Chapter 143: Discovery
The Black and Red Faction are quite "balanced" when viewed from an outsider's perspective.
Vlad III's massive domain buff counteracted a huge part of the Red Faction's power. There is also Chiron, a once-demigod with a plethora of knowledge and wisdom. If the "lost" knight of Charlemagne is counted, the Black Faction's side is plenty strong enough.
However, there is a mishap during the war—the existence of Kotomine Shirou, a Ruler-class heroic spirit from the last holy grail war.
As a result, the Black Faction's strong aspects were broken down at once.
"Your Highness. I have a bad feeling about that fortress."
The experienced Darnic immediately spoke out about the ill omen he felt.
"We have already moved the grail. Whatever they had planned, it shall be disrupted by that."
For the Greater Grail to function, it requires two things: magical energy from a strong leyline and the heroic spirits.
In Fuyuki, it was placed on the most central point of its leyline. The same was true for Trifas, but the attack from Avicebron's golem made Darnic reconsider everything.
Although it was now moved away from the central leyline point, the concentration of the magical energy is more than enough to sustain it.
In the end, Darnic made a move that completely removed the possible exposure that the [Golem Keter Malkuth]'s attack had caused.
Bam-!
Their attention was forcefully shifted into the upcoming chaos caused by Spartacus. He smashed through buildings and walls one after another.
Sou-!
Sou-!
Sou-!
Chiron's arrows struck him like artillery shells. His steps were immediately brought into a halt.
Bam-!
The built-up momentum of the mace sent a huge impact down Spartacus' arms. Still, he was seen perfectly fine after blocking it.
"Are you one of them?"
"Uwah..!"
Instead of a proper reply, all he got was several more strikes, making him "instinctively" understand that while they are similar, they are destined to fight.
Bam-!
Boom-!
Unfortunately, Berserker of Black's strength alone wasn't enough to withhold the raging Spartacus. The more he was hurt, the stronger he got.
"Any further would be meaningless. It seems they are aboard that flying fortress."
Psshk-!
In an instant, the ground became filled with hundreds of blood-red thorns. It pierced through Spartacus' entire being, halting the humongous body's advance. Blood began dripping from all over the thorns that pierced through him.
"Your comrades had abandoned you." He said to the berserker. "They treated you as expendable. You've been wronged."
"You are the oppressor!!!"
The [Mad Enhancement] etched onto his Saint Graph didn't allow for a normal conversation.
"Oppressor? Have you seen any oppression upon my domain?"
"..."
Spartacus fell silent. Although he was a berserker whose mind is clouded by [Mad Enhancement], he had a sole belief in which he fought for—oppression.
As the man who sparked the Third Servile War against the Romans, oppression was something they wished to end. As such, he could still barely make decisions over matters related to it.
"Instead of fighting for your master who discarded you, fight for me."
As Vlad III made that shocking offer, Saber of Black kept in touch with his master.
"Nothing important happened. There are no intruders you spoke of."
"Alright… Tell me if someone breaks in."
"Understood."
Gordes sighed as he thought of that possibility which he completely feared. Despite having the strongest servant, Saber, during this Holy Grail War, the thought of Saber's identity being revealed couldn't let him be put at ease.
Little did he know that it is preventing him from making better decisions due to the pressure caused by it.
"The homunculi… tsk."
He turned his head over to the remnants of Caster's workshop. He was one of the central figures when it comes to Yggdmillennia's homunculi, yet their biggest homunculi "workshop" was destroyed when Avicebron's golem appeared.
Thinking of all the lost homunculi made him feel bad—both practically and emotionally.
"Damned caster…"
******
"They stopped from that distance. Four servants came out when it was lowered. Two remained while the other two were heading in our direction."
Chiron reported the numbers of their enemies. He looked at Vlad III who gave an understanding nod.
"They want to split our forces." He said. "Archer, Rider. Meet them in the forest. Berserker and I shall handle the incoming servants."
Just then, he added:
"Darnic. Pardon Caster from his crimes as long as he is willing to fight."
"...I understand."
The purple-haired man, Darnic, bowed in his direction before retreating to the inside of the castle with another Yggdmillennia master.
It didn't take long for the first clash between the two factions to begin.
In the midst of everything, one person remained calm as he watched these events unfold.
"Heroic spirits… Most of them are all comparable to level eight adventurers at the very least. They are quite mismatched, though."
Nobu thought of the literal "god" that participated in this Holy Grail War. Just his existence alone made things extremely difficult for the Black Faction.
"There's still Semiramis with her Noble Phantasm… The Black Faction has a low chance of winning this war."
For the first time, he took on the role of a spectator instead of the main player.
"Just… Hm..?"
Suddenly, he sensed a portion of the magical veins within Trifas. It was something he didn't think much of as he already scanned it once, but scanning it for the second time made him realize something.
"They moved the grail..?"
Nobu continued digging deeper into it before finding out some abnormalities in a town at the edge of Trifas. At the same time, he noticed a signature of a heroic spirit present in the said place.
"Saber… Siegfried."
In the first place, the only reason he didn't outright steal the grail is due to his caution against the Counterforce. He didn't know if he could "handle" all seven heroic spirits in one go with the limits inscribed on his Ruler-class identity.
If he couldn't handle everything in one go, he will be exposed, thus rendering most of his previous efforts useless.
Coincidentally, his actions made him truly look like the Assassin of Black.
"...I shall give him my best."
His eyes gleamed as he made an impromptu plan out of nowhere.
*****
Siegfried.
A hero known for being in the first part of someone else's epic. He took the spotlight as he did numerous dazzling feats one after another. He was someone who killed a true dragon and bathed on its blood, granting his entire body an unbelievable imperviousness. He could resist swords and magic alike with his bare body. It was so strong he was granted the Noble Phantasm, [Armor of Fafnir].
Nothing could pierce through his skin that the only reason he died is because of his own volition. He asked his friend to kill him in order to stop the rising conflict between Kriemhild and Brunnhilde—something that resulted from his own actions.
"You…"
Siegfried immediately drew his sword at the sight of a stranger… no, an intruder.
Despite recognizing the man's knightly attire, he couldn't properly see his face. It remained to be blurred in his sight, akin to a high-level of magecraft. In the knight's status, it showed up as [Hidden From Time].
It is the capability to remain unrecognized as long as his existence remains at an all-time low.
Nevertheless, Siegfried knew that he was facing an extremely strong knight.
Flutter-!
The purple robe on the man's armor fluttered along the chilly wind.
"This is not the meeting I wished for, Hero Siegfried." The man spoke. "But, it is what circumstances require."
Shiing-!
The knight drew his blade as Siegfried tried contacting his master but to no avail. Knowing his current situation, he knew the only option left was to fight against the stranger who suddenly appeared in front of him.
"Come."
Wordlessly, the blurred figure of the knight clashed with his blade.
Clang-!
Clang-!
Sparks flew out. The surrounding ground was cracked due to their sheer strength. It was a downward diagonal strike at first before it shifted into a sudden thrust. The knight's blade was redirected away from Siegfried, giving the latter a chance to strike the knight using his elbow.
Unfortunately—
Bam-!
—barehanded martial arts is also the knight's specialty.
Siegfried's elbow was caught in a tight grapple before creeping up to his arm. The knight's sword was released from his hand before Siegfried could even realize it.
The swordsmanship from the first few seconds turned out to be a trap. He, a Saber-class servant, was actually outclassed in terms of strength.
Bam-!
Using the grip from his arm, Siegfried was thrown over the knight's shoulder. Still, he was lucky to have his sword remain from his grip.
Without hesitation, Siegfried thrust it upward, which was then avoided by the knight with a head tilt.
Surprisingly, the knight didn't move after that. A while later, he said:
"Use your strongest."
"..."
Siegfried doesn't know whether it was ridicule or something else, but he strongly believes that it wasn't the former. The knight's words are more of "wanting to confirm something" instead.
Without any choice left, Siegfried opted to use his Noble Phantasm.
"Here I go."
He said as a form of respect for the knight who gave him a chance.
Click-!
Upon twisting the handle and the hilt of the greatsword, the jewel embedded on it began glowing.
"Bal—!"
Fzzt-!
The surroundings of his blade started changing. Swathes of magical energy began gathering with it at the center. At the same time, another kind of energy became present—True Ether.
It was the magical energy that could only be seen during the Age of Gods.
'Telesma but magical energy…'
The knight's mind ran extremely fast, to the point he still had the time to analyze Siegfried's Noble Phantasm.
The pillar of magical energy grew at a frightening speed. Soon, the blade was oversaturated.
"—mung!"
Hum-!
Boom-!
The Anti-Army Noble Phantasm went on a semicircular curve—akin to a crescent moon—before it came crashing down upon the knight.
His current state was unknown, that is, until the light from the attack died down.
"How..?"
Much to Siegfried's surprise, the knight remained unharmed.
"What a misunderstanding…"
He muttered as he used Ruler's authority to pry upon a servant's status.
After his parameters lay his "Personal" and "Class" skills as well as "Noble Phantasm".
========
Class Skills:
[Revelation: A]
[Magic Resistance: A+++]
[Riding: C+]
[Self-Field Defense: A++]
Personal Skills:
[Hidden From Time: B+]
[Protection of Faith: A]
[Miracles: EX]
Noble Phantasm:
[Lord Camelot: A+]
[Knight of Revelation: EX]
========
The knight, Nobu, hadn't used anything to block Siegfried's attack. He simply stood still and let it reach him.
As to why he had done so…
'I haven't really fought a battle since I arrived…'
Due to that fact, he wasn't able to fully test the "Identity" given upon him on his arrival.
Surprisingly, the "identity" acted as much as a real thing. It is not simply an indicator of the things he could do—or the limits of his power.
Since his [Magic Resistance] is higher than [Balmung]'s rank, it was easily tanked by it.
'I feel quite dumb…'
Nobu couldn't be blamed simply because most of his skills overlapped with the ones on his Ruler-class identity. Revelation was already something he has while he also possessed untold amounts of experience when it comes to riding.
As for [Hidden From Time], he was used to hiding by engulfing his body in his dreamland. Finally, [Miracles] was something he has due to both the Holy Grail within his body as well as the Lapis Judaicus that is within his possessions.
A moment later, he had completely processed everything that occurred.
"My time here has ended. I bid my farewell."
Siegfried was still processing Nobu's words when the ground rumbled. Nothing significant occurred over the surface, but he could faintly feel that something was wrong.
By the time he looked over his surroundings, Nobu's figure had already disappeared. At the same time, his connection with his master has been restored.
"Saber! I couldn't reach you! What happened?!"
Hearing his master's frantic words, Siegfried began telling him of his "weird" encounter with the knight.