A divine light flashed in Artoria's azure eyes. Her body swayed, and she quickly flew towards Jeanne, as if a magnificent steed was beneath her feet. She instantly accelerated and burst forward, slashing at Jeanne's waist. Jeanne casually planted her war banner in front of her—
"Clang!"
The battle resumed! The invisible Holy Sword once again intertwined with the war banner!
Artoria's invisible longsword struck with wide, sweeping movements in every blow, representing straightforward, frontal assault techniques. Even when weakened by layers of debuffs, her power still felt like a tyrannosaurus in human skin! Every sword move was direct and came from the most concise and orthodox sword path. From this, one could see how many times she had practiced wielding a sword, how much orthodox knight training she had received. The most concise sword moves and forms were already etched deep into her soul!
Jeanne, on the other hand, went to the complete opposite extreme. The war banner itself was not defined as a weapon, so fighting with a war banner naturally lacked any formal technique. Thus, Jeanne's fighting style was completely free and unrestrained! A young girl who had never received any combat training, after countless battles of life and death, summarized her experience: what is formal, what is essential, what is standard, what is concise? As long as she could survive and kill the enemy, that was enough!
The two girls, moving at high speed, creating ripples in the air, darted through the vast forest. Artoria was surrounded by a clear blue Magic Power, and fierce winds accompanied her, assisting her movements and fighting in conjunction with her. This was because Artoria, as a king during her lifetime, had once traveled to avalon and forged an eternal friendship with the elves. The blessing of the wind spirits was also the source of her noble phantasm, the Wind King Barrier.
"Hooah!"
Aided by the fierce wind, propelled by a roaring Mana Burst, Artoria gripped her invisible Holy Sword with both hands at her waist. Suddenly, a surge of Magic Power appeared, and Artoria's figure seemed to be shot out by compressed gas. Her speed was so great that it even surpassed the eye's ability to track her. Moreover, Artoria's body did not move in a straight line but constantly zig-zagged. The air around her showed many distortions, making it impossible for the eye to pinpoint her exact location. Her figure also seemed ethereal in the distorted air, making one feel as if their vision was playing tricks!
The tearing edge of the Holy Sword, unstoppable, slashed towards the rapidly approaching Jeanne! Facing the Holy Sword of the king of knights, whose momentum was like a rainbow, Jeanne's body twisted in mid-air, and the war banner in her hand came down from the sky! The banner, used as a staff, met the unparalleled sword edge!
Clang!!!
The moment of impact felt as if time had instantly stopped! The two girls, with identical faces yet starkly different, froze in mid-air at the point of collision. The invisible ripples of a Spatial Quake, visible to the naked eye, distorted everything within a hundred-meter radius centered on the collision point! Then—
Boom!
Amidst an explosive sonic boom, the king of knights, clad in azure and silver armor, was sent flying backward like a launched cannonball, blasted away by the black Dragon Witch!
The outcome was clear. Even with Mana Burst, Wind King Barrier, and the assistance of the wind spirits, Artoria was utterly defeated by Jeanne in terms of strength! Without any other additional enhancements, a single strike from the war banner, wielded by her bare arms, was enough to repel a full-power Artoria.
Jeanne's ability parameters were undoubtedly high. The extreme End Magic's correction summoning pushed all her possible potentials to their utmost realization. Her Strength, from the moment of her arrival, was A++, on par with Lancelot's A++ after his Mad Enhancement. During the subsequent process of acquiring her body, she also received enhancement from the Níghòudé blood given to her by Rin. At the same time, the "Dragon Witch" skill, which was originally ineffective on herself, also began to take effect on her!
The true extent of Jeanne's ability parameters at this moment was unknown even to Rin, let alone Jeanne herself.
Artoria, rapidly retreating, used her powerful body control to quickly regain her posture in the unsupported mid-air. She dug her left hand into the ground to cushion the impact, plowing a hundred-meter-long furrow in the earth. As soon as her momentum slowed, she instantly leaped with all her might! She shot up dozens of meters high with a speed that made her seem to vanish. The next moment Artoria left the ground, a war banner with its flag furled was thrown like a javelin, landing precisely where Artoria had just been—
Boom!!!
Despite being a war banner, it possessed the destructive power of a direct hit from a strategic missile! Within a fifty-meter radius, earth, wood, and rocks were overturned, crushed, and scattered throughout the entire forest after flying a hundred meters high! A banner, impaled, stood in the center of the bottom of the crater.
The strong winds caused by the explosion when the war banner landed lingered for a long time. A sudden gust of wind swept through the vast, dense forest. Perhaps the mud, stones, and sand stirred up by the war banner's landing prevented Irisviel from seeing clearly from a distance, but Jeanne, whose vision and dynamic perception far surpassed ordinary people, saw it clearly: Artoria had vanished the instant she leaped!
"Interesting," Jeanne muttered with a wicked smile, her hands empty as she scanned the visible area around her, unable to find Artoria. Jeanne extended her right hand to her right side, her five fingers forming a claw, then slightly clenched it. This was an ability possessed by all Servants: to summon a noble phantasm that had left their side.
And just as Jeanne began her summoning motion, the wind in the forest intensified! A sword-shaped Spatial Quake slashed towards Jeanne!
Clang!
The sound of metal clashing! Jeanne smiled wickedly, looking at the king of knights who had suddenly appeared less than a step in front of her. The Holy Sword, brought down with full force, was somehow unable to descend further, held in a stalemate less than ten centimeters from Jeanne's left neck. What had blocked Artoria's Holy Sword was a rapier that Jeanne had drawn from somewhere with her left hand: the sword of saint catherine!
Life and death in battle were decided in an instant. The next moment the blades collided, the Evil Dragon War Banner had returned to Jeanne's right hand! Jeanne's left hand, holding the sword, broke the stalemate with Artoria, and her right hand, gripping the war banner, swept out in a lightning-fast strike. Artoria, with nowhere left to dodge, was struck on her waist by the war banner!
She was sent flying even faster than during their previous collision! This time, Artoria couldn't cushion the impact and crashed heavily a hundred meters away. The incredibly powerful blow directly shattered the Magic Power-condensed armor on Artoria's waist. The immense force, strong enough to almost cleave Artoria in two, struck her waist. The intense pain and the sound of snapping bones made Artoria, lying amidst the fallen leaves, realize that her pelvis and tailbone must have fractured.
"Damn it! My body below the abdomen is completely out of control!"
Artoria laboriously propped up her upper body with her sword and arm, but her legs did not respond at all to the commands from her brain. Watching the Dragon Witch slowly approach from a hundred meters away, with the posture of a victor looking down on the vanquished, Artoria felt both sorrow and anger.
Is this how it ends?!
"Artoria!" Irisviel, standing in the distance, knew this was her moment to act. She fully activated her Magic Circuits as a Homunculus, releasing Healing Magic from afar. Because a Servant's body is essentially a spiritual body materialized by Magic Power, the healing effect was very high. In a few seconds, Artoria's fractured bones were restored to their original state, and she stood up again, holding her sword, confronting Jeanne.
Jeanne stopped thirty meters in front of Artoria, holding her banner, and looked with a slight smile at Irisviel, who stood a hundred meters away, observing the battlefield from a higher vantage point:
"Do you need to rely on your Master to fight now, Artoria, king of knights?"
Artoria responded with an unyielding and dignified demeanor:
"The Holy Grail War itself is a shared battle between Servant and Master. Trusting and relying on one's partner to fight together is the most fundamental quality."
"Heh heh, I agree," Jeanne said with a smile of approval:
"The Holy Grail War is indeed a battle fought by Servant and Master together, but your partner is simply too weak."
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