What do you do when there is a fellow gamer who is more skilled than you?
You prepare the strongest equipment money can buy.
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"—Senpai! Director! Get behind me! Please stay close and do not separate!"
"An enemy attack! Director! Protect me!"
"What are you saying!? Have the Servant protect you!"
Arrows rain down nonstop, like missiles. Just in time, Mash enters combat stance and raises her massive shield, covering Olga Marie and Rikka and blocking the direct hits.
"Hmph. Good reaction," I mutter, impressed despite myself. "That gave me a scare… Doctor!"
"I know! I'm searching for Servant reactions!" Romani's voice is frantic over the comms. "From what I can tell, the one targeting us is an Archer!"
An archer, huh. Right when I was thinking about it, one appears, almost mockingly.
The number and force of the arrows keep increasing. They strike the shield like a relentless storm.
"Ugh… ngh…!"
Even as a Demi-Servant, it is impressive that she can endure this with such slender arms. Her skill as a protector is clearly first-rate.
"King of Heroes…!" Mash calls out to me between ragged breaths, her knees shaking. "I will protect the Master and the Director…! Please, counterattack…!"
She calls out to me between breaths. There is no need to worry about the Master. Her resolve will not break so easily.
"Well said. I will entrust those two to you."
"Go! Get him, Gil!" Rikka shouts from the safety of the shield.
"Don't lean out, it's dangerous!" Olga Marie shrieks, pulling Rikka back by her collar.
Still, we cannot afford to drag this out. The shield may be as strong as a fortress, but flesh is not. If we let this continue, we will be overwhelmed.
I pull a sword from the rippling air. From the direction, speed, strength, and frequency of the arrows, I calculate the sniper's position in my mind.
"To think you could escape my sight… how laughable, fool!"
I release a beam of light from the sword. Countless streams of heat evaporate the arrows as they fly straight ahead.
Then, impact.
The beam hits part of a ruined building hundreds of meters away, exploding and collapsing it.
"Did we get him!?" Rikka asks, peering through the smoke.
"Do not relax," I warn, keeping my eyes trained on the rubble. "He would not die from losing a high position alone."
"I see it! A Servant reaction!" Romani shouts. "…Wait, what!? You already pinpointed him!?"
"I just told you I would not tolerate laziness! Are you an idiot!?"
"You never said I had to be faster than you!"
"—Oh? What a rare sight." A voice echoes. At the same time, a man steps forward, wrapped in a dark, hazy aura.
"That is…!?" Mash gasps.
"A Shadow Servant! Most likely the original Servant summoned in this Fuyuki…!"
A tattered red coat, dark skin, white hair.
At first glance, he even looks shabby for a hero. But the killing intent and power he gives off cannot be hidden.
"To meet like this… King of Heroes, Gilgamesh," the man sneers. "Since when did you start babysitting little girls?"
"Somewhere along the way," I reply, standing my ground. "You look rather miserable yourself, Shadow Servant."
"…It seems I do not even catch your eye. You do not even call me a faker, as you usually do."
It seems this vessel has some kind of history with that Shadow Servant. He clearly knows me.
I recall the vessel's memory.
—That is Faker. A counterfeiter who can project and use any weapon he sees.
I see why this vessel despises him. Someone who copies and abuses the unique, supreme treasures as if they were his own could never be tolerated.
"Dressed like a vagrant, attacking like a thug… no acquaintance of mine would disgrace themselves like that, fool."
"You sound less relaxed than usual, King of Heroes," the Shadow Archer notes, narrowing his eyes. "Where did your usual arrogance and carelessness go?"
"Who knows. Even I have moods," I say, keeping my guard up. "How I act is none of your concern, you counterfeiter."
"Fair enough. Then I will do my job—!"
In an instant, the Archer leaps high into the air and draws his bow. He clearly plans to rain arrows down again.
"Keeping your distance, how petty…" I growl. "An archer should stand firm and face his foe. That is why you are nothing but a faker!"
"Unfortunately, I have no intention of playing along with your pride!"
In the next moment, an overwhelming number of arrows fall like a storm, striking Rikka and the others without mercy.
Each arrow is a killing blow. The impact crashes again and again into Mash as she blocks them, far from gentle.
"Ugh… ngh…!"
Mash's cry of pain echoes. She is holding them back well, but her limit will come soon.
This is bad. If we stay on defense, we will break first.
But how should I attack…? I have decisive blows I could use, but revealing my trump cards too early may work against us in the long battles ahead.
"Gil!"
As I think, Rikka shouts from behind the shield.
"Hey, Fujimaru! That's dangerous! What are you thinking!?" Olga Marie cries out.
"Gil! He's an Archer too!" Rikka points at the enemy, ignoring the Director. "You can't afford to fall behind, can you!?"
—Her words strike my ears like a slap.
"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth! An archer against an archer!" she yells.
…That reminds me of the tactic I was just considering.
—Very well. I will fight like an Archer, bow and arrow in hand.
"Ha! You dare lecture me on laws set by Hammurabi, you impudent girl!" I scoff, though a smirk tugs at my lips.
"It's fine! You won't lose! You're the King of Heroes, right!?"
"I believe in you! Because Mash and Gil are my Servants!"
"Senpai—"
She believes in me, does she.
I have not yet perfected my way of fighting. We have only just met. And yet she trusts me.
—For a moment, I find it dazzling.
How bright it is, to trust someone even in desperation. To entrust your life to your partner without fear.
Even if it leads to death, she would accept it with a smile. That is what trust means.
—I see. This world truly is worthy of being my rebirth.
"—You will not be allowed to take those words back."
I want to live up to that expectation.
I want to achieve something as a Servant. I want to fulfill the wish I made—to do something meaningful.
I will not let the journey of the girl who will one day save the world end here.
That is my—
The meaning carved into my nameless soul.
I reach into the golden ripples of the Gate of Babylon. With firm resolve, I grasp a treasure.
"…What is that?" the Shadow Archer mutters, pausing his assault.
It takes the shape of a bow, shining gold.
It looks like a bow, yet there is no string. There are no arrows.
Instead, several gemstones float and rotate around it, forming a strange sight.
"What else could it be but a bow, fool," I declare.
I raise it with my left hand and aim straight at the Archer. At the same time, the floating gemstones burst apart, scattering fragments across the area.
"This is a bow of light, created by humanity in the distant future. It has no string, no arrows—yet it never fails to pierce its target."
"A bow of light…!?" Romani gasps over the radio. "Don't tell me you even have something like that!?"
"Wow… it's beautiful…" Mash whispers.
This crystal… a bow of light… don't tell me—! Romani thinks, recognizing the artifact.
"Now then, learn the difference between the genuine and the fake with your own body," I announce, my voice void of emotion. "I will not be arrogant. I will not be careless. With this single shot, I will pierce your core."
"—Tch!!"
Sensing absolute danger, the Archer's form disperses like mist. But I will not allow a fool who dared point his blade at me to escape.
"No matter where you flee, I will not let you go. Unless you surpass the speed of light itself, evasion is meaningless!"
Immense energy gathers within the bow of light. The gemstones shine so brightly they threaten to blind the eyes, bathing the area in a dawn-like glow.
"Senpai! Close your eyes!" Mash screams.
"—Gah!!"
"Receive it—this is the dignity of the true original!"
The arrow of light, charged to its limit, is released. Guided by my sight, it races through the sky as pure energy toward the space where the Archer exists.
It devours and shatters every obstacle in its path, bending its trajectory freely through the reflection of the gemstones—a supreme strike.
There is no escape.
—To think I would face the King of Heroes without even a trace of arrogance… My luck truly is terrible.
That thought crosses his mind for an instant—
And then the Archer vanishes completely into the light.
(End Of Chapter)
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If you have the tools, use them without hesitation.
This time, there is no carelessness, and no arrogance.