The first to strike was Lancer.
Compared to the gorgeous and varied moves he had used before, this straight attack even felt clumsy. It was as if he had not predicted Saber's next move at all, no, he had not even planned to defend against her counterattack.
Saber naturally used her sword to easily block the stabbing spear.
But this shot, which should have been painless, turned out to be—
Something strange happened.
A whirlwind suddenly arose without any warning, centered around the clashing spears and swords.
In the center of the whirlwind, a golden light was faintly visible.
"ah?!"
Saber cried out in surprise and took three steps back.
Lancer, however, had a calm expression on his face and had no intention of chasing after him.
"Your hidden sword has been exposed."
Lancer whispered proudly and Saber remained silent.
Apart from the two people involved, only Scathach and Shinji understood what happened at that moment. Scathach relied on her eyesight and wisdom, while Shinji relied on his understanding of the plot and settings as a time traveler.
The wind is emitted by Saber's sword, or more precisely, from one of her treasures, the "Wind King Barrier".
The effects that a Noble Phantasm can produce can be roughly divided into two types: one is to release a fatal blow while calling out one's real name; the other is to use the attributes that a weapon already possesses as a Noble Phantasm.
Saber's "Wind King Barrier" belongs to the latter, and Lancer's spear also belongs to the latter.
At the moment when Lancer's spear and sword collided, the air that was compressed in the Wind King's barrier to distort the refraction of light was released. Lancer saw a corner of the real sword exposed in the broken barrier. His words just now were the evidence that his spear tore through the Wind King's barrier.
"I have seen your blade clearly. I will not be fooled by you again." Lancer roared and rushed forward.
The fact was just as he said, every shot that followed was a fatal attack, there were no unnecessary movements, and every move was calculated precisely. Saber could only do her best to block every attack with her sword.
In an instant, the afterimage of a golden sword appeared in the flash.
The leaking air pressure gathered into a strong hurricane, violently blowing away Saber's golden hair. Undoubtedly, it was the red spear that lifted the Wind King barrier. In the continuous battle, the sword that was originally invisible was now almost completely exposed.
However, the moves performed with just a spear were not as difficult to deal with as those performed with both long and short spears. Although Lancer was an excellent spearman, the moves he performed with the spear were all ordinary moves Saber had seen, so it was not difficult to parry or counterattack.
During the battle, Saber keenly caught a loophole of Lancer. The next shot was aimed at Saber's abdomen. Saber was covered in hard armor, so she could not block the shot. The hardness of the armor could also prevent his attack.
This is a great opportunity to fight back.
Saber made a quick decision and turned her sword to stab Lancer's shoulder, ignoring the tip of the spear that had grazed his ribs, intending to severely injure Lancer with one strike.
"That's not a loophole, it's a trap. Saber made a mistake." Shinji sighed upon seeing this.
"It can't be called a mistake. It's just that Saber didn't understand the effect of that gun." Scathach crossed her arms, "Was it carelessness? Or was it impatience?"
As they spoke, spears and swords crossed each other. Saber withdrew her sword at the critical moment, turned her body to the side and rolled over on the ground.
Lancer's gun was covered in blood, which was the blood from Saber's waist.
Saber, who had finally escaped Lancer's pursuit, immediately stood up and continued to restrain her opponent, but she did not hide the painful expression on her face.
"Saber!" Irisviel immediately used magic to heal the wound on Saber's side.
"Thank you, Irisviel, I'm fine. Your healing magic worked." Saber said while covering her wound. It seemed that the pain of the wound had not been completely relieved.
"As expected, it's not that easy to hand over victory to me?" After hearing this, Lancer did not show any disappointment, but became more and more excited.
Saber gritted her teeth and touched the area where she was scratched by the gun, but the result surprised her—there was no wound and the armor was intact.
"Finally found it? That gun cuts through not the atmosphere, but the magic power. Anything woven with magic power will be invalidated when it touches that gun."
As Scathach spoke, Saber made the same judgment.
Although the Noble Phantasm seems to have no destructive power, it is enough to make most of the Servants feel troubled. The quality of the Servant's equipment mostly depends on the magic and magic attached to it, but Lancer's gun can make them all ineffective.
"Your armor is generated by magic power. If you want to rely on it to protect you, you'd better give up, Saber. In front of my magic spear, you are no different from being naked."
"What a terrible line." Shinji snorted. It was no wonder that he ended up in such a frivolous way (fog) after saying such frivolous words.
Facing Lancer's sarcastic words, Saber sneered: "If you are so proud of just taking off my armor, I will have a headache."
The silver armor wrapped around Saber suddenly flew away.
Irisviel was stunned, while Lancer narrowed his eyes.
From chest guards to wrist guards to leg guards, nothing was left, and Saber automatically removed her armor. The fragments of armor lost their supply of magic power and gradually disappeared like smoke.
Shinji held his chin and sighed, "Well, as expected of Saber, who has an average A attribute, she is also A in this aspect. In comparison, it is better to have a master who is all D."
This evaluation, which was even worse than Lancer's, was undoubtedly punished, and Scathach slapped Shinji to the ground.
"If you keep thinking about it, I'll throw you down."
"I agree." Justisa nodded expressionlessly, and mentioned that this person's grades were C or C+ in some aspects.
Saber below, wearing only thin clothing, began to fight again.
Without the restraint of armor, Saber's attributes have been greatly improved. Strength, speed, and agility have increased by 60% compared to before.
Shinji knew that Saber used her own skill "Magic Release".
Magic Release: Gather a large amount of magic power in the weapons and limbs in your hands, and then burst out the magic power at any time as needed, instantly improving your athletic ability.
This is why Saber, who looks like just a petite girl, can wield that great sword with ease and fight like a true powerful warrior.
The increase in magic power released is proportional to the magic power used. After removing the armor generated by magic power, Saber can call on the magic power of her entire body to fight, so it is reasonable that there will be such a large increase - this is truly exchanging defense for output.
She turned the disadvantage of being forced to remove her armor into the advantage of abandoning it, this was her method of dealing with the Demon-Breaking Spear.
"Since you can't defend yourself, I can only cut you before I get cut. Wake up, Lancer!"
Saber’s handsome face was filled with determination, matching the roaring magic power.
"Are you going to risk everything? Your determination and courage are admirable."
Lancer was like a matador in front of a bull, moving his feet sideways provocatively.
"But now, I want to say that you made a mistake, Saber!"