Part 151: Saber VS Assassin

Music: Whirlpool of Fate



She wakes up to a strange feeling and goes out into the hallway.
"……Shirou?"
She first thinks that the feeling might be coming from her master.
It is because the strange feeling is coming from Emiya Shirou's room.

"…Geez. Is he still training magic?"
The golden-haired girlSaber sighs.
It's good that he's enthusiastic, but he will collapse unless he rests while he can.
And when she decides to go warn him, she realizes her own mistake.



The string is going into Shirou's room from outside.
A thin string that even the boundary field here did not catch.
If one is to give praise to the one who pulled off such a thing, one also needs to give praise to Saber for noticing such a thing.









She runs up the stone stairs.
The traps she had anticipated are not there.
The mountain gate is within her view, and she should reach it with one more kick from her magical energy-filled legs.
""

But her advance stops right there.
Noit is stopped by the "enemy".



On the stairs leading to the mountain gate…
Stands a Servant.
His name is Sasaki Kojirou.
Servant Assassin, the protector of the Ryudou Temple, wielding the longsword Monohoshizao.

""
Saber's mind is disturbed as she readies her "Invisible Air".
Her Master is on the other side of that mountain gate.
But the Servant in front of her is way too strange.
He reveals his true name willingly.
He does not have a stance, and his cool enmity is transparent.

""
She cannot figure out his power because of his transparency.
She can see his power as a Servant.
Assassin is not a strong Servant, so it should be easy to defeat him. But her instincts are telling her something different…
That she cannot beat him in a normal duel.





"I do not have any business with you. Move, Assassin."
She suppresses the strange unease and glares at Assassin.
There's only one more step until they are both within range.
Up or down.
If either one moves, a fatal attack should be executed.

"Did you not hear me? I told you to move, Assassin."
Her final warning.
The swordsman with a longsword calmly responds to her words.



"I see. So you would like to pass this mountain gate, Saber?"



""
Her green eyes glare at Assassin for asking such a foolish question.
He must like the answer.
The longsword dances through the night in an arc.





He laughs in a cool manner.
"Assassin!"







Saber charges in reply.
The longsword comes down at her at the same moment, and she repels it with her invisible sword.







Their powers are equal.
But that is not an advantage for her.



"Kuh"
She's impatient.
The enemy she must quickly defeat is a strong one that would be hard to beat even without any time constraints.



She grits her teeth and prays in her head.
That opening, that excess part of her, is permeating her body.







The battle does not end.
The mountain gate is too far away.

Music: Stop