Chapter 236
"Not bad, Master of Black."
Mordred narrowed her eyes, her fighting spirit rising even higher.
"If you went down that easily, this would’ve been boring."
Then she lifted Kiriya’s stolen sword with a malicious grin.
"But now that I’ve taken your weapon, what are you going to do?"
"Planning to catch my sword with your bare hands?"
"Come find out."
Kiriya raised one hand and beckoned her forward.
At the same time, his black eyes quietly transformed into the crimson Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
"Those eyes..."
Mordred tightened her grip on Clarent.
"Interesting."
Her curiosity toward Kiriya only deepened.
"Let’s see just how much those Mystic Eyes are worth."
Crimson lightning erupted around her body.
In an instant, Mordred crossed the distance and brought her sword down toward Kiriya’s head with enough force to split him in two.
"If you think you can stop it, then try!"
At that exact moment, Kiriya’s body changed.
"Eight Gates. Fifth Gate, the Gate of Limit—open!"
The Sharingan had already read the trajectory of Mordred’s sword.
With the Fifth Gate massively enhancing his speed and reaction time, Kiriya could now keep pace with her movements.
Then he did something neither Mordred nor Jeanne expected.
He raised one hand—
And reached toward the descending blade.
"Careful!"
Jeanne shouted in alarm.
Too late.
CLANG!
At the final instant, Kiriya’s clenched fist snapped upward and struck the flat of Clarent with the back of his knuckles.
The motion was short, precise, and brutally concentrated.
Bell Cutting.
Had Clarent been an ordinary weapon, that strike would have snapped the blade outright.
But Clarent was a Noble Phantasm, a conceptual weapon elevated by legend itself. Its durability surpassed anything a normal sword could possess.
The blow failed to break it.
It did, however, knock the blade violently off-course.
Mordred’s body tilted with the deflection, leaving her stance momentarily open.
Kiriya immediately followed with a punch.
Mordred’s Instinct screamed in warning.
Her body moved before conscious thought could catch up.
BOOM!
Kiriya’s fist slammed into her raised forearms.
The impact sent a painful numbness through both arms, but Mordred still held onto her sword and prepared to counterattack.
Kiriya gave her no such opportunity.
His arms blurred.
One punch after another crashed into Mordred’s waist and abdomen like battering rams.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The force transmitted through her armor and hammered directly into her internal organs.
Even Mordred began coughing up blood.
But she was still one of the finest Knights of the Round Table.
A legendary warrior.
Even while trapped under the barrage, she forced herself to concentrate and counterattack.
Mana Burst: Lightning.
"HAAAAH!"
Crimson lightning exploded from Mordred’s body.
The violent surge of magical energy was dangerous enough that Kiriya immediately disengaged and retreated.
At last, Mordred gained a moment to breathe.
"Huff... hah... huff..."
The Knight of Treachery sucked in heavy breaths.
A burning pain spread through her organs, and her body trembled from the damage.
Yet her eyes only became sharper.
Wilder.
"You’re pretty damn good, kid."
Mordred grinned savagely.
"But don’t think something like this is enough to put me down."
Her grip tightened around Clarent.
"I’m the one who’s going to become king!"
Her Endurance was Rank B, and the heavy armor surrounding her body provided additional protection.
Kiriya’s attacks had hurt her badly, but nowhere near enough to remove her from the fight.
Mordred charged again.
Kiriya retrieved his sword, and the two immediately crashed into one another once more.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
One blade carried roaring crimson lightning.
The other condensed sheer fighting spirit into razor-sharp sword pressure.
Neither gave an inch.
Within only a few dozen exchanges, the surrounding forest had been reduced to complete devastation.
Mordred used every technique she possessed.
Yet she still could not defeat Kiriya with the Fifth Gate open.
Those crimson eyes were the real problem.
No matter how she moved, no matter how she changed her rhythm, Kiriya seemed to see through every action.
Worse—
The longer they fought, the more Mordred realized that some of her own techniques were beginning to appear in Kiriya’s movements.
He was copying them.
Then modifying them.
Then integrating them into his own combat style.
’What the hell is this guy?’
For the first time, Mordred felt something approaching genuine admiration.
’If he had lived in my era...’
’He would’ve become a famous hero.’
’Maybe even a great knight.’
Watching from the distance, Jeanne experienced an increasingly strange feeling.
If Masters were this powerful...
What exactly were the Servants supposed to be doing in this Holy Grail War?
"Hahahaha!"
Another tremendous collision separated the two fighters.
Mordred burst into delighted laughter.
"This is great!"
"Seriously, this is damn fun!"
She pointed Clarent toward Kiriya.
"Master of Black!"
"Tell me your name!"
"Kiriya."
"Good."
Mordred planted both hands on the hilt of her sword and raised it vertically before her chest.
"You’re a real warrior."
"A damn good one!"
Her expression became solemn beneath the wild grin.
"So out of respect, I’m putting everything into this next attack."
She spoke silently through the connection with her Master.
’Master. I’m releasing my Noble Phantasm.’
A deep, middle-aged voice answered inside her mind.
"You really are impossible."
There was resignation in the man’s tone—and a faint trace of indulgence.
"Fine."
"Go, Saber."
"Bring me victory."
The speaker was Kairi Sisigou, Master of Saber of Red.
For the sake of secrecy and gathering intelligence, he and Mordred had been operating separately.
Before splitting up, Kairi had repeatedly warned her to stay cautious and contact him before doing anything reckless.
Unfortunately, Mordred was still Mordred.
A few provocative words from Kiriya had been enough to turn this into a full-scale duel.
At first, Kairi had assumed Kiriya would summon his own Servant.
He had even prepared to use a Command Spell to retrieve Mordred if things became dangerous.
Instead, Mordred had only become more excited as the fight continued.
Now she was about to unleash her Noble Phantasm.
Still, Kairi was not the kind of man to hesitate once a decision had been made.
If they were already this far in, then there was no point holding back.
Better to let Mordred fight properly and claim victory.
"Haha! That’s more like it!"
Mordred’s excitement surged.
She raised Clarent.
"Clarent Blood Arthur—Rebellion Against My Beautiful Father!"
The sword in Mordred’s hands was Clarent, the Radiant and Brilliant Royal Sword.
It had once been kept by King Arthur as proof of kingship.
Mordred stole it during her rebellion and ultimately used the blade to inflict Arthur’s fatal wound.
Because of that legend, when wielded by Mordred, Clarent transformed.
The elegant holy sword that should have radiated brilliant silver light became a twisted blade stained by hatred.
A cursed sword of rebellion.
As its True Name was released, crimson-black energy flooded the weapon.
Hatred surged outward like an enormous dark torrent.
Calamity.
Destruction.
Rebellion.
All of it condensed into a catastrophic wave racing straight toward Kiriya.
But Kiriya had already prepared.
The instant Mordred began speaking the first syllable of her Noble Phantasm’s True Name—
He opened another Gate.
"Seventh Gate, the Gate of Wonder—open!"
Explosive power surged through his entire body.
Kiriya compressed every ounce of that strength into his sword.
Then he swung.
A dazzling slash illuminated the valley.
"Afterglow!"
BOOOOOOM!
Black-red and golden energy collided head-on.
The resulting explosion shook heaven and earth.
A vast storm of energy erupted in every direction, forming rolling waves that swept across the surrounding landscape.
Ancient boulders that had remained unmoved for countless years disintegrated.
Towering trees were erased at their roots.
Everything caught within the expanding torrent was reduced to dust—
And vanished.
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