Chapter 268: Chapter 268 - Vol. 4 - Chapter 58: Elusive as a Phantom
Mind's Eye (True) is a combat instinct forged through relentless training, allowing a warrior to calmly assess their own condition, read the
Mind's Eye (True) is a combat instinct forged through relentless training, allowing a warrior to calmly assess their own condition, read the enemy's moves, and find a path to survival. For Fergus, this skill ranked at A when he was a Servant—an exceptionally rare level.
And now, it had saved his life once again.
When Fergus spun around to block the incoming red spear, shock crossed his face—it was Shiomi who had attacked him.
What followed was a coordinated assault from both front and rear. Fergus had to spin his body and swing his greatsword in wide, forceful arcs just to fend off the dual assault, retreating onto the jagged ice below.
Sharp enough to demand careful steps even from those in shoes, the ice didn't faze Fergus one bit, despite him being barefoot save for some wrappings. He moved as easily as if walking on solid ground.
"Two people?" Fergus muttered in confusion.
Shiomi casually waggled his index finger and clicked his tongue. "Two? Come on. With your strength, you can take on a hundred men, right? Then five should be nothing."
The taunting tone barely faded when three more Tenkei Shiomis emerged from the surrounding shadows, sealing off Fergus's escape in five directions.
"So that's it—Magecraft clones as strong as the original." Scáthach narrowed her eyes at the scene. "I don't recall ever teaching you that kind of spell."
Then it must have come from the Witch of Britannia. She understood at once.
Shiomi was already astonishingly fast, and with the addition of short-range teleportation Magecraft, even Fergus—with his exceptional Mind's Eye—was quickly pushed to his limits against five simultaneous attackers.
Under normal circumstances, the best move would be to identify and target the real one. But as Scáthach had surmised, each clone was nearly indistinguishable from the original in both form and speed. In such a high-speed melee, even Fergus couldn't tell them apart.
And unlike a team of individuals, with its inherent mix of coordination levels, a set of clones operated on a single unified strategy—seamlessly and flawlessly.
Before long, Fergus's heavily muscled frame was covered in wounds, large and small. He glanced at the red spears storming in like a relentless tide, unable to guess when Shiomi would unleash that Noble Phantasm, the one guaranteed to strike true.
So...
"Didn't expect to get pushed this far... but this just makes things more exciting!" Fergus dodged three spears crashing down and broke into a fierce grin. "Now I'm really fired up!"
He raised his massive sword.
"Noble Phantasm—release!"
Caladbolg began to spin as he drove it into the fractured ice.
"Caladbolg!"
The Rainbow Sword—also called the Spiral Rainbow Sword.
A wide-area Anti-Army Noble Phantasm, it was said that with a single swing, its light could cleave through three hills.
When the Nameless Guardian projected it as an arrow, it had already deviated from its intended usage.
Now unleashed properly, the rotating blade erupted in a swirl of rainbow-colored light, tearing open the ice and rending the ground. Scáthach leapt to higher ground, landing at a safer distance.
She looked toward the opposite side of the town. The battle there had reached a fever pitch, and with only two Servants—Fionn and Diarmuid—they were clearly losing ground.
Would they choose to fight to the bitter end, or consider another option? Scáthach pondered quietly, then turned her gaze back to the battlefield below, where her beloved student stood.
Under the true name release of Caladbolg, the clones were swept away by a surge of immense magical energy, vanishing one after another.
"...Three, four..."
Fergus counted the disappearing figures, then locked eyes on the last one remaining.
"Five!"
As the Noble Phantasm's release concluded, the ice-covered town lay in ruin. Seizing the moment while Shiomi was still off-balance from dodging the attack, Fergus charged in with his massive sword, aiming straight for his body.
The thick blade of Caladbolg pierced through his chest, blood spraying in all directions.
"It's over," Fergus declared, brimming with confidence.
"This spear was a gift from my master. Its name is—Gáe Bolg: Soaring Spear That Strikes with Death!"
That deathly voice rang out once more. Fergus's instincts flared—something was wrong. He tried to dodge, but midway through turning, he found he couldn't move at all.
Then, from the corner of his eye, he spotted the reason.
The first spear had sealed off the space around him, and the second was hurtling straight for his heart.
The one he had impaled—gored through the chest with blood spilling everywhere—was just a clone.
In the chaos, Shiomi had slipped away and released a fifth clone, lying in wait for Fergus to drop his guard after thinking he'd wiped them all out with his Noble Phantasm. That was when he struck with a killing blow.
A split second from death—even Fergus felt defeat was inevitable.
But then, from an unexpected angle, a wyvern burst onto the scene and rammed into Shiomi.
However, once the red spear's true name was released, its fate-sealing strike could not be evaded—unless the target possessed incredible luck or instinctive perception sharp enough to dodge at the last instant.
As it happened, Fergus's Luck was on the lower side, only rated C, but when combined with his exceptional Mind's Eye and the wyvern disrupting the spear's trajectory by interfering with the first strike, it was just barely enough.
Shiomi flipped back, narrowly avoiding the charging wyvern, and watched as the red spear slipped from his grip.
Unfortunately, Fergus had avoided a direct hit to the heart, escaping with just a pierced torso.
Clutching onto the wyvern's talons, Fergus was lifted into the air.
"Lord Fergus!" A voice called out from above. Two more wyverns circled overhead. One of them was ridden by a blond man, who called down, "Perfect timing. The tide's against us. Let's fall back for now."
Shiomi narrowed his eyes, scanning the two riders. One of them, dressed slightly differently, was Diarmuid. That meant the other had to be Fionn.
Their ambush had failed, and now outnumbered, they had no intention of dragging the fight out.
Fergus, clutching his bleeding chest, hauled himself onto the wyvern's back.
"Almost didn't make it out of that one... You've taken in a monster for a student, Queen Scáthach." Fergus cast a glance at Scáthach's smirking face. "Now that was a battle to get the blood pumping..."
Diarmuid looked toward Shiomi, raising his bloodstained sword with excitement.
"I didn't expect to run into you at this Singularity—and I've brought records from another place as well. Next time, I'll make sure to challenge you with both these cursed blades."
"Anytime," Shiomi replied, raising his hand as the red spear flew back to his grip.
The three turned their wyverns and prepared to retreat. Shiomi knew there was no stopping them now, and pursuing blindly might only lead straight into a waiting Celtic army.
Just then, Fergus turned his head back and, through gritted teeth, called out:
"...By the way, for someone as strong as you, I'll share that intel you asked about earlier..."
...
(100 Chapters Ahead)
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