"You're not human." Medusa stated flatly between exchanges.
A statement. Not a question.
My reply was just as flat.
"Neither are you."
I predicted her strikes before she committed to them, dodging with precognitive precision. Where evasion was impossible, my hands deflected her chains by millimeters before impact, guiding them toward non-lethal areas.
Strings of data wound across my vision. Her vectors unraveled. Her instincts laid bare. Her next six moves decoded before her muscles committed to the first.
With each clash, each breath, each fraction of a second, Rider became mere data within my perception. My mind processed that data at a monstrous pace, making microscopic adjustments to my fighting style.
I had held myself back for a long, long time.
Not anymore.
Ultimates upon Ultimates upon Ultimates worked in perfect synchronisation.
Rider increased her speed, winding around me, plunging her stake-chains from every side and blind spot.
Left. Right. Ahead. Behind. Above.
I analysed her movements, deduced countermeasures in microseconds, and wove them into motion through dance.
I dodged.
No... danced.
A stake targeted my heel; I rose onto my toes like a ballerina, her stake missing by mere inches.
Another stake headed for my side; I turned with the grace of a slow waltz, her weapon passing just beside my waist.
Medusa didn't let up.
She targeted my legs once more—a thrust from behind. I crossed my feet in a rigid form reminiscent of Irish stepdance, her stake piercing empty air between my ankles.
Her other stake aimed for my left arm.
My arm writhed like a snake—popping, locking—sliding around the weapon as I watched, calm.
Our surroundings blurred.
Every martial art. Every dance. Every rhythm coded into human muscle memory, poured through me at once.
She blocked, dodged, and counterattacked with monstrous instincts.
In between, my spine bent at inhumane angles without pause, striking and dodging from impossible vectors.
Medusa was a Heroic Spirit nonetheless.
I saw the opening she'd created. A feint within a feint—she'd let me read her last six moves so this one would arrive from my actual blind spot.
Shrrkkk
Her stake pierced my shoulder from behind.
Pain registered. Irrelevant. I adjusted.
But she'd proven a point... my analysis had a ceiling, and she'd just touched it.
We did not stop exchanging moves.
I pushed further; copying, comprehending, refining, and incorporating Rider's own techniques into my movements.
The action that finally made her composure falter was...
I stopped attacking.
In the middle of an exchange that should have killed any human ten times over, I simply stopped.
Feet planted. Arms loose. Eyes closed.
Medusa's chains hesitated mid-swing. A predator's instinct screaming trap.
[Gradation Air] stirred to life.
I didn't need to look. Every dimension, every weight, every material property of her stake-chains was already stored, decoded across the last several minutes of combat.
I pulled that data forward. Traced it. Recreated it.
They materialised in my grip with uncanny precision.
I kept my eyes closed, bending into a stance—a carbon copy of Rider's own.
Medusa blinked. For a split second, my illusion was complete—what stood before her was herself.
Both had long hair.
Both wore the same expression.
Both held indistinguishable stake-chains.
BOOOOM!
Wind drag screamed against me as I surged forward, denying her a single moment to process the surprise.
Stake-chains met stake-chains.
Clang. Clang. Clang. Clang.
Our surroundings tore apart as stakes met stakes, chains entangled chains, long hair whipped against long hair.
For a moment, it became impossible to identify...
Who was the real Rider?
...
..
.
Artoria's invisible sword met Lancer's crimson spear.
The ground buckled beneath their clash, but not equally. Lancer's feet carved furrows two inches deep. Artoria's hadn't moved at all.
She noted this. He noted this.
Neither let it change their expression.
Golden threads shimmered at the edge of Artoria's vision... paths to victory, laid bare by instinct honed over a lifetime of battle.
Chop. Thrust. Draw Cut.
Her invisible sword curved along a path that made victory inevitable.
Yet...
A crimson spear rose from below, severing that thread with brutal efficiency.
Clang.
Sword and spear collided in a burst of sparks, recoil pushing both weapons back.
Mana flooded Artoria's body as her physical strength skyrocketed, her sword raining down on Lancer with colossal force, trails of expended mana painting the air.
Lancer blocked every attack, but the ground beneath his feet had begun to crater from the impact.
As her next swing met his guard, Lancer released his spear entirely, tilting sideways to let her blade pass harmlessly.
Artoria watched, composed, as the golden threads in her vision vanished in vast numbers.
Lancer seized the instant her muscles were committed mid-swing. He snatched his falling spear from below and launched it at her face without hesitation.
One hand released her invisible sword, intercepting the spear mere inches from her nose.
Screeech.
Gauntlet and spear-shaft collided with a screech.
She used the residual momentum to guide his weapon above her head, letting it pass near her scalp.
Lancer created space, his spear spinning back to a stop in his grip.
Artoria levelled her invisible weapon at him.
"Little lady, you're not bad."
He twirled his spear.
"Anything less would be disgraceful for a knight."
"Enough warm-up, then?"
"Yes."
BOOOOM!
Continuous sonic booms ripped around them.
Both Servants moved well beyond the speed of sound.
...
..
.
A deeper part of the Einzbern Forest.
"Rrraagh...."
Heracles glared at the figure ahead, shifting Illya behind him protectively.
"Mad dog, why do you block this king's path? Do you not want to keep your little Master alive until this king decides to send both of you on your way?"
An arrogant voice resounded across the clearing.
A golden-haired man wearing a black biker jacket over a white shirt walked toward them with utter disregard. Each step he took forward, Heracles took one back—shielding Illya behind him like a cornered beast.
"For daring to destroy this king's mood with your ugly face... You can leave your limbs behind and crawl back like a worm."
A single golden portal opened behind him. A Noble Phantasm peered out from within.
One divided into ten. Ten became a hundred. A hundred became thousands.
Thousands of different Noble Phantasms were trained on Heracles instantly.
Even the demigod son of Zeus, even under Mad Enhancement, felt an instinctive, bone-deep danger.
...
..
.
Meanwhile...
ROOOOOOAR!
A tragic roar resounded as another sword with dragon-slaying attribute pierced into the beast.
Countless swords protruded from its onyx-black scales, its intricate blue circuitry beneath them dim and lifeless.
"Finish it off, Archer!"
Rin screamed.
Half her twin-tail was gone. Burns striped her forearms. A cut above her left eye blurred her vision with blood. She'd stopped counting wounds after the seventh one.
She wanted to curse the entire ancestry of that black-haired, red-eyed Master who had sicced this creature on them.
Archer did not reply. Instead...
"I am the bone of my sword."
He pulled his bow back fully, a spiralling sword slowly tracing into existence, nocked and aimed straight at the dragon.
It thrashed in response, sensing mortal danger.
Yet... it hadn't even reacted properly when Archer released the sword.
His voice rang out a moment later.
"Caladbolg..."
Space spiralled.
Everything was torn apart.
Instantly.
...
..
.
***
[200 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter]
[5 chapters ahead on P@tr3on = [email protected]/Not_Aaryan]
...
All the unknown talents Izuru used in this chapter -
[Ultimate Dancer/Pop Sensation]: He'll dance for you, with his silky and fabulous hair, making you fall in love with him without exception.
[Ultimate Gymnast]: Akane Owari's Talent. As a skilled Gymnast, Izuru has an enhanced body, strength, agility, and endurance but this doesn't matter as he is stronger than the original holder of this talent by a tremendous amount.
Archer's skill used in this chapter -
[Caladbolg II: Fake Spiral Sword]: It is a modified version of the original Caladbolg using Reinforcement. He projects it to be used as an arrow rather than a sword, with the improvements aimed to make use of it as an A-rank Broken Phantasm. He chants the first line of Unlimited Blade Works' incantation before firing it and, despite being renamed with the "II", he still only chants "Caladbolg" to activate it.
...
[Authors Thoughts]
All hail our bro Shinji for nerfing Rider so hard that even Izuru can go toe to toe with her.
Anyway... How was it? I hope it was a blast.