to determine a winner in a short time.
However, Shiomi had already spotted the issue. As soon as Artoria was counterattacked, he thrust the Gáe Bolg into the snow, triggering a transformation in the snow's form.
The snow turned into sharp, deadly spears that surrounded Saber. Taking advantage of the opening, Shiomi grabbed Artoria's hand and pulled her back to safety just as the magical bombardment struck.
He glanced over at Caenis. With Morgan's magical support, Caenis was gradually being toyed with. Now, Shiomi could focus entirely on this battle.
"How does it feel?" Shiomi asked Artoria in a low voice.
"That sword... it gives me a... no, it makes me feel uneasy." Artoria clenched her fist. "Could that sword be a Noble Phantasm for regicide or dragon-slaying?"
"Saber's True Name already makes the answer clear." Shiomi raised his hand, signaling Artoria to retreat. "Thank you for the reconnaissance. We'll switch now. You go support Master. I'll have Morgan assist me in taking down Saber."
Given the elemental disadvantage, there was no need to force a confrontation. Artoria swiftly turned and shifted to a different battlefield.
Kneeling half in the snow, Saber bore several frozen marks on his body. As he moved, the ice cracked and fell away.
"Primordial Runes? A mere human magus knows magic of the Age of Gods?" Saber sounded surprised.
"I was about to say the same," Shiomi responded, dragging his weapon through the snow. "A Saber who knows Rune Magic, plus a Noble Phantasm possibly linked to legends of regicide or dragon-slaying."
"But merely knowing my True Name doesn't guarantee victory," Sigurd said, his voice slightly impatient as he stretched his neck and shoulders. "I'm not that Siegfried—I have weaknesses, like blind spots. Warm-ups are over."
With those words, Shiomi and Sigurd's weapons clashed once more. This time, Shiomi felt the full weight of Sigurd's power bearing down on him.
"This strength..." Shiomi stared in shock as his weapon was forced back.
Despite his body being enhanced by Magecraft, his strength was clearly outmatched. It wasn't magic or Mana being unleashed—it was pure, raw, monstrous strength.
The crimson Gáe Bolg was slowly being pushed downward. The forward-tilted blade of Sigurd's magic sword, Gram, was now inches from slicing open Shiomi's forehead.
As if sensing victory, the crimson eyes behind Sigurd's mask flared with a sinister gleam.
The next instant, Shiomi's expression shifted, becoming sly and dangerous.
A chill ran up Sigurd's spine. Reflexively, he pushed Shiomi away with all his might, swinging his sword backward to knock away the second Gáe Bolg, which had been heading straight for his back.
The Gáe Bolg didn't fall as expected. Instead, it spun in the air a dozen times before slowly halting midair.
"Using Runes to grant weapons semi-autonomous attack capabilities... you're a troublesome man," Saber grumbled.
"Legend says the Demon Sword Gram, the Dawn of Destruction, was bestowed upon the Sigurd family by Odin himself," Shiomi remarked casually, releasing the Gáe Bolg in his hand. "It's a rare Noble Phantasm that brings together glory, envy, ruin, and fate when selecting a true king."
Like the first, this Gáe Bolg rose into the air, bound by Runes, and aimed straight at Saber, ready to strike at any moment.
"Heh, you know your stuff. Before the great hero of Scandinavian legend, your strength has already fallen behind. How do you plan to fight me... 'now'?"
It was almost a taunt. Every time Saber began to feel confident of his victory, Shiomi would ruthlessly shatter that certainty.
When Saber recognized the third spear slowly materializing in Shiomi's hand, his face twisted with shock and fury. The mask could do little to hide the emotions rushing through him.
"Judging by your reaction, you recognize this spear?" Shiomi gripped the spear, twisting his wrist slightly. "The great Odin bestowed his own weapon upon me. Let me use it to defeat you, hero of Scandinavian legend."
"That spear... A Divine Spirit actually entrusted his own weapon to a human?" Saber's reaction grew distinctly strange. Boundless fury burned like flames, nearly reducing everything in his sight to ashes. "Did you plan this from the start? Are you intending to kill me with this spear and finish what Odin couldn't...?"
He gripped his sword with his right hand, his left hand pointed toward Shiomi.
"In that case, this has nothing to do with Ophelia or anything else. For the sake of that spear, I will slay you here, Master of Chaldea!"
Consumed by rage, Saber's eyes blazed with crimson light as he charged at Shiomi like a raging dragon.
The battlefield erupted in an instant, no longer a place for probing strikes and Magecraft. Saber aimed to slay Shiomi, and Shiomi would not spare Saber.
Morgan watched from the sidelines, shaking her head in exasperation. "They asked me to support them, but with things in such chaos, how am I supposed to help?"
As she spoke, she raised her hand slightly and aimed it at Scáthach and Artoria, who were locked in combat with Caenis, intending to finish what was already tipping in her favor on the battlefield.
Cobalt-black chains burst forth from the void, brushing past Scáthach and Artoria as they quickly struck toward Caenis from all sides, trapping her within their grasp.
A Servant of Divine Spirit class, Caenis naturally had Magic Resistance, which Morgan had accounted for when planning her Magecraft from the start.
Unable to break free from these strange chains despite her B+ Monstrous Strength, Caenis focused her mana on her constantly active Noble Phantasm, "Neptune Blessing: Favor of the Sea God," using its absolute defense and undead nature to withstand the incoming assault.
Meanwhile, Saber—who had lost control upon seeing Gungnir, his mind clouded with rage—fell straight into Shiomi's trap.
A deafening explosion rang out, shaking both the earth and the forest.
The knee-deep snow was scattered completely, revealing the frozen ground beneath. Saber, who had always carried herself with arrogance and coldness, now lay gravely wounded in a pool of blood.
"Truly worthy of a Scandinavian hero," Shiomi mused. "You even forced my final weapon out."
Shiomi landed at the edge of the crater, holding both Gungnir and Longinus. He tilted his chin slightly, and the crimson spear floating in the air obeyed his will, aiming directly at Saber's body, poised to pierce the heart and Spirit Core of the dragon-slayer.
Just as Caenis and Sigurd—who had arrived with absolute confidence—were facing certain defeat, someone appeared to turn the tide.
"Enough."
A faintly familiar voice echoed from the sky. It was neither harsh nor overbearing, but it carried undeniable authority.
Suddenly, the sky flashed with the light of Runes. Two figures—one in purple, the other in black—slowly descended to the ground.
The one in black was Ophelia.
But the woman in the elegant purple gown nearly made Shiomi question his vision.
"You are..."
...
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