Fuyuki City, a remote area.
At this moment, raging flames were wantonly scorching the earth and houses, thick black smoke soaring into the sky. Inside the houses, the residents of Fuyuki City, who had already had their internal organs shattered and died violently in the previous shock, were lying peacefully on their beds.
Perfectly achieving a one-stop service of death, activation, and send-off.
Boom!
Suddenly, a dazzling fire erupted, and a man holding a long spear and wearing armor was blasted away in the fire. After his body crashed through several houses, he slammed heavily into a room.
"Cough cough!"
From within the collapsed wall's hole, an arm suddenly stretched out, grabbed the edge of the wall, and pulled itself out. Fresh blood dripped from the armor onto the scorching ground, making a sizzling sound, and the air was filled with the smell of burning flesh.
"What a truly pathetic and weak fellow."
Cu Chulainn tilted his head and glanced at the man lying dead on the bed, saying with a self-deprecating tone. He seemed to be not much different from the guy lying on the bed right now, and he had already foreseen his defeat.
"Hey! Caster, you hid your strength when you fought me before, are you looking down on me?"
The next second, Cu Chulainn kicked down the wall in front of him and shouted at Lu Minghao, who was flying away in the sky. After only a brief exchange today, he felt the overwhelming gap between himself and the other side, a feeling that was completely absent during their first fight.
"Hide my strength? Not really. I was just testing the power of this body at the time and didn't use magic."
In the sky, Lu Minghao casually raised his hand, and dazzling lightning began to flicker. During the previous battle with Cu Chulainn at the school, he had mostly engaged in close combat with Cu Chulainn, except for casting a large fireball at the beginning.
Since it wasn't his main body, his close combat abilities were definitely affected by Caster's spirit base. At this time, Lu Minghao's strongest method as a Heroic Spirit was destined to be magic.
"I see... so that's how it is!"
Hearing Lu Minghao's words, Cu Chulainn suddenly laughed, but the laughter was filled with self-deprecation. It turned out that he, who had always believed that his strength was no less than Lu Minghao's, was no match for even a Caster who didn't use magic.
He had always regarded Lu Minghao as the kind of mage who specialized in physical magic, trained in martial arts, and specialized in close combat.
"Caster, this will be my strongest strike. You should have heard of the spear's ability, right?"
The next second, Cu Chulainn suddenly dropped to all fours like a beast, assuming a strange posture. The muscles in his legs began to tighten, the ground beneath him constantly cracking, and the entire building let out bursts of wails, as if it would collapse in the next second.
"Gae Bolg, possessing the ability to reverse causality and guaranteed to hit, and the spear blade also has a curse that prevents wounds from healing, right?"
In mid-air, Lu Minghao looked at Cu Chulainn below, who was planning to make a final struggle. When night fell today, he and Rin Tohsaka found the location of Cu Chulainn's master's lair, and then Cu Chulainn fought all the way here with Lu Minghao.
Meanwhile, Rin Tohsaka, as the master, stayed there to fight Cu Chulainn's master one-on-one. If nothing unexpected happened, Rin Tohsaka would be able to successfully deal with Cu Chulainn's master in about ten minutes at most.
Now, Cu Chulainn below should have guessed this result, coupled with the overwhelming difference in strength he displayed in the battle, which made him plan to bet everything on this one strike.
"By the way, Caster, do you know another use of the spear?"
At this time, Cu Chulainn, who had finished accumulating power, suddenly looked up at Lu Minghao and asked, a confident smile on his handsome face, as if he had already seen his spear pierce through Lu Minghao's heart.
"Pierce... Gae Bolg!"
In the next instant, the house under Cu Chulainn's feet directly collapsed. Amidst the scattered rubble, Cu Chulainn's figure appeared in the sky above Lu Minghao's head. Cu Chulainn's body was arched back, and the substantial magic power on the Gae Bolg in his hand was constantly compressed.
As Cu Chulainn's Noble Phantasm was released, the Gae Bolg in his hand flew out with a whoosh. Under the terrifying speed, the air was compressed into a solid by the rapidly flying Gae Bolg, forming a huge cone-shaped air mass that constantly burned on the surface.
It was like a meteorite crashing down, flying towards Lu Minghao's heart, but this thing was much more dangerous than a meteorite. In addition to its extreme attack power, it even had the ability to distort causality, which meant that there was no way to defend against it except head-on.
"An Anti-Army Noble Phantasm?"
Lu Minghao raised his head and looked at the Gae Bolg that appeared in front of him in the blink of an eye. When Cu Chulainn changed from stabbing to throwing, the original Anti-Unit Noble Phantasm was directly sublimated into an Anti-Army Noble Phantasm. If this thing hit the ground, the consequences would not be better than a direct meteorite impact.
"However, that's all it is."
The next second, in Cu Chulainn's puzzled gaze, Lu Minghao on the opposite side didn't dodge or avoid it at all, but opened his arms in a completely undefended posture, allowing his Gae Bolg to pierce through his chest.
"Won?"
Cu Chulainn, who was falling rapidly, looked at Lu Minghao, whose chest was pierced, and said with a hint of uncertainty in his eyes. Originally, he only intended to give Lu Minghao his strongest strike as a farewell gift for his departure from this Holy Grail War.
From beginning to end, he had doubts about whether his strike could kill Lu Minghao, after all, the difference in strength between the two sides was too great.
But the problem now was what was going on? How could Lu Minghao, who had easily crushed him before, suddenly be defeated? This unreal feeling even made Cu Chulainn suspect that he was under a hallucination spell.
Whoosh!
The next second, the Gae Bolg that had pierced through Lu Minghao's body automatically flew back into Cu Chulainn's hand, the tip of the spear still stained with Lu Minghao's blood.
"That's all there is to it."
At this time, in mid-air, Lu Minghao, with a large hole in his chest, suddenly lowered his head and looked at the big hole in his chest with an indifferent expression. Then, in Cu Chulainn's unbelievable gaze, Lu Minghao directly dug out all the flesh around the wound and threw it into the fire below.
Immediately afterward, the wound began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"How is that possible?"
"There's nothing impossible. I just erased my heart. As for the curse that prevents the wound from healing, wouldn't it be fine to just remove the cursed area? It's just a very simple thing."
Looking at Cu Chulainn, who landed on top of a building, Lu Minghao pointed to his completely healed wound and began to explain. There were too many ways to break this kind of limited curse and causality reversal ability.
After all, for Lu Minghao, who didn't act like a human, the heart had long ceased to be a so-called fatal part. Even if it was completely destroyed, Lu Minghao could still jump around.
"Alright, it's my turn now. I took one of your shots head-on earlier, now it's time for you to take one of mine."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Minghao raised his palm, and dazzling lightning flashed. At the same time, the clouds in the sky churned continuously, and huge bolts of lightning, like thunder dragons, converged towards Lu Minghao's palm. In less than a second, a spear entirely composed of lightning appeared in Lu Minghao's hand.
"Let's just call it the Lightning Spear, anyway, names aren't really that important."
Glancing at the spear in his palm, which was entwined with streaks of lightning, Lu Minghao casually gave it a name, then turned the spearhead towards Cu Chulainn.
"Pierce him!"
In an instant, the night sky was illuminated. A bolt of lightning instantly crossed thousands of meters. By the time Cu Chulainn reacted, a numb sensation had already spread across his chest. He lowered his head and saw a huge, silver-white spear had already pierced through his body.
Dazzling lightning continuously spread, and a thick, acrid smell emanated from everywhere the lightning passed.
"Looks like you're still not up to par. But at least it suits your dignity as a lancer, dying by a spear."
Looking at Cu Chulainn below, Lu Minghao said with a hint of regret in his voice. He had originally planned to wait for Cu Chulainn to take his attack, then directly snatch his Spear of Impaling Barbed Dagger and send him away.
But he didn't expect Cu Chulainn to be so useless, directly killed by him.
"However, only five more left. The Great Hero Creation Plan needs to be sped up."
Watching Cu Chulainn gradually dissipate below, Lu Minghao landed on a high-rise building that had been burned and mostly collapsed. His next Master creation plan had to be accelerated, otherwise, he'd finish the Holy Grail War before the Great Hero was even completed.
Then what would be the point of changing Masters?
"So, let me give you all a little bit of help."
Saying that, Lu Minghao looked towards the Emiya residence on the other side of Fuyuki City, a wicked smile appearing on the corner of his mouth.
"Caster, what are you doing?"
A little over ten minutes later, Tohsaka Rin, who had just found Lu Minghao, saw Lu Minghao with a wicked smile on his face amidst the flames. She subconsciously shivered. She didn't know why, but she always felt that whenever Lu Minghao showed that smile, someone was bound to be unlucky.
"It's nothing, Master, let's go."
"Mm."
Watching Lu Minghao stand up and walk towards her, Tohsaka Rin subconsciously took a few steps back and nodded, following him. She had originally wanted Lu Minghao to extinguish the surrounding flames, but at this moment, she didn't know why, but she didn't dare to speak.
In fact, Tohsaka Rin, even though she knew that many people had died in the aftermath of Lu Minghao and Cu Chulainn's battle, was angry at this moment but didn't dare to say it. She could only apologize to them in her heart and promise to revive them after obtaining the Holy Grail.
.........
........
On the other side, the Emiya residence.
At this moment, Emiya Shirou was lying on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. All he could think about was the Holy Grail War, and the fact that Matou Sakura had encountered danger today. If he didn't end this war as soon as possible, many innocent people like Matou Sakura would definitely be affected in the future.
"Kiritsugu, if it were you at this time, what would you do?"
Raising his hand, Emiya Shirou began to mutter to himself. Ever since inheriting Kiritsugu Emiya's dream of becoming a hero of justice, he had been constantly thinking about what he should do, and what kind of choice he would make in the current situation if it were him.
"And my body."
Saying that, Emiya Shirou placed his hand on his heart. The strong and powerful sound of his heartbeat echoed in the room. Ever since he was killed by that man at the school and then saved, Emiya Shirou had more or less noticed the abnormality of his body over such a long period of time.
Whenever his life was threatened, or he fell into anger, his heart would involuntarily begin to beat faster. At the same time, his heart would transform into a huge furnace, and a massive amount of magical energy would continuously pour into his body.
The most obvious thing was that recently, Emiya Shirou felt that his physical fitness was increasing at an unreasonable rate. At first, he was just a relatively strong person among ordinary people, but now he could already last for several minutes when fighting Artoria.
Moreover, this was still under normal circumstances. If he was ever in mortal danger or felt anger, his already powerful physical fitness would be further enhanced, completely stepping into the realm of the superhuman.
In addition, some memories that felt both strange and familiar would occasionally appear in his mind, as if those were things he had once experienced.
"Unlimited Blade Works... What exactly is this?"
The next second, a black and white short sword appeared in Emiya Shirou's hand. Recently, every night in his dreams, he would appear on a sand dune filled with swords. The huge gears in the sky slowly turned, and the endless sandy ground below was filled with all kinds of swords.
And after he woke up, these memories would fade rapidly. The only thing he remembered at the moment was that every time he dreamed, he seemed to hear a man say the name of this unknown space.
"Senpai, are you asleep?"
Suddenly, the voice coming from outside the door interrupted Emiya Shirou's thoughts. The wooden door was pushed open, and Matou Sakura walked in wearing pajamas.
"Sakura, can't you sleep?"
Looking at Matou Sakura walking to the bedside, Emiya Shirou quickly sat up and asked her. After all, something like today happened, and it was normal for Matou Sakura to be afraid to sleep.
"Yeah, Senpai, can I... be with you tonight?"
After saying that, Matou Sakura didn't wait for Emiya Shirou to answer, and pulled open the quilt and crawled in, leaving only half of her head exposed, her pair of big purple eyes looking at him shyly.
".... Just for tonight."
Looking at Matou Sakura's appearance, Emiya Shirou sighed helplessly after a few seconds of silence, and reached out to touch her hair.
"Yeah, thank you, Senpai."
Hearing Emiya Shirou agree to her request, Matou Sakura's big eyes obviously lit up, and then she looked expectantly at Emiya Shirou lying beside her, a pair of soft, boneless little hands quietly hugging Emiya Shirou from behind.
"Senpai......"
The next morning, Artoria, who hadn't slept all night, got up early and sat alone on the corridor, drinking tea and looking at the various plants in the courtyard.
"Saber, good morning."
At this time, Emiya Shirou, looking refreshed, walked out of the room and raised his hand to greet Artoria sitting on the corridor. It's just that he didn't notice the red marks on his neck.
