As Cursed Arm faded away, Lancer leaned on his spear and took several deep breaths to steady himself.
The fight had looked simple—almost impossibly so. But in reality, except for the initial ambush, everything had gone exactly according to Lancer plan. The reason he could pull off such a "perfect" strategy was his massive information advantage.
First, he used the Holy Shroud to suppress Zabaniya. Then, despite knowing the enemy possessed "Protection from Wind," he summoned the Kamaitachi anyway to bait an attack.
Predictably, when he summoned the creatures and started drawing Runes, the enemy used "Protection from Wind" to crush the Kamaitachi and rushed him, unleashing his Noble Phantasm to end it during what he thought was a "casting window."
Cursed Arm had no idea Lancer Runes were just a bluff. He never intended to win with magic. The moment Assassin charged, Lancer decisively summoned his "Gáe Bolg" and delivered the finishing blow.
Even then, the enemy had tried to take him down with him. Luckily, the phoenix flames were intense enough to turn him to ash instantly. Otherwise, even if Lancer won, he wasn't sure he'd survive. The enemy's Noble Phantasm was built on "Satan's Right Arm"—if it had fully triggered, the result... well, it was obvious.
Lancer victory was built entirely on intel.
If he hadn't known about Zabaniya, his heart would've been crushed in the first round. If he hadn't known about "Protection from Wind," the trap wouldn't have worked. If his final strike hadn't been strong enough, the enemy might have forced a double-kill...
On the surface, it looked like a clean sweep, but only Lancer knew how close he'd come to the edge.
[Special Mission: Illegal Servant Summoning (1) — Completed]
[Reward: Saint Quartz x1]
Looking at the strange polyhedral stone in his hand, Lancer couldn't help but smirk. No matter how hard he had to work for it, a win was a win.
However, his face went completely rigid when he saw the second mission.
[Special Mission: Illegal Servant Summoning (2)]
[Requirement: Perform Mana Transfer with a Master]
[Reward: Heroic Spirit Summoning Circle x1]
Mana transfer...
What the hell?!
Did the system glitch?
Lancer rubbed his eyes, thinking he was seeing things, but the text didn't change. His expression became... complicated.
He could understand needing to take out a Servant to "make room" for an illegal summon, but what was this? Does the system get its knowledge from someone's body or something?
Since he was no longer a "Mage-class" purist, he wasn't strictly against the idea, but he wasn't exactly a walking libido either. Sure, he enjoyed that sort of thing, but the idea of doing it with a stranger just to achieve a goal felt wrong. It felt disrespectful to them and himself. Maybe he was just being "old-fashioned"?
Though, looking at it another way, it could be worse. There was no guarantee that any of the Masters in this Holy Grail War were even women...
"Phew..."
He exhaled sharply, looking a bit lost.
"I'll worry about that when I actually find someone."
Whether he was avoiding reality or just figuring he'd cross that bridge when he got to it, Lancer pushed the thought aside and headed toward the source of the earlier explosions.
The real problem wasn't whether he wanted to do it; it was that he hadn't seen a single living human yet.
As Lancer moved toward his destination, the explosions continued. His fight with Cursed Arm hadn't actually lasted that long.
In battle, things are usually either very long or very short. Life and death often come down to a split second. If there's a huge power gap, the strong crush the weak instantly. If they're evenly matched? It becomes a war of attrition—a long game of hiding your own weaknesses while hunting for the enemy's.
Lancer and Cursed Arm fell into the first category.
On paper, Lancer had the stats advantage, but stats aren't everything.
Lancer had the "intel advantage" that the enemy couldn't possibly possess. That was the heaviest weight on the scale.
Exactly—that was his greatest edge!
If that Assassin was Cursed Arm, then the identities of the other Servants were likely obvious too. He just didn't know which two were duking it out—or if it was a full-blown free-for-all.
Slowing down, Lancer moved stealthily, making sure not to make a sound. But when he eagerly peered over the rubble at the battlefield, he froze.
Who was this dark-skinned guy with the weird headpiece?
As far as Lancer knew, this guy wasn't in Fate/stay night. And unlike other worlds, he had only been here for thirty minutes and hadn't done anything yet. So what was going on? Was the world glitching?
He quickly calmed himself. Watching the dark-skinned man charge on a massive skeletal elephant, a strange sense of familiarity washed over him. He should know this guy. But as an "unlucky" player who quit FGO after failing too many gacha pulls to look at fan art, he wasn't that familiar with the male Heroic Spirits...
Wait! There was one male Heroic Spirit he knew very well!
The legendary Grand Cosplayer—Darius III (probably)!!
Back when Lancer played FGO, this guy was one of his most common pulls, right along with the legendary "ten-pull, nine Black Keys" special...
But the figure jumping around on the other side was even more familiar. Though the hood hid his face—
As if sensing Lancer gaze, the hooded Caster snapped his head up. His murderous glare softened for a heartbeat when he saw Lancer. Lancer felt the same shock.
CRASH!!!
A massive hand-axe shattered a nearby building, snapping them both back to reality.
Senpai?!