-51- No intention of leaving a way out

In the pitch-black deep mountains, the red flames surged like waves, layer upon layer, illuminating the surroundings.

The surrounding forest swayed under the hot wind, and not only did it sway, but the fragile leaves also quickly turned yellow and fell, covering the ground.

Archer emerged from the flames, with a slight hint of black smoke emanating from his body, landing on the ground looking somewhat disheveled.

"Tsk...!"

Feeling the damage he took, although not significant, it did affect him, causing Archer to click his tongue.

Then, the voice of the instigator appeared.

"Is this kind of magic too much for you? The title of the Three Knights must be weeping!"

As this shout sounded, the thick and sturdy tree roots that extended like a bridge finally arrived, allowing Rozen's party to descend from above, riding the waves of wind.

Looking at Archer, who was kneeling on one knee, Rozen smiled confidently as if victory was assured.

"Your 'Magic Resistance' skill is quite weak, only at the D-rank level, which can only nullify low-level magecraft. This level of resistance can easily be overcome by a slightly stronger magus, let alone a powerful magus like Caster."

Rozen gazed at Archer with an inexplicable sense of amusement in his eyes.

"Your biggest mistake was exposing yourself during the first attack, allowing me, the Master, to see through your parameter values."

"So, your weak 'Magic Resistance' became my breakthrough point."

As soon as he finished speaking, a large amount of magical energy surged from Rozen's body. Through the temporary contract channel, the energy flowed into Caster, who had a temporary contract with Rozen.

"Well done!"

Caster burst into laughter, and with a wave of her hand, he began to shower the space in front of him with magical energy, forming shimmering runes.

In the next moment, these runes turned into fireballs and shot towards Archer.

"...!?"

With hardly any time to hesitate, Archer prepared to leap again, trying to avoid the barrage of incoming fireballs.

Unfortunately, Archer forgot that he was not only facing Caster as his enemy.

"Boom!"

Amidst the explosion, the ground around Archer was filled with emerging magical ants. They raised their front legs, carrying extraordinary strength, and firmly grasped Archer's legs.

"Oh no!"

Realizing this, Archer knew that he had nowhere to escape.

Countless fireballs covered him in an instant.

"Boom!"

Intense explosions reverberated through the air, filling the area with flames.

"We did it!"

With Fou in her arms, Olga Marie managed to block the incoming hot wind and exclaimed with delight.

However, unlike Olga Marie, Rozen, Mash, and Caster all spoke up.

"No! It's not over yet!"

As the voices fell, the flames in front of them parted.

There stood Archer, seemingly unscathed. The black bow had already disappeared, replaced by the familiar black and white dual-blades, firmly slashing through the two ants that held him.

In front of Archer stood a transparent shield with six petals, resembling a mirror.

Seeing this scene, disregarding the reactions of others, Rozen inwardly sighed.

"As expected, there's a shield..."

After all, even though he was an archer, being able to project close combat weapons was not unusual. Since he could project a bow, it was not surprising that he could project a shield.

Because of this realization, Rozen did not hesitate to expend magical energy to enhance Caster's magical power, attempting to take down Archer in one move without any further complications.

Unfortunately, the opponent's projection accuracy was unimaginably high, and all the weapons he projected were incredibly sturdy. Unlike other magicians, the things created using "Projection Magic" usually become quite fragile due to insufficient imagination and other factors, easily shattering upon impact.

From this perspective, the opponent truly seemed to be an existence that could only exist in mythical legends.

Of course, Rozen didn't realize that his actions were posing such a significant threat to the Servants, which was indeed quite rare.

"You almost had me there."

Archer stood up with an expression as calm as water, his gaze not directed towards Caster, who had been attacking him, but fixed on Rozen.

"I see, so this is the difference between having a Master and not having one?"

It was clear that Archer had come to realize this.

"Here, the most challenging opponent is not the watchdog nor the girl with the tricky shield; it's you."

A murderous intent emanated from Archer's eyes.

"Senpai!"

Mash immediately stepped forward, standing in front of Rozen, her face full of vigilance.

"Your opponent is me, don't get it wrong."

Caster also stood before Rozen, provocatively gazing at Archer.

Even Olga-Marie glared at Archer, displaying a warning expression.

The more they acted like this, the more Archer valued Rozen.

"It seems this time the key is not anyone else but you, the unknown Master."

Archer calmly spoke.

"In that case, come."

"Come and see if you have the ability to save this era, this human order."

Leaving these words behind, Archer didn't attack again but transformed into particles of light and vanished on the spot.

Seeing this, everyone frowned.

"Realizing that he couldn't take us down alone, so he decisively retreated, huh?"

Olga-Marie interpreted it in this way.

"He's as annoyingly clever as ever," Caster grumbled.

"Senpai..."

Mash also looked towards Rozen.

Under the gaze of everyone, Rozen shrugged.

"While I'd really like to deal with Archer first before focusing our forces on Saber, it seems he's smarter than I thought. He probably saw through our intentions and heightened his vigilance. From now on, we can only deal with both Saber and Archer at the same time."

This wasn't a situation where they could simply smile and get away with it.

But...

"I have no intention of leaving myself a way out either."

Rozen looked towards the direction that gave him a eerie feeling.

There was only one thing left to do.

Charge ahead without hesitation.