How come the Ace of Cups isn't considered the Holy Grail?

"How about it? You should be more familiar with it now, right?"

Siegfried looked at the armored man standing in front of him again and nodded silently, raising the Balmonk in his hand and assuming a fighting stance.

The chat ended unexpectedly quickly. Mordred took Clarent off his shoulder and prepared for battle. The two pointed their swords at each other and simultaneously released magic to imbue their blades with it.

Crimson Lightning and Azure Flame clearly separated the land beneath their feet, and the mere aftershocks of the magic they released before the battle had already drawn the attention of the entire battlefield.

There was no command to start; instead, one side would suddenly launch an attack, and the other side would quickly follow up with its superior reaction speed.

The blades clashed against each other, producing a resounding clang.

One of them was a sword that was once kept in King Arthur's treasury, symbolizing the succession to the throne.

One is the Dragon Slayer Sword, which slew the legendary evil dragon Fafnir and was bathed in dragon's blood.

Clarent, enveloped in crimson lightning, was now wielded by Mordred with sweeping, powerful strokes, resembling a broadsword with formidable force.

Siegfried calmly parried her attacks one by one with Balmunk, secretly looking for an opportunity to counterattack.

This is a contest of swordsmanship, but also a battle of magic.

"Hey, hey, hey, what's wrong? Black's Saber?" Mordred maintained her high-speed attack frequency without stopping, and even had time to taunt Siegfried, who was always on the defensive.

"You can't beat me by just defending!"

Taking advantage of the pause in his speech, Mordred suddenly kicked out, trying to catch Siegfried off guard while he was distracted by what she was saying.

However, Siegfried's personality was more of a quiet one, and he rarely paid attention to what his opponents were saying during battles. So when Mordred suddenly attacked, he reacted instantly and raised his leg to block the opponent's kick.

"Tch, you reacted pretty quickly!"

Mordred's attempt to break the deadlock failed, and he scoffed in displeasure before resuming his fight with Siegfried.

Each time their swords missed, they created a sizable crater in the ground around them. Thanks to the protection of his full-body armor, Mordred, like Siegfried, didn't suffer any serious injuries after fighting for a long time.

“So…” Yu Du withdrew his gaze from the battlefield and looked at Shiki Jie Li, who had arrived next to them in a wrecked car.

"Your servants are still fighting over there, what brings you here at this hour? Master of the Red Saber?"

Chapter 152 Where to find it...?

"Let me make this clear from the start: if any Servants launch an attack this way later, I won't be protecting you!"

Upon hearing that Shiki-kai said he had come to find a safe place to take refuge, Yu-du couldn't help but roll his eyes at him while secretly praising his accurate judgment.

Although it's a bit close to the Black faction's castle, it's one of the few places where he can see most of the battlefield and is still quite safe.

It was Lion's Robbery that reminded him of a video, a video of a boxer circling the referee and confronting his opponent.

However, despite the praise, Yuto still won't include Spartacus in his protection when Spartacus unleashes his Noble Phantasm.

He would furrow his brow, pull Shishikage Kairi to his side, and then use a field spell to protect the town behind him from being razed to the ground by Spartacus's Noble Phantasm.

Although he didn't know what was going on in Yudo's mind, Shishikatsu Kairi was well aware that Yudo wouldn't help him defend against the attack.

As a necromancer, he knew all too well those who were responsible for maintaining order!

However, he only wanted to find a place far away from the battlefield from the beginning, so after Yuwatari nodded, he began to silently prepare the magic and materials for the battle.

He was also worried that if a Servant or a Stone Golem noticed this place, he would be prepared in advance so that he wouldn't be completely helpless.

Leticia initially looked on curiously, but after seeing what Shiki-kai Kairi had taken out—severed fingers, bones, and various other ominous-looking items—she immediately looked away, silently deceiving herself:

"That's not true, that's not true, that's not true..."

Yuuto shrugged, looking at her expression that even he couldn't convince, and turned his attention back to the battlefield between the two Sabers.

They seem to be preparing to unleash their Noble Phantasm!

……

"Well, so the battle has come to this point after all?"

The summoned stone golem army was almost completely wiped out. After watching the current battle situation through a magic broadcast, Avisbroun, who was left behind in Yggdrasilena Castle, stood up and said in a calm but rather helpless tone.

He knew it was time to unleash the Red Team's Berserker Spartacus and deliver a great gift to this chaotic battlefield.

However, he also knew that this was an extremely dangerous job for someone as weak as him.

If they fail to persuade Spartacus to help them fight the Red team, then he himself will probably be the first target to be eliminated after releasing the opponent.

I really don't want to go...

"Teacher, where are you going?"

Roger Fryin Yggdomirenia.

As Avisbro's student and also his Master, Roger quickly stood up and went forward when he saw his teacher stand up.

He always regarded himself as an apprentice to Avisbro, completely abandoning his identity as a master. He followed Avisbro around like an excited child who was encountering a puppet for the first time.

"Ah, are we going to release that big guy?"

Avisbro nodded slightly and reached out to stop him: "It's dangerous there. You should stay in the castle and not go there."

"is teacher!"

Without the slightest hesitation to prove himself despite Avisbro's refusal to let him go, Roger nodded in agreement without any doubt after hearing that his teacher wouldn't allow him to go.

After settling his disciples, Avisbroun continued walking towards the open space in the city where Spartacus was imprisoned.

Sigh... because the android he had originally intended to be the core of his puppet ran away, he now has to find a suitable core for his puppet...

Where should we look for it?

……

"What are you looking for?"

Inside the Sky Garden, Semiramis sat on her throne, her elbows propped up on the armrests, her face resting on them, watching with growing interest as Amakusa Shiro Tokisada switched between the battlefield footage broadcast by the Surveillance Magic.

Let alone her, even if it were anyone else, they would be able to tell what he was looking for.

Amakusa Shiro Tokisada did not turn around when he heard her question; his eyes were still searching the surveillance footage.

"I'm looking for Ruler."

"Ruler? Why are you suddenly looking for him?" Semiramis sat up straight, clearly showing some interest in Amakusa Shiro Tokisada's answer.

After all, it can't be said that Amakusa Shiro Tokisada didn't value Ruler, but after Karna's assassination failed, he seemed to care less about Ruler and didn't give any more orders regarding Ruler.

"Hmm... it must be a kind of intuition, or perhaps a premonition?"

“I feel he will be the biggest obstacle in our plan. Last time, Karna did not test his full strength. There may be more than one white dragon that completely suppressed Karna.”

After inspecting the battlefield once more, Amakusa Shiro Tokisada paused the camera on Frankenstein, who had encountered Atalanta, and looked thoughtful.

"It's really strange. As the Ruler, he shouldn't be absent when both the red and black sides are fighting at the same time. So why can't we find him anywhere?"

The revelations related to the opponent's location only appeared once at the beginning of the war, and never again!

That's so strange. Could it be that Ruler hasn't moved at all yet?

Amakusa Shiro Tokisada recalled the only revelation that revealed Yudo's location and tried to deduce it from the image, which contained no useful information. In the end, he wasted some time and returned empty-handed.

Because their Berserker had been captured by the Black team, he had originally planned to go down and find Frankenstein, the Black team's Berserker, to see if he could persuade her to join the Red team, but he has now given up on that idea.

Ruler's whereabouts were unknown, which made him somewhat uneasy.

“There’s no need to worry too much, Master.” Semiramis chuckled confidently, noticing the worry furrowed brow on his face.

"Our plan is progressing slowly. Soon, once this aerial garden reaches the skies above Yggdrasil Castle, we can retrieve the Greater Grail directly from that castle—"

Semiramis's words were interrupted by an alarm sounding that someone had invaded the magic barrier.

The surveillance footage switched to the outside of the Sky Garden, showing Astolfo, who had just been cleared of the flying dragon tooth soldiers, now flying towards the inside of the garden.

Semiramis raised her hand and released several lightning magic circles to attack Astolfo, but Astolfo blocked them all with a book-shaped Noble Phantasm: "Tsk! What an oblivious guy!"

"Ah... after all, we're inside the courtyard now, so even if he wanted to see, he probably couldn't, right?"

Amakusa Shiro Tokisada resumed his usual gentle expression and smiled.

Chapter 153 Treasures

In this battle, Mordred was actually at a disadvantage.

After all, as an artificial human created by Morgan using King Arthur's blood as material, she, like Artoria, possesses some dragon-like qualities.

When facing Siegfried, who had the feat of slaying dragons, she would naturally be restrained by this dragon-like quality. Not only would his attacks be more powerful, but the damage she inflicted when she counterattacked would also be reduced for the same reason.

Furthermore, Siegfried's physical body, which was even more defensively powerful after being bathed in dragon blood, made him arguably the worst opponent she could face in this Holy Grail War.

However, by releasing magic to compensate for the weakening of her power, she is now able to break through Siegfried's defense and fight him to a draw despite the disadvantage. However, she really has no good way to deal with the lack of defense.

This full-body armor, as her Noble Phantasm, focuses more on concealing her own information than on defense. It can block ordinary attacks or magic without any problem, but it is still not enough to compare with Siegfried's body, which is capable of blocking B-rank physical attacks and magic.

As the battle drags on, her armor will break down, and by aiming at those gaps, you can use your sword to inflict damage on her not-so-tough flesh.

Siegfried thought this way, and naturally, he did it.

Mordred could certainly use magic to repair her armor, but the magic from the Lion's Lair was not inexhaustible, and releasing magic also consumed a lot of magic. Using it to repair her armor again and again would only cause her to gradually slide into the abyss of defeat.

Without the boost of her magic, she would only lose even faster!

What a troublesome opponent!

Mordred's face, hidden behind her helmet, unconsciously revealed a hint of excitement. Determined to finish the battle quickly, she unleashed the magic attached to her sword, using the burst of crimson lightning to knock Siegfried back into the distance. She then removed the helmet from her armor and attached it to her shoulders, splitting it in two.

Unfortunately, this full-body armor, which is a Noble Phantasm that can completely conceal important information such as her true name, Noble Phantasm, and unique skills, has the limitation that she cannot fully unleash the [Clarent] when wearing the helmet.

Therefore, she has to take off her helmet like this if she wants to unleash her Noble Phantasm!

Without any hesitation, knowing that Siegfried, whom she had repelled, would reach her in a very short time, Mordred gripped her sword with both hands, held the Clarent sword blade upwards in front of her, and grinned maliciously.

"Try this move, Saber of the Black Square!"

The sword in her hand, a symbol of royal power, amplified the magic she had poured into it. The overflowing magic was twisted into crimson lightning that scattered around her. Pure magic gathered on her blade, gradually extending to the horizon, almost piercing through the layers of clouds.

"Noble Phantasm?"

Seeing such power, even Siegfried dared not be negligent and quickly raised Balmunk in the same posture and twisted the hilt.

As he moved, the blue jewel inlaid in the sword hilt flashed with light, and the divine magic power 'True Aether' hidden within was extracted and injected into the sword along with Siegfried's magic power, amplifying it. A beam of blue-green light condensed and soared into the sky with a power comparable to Mordred's Noble Phantasm.

"This is the evil sword that destroyed my father, [Clarent Blood Arthur, the traitor to my magnificent father]!"

"Awaken from the golden dream, freed from its cradle, evil dragon, perish... [Fantasy Greatsword: Balmung]!"

The two voices rang out simultaneously, and the surging magical power caused almost all the Servants on the battlefield to temporarily stop fighting, all looking at the space that had been divided into two parts by crimson lightning and blue flames.

The next second, two beams of light of opposite colors struck down simultaneously. With a deafening roar, red and blue magic intertwined and rose into the sky. The purple light formed by the collision of the two treasures gradually expanded, and the destructive magic instantly devoured everything around them.

"Oh, oh, oh! That light! That is the light that illuminates the people!"

Spartacus, who had just been freed by Avisbro, jumped to the center of the battlefield and was immediately drawn to the light generated by the clash of Mordred and Siegfried's Noble Phantasms. He abandoned Atalanta, who was confronting him, and ran towards that direction.

Even as Atalanta relentlessly attacked him from behind, his steps did not falter for a moment despite the arrows piercing his ankles and knees.

Under the effect of his own Noble Phantasm, all his injuries were repaired in an instant, and Spartacus's body gradually transformed into a non-human form during this time.

Meanwhile, after using the defensive magic of the Sky Garden to shoot down Astolfo, Semiramis took advantage of the moment when everyone's attention was drawn to the other battlefield and began to drive the Sky Garden beneath her toward the Black Faction's castle.

"Hmm... if that's all there is to it, it seems like there's not enough time left..."

Amakusa Shiro Tokisada thought for a moment and felt it was necessary to do something big to keep everyone else's attention focused on that side, so that no one would come to stop them once their intentions were noticed.

Although their plan is unlikely to fail so easily, it's best to avoid unnecessary accidents as much as possible.

He sifted through the footage he was watching, finally settling on a mass of muscle that was charging toward Mordred and Siegfried's battlefield.

Have they already released Berserker?

Then it's you I've chosen!

Amakusa Shiro Tokisada, recalling the effect of Spartacus's Noble Phantasm, smirked and used magic to contact Atalanta, who had been chasing Spartacus for a while but now seemed to be giving up.

"Archer, prepare to use your Noble Phantasm on Berserker."

"Huh?" Atalanta, who had just received the order, abandoned her idea of ​​retreating and frowned in confusion as she reminded him.

"I already used my Noble Phantasm once before the war even started. If I use it a second time in such a short time..."

Can her Master handle it?

She didn't say the last sentence aloud, but Amakusa Shiro Tokisada understood it.

He smiled and calmly replied, "Don't worry, you can come back right after you use your Noble Phantasm."