The raging flames easily melted the reinforced concrete walls, and the scorching air even made Rin Tohsaka, standing on the rooftop, feel short of breath. Each inhalation felt like her body was being burned.
However, Rin Tohsaka couldn't care less about that at this moment, her eyes fixed on the fierce battle below. In just a few seconds, the battle between the two Servants had entered a fever pitch, both sides colliding at speeds beyond the limits of human eyesight.
Even with Rin Tohsaka using magic to enhance her dynamic vision, she could only barely make out the rapidly flashing shadows below.
"This is the battle between Servants?"
Rin Tohsaka stared blankly at the large pits that suddenly appeared on the ground below and the surrounding collapsed walls. This had completely exceeded the battle concept of ordinary mages, and Rin Tohsaka knew that this was just a probing exercise between the two sides.
At this moment, neither the suddenly appearing Servant nor Lu Minghao had gotten serious yet.
"Just who the hell are you?"
Lancer supported himself with one hand to dodge the incoming fist, quickly retreating to create distance and assume a fighting stance, looking up at Lu Minghao opposite him, who had dozens of large fireballs surrounding him.
After a brief exchange, Lancer was already confused by Lu Minghao's fighting style. If he said the other party was a Caster, but with those powerful fists and the fighting skills that faintly suppressed him in close combat, it didn't seem like something a Caster should have.
At this moment, Lancer was even starting to wonder if Lu Minghao was a Berserker who hadn't activated his Mad Enhancement.
"Didn't you already hear my Master call me that before? I am a Caster."
As soon as the words fell, Lu Minghao stomped heavily on the ground with his already charged-up feet, and the concrete ground instantly sank, with small cracks spreading around, while Lu Minghao's figure had already appeared in front of Lancer.
A reckless smile appeared on his handsome face as he swung his fist. With terrifying power, the air was compressed into substance, and it smashed down heavily with a shrill whistling sound.
Boom!
The next second, a roar like a bomb explosion rang out, and the visible shockwave even dispersed the surrounding flames. At the same time, a figure flew out rapidly, only stopping after crashing through several layers of walls.
"Cough cough! You're telling me you're a Caster? What Caster has such terrifying power?"
In the damaged hole, Lancer pushed away the concrete blocks pressing on his body, looking down at the fist mark in the sunken armor. This was the power a Caster should have? It was almost the same as a Berserker.
"As a mage, isn't it normal to have a little bit of strength and close combat skills?"
As he spoke, Lu Minghao looked down at the wound on his fist that was bleeding non-stop. As expected of the top three strongest Lancers in this world, he was actually able to attack himself at the last moment in that kind of situation.
"Tch! Clearly a Caster, but acting like a warrior!"
Lancer spat unhappily, then, holding his spear, turned into a stream of light and rushed towards Lu Minghao. The crimson spear in his hand faintly glowed, as if blood was flowing on it.
"A Caster without the close combat ability to go toe-to-toe with a warrior isn't a good Caster!"
As soon as the words fell, the shadows under Lu Minghao's feet instantly twisted, and dozens of jet-black chains shot out like vipers. At the same time, the flames around Lu Minghao gathered on his palm, condensing into a solid fist.
In mid-air, Lancer easily dodged the incoming chains with speed and agility exceeding human limits. Even if there were a few that he couldn't dodge, they were easily shattered by the spear in his hand, successfully reaching Lu Minghao's front.
The next second, the spear tip and fist collided in mid-air, and tangible magic power began to expand with the two as the center. The ground under their feet began to collapse like tofu, and in just a few seconds, a large pit ten meters in diameter and several meters deep appeared in place.
Crack!
Just then, suddenly a cracking sound came from the side, and a huge shadow enveloped the two. A building next to them, which was already teetering in the previous explosion, could no longer hold on after the foundation was damaged at this moment.
"Caster!"
On the rooftop, Rin Tohsaka noticed the collapsing building at the first moment, half of her body leaning out of the edge of the rooftop, shouting at Lu Minghao below, reminding him of the danger.
However, facing Rin Tohsaka's reminder, the two who were fighting at this moment completely ignored it, but instead increased the injection of magic power, and the raging magic power directly accelerated the speed of the building's collapse.
"Heh, goodbye to you!"
Just as the building was about to hit the two, Lu Minghao suddenly looked up at the Lancer opposite him, waved to him with his free hand, and then suddenly exerted force to push the spear tip away, his body sinking into the shadows.
Boom!
The next second, the sound of the building collapsing rang out, and the entire school began to shake. Residents within a dozen kilometers who were originally preparing to sleep were frightened and subconsciously looked in the direction of the sound.
"You're not dead from that? Your body strength is pretty good."
Next to the collapsed building, in the shadows that kept shaking under the firelight, Lu Minghao's body gradually emerged, then he looked at the top of the collapsed building where Lancer, whose hand was dripping blood, was standing.
"Just where did you come from, Servant? I've never heard of a mage whose close combat is no worse than mine?"
"Before becoming a Servant, I was just an inconspicuous Demon King. As for you, it's easy to guess. Among the Lancers, there won't be more than three in the world with this level. Plus your beast-like speed and intuition, I'm afraid there's only one person."
"Well said, Caster!"
Seeing that Lu Minghao had already guessed his identity, Cu Chulainn was too lazy to hide his identity any longer, his body slowly squatting down, holding the crimson spear high and posing to throw, with terrifying magic power constantly gathering on the spear tip.
"Cu Chulainn, known as the 'Child of Light' in life, a famous hero. And the spear in your hand should be the legendary 'Gae Bolg', which is bound to pierce the enemy's heart as long as its power is released, and the blade also has a curse that prevents the wound from healing."
Facing Cu Chulainn, who was preparing to activate his Noble Phantasm, Lu Minghao just looked at him calmly, stating all of his identity as a Servant.
"Since you know so much, how about Caster try to take my sure-kill attack!"
"Come on."
As soon as Lu Minghao's words fell, Cu Chulainn's magic power had accumulated to the limit, the ground under his feet began to sink little by little, the air seemed to have solidified at this moment, and the originally burning flames also began to extinguish.
"Not good!"
On the rooftop, even across a distance of several hundred meters, Rin Tohsaka clearly sensed the terrifying magic power below, and the expression on her face couldn't help but become serious. You must know that for Servants, Noble Phantasms are the strongest power.
Once the Noble Phantasm is released, it means that in this battle, only the victor will walk out of here alive.
Rin Tohsaka never expected to encounter such a situation on the second night after summoning her Servant. Even though she clearly knew of Lu Minghao's strength, she couldn't help but worry when facing the power of a Servant's Noble Phantasm.
"Pierce!"
Crimson magical lightning erupted from Cu Chulainn's body, and the ground beneath his feet cracked incessantly. The Gáe Bolg above his head emitted a bright red light.
At the same time, Lu Minghao felt a sense of being locked on. His instincts told him that the next attack would definitely hit him. This was a causal lock; the result had been predetermined the moment Cu Chulainn unleashed his Noble Phantasm.
The thrown Gáe Bolg was the cause, and piercing Lu Minghao's heart was the effect.
"Snap!"
"Who's there!"
Just as Cu Chulainn's Noble Phantasm was about to be fully released, a faint footstep suddenly came from not far away. If it were anyone else, they definitely wouldn't have noticed it, but the two people present were not ordinary people. Cu Chulainn, who was already focused, immediately turned his head to look over there.
Immediately, he exerted force on his feet, and his body turned into a black line as he chased after it.
"A student? Why is there still a student at school at this hour?"
On the rooftop, Rin Tohsaka also noticed the figure that had just left. Although she didn't see the face clearly, the clothes were undoubtedly a school uniform. But why was there still a student at school at this hour?
"Caster, catch me!"
The next second, Rin Tohsaka took a few steps back, accelerated, and jumped directly from the rooftop, shouting loudly at Lu Minghao, who was standing on the ground below.
"Understood."
Looking at Rin Tohsaka falling rapidly, Lu Minghao glanced at her skirt, which was lifted by the rising air current. There was no anti-physics or Newton-weeping skirt here. Then, he snapped his fingers, and a series of shadows pulled her over when Rin Tohsaka was only one meter away from the ground.
"Caster, are you okay?"
As soon as she stood firm, Rin Tohsaka hurriedly approached Lu Minghao and carefully examined his body. After confirming that there were no injuries, she still asked again with concern.
"I'm fine, but it's a bit of a pity."
As he spoke, Lu Minghao lowered his head and looked at the position of his chest. As the flesh squirmed, a hole appeared there. Just now, Lu Minghao wanted to try to actively fuse his heart the moment he was pierced by Gáe Bolg.
To see if the sure-hit effect of Gáe Bolg would still be useful without a heart.
"Caster, your body?"
Beside him, Rin Tohsaka also saw the abnormality in Lu Minghao's body and hurriedly approached, asking with a worried expression. However, the next second, after seeing it clearly, Rin Tohsaka's expression became strange. The area around the wound was not fleshy tissue at all.
Instead, it was a layer of jelly-like liquid.
"This? It's a little trick. Besides, humans can't learn this kind of trick unless you, Master, don't plan to be human anymore."
"I don't want to!"
Upon hearing 'not being human,' Rin Tohsaka immediately shook her head and refused. She was currently quite satisfied with her race and had no interest in changing to another.
"By the way, where's Lancer?"
The next second, Rin Tohsaka looked around. After not finding Cu Chulainn, she turned her head and asked Lu Minghao.
"He probably went to hunt down that student just now. After all, the Holy Grail War can't be known by ordinary people, so he went to silence him."
"What! Silence him?"
Rin Tohsaka reacted instantly, her expression changing drastically as she looked in the direction Cu Chulainn had left. The reason she chose to investigate the barrier's effects at night was to avoid implicating others, but now...
"Caster, catch up! I'll be there soon!"
After saying that, Rin Tohsaka ignored Lu Minghao and turned around, running in that direction.
"Even though you've decided to participate in the Holy Grail War, you're still so innocently adorable, Master. Although including you, there are only fourteen people, this is a war."
Watching Rin Tohsaka's departing figure, Lu Minghao said expressionlessly in the firelight. However, he then merged into the shadows and chased after her. After all, the next thing was the summoning of the last Servant in the Holy Grail War.
That Saber from Great Britain, no, it should be King Arthur.
Lu Minghao was quite curious about this and might even be able to take the opportunity to kill the other party directly.
........
At the same time, inside a building located on the edge of the school, Shirou Emiya lay weakly on the ground. The piercing pain in his chest made him groan subconsciously, his eyes filled with disbelief as he looked at the man in front of him who was shaking the blood off his spear.
'Why... He can't die yet. He still has an unfinished dream, the dream that man entrusted to him at the last moment of his life.'
"Looks like it can only go this far today?"
Cu Chulainn glanced at the dying boy on the ground, walked to the window, and looked at the police cars and fire trucks that were rushing towards this place. In this situation, it was no longer possible to continue fighting Caster. Plus, there were Master's orders, so he could only retreat for now.
"Then goodbye, Caster. Next time, I will definitely kill you and bring victory to Master!"
Looking at Rin Tohsaka and Lu Minghao, who were running towards this place outside the window, Cu Chulainn turned around and left.
..........
"....... Caster, go after Lancer. At least find out the Master's identity, or it will be a loss."
A few minutes later, Rin Tohsaka, who had just arrived in the corridor, noticed the figure lying in a pool of blood not far away. She fell into silence. After a few seconds, she looked at her shadow and said without any emotion in her voice.
Although Rin Tohsaka had prepared herself for the student's death before arriving, Rin Tohsaka's heart was still inevitably affected when she really saw this scene.
Then, she asked Lu Minghao to chase after Cu Chulainn to find out his Master's identity. Otherwise, this dead student would be too innocent. At least, his death should have some value, so Rin Tohsaka's heart would feel better.
"Oh, it seems you're pretty good too, Master?"
Lu Minghao walked out of the shadows, looking at Rin Tohsaka in front of him. Originally, he thought Rin Tohsaka would order him to save that guy, but she asked him to chase Cu Chulainn to find out his Master's identity. It seems that she has a bit of a Magus look.
Of course, Lu Minghao knew that Rin Tohsaka would do this entirely because she didn't know that Shirou Emiya was lying not far away.
Rin Tohsaka didn't pay attention to Lu Minghao's mood at this time, but slowly walked towards the dead student not far away. She knew that the other party died here entirely because of her responsibility, and she didn't intend to escape.
At least, before leaving, she had to find out the identity of the dead student and compensate the other party's family if there was a chance in the future.
