"No, Miss Ataegina, we are not enemies..."
As he spoke, Emiya Shirou stepped forward, only to suddenly let out a pained groan. "Ugh..." His legs gave out. Clutching his left hand, he dropped to one knee, his body trembling as if seized by muscle spasms.
"Shirou?!"
Saber's gaze sharpened instantly as she moved to stand in front of him.
"Senpai, what should we do?" Holding her large shield at the very front, Mash glanced back at Ritsuka Fujimaru, a questioning look flashing through her violet eyes.
"Emiya... As I thought, this is the aftereffect of overexerting his mana!"
Half-kneeling beside him, Tohsaka Rin pressed a hand against Shirou's shoulder. Sensing the complete dryness in his already meager Magic Circuits, she immediately pulled out a ruby and crushed it.
Crack—hummm~
"Drink this quickly... It should make you feel better."
Ritsuka also stepped forward, taking out a small vial of magical marrow fluid. He uncapped it and handed it over.
Magical marrow fluid was one of the many Mystic Code items Chaldea had equipped Ritsuka with. It was a miracle drug capable of turning an ordinary human into a magus. Once injected into the spinal cord, it could temporarily form pseudo Magic Circuits.
For a magus with aptitude, it served as an excellent source of mana replenishment during battle.
"Thank you."
The effect was immediate. Shirou's complexion improved noticeably. He nodded, then without hesitation walked toward Durandal.
Saber appeared somewhat at a loss, but after a brief hesitation she followed. Although the opposing Foreigner had not assumed a combat stance, Saber kept her muscles taut, ready to fight at any moment.
"Aren't you afraid I might ambush and kill you?" Durandal asked.
"No. Someone who radiates such sharp battle intent and acts so openly could never be a vile person harboring malicious intent."
If it had been a Caster who treated human lives as fuel for mana, or a Rider who would coldly use innocent civilians as bait at a Master's command...
Shirou would not have wasted a single extra word.
But Durandal was different. Whether it was her refusal to harm innocent students or her upright manner of declaring war face-to-face before striking, all of it greatly lowered Shirou's desire to fight her.
It was just like when he had encountered Illyasviel von Einzbern and her Berserker at the church near Shin-Tō Station.
Though he did not understand why magi resorted to violence upon first meeting, as long as the other party did not harm innocents or resort to despicable methods, even if he had nearly been killed, Shirou could not bring himself to hate them.
That was the kind of person Emiya Shirou was.
"..." Durandal fell silent.
Fortunately she had been assigned to the Homurahara Academy sector. If it had been Senti, that girl would probably have gotten carried away from the praise. Kiana would likely have found plenty to talk about with him.
But...
Durandal tilted her head and let out a soft chuckle. The massive lance gradually lowered to the ground. A bright smile bloomed across her heroic face, radiant as the sun, as if dispelling the surrounding gloom.
"Emiya Shirou, for someone as hopelessly kind as you, I truly don't dislike you. But there's no need to flatter me. I am neither noble nor righteous. I am merely a Valkyrie who uses violence to punish violence."
"If you manage to survive, perhaps one day we will fight side by side in the Empire."
Her inexplicable words left Shirou utterly confused.
"Wait! Miss Ataegina, what exactly do you mean?"
Durandal offered no explanation. Instead, she raised her lance and glanced faintly toward one side of the academy.
"Divine Spirit: Guard!"
As she moved, crystalline blue ripples spread outward. Diamond-shaped energy shields manifested in an instant, dazzling to behold.
At the same time—
Whoosh—!
A crude, rock-like great blade tore through the air and slammed heavily into the energy shield Durandal had deployed.
Rumble—!!
The already shattered athletic field, broken from their earlier clash, cracked apart once more under the impact of that "heavy bomb." It splintered into irregular chunks of earth.
Gravel of all sizes shot in every direction. Shirou, who had been about to continue questioning, was blown off his feet. Only Saber's timely intervention prevented him from being thrown farther.
"That weapon is... Berserker!" Rin breathed, watching the gigantic axe-sword that spun through the air and smashed through the academy wall.
Then, beneath the killing chill of the night sky, a childish voice rang out.
"Hey, are you done talking?"
The young, innocent tone formed a stark contrast with the surrounding devastation, creating an indescribable sense of unease.
A gentle breeze passed through. The dust that obscured the moon was blown aside. At the eastern corner of the academy wall, moonlight poured down, illuminating two sharply contrasting figures on the slope.
One was a small girl dressed in a purple dress, with beautiful red eyes and white hair—like a snow spirit brought to life.
One step behind her stood a massive shadow.
A towering body nearly three meters tall, its exposed upper torso knotted with bulging muscles that inspired pure terror. Around its waist hung a simple armored skirt. Across its dark skin, eerie streams of light flowed like molten lava.
Simply standing there barefoot and unmoving, it exuded overwhelming pressure that tightened every nerve. This was a monster that did not belong to the human world.
Beauty and the Beast?
That was likely the first thought to arise in anyone's mind.
Their previous clash still lingered vividly in memory—Berserker's pure, savage violence.
Saber lowered her stance slightly, shielding Shirou from the monster's terrifying aura.
Mash wore an equally grave expression. She stepped forward, standing shoulder to shoulder with Saber, shield in hand.
"Lady Artoria, please be careful."
"Mm."
Saber nodded. Though she had no recollection of Mash or Ritsuka Fujimaru and did not know why they knew her name, the fluctuations of Mash's Saint Graph felt strangely familiar. For some inexplicable reason, she also felt a sense of trust toward them.
Most importantly—
She was far too familiar with the shield in Mash's hands!
Though she had many questions she wanted answered, Saber understood priorities. Forcing down her doubts, she focused on the immediate threat posed by Berserker and the Foreigner.
Everything else could wait.
"Good evening, everyone. We meet again, big brother... Rin... and that unfamiliar big brother over there."
The snow-spirit-like little girl smiled down at them from above. Her innocent expression sent a chill down Emiya Shirou and Tohsaka Rin's spines.
"Illyasviel von Einzbern." Rin's face darkened at once. That child's tone was truly irritating.
"Hm?" Illya likewise noticed Durandal standing alone against Shirou, Rin, and the others. Judging from the surrounding destruction, she even seemed to hold the upper hand?
"Those parameters..."
To be evenly matched with Berserker—this Servant must have been a great hero in life, perhaps even a demigod as well.
But that thought flashed through Illya's mind only briefly.
"Berserker is the strongest!" she declared proudly, like a little girl showing off her favorite toy.
"Big brother is Illya's prey."
The snow spirit beamed brightly. In a crisp, sweet voice, she said, "Since you dared to steal Illya's prey, I'll just kill you too. Crush her, Berserker~!"
Just as Berserker let out an ear-piercing roar and stepped forward—
"Hah!"
Taking a beating without retaliation was not Durandal's style. She had no interest in listening to a little girl prattle on. Since war had been declared, then she should be prepared for death.
Crackle—!
Silver serpent-like currents surged along her lance, discharging from her hand and rumbling through the air like muffled thunder.
Abdomen tight. Waist twist. Aim. Release!
Hummm—boom—!!
The earth quaked. The thunderous explosion drowned out every other sound between heaven and earth. A horrifying shockwave rolled outward like a tidal surge, overturning everything in its path. The entire Homurahara Academy trembled beneath the sky-piercing impact.
When silence finally returned—
The once lush green slope had vanished. The surrounding soil and stone had either melted into lava under the searing heat or been compressed into glistening glass by the immense pressure.
Where Berserker had stood was now a massive crater dozens of meters wide.
"Oh? Even reduced to a mindless beast, he instinctively threw his Master away at the last moment..."
"A resurrection-type Noble Phantasm..." What truly surprised Durandal, however, was Berserker himself.
She knew better than anyone the output of the mana discharge she had thrown. Berserker's torso had clearly been blasted through, a gaping hole nearly melting his entire upper body.
An ordinary Servant would have been dismissed by such damage.
Yet before her eyes, his wounds were visibly knitting themselves together.
No—that was not mere healing.
It was reconstruction. Restoration.
Not far away, Illya rose unsteadily from the lawn, her face smeared with dirt and scratched from the fall.
"Berserker! How could this be? My Berserker is the strongest! He can't lose!"
"Lady Durandal, you seem to be in rather high spirits tonight."
The sound of high heels stepping across the rubble of the collapsed teaching building echoed softly. Retracting her gaze, Rita lowered the half-conscious Rider and approached Durandal with a smile.
She even lifted her skirt slightly and offered an elegant curtsy—entirely out of place on such a battlefield.
"Rider's Saint Graph is intact. She has been captured."
"Mm. Rita, take Rider back to Ryuudou Temple first. This is the descent vessel chosen by Her Majesty. We cannot allow her to die."
"Understood."
With a slight bow, Rita scooped Rider up in a princess carry. A violet-red transfer array instantly activated beneath her feet.
"That's... Ana?!"
Only now did Ritsuka Fujimaru see clearly. The long purple hair cascading past her knees, the alluring figure clad in a high-exposure purple-black bodysuit—though the body type differed, he was certain.
The one captured alive by the Foreigner was Ana... the companion who had once fought by his side.
...Ana in her adult form.
Perhaps the Ana before him did not know him at all. But the sight of her being taken still ignited anger within Ritsuka.
"Mash, rescue Ana!"
"Yes, Senpai!"
"Wait, Fujimaru Ritsuka! Let's talk this through—"
Step!
Before Shirou could finish, Mash pushed off with her toes, her body shooting forward like an arrow released from the string. Swinging her massive shield, she charged straight at Rita, who was preparing to depart via spatial teleportation.
"You can't do it!"
In the blink of an eye, Durandal flashed before Mash. The lance she raised high was already coated in violently surging mana.
Thud—!
Durandal unleashed a clean, unadorned horizontal sweep.
The mana-enhanced lance collided with the shield. The impact produced a deep, resonant boom like a great bell being struck, as though two enormous boulders had smashed into each other. An invisible shockwave spread outward.
"Too slow!"
Pivoting on the tip of her foot, Durandal spun once and lashed out with a sharp roundhouse kick. It pried open Mash's defensive stance and struck her squarely in the side.
The girl's body shot backward like a cannonball, crashing through several walls in succession before being hurled dozens of meters across the ground.
"Kiana, Fu Hua, Li Sushang. You may begin your operations."
With Rider secured and the Lesser Grail vessel obtained—Chaldea's main attention also tied down here—Durandal transmitted to Kiana and the others waiting in other sectors.
"The battle has only just begun!"
No longer speaking further, Durandal entered a state of absolute focus. All emotion receded as she gripped Hler's Serenity and raised it high.
"Awaken, defender of glory!"
Hummm—!
...
Meanwhile, in Miyama Town, at Ryuudou Temple.
"Your Majesty, Rider has been delivered."
Kneeling on one knee, Rita bowed toward the violet-red crystal tower at the center of the courtyard.
Due to the Honkai energy that had transformed Ryuudou Temple into an environment resembling the Age of Gods, the injuries sustained by Rider's Servant spirit form began to heal rapidly. Her nearly depleted mana quickly refilled.
But none of this was by Rider's will.
She could already feel it—an arrogant, icy will descending upon her, even more overbearing than Athena's.
"Let me see... a beautiful serpent."