Chapter 371

Chapter 371: Chapter 371

Clang—!

Clang, clang—!

Clang-clang-clang-clang—!

The rhythm of the battle continued to accelerate.

Ryuu’s Stardust Sword became fiercer and sharper with every exchange, forcing Lancer to raise his own speed again and again just to keep pace with the flame-wreathed blade.

"OOOOOH—!"

Cú Chulainn let out an exhilarated battle cry.

Gáe Bolg blurred in his hands, leaving streaks of crimson afterimages as he repeatedly knocked aside Ryuu’s attacks.

His skill with the spear was nothing short of extraordinary, entirely worthy of the legendary hero whose name had survived through the ages.

"Hahaha! You’re strong, girl! Coming out tonight was definitely the right choice!"

Lancer swept his spear with tremendous force, smashing it against Ryuu’s hastily raised sword and knocking her backward several staggering steps.

He immediately closed the distance and drove a vicious kick toward the center of her chest.

If that landed cleanly, Ryuu would almost certainly suffer severe injuries.

Thud—!

At the critical moment, she turned the Stardust Sword sideways and braced the hilt against Lancer’s foot.

The tremendous impact still sent her flying backward, her boots carving two long furrows through the ground before she finally stopped.

’What power... what speed... and what incredible instincts.’

Ryuu tightened her grip on her sword.

’So this is the weight carried by one of the great heroes of antiquity?’

"That enhancement spell of yours is pretty impressive."

Lancer still had enough leisure to offer commentary. He twirled his crimson spear twice before resting it casually across his shoulder and beckoning toward her.

"If your fundamentals were a little stronger, I’d probably be the one getting pushed around."

He grinned.

"Come on. If you’ve still got something left, show me."

That relaxed, almost dismissive attitude made Ryuu’s brow twitch.

She might normally appear cold and composed, but Ryuu had no shortage of pride.

Legendary hero or not, Cú Chulainn was currently only a Servant. For him to act this casually in front of her was enough to stir her competitive spirit.

"Afterglow!"

Ryuu answered with actions rather than words.

A brilliant sword wave tore toward Lancer.

Cú Chulainn’s expression froze.

There was no time to think.

He poured every ounce of strength into his legs and exploded away from his position at the greatest speed he could muster.

Shhk—!

The radiant slash swept through the spot where he had been standing.

The thick earth was cleaved apart as effortlessly as cloth. A gigantic cut stretched from Ryuu’s position all the way beyond the horizon, pulverizing everything in its path. Even the top half of a small mountain several kilometers away was sliced clean off.

Caster stared.

"..."

’That really isn’t Saber?’

No.

Even for Saber, wasn’t that a little excessive?

"Master..."

Caster cautiously leaned closer to Kiriya.

"That incredibly cute girl... she isn’t the illegitimate daughter of some god, is she?"

"She’s a perfectly ordinary mortal."

Kiriya smiled.

"No divine blood whatsoever."

"What?! A mortal?"

Caster’s eyes nearly popped out of her head.

"She isn’t even a Servant?!"

She pointed at Ryuu, then at Kiriya, and spent several seconds opening and closing her mouth without producing anything coherent.

’You call that a mortal?’

If Ryuu qualified as an ordinary human, then 99.9999999 percent of humanity might as well be expelled from the species.

Thwack—!

Kiriya flicked her sharply on the forehead.

Tears immediately gathered at the corners of Caster’s eyes.

"Too many questions."

Kiriya spoke with complete seriousness.

"Remember this: when your Master says something, you accept it. That’s the most basic professional etiquette expected of a Servant."

"...Yes."

Caster obediently nodded.

Meanwhile, Lancer clutched his bleeding side and frowned toward Ryuu.

"Tch. I still got clipped?"

He gave a rueful laugh.

"My luck really is terrible."

With A-rank Agility, Cú Chulainn should ordinarily have been capable of completely avoiding the slash if he pushed himself to the limit.

Unfortunately, his Luck was only E rank.

His timing had been just slightly off, and that tiny discrepancy was enough for Afterglow to graze him.

"You avoided it."

Ryuu slowly returned the Stardust Sword to its sheath and settled into the opening stance for an iai strike.

"But this time, I won’t give you the chance."

The moment Ryuu assumed that posture, cold sweat appeared along Lancer’s back.

His beastlike instincts were screaming at him.

If he failed to respond properly to the next attack—

he would die.

’What do I do?’

His body moved almost before conscious thought could catch up.

Cú Chulainn invoked Primordial Runes, immediately raising his physical parameters by an entire rank.

A-rank Strength.

B-rank Mana.

Everything was being prepared for one decisive attack.

He suddenly accelerated and leaped high into the air.

His right hand drew Gáe Bolg far behind him, his entire body bending like a great bow pulled to its absolute limit.

The crimson demonic spear became the arrow intended to pierce everything before it.

"Gáe Bolg—Soaring Spear of Striking Death!"

With a roar, Cú Chulainn hurled his ultimate attack with all his strength.

Ordinarily, this technique could produce countless projections of the demonic spear and bombard an entire battlefield, making it a genuine Anti-Army Noble Phantasm.

But there was only one opponent before him.

So Lancer created no additional spear projections.

Every ounce of his strength was concentrated into the single weapon in his hand.

That decision pushed Gáe Bolg’s already terrifying velocity to an almost incomprehensible level.

It needed less than a tenth of a blink to cross the distance and pierce straight through Ryuu’s slender body.

Strike first.

End it before the opponent could act.

That was Cú Chulainn’s answer.

Against most Servants, it might very well have worked.

With all of his parameters enhanced by a full rank and every shred of power concentrated into the throw, even Ryuu’s earlier Afterglow would have been pierced head-on.

What Lancer did not know was that Ryuu possessed an upgraded version.

"Gokou."

The elf’s lips parted.

Her voice remained cool and beautiful, but the killing intent hidden within it was unmistakable.

Shing—!

The Stardust Sword left its sheath.

Five dazzling sword lights appeared simultaneously and collided head-on with the incoming demonic spear.

Boom! Boom! Boom—!

Gáe Bolg’s destructive power was every bit as monstrous as its legend suggested.

It smashed through the first Afterglow slash.

Then the second.

Then the third.

Each shattered blade of light exploded into countless luminous fragments.

But those collisions consumed most of the spear’s momentum.

The fourth slash finally knocked Gáe Bolg away.

Cú Chulainn’s pupils widened.

The fifth blade of light was already coming.

And for the first time during the fight, he genuinely did not know whether he could evade it.

BOOOOM—!

The slash struck the earth.

Another enormous ravine appeared across the landscape, splitting a nearby hill directly in half.

Kiriya watched the surrounding forest shake violently under the impact and found his thoughts drifting in an entirely different direction.

’With this much noise and a scar that obvious, how exactly is the Church planning to cover this up?’

’Don’t tell me they’re going to blame another gas leak.’

While he was still entertaining himself with the thought, Caster’s voice sounded beside him.

"Master! That man escaped!"

She pointed toward the distance.

"But he’s badly injured. Should we pursue him?"

Kiriya found the result somewhat surprising at first, but after thinking it through, it made sense.

Cú Chulainn possessed Primordial Runes, Protection from Arrows, and several other exceptional survival tools. Failing to kill him outright with a single exchange was hardly unbelievable.

And even while severely wounded, Lancer still possessed A-rank Battle Continuation.

His vitality was absurdly tenacious.

Escaping under those circumstances was completely within reason.

"Master, I really think we should pursue him."

Caster urged him on.

"This opportunity won’t come twice!"

"Are you kidding?"

Kiriya stared at her as though she had suggested something completely insane.

"Why would I kill him?"

Caster blinked.

"What?"

"Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find a sparring partner that durable and that strong?"

Kiriya looked almost offended by the suggestion.

"Killing him now would be an enormous waste."

An opponent this useful for gaining combat experience had to be put to proper use.

At minimum, every girl on Kiriya’s side deserved a turn.

Actually, once probably wasn’t enough.

They might as well fight him several times and squeeze every last bit of useful experience out of him before considering anything else.

Seeing the unmistakably malicious expression spreading across Kiriya’s face, Caster shivered.

For the first time since meeting him, she found herself genuinely feeling sorry for Lancer.