Amagiri Rin looked at Arjuna beside her and sighed softly.
“Don’t hide it, Arjuna.
My father found your catalyst.
In this Holy Grail War, you will publicly fight as my father’s Servant.”
There was a hint of reluctance in her tone.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t win against her old man, so that was how things were settled.
“Hmm?” Arjuna’s eyes held confusion.
Amagiri Tokiomi spoke up.
“Respected Prince Arjuna, it is not that I do not trust your abilities.
It is just that this unprecedented war of Servants is simply too dangerous for us ordinary Magi.”
He performed the etiquette he had practiced in advance, his tone steady.
“If our opponents knew that Rin’s Servant was a powerhouse like you, those cowards who fear your radiance and strength would definitely target Rin.
You have also noticed that, perhaps due to the Holy Grail’s favoritism, both Rin and I have become Masters.
This way, if the enemy truly wants to attack a Master, the primary target will shift from my daughter to me.”
Arjuna stared at Amagiri Tokiomi.
His eyes could see through a Magus’s heart, clearly understanding what this man was thinking.
Even though Tokiomi knew this, he maintained his elegant posture because that was indeed what he was thinking.
Although one could not say there was absolutely no fatherly love for his daughter, Tokiomi’s feelings for Rin were built more on his hope that Rin could win until the end and reach the Root in the name of Amagiri.
In his view, this had already surpassed simple fatherly love; it was a greater kind of love.
Therefore, he was not afraid of Arjuna’s gaze at all, and even dared to stare back.
“So that is how it is.”
Arjuna did not like prying into others’ hearts, nor did he like others prying into his own.
But Amagiri Tokiomi’s meaning was already laid out very clearly.
However, there was still one problem he couldn’t figure out.
“But, without a Servant protecting the Master, relying only on Command Spells is also dangerous, right?”
“Please rest assured about that.”
Following Amagiri Tokiomi’s voice, footsteps came from the stairs.
A figure wearing armor and a white cloak walked down.
“Although I am not skilled at combat, leave the duty of protection to me.”
The knight walked slowly from upstairs.
His presence was extremely intense; Arjuna’s gaze fell upon him, and for a moment, he couldn’t look away.
This attire…
is he a Saber?
No.
But in life, he was definitely a powerful knight.
This feeling…
Is he a saint?
Arjuna sized up the other party, and the other party was also sizing him up.
Saint George glanced at the activity in the summoning circle, curled his lips, and smiled with unparalleled openness.
“I am Saint George.
Your Master, I will protect to the end.
When it comes to protecting people, I have never failed.”
Saint George.
When a Servant descends, they automatically receive a portion of modern knowledge and historical information.
So Arjuna naturally knew this name, and a trace of surprise even flashed across his face.
“Since it is you, then I have no choice but to believe it.” He paused, his gaze falling on the Amagiri father and daughter and Saint George, his tone sinking.
“I have already roughly locked onto the Lancer of this Holy Grail War.
That person, I must deal with personally.
If I can move freely, I have no objections.”
Saint George naturally recognized Arjuna as well.
Amagiri Tokiomi and Amagiri Rin looked at each other, and a name popped into all three of their heads simultaneously.
The enemy who could make Arjuna say “must kill” — there was only one person.
Karna.
On the other side, Sebastian stared at the Servant summoned by Sakura Amagiri.
Before the other party could state their name, he had already recognized their identity.
“—This time, I’ve really struck gold.”
But Karna’s feeling was completely the opposite.
The moment he manifested, he felt like he had fallen into a den of Devils.
Ordinary people couldn’t distinguish between Devils and humans.
But Karna was no ordinary person.
The moment he descended, his palm instinctively tightened around his spear.
Because—everyone standing in front of him was a Devil.
“Karna…
If he’s such a great hero, will he attack us right away…” Sakura’s voice was timid, clearly still carrying some lingering fear.
She looked at Karna and felt that the other party seemed like a bad guy.
“The Master is a bit special, but a Master is a Master.
Lancer, true name Karna.
Please treat me well from here on out.”
Hearing this, Sakura finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She was really afraid that the Servant she summoned would turn against her right away.
Actually, it was no wonder she would think that way.
In legends of heroes, Devils were basically villainous characters.
Now, a Devil was taking a Servant to participate in some war—it sounded incredibly strange no matter how you heard it.
Just as Sakura calmed down, Karna scanned the surroundings.
Everything he saw was Devils.
But they were not quite the same as the Devils in his memory.
And—Karna’s gaze stopped on Sebastian.
This time, there were actually two Masters on their side.
Sakura stopped walking and tilted her head to look over.
“Why do we have to fight each other first?”
She really didn’t understand why Sebastian wanted to take the initiative to spar with Karna.
On the way to the Einzbern castle training ground, she couldn’t hold back and asked.
“I need to figure out exactly how strong Servants are.” Even without that check-in mission, Sebastian intended to do this.
“We are Devils; even if we participate in the Holy Grail War, it’s not the same thing as ordinary human Masters.”
Devils of the Underworld looked down on most Magi, and the reason was very simple.
Devils believed in letting their fists do the talking.
The little skills in the hands of Magi couldn’t catch their eyes at all.
“Sakura, you were reincarnated as a Pawn using Evil Pieces, and you had never learned any magic before.
But after the pieces activated your potential, you didn’t feel any strain in maintaining the Servant’s existence, did you?”
“Saying there’s no pressure is an understatement; I don’t even feel like maintaining the Servant requires consuming demonic power.”
“That’s exactly right.”
Sakura had just been reincarnated and had only used three pieces.
She already had the talent of a Magus, and after reincarnation, she could immediately mobilize the demonic power in the pieces, but even so, it already proved the point.
She was only a Low-Class Devil.
The servants doing chores in the Lucifer Clan all had Sakura’s current level.
But if you compared Sakura to an ordinary Magus, her demonic power, regardless of quality or quantity, could crush the other party.
Devils had much longer lifespans than humans, no language barriers, and their physical attributes were also significantly stronger.
Except for fearing light, the baseline for Devils was simply higher than for humans.
And because of their fear of light, they actually had bonuses at night, becoming stronger in all aspects.
“We are not quite the same as ordinary human Magi.” Sebastian stood in the center of the training ground.
“Since we have surplus power, maybe we can even enter the fray ourselves in this Holy Grail War.”
Karna walked to the opposite side of him.
“Therefore, we must first test what level a Servant’s combat power is actually at.”
Sakura nodded after hearing this.
She had never thought in this direction before.
But thinking about it carefully…
Sakura turned her head to look at the companions who had already opened up distance and cleared a space for her.
Her and Shirone’s strength was indeed a notch lower, and Irisviel had basically no combat power.
But after Ingvild’s demonic power fused with the pieces, it was ridiculously strong.
Kuroka’s demonic power, according to Sebastian, had also just broken through to High-Class Devil, stepping into the Ultimate-Class level.
As for Grayfia…
Sakura didn’t know exactly how strong she was; even if she had lived like a slave for the past ten years, Sakura had heard of the great name of Grayfia Lucifuge.
—Grayfia might even be stronger than the current Leviathan.
These people, plus Sebastian.
Hmm…
I really have to seriously consider this matter.
While Sakura was pondering, they had already retreated to a position where they could see the entire field.
In the middle of the training ground, Sebastian and Karna locked eyes and simultaneously drew their weapons.
Kuroka and the others had already started whispering bets on who would win.
But that commotion couldn’t reach the ears of the two people on the field at all.
Karna looked at Sebastian and spoke.
“Battle…
Since you wish for it, I will not let you down.”
This guy was usually a man of few words.
This sentence could be taken as a warning for Sebastian to be careful.
Sebastian nodded, took a deep breath, and locked all his attention onto Karna.
Well then—begin!
As soon as Grayfia finished speaking, the two moved simultaneously.
Karna used a long spear; that weapon had been mastered to the peak of perfection in his hands, but even for an expert, long-handled weapons had their optimal distance.
On Sebastian’s side, it was much simpler.
After fusing with Vergil’s experience using the Yamato, he truly felt he had been reborn.
Especially his attack style—Sebastian instantly entered his Devil Form, lowering his center of gravity as his body lunged forward, his hand gripping the hilt of his blade.
Blue demonic power gathered around Sebastian, four Summoned Swords appeared out of thin air, and immediately shot towards Karna.
Karna did not retreat.
He shifted his steps slightly, his body brushing past the incoming sword shadows, his spear smashing with a fierce force towards Sebastian’s Yamato, which was only half-drawn.
Clang—
Sparks flew, and a smell of sulfur permeated the air.
The sound of the sword and spear colliding made one’s blood run hot.
But the more they fought, the more Karna felt something was wrong.
Clang—
After clashing a few more times, Karna frowned.
Sebastian’s strength and speed were both a cut above his, and although his technique wasn’t that refined, judging from his habits, this person didn’t seem like the type to fixate on clashing weapons head-on.
Logically speaking, he should be the type whose attacks were faster, more ruthless…
and better at ending a battle in one move.
If that was the case…
There must be a problem!
Karna’s pupils constricted sharply, and a large expanse of flames burst from his body.
This fire was both an offensive move and a screen to block Sebastian’s line of sight.
He increased the force in his hands, and while sweeping his spear horizontally, he turned his head to look behind him.
—As expected!
Those four Summoned Swords that he had dodged earlier had somehow circled behind him and were turning around to shoot at his back.
The spear had already been swung out, and these four swords didn’t look like they could be stopped by ordinary flames.
For an ordinary person, reaching this point was practically a desperate situation.
Unfortunately, Karna did not belong to the “ordinary people.”
Weapons and such were just appetizers.
For real skills, one had to look at his eyes.
Karna’s eyes suddenly shone brightly, and two crimson beams erupted from his eye sockets, swallowing those four Summoned Swords in the blink of an eye.
The moment the Summoned Swords turned into blue demonic debris, Karna’s attention locked back onto Sebastian.
If he guessed correctly…
It should be coming!
That’s right.
Those four swords were originally bait to distract him.
The previous ball of flames hadn’t been able to force Sebastian back, and Karna’s spear hadn’t been able to blast him away either.
Sebastian had used that half-drawn Yamato to block his spear, then sheathed it, and drew it again!
A beam of light slashed through the air.
Karna narrowed his eyes, locking onto that blade light, and the spear in his hand immediately adjusted its center of gravity.
But at the very moment he thrust his spear out, the locked-on blade light disappeared.
The tip of the spear only pierced an afterimage.
Sebastian had also disappeared.