Fate: How About a New Savior?

The identical spears sliced through the air, clashing against the golden spear and shoulder armor, sending sparks flying. In terms of speed

The identical spears sliced through the air, clashing against the golden spear and shoulder armor, sending sparks flying.

In terms of speed alone, Karna was on par with the master and disciple before him. But with all three sharing similar agility, dodging one meant leaving an opening for the other.

Then I'll rely on my armor to defend—this was Karna's instantaneous decision.

"He made the perfect call in a split second… As expected of a hero sung in epic poetry."

Shiomi's spear struck Karna's shoulder armor and bounced off. Karna seized the spearhead with one hand while raising his golden spear with the other to block Scáthach's strike.

"I should be the one praising you. To think there would still be such fierce warriors thousands of years in the future," Karna said.

He tried to use the opportunity to wrest Shiomi's weapon away, but their strength was evenly matched. Neither side could overpower the other—far beyond what a typical human Magus could achieve.

"Hero of Charity, have you forgotten something?" Scáthach said with a soft chuckle.

She stepped back half a pace. The tension between the golden and crimson spears suddenly eased, and Shiomi took advantage of the shift. Twisting the spear that Karna was gripping, he sent a trail of sparks flying.

The two spears surged forward again, closing in on Karna from both sides.

"Haaah!"

With a low shout, Karna's flame-shaped Mana erupted, scorching the air with a hint of burning. The pale hero swung his spear and spun, unleashing a swirling firestorm that forced the master and disciple to retreat.

Edison and Helena, still nearby, quickly backed off as well to avoid being caught in the clash.

As Casters, close combat wasn't their forte. Even if they wanted to intervene, it would've had to be from range—but it was obvious they had no place in this kind of fight.

To appear as a Lancer meant Karna's spear skills were worthy of the legendary name he carried.

But he wasn't the only one whose spear techniques had reached the realm of the gods.

Though temporarily pushed back by the blast of flame-shaped Mana, the wielders of the crimson spears surged forward once more like a crashing tide—stabbing, sweeping, and slashing, each strike faster than the last.

Even as Karna parried each blow with fluid precision, the perfectly synchronized attacks of the two began to wear down his defenses.

Their coordination was flawless—when Karna focused on blocking Scáthach's spear, Shiomi would strike, and when Karna turned to block Shiomi, Scáthach attacked. They left him no time to breathe. His defensive perimeter shrank steadily, compressed by two crimson whirlwinds, even hindering the smooth motion of his golden spear.

Karna's counters were limited by range, yet he couldn't gain the distance he needed.

At that moment, Shiomi stepped in with firm footing. With minimal movement, he deflected Karna's attempted counter and thrust directly at his vitals, aiming to slice through an artery or drive the spear into his forehead.

It should've landed.

But Karna narrowly avoided the blow with a slight movement. The blade merely grazed his pale face, leaving a shallow cut.

Yet it wasn't a wasted effort—Scáthach had already shifted her grip to the spear's midpoint and, from the closest possible range, drove it straight toward Karna's heart.

As expected, though she struck his exposed weak point, the attack didn't pierce his body.

"The golden armor isn't as incomplete as it looks," Scáthach murmured with quiet admiration.

This was the defensive Noble Phantasm gifted to Karna by his mother, who had begged the sun god Surya for protection. It was forged from pure light, a defense so powerful that even gods struggled to break it.

"I didn't think I'd be pushed this far. You're worthy of respect, even as enemies," Karna said. The flames around his body flared violently.

He swept his spear wide, taking advantage of the lull between the last offensive and the next. The two crimson spears were knocked aside. A fireball formed in his left hand, and as it burst, it scattered into dozens of smaller flame projectiles that shot toward Shiomi and Scáthach.

It was only a probing attack, but while the two masterfully knocked down every fireball with their spears, it gave Karna the space he needed to retreat.

"Since we're using the same type of weapon, I hold no particular advantage." Karna stood firm, spear in hand.

Shiomi glanced toward his master on the other side, then gripped his own spear with both hands, holding it horizontally in front of him.

"Your technique is sharp, your resolve pure. You're clearly not someone who fights for selfish reasons. As a hero whose name is etched into the annals of human history, you should understand the consequences of Edison's words!"

Karna nodded slightly, acknowledging Shiomi's point without resistance.

"His actions are indeed tantamount to betrayal against human history... but I cannot turn my back on my friends. If your path is truly just, then our roads will surely cross again."

He rejected Shiomi's persuasion without hostility.

"So, what's your next move, Karna?" Scáthach twirled her spear and shifted it behind her back. "On my own, I might not have stood a chance of defeating you. But with my beloved disciple by my side, this might just become your final resting place."

Karna closed his eyes for a brief moment and gave a calm smile, then drove his spear into the ground.

"Clashes of weapons are merely the prelude. A true hero kills with his eyes!"

As he spoke with confidence, Mana surged in his body, gathering in his head—his left eye igniting with flame.

The next moment, a searing beam of light fired directly at Shiomi.

"Tch—!"

Shiomi raised his spear to intercept it, and the beam struck squarely against the shaft, scattering outward in explosive bursts. The impact scorched him the instant it made contact.

Noble Phantasm: "Brahmastra Kundala."

But that wasn't the end of it. Karna turned his head slightly, and a second beam—narrow and razor-sharp—swept toward Scáthach's neck like a blade.

With no time to spare, Scáthach bent backward just enough to dodge, though the blast still singed her hair, the tips now blackened from the heat.

The beam swept across the ground, turning soil and stone alike into molten lava.

By the time Scáthach stood again, Karna had already closed the distance, his Mana surging as he brought down his flame-wreathed spear. The strike was impossible to dodge—if not fatal, it would still do serious damage.

He had caught Scáthach off-guard in a rare opening and moved in for the kill.

But the battlefield didn't belong to her alone.

The moment he targeted one, he became vulnerable to the other.

Vines erupted from the ground, rapidly twisting toward Karna's body, binding him in a tangled mass. But the restraints only lasted a moment before his unleashed Mana incinerated them to ash.

Still, that moment was enough.

When Karna's spear came down, it struck only the earth.