Yoru Hayashi comfortably sprawled out in the backseat of the minivan heading back to the Miyama-cho villa.
Even though Goldie’s AOE attack had blown him to bits once just a moment ago, slaughtering that pair of perverted Master and Servant—Bluebeard and his master—felt thoroughly satisfying.
What was even better was that the System’s reward notification rang in his mind right on schedule.
[Ding!
High-tier reward distributed.]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining: Mind’s Eye (True) (Rank B)!]
[Note: Insight forged in desperate situations.
Even when at an absolute disadvantage, you can calmly grasp your own status and the enemy’s abilities to find a way out.
For a reckless hoodlum like the host who constantly dances on the edge of survival, this is a life-saving god-tier skill.
Combined with ‘Master of Positioning’, you are now the slipperiest eel in Fuyuki City.]
Yoru Hayashi felt a surge of warmth between his brows, and his mind instantly became far sharper.
He closed his eyes to test it out.
Even without listening intentionally, he could clearly perceive the rhythm of Kariya’s breathing in the driver’s seat ahead, and he could even pick up the subtle tapping of Gilgamesh’s finger against the seat beside him.
Paired with Bajiquan, this skill was the absolute ultimate combo for a sneaky melee fighter!
“That late-night snack was worth it after all.” Yoru Hayashi grinned, leaned his head against the window, and drifted off to sleep.
…
The following night.
Shinto, Fuyuki City.
The Mion River warehouse district.
A sea breeze bearing a salty tang blew across the deserted container yard.
Normally, not a single soul could be seen here at night, but tonight, it had become the swirling epicenter of surging magical energy.
Inside an abandoned chemical plant two kilometers away:
Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald sat on a battered folding chair.
Thick gauze was taped over half his face, and his mouth was pulled slightly askew.
Having half his teeth slapped out of his mouth by Yoru Hayashi in the hotel lobby yesterday was the single greatest humiliation of his life as a Clock Tower nobleman!
What made it even more infuriating was that, because the hotel’s main entrance had been destroyed, they had been forced to move overnight to this rusty, run-down factory to scrounge by!
“Lancer!
Forget about concealment!”
Kayneth spat through gritted teeth into the familiar used for communication, wincing in pain as the movement tugged at his facial wounds.
“Release your magical energy without reserve!
Draw out that wild monkey with the blonde Servant!
I want you to use those two spears to nail his limbs to the shipping containers and avenge my humiliation!”
Standing beside Sola-Ui, Kayneth desperately needed a victory to salvage whatever shattered dignity he had left in front of his fiancée.
In the center of the warehouse district:
Having received his Master’s command, Diarmuid Ua Duibhne—the Hero of the Beautiful Face—sighed helplessly.
He was a hero who pursued the code of chivalry, but his Master’s order could not be disobeyed.
Unsealing the runes bound around his two spears—one red, one yellow—he let his formidable battle spirit surge into the sky like a tangible pillar of smoke, openly issuing a challenge to every Servant in Fuyuki City.
In less than ten minutes:
At the far end of the quiet warehouse street, the crisp, steady sound of footsteps echoed.
A beautiful woman with radiant silver hair dressed in a navy-blue suit stepped into view—Irisviel.
And beside her was a gorgeously exquisite girl of small stature, clad in blue-and-silver knight’s armor.
Her golden hair was pinned behind her head, and a single ahoge stood stubbornly erect atop her scalp.
Saber—Artoria Pendragon.
“Judging by this piercing battle aura, you must be Lancer,” Artoria said, taking a step forward.
She gripped an invisible sword whose blade could not be seen, her emerald eyes overflowing with battle intent.
“To sense my deliberate release of magical energy and accept the challenge so honorably…
such nobility could belong to none other than Saber.” Diarmuid twirled his spear and offered a proper knightly salute.
“Regrettably, it failed to draw out last night’s rogue, but no matter. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
It is an honor to cross blades with a renowned swordsman such as yourself.”
Without another word, the two Heroic Spirits devoted to chivalry took their stances.
In an instant, they turned into green and blue blurs, clashing furiously among the maze of shipping containers!
The ringing strikes between spear tips and invisible blade crackled rapidly like firecrackers.
…
Meanwhile, atop a towering gantry crane less than fifty meters from the battlefield:
*Crunch, crunch.*
Yoru Hayashi sat cross-legged on the cold steel framework, munching loudly on a bucket of popcorn he had swiped from somewhere.
Kariya Matou lay beside him, peering down through high-powered military binoculars and swallowing nervously.
“Is…
is this a battle between proper Heroic Spirits?
They’re moving so fast I can hardly keep up with my bare eyes!” Kariya said, feeling dizzy.
“Well, yeah.
One’s got A+ Agility and the other’s a stat monster.
It’d be a miracle if a normal guy like you could track them.”
Yoru Hayashi shoved a handful of popcorn into his mouth and turned to look at Gilgamesh, who was standing at the very edge of the crane with folded arms, watching coldly.
“Goldie, what do you think?
These are top-tier Saber and Lancer—not half bad compared to that crazy bitch you fought last night, right?”
A flash of absolute contempt glinted in Gilgamesh’s crimson eyes.
“Naught but two hounds tearing at each other for a pointless game of knightly house.
Exchanging techniques devoid of all amusement is a complete waste of my time.”
Though the King of Heroes spoke with disdain, he was in no hurry to sweep the field.
With his pride, he wouldn’t deign to interrupt such a “lowly” duel.
They weren’t the only spectators enjoying the show from the shadows.
Atop a distant warehouse roof, accompanied by flashes of lightning and rolls of thunder, an ancient chariot drawn by two divine bulls crashed down.
The burly King of Conquerors, Iskandar, was dangling a Waver devoid of any magus dignity, casually preparing to step in and break up the fight.
Forces from all sides gathered in this warehouse street.
And on the other side of Fuyuki City, in the Tohsaka residence in Miyama-cho:
This was the true epicenter of the coming climax.
After a full day and night of emergency treatment and magic potion infusions, Tokiomi Tohsaka finally caught his breath from the near-fatal state of Magic Circuit exhaustion.
Extremely weak, he lay on the luxurious velvet bed in his second-floor bedroom.
An IV needle was stuck into the back of his hand, pumping expensive, high-purity mana fluid into his veins.
“Cough…
cough…
I survived…” Tokiomi stared at the ceiling, overwhelmed by a hollow sense of relief after surviving the ordeal.
“That damned Berserker…
As long as I don’t let her step outside again, I can barely maintain the Master-Servant contract with the support of the leyline…”
Tokiomi was quietly planning how to lie low and recover.
Suddenly!
Downstairs in the first-floor living room, Mordred—who had been boredly shredding a Persian rug to vent her frustration—abruptly froze.
The Berserker’s emerald eyes instantly became bloodshot, turning a savagely violent crimson!
Her beastlike instincts reached across half of Fuyuki City, accurately locking onto a familiar magical signature etched into her very DNA!
The aftershocks of the Holy Sword!
The Factor of the Red Dragon!
“Father…”
A hoarse growl escaped Mordred’s throat.
In the next instant, that low growl exploded into a sky-shattering, earth-splitting roar of fury that nearly blew the roof off the Tohsaka residence!
“FATHER!!!!!!
ARTHUR!!!!!!”
At this moment, her Mad Enhancement Rank A utterly snapped her final thread of sanity.
Only a single thought remained in her mind: that bastard father who refused to acknowledge her was in this very city!
She was going to shatter his crown into pieces!
*BOOM—!!*
Mordred kicked off with explosive force, slamming right through the Tohsaka family’s thick wooden wall on the ground floor.
Amid flying brick and debris, a streak of silver like a meteor swathed in crimson lightning rocketed toward the Shinto warehouse district with world-ending intent!
In the second-floor bedroom:
Tokiomi Tohsaka was resting with his eyes closed.
Suddenly, an even more violent strain of mana drain than last night slammed through the contract straight into his Magic Circuits!
*Splat!*
Tokiomi’s eyes snapped wide open, and the IV needle in his hand burst right out.
“Again?!
NO—!!”
Accompanied by an utterly miserable shriek, Tokiomi Tohsaka sprayed a fountain of blood, his vision went black, and he fainted again with exquisite smoothness.
Tokiomi Tohsaka: Dead (temporarily).
…
Mion River warehouse district.
In the center of the battlefield, the clash between Saber and Lancer had reached a fever pitch.
Saber’s arm had been grazed by Lancer’s yellow spear, Gáe Buidhe, and its curse rendered her left hand unable to use healing magic.
Just as Iskandar the King of Conquerors was preparing to drive his chariot onto the field and forcefully interrupt the duel:
*BOOM—!!*
A giant metal shipping container less than twenty meters away was suddenly sliced clean in half and violently exploded!
Amid flying shrapnel and sparks:
A petite figure clad in battered silver heavy armor, bathed entirely in crimson lightning, slammed heavily onto the asphalt, leaving a massive crater in the ground.
Total silence fell over the field.
Every eye locked onto this suddenly intruding Berserker.
Mordred slowly raised her head.
The face that should have been exquisitely delicate was now twisted into a manic grin.
Paying no heed to the utterly baffled Lancer beside her, her crimson eyes locked dead onto Artoria’s face.
Gazing intently at that face virtually identical to her own.
“Ah…
AAAAAHHH!”
Mordred let out a spine-chilling, maniacal laugh and raised Clarent with one hand, pointing it straight at Artoria.
“Found you at last!
The flawless, perfect King Arthur!”
Gritting her teeth so hard they nearly shattered, Mordred roared out the title that left everyone present jaw-dropped, word by brutal word:
“FATHER—!!!”
That earth-shattering yell of “Father” completely fried the brains of everyone in the warehouse district.
Artoria’s perpetually composed and calm expression completely drained of color the instant she clearly saw who it was.
Her signature ahoge flattened in sheer shock, and the hand gripping her invisible sword trembled uncontrollably.
“Mor…
Mordred?!”
Up on the gantry crane:
Yoru Hayashi crushed the popcorn bucket in his hand, so excited he nearly jumped right off the steel frame.
“Here it comes!
The epic father-daughter showdown!
The grand family drama series is officially live!
Goldie, look—this tea is red hot!”