Chapter 837: Interpreting the Warrior 

"So there are real warriors out there after all."

The female Servant's voice carried both the coldness of iron and the fervor of flame.

"In that case, I can't treat you like just another foot soldier."

Then, that coldness and fervor became reality—iron from the sword and fire from magic. This move alone would be enough to destroy ninety-nine percent of modern magus.

Of course, Shinji was not among that ninety-nine but rather the remaining one percent. Such an attack wouldn't kill him, not even slow him down. Wielding the Scyther, he charged forward, slicing through the flames and clashing fiercely with the female warrior's sword.

At this moment, the woman who embodied both a warrior and a magus finally revealed her true power. Her sword was enchanted, and her physical strength, agility, reaction speed—everything was enhanced to the fullest. Moreover, various types of magecraft continually swirled around her, constantly unleashing different spells.

These spells included direct attacks like fire and lightning, as well as indirect effects like weakening and slowing down, all of which worked in tandem with the straight sword in her hand to launch an all-encompassing assault on Shinji.

In terms of pure swordsmanship or magical prowess, the woman wasn't particularly exceptional. Her swordsmanship wasn't on par with heroes like Siegfried, Artoria, or Lancelot, who were renowned for their sword skills. Her magecraft didn't surpass that of Semiramis, who had more than a passing understanding of the mystical arts. None of her skills reached the level of being inhuman, divine, or miraculous.

But when she integrated these human-level skills and fused them into one, the combat strength she could display was in no way inferior to that of Servants whose singular skills had transcended humanity.

This was how the female Servant, who called herself Hephaestion, fought—by fusion.

Her honed swordsmanship ensured she wouldn't easily lose against any warrior.

Her versatile magecraft gave her the edge in a duel with other magus.

When fused, these elements were like the perfect blend of tequila and Cointreau, complementing and enhancing each other, culminating in the creation of the world-famous cocktail, Margarita.

She offered her interpretation of what it meant to be a warrior.

You may not have extraordinary skills, and you may not possess superior attributes, but you must fully unleash everything you have, without holding anything back.

Swordsmanship and magecraft conflict?

You can't balance physical strength and magic power?

Those are just excuses, excuses you make to justify your weakness.

If you know you're weak but don't strive to improve, if you're aware of your flaws but don't try to fix them, then you don't deserve to call yourself a warrior.

Once you choose the path of the warrior, you must fight—against your enemies, but more importantly, against yourself.

Only when you've given everything you have will you walk away from the battlefield alive. If you can't, then dying in defeat will leave no regrets.

The female warrior's face, her sword, and her magecraft were all imbued with this unwavering belief—this was her warrior's soul. It was precisely because Lorelei did not understand this that she was restricted in her battle against the female Servant. It wasn't an issue of skill or ability but a difference in mindset.

Now, this warrior's soul, along with the female Servant's entire being, enveloped Shinji.

Indeed, even though it was a one-on-one fight, the female Servant managed to make it feel like she was surrounding him.

Her sword was in front, her magecraft was at his back.

Magecraft attacked from below, while the sword came from above.

Magecraft assaulted him from both front and back, while swordsmanship flanked him from left and right—as the attacks grew faster and more complex, Shinji couldn't even comprehend how a single sword was managing to flank him from both sides.

Reversing his grip on the Scythe, he used the handle to protect the back of his head and the blade to block the attack from the right. At the same time, he raised his left hand, using the Divine GunBlade installed on his left arm to fend off the attack from the left. Then, he took the fire magecraft head-on with his chest.

The power of Age of Gods-level magecraft far surpassed that of modern-day spells. Even though Shinji's magic resistance was comparable to a C-rank Magic Resistance, it still wasn't enough to fully block the attack, and he was blasted away, nearly flying out of the unshielded train car.

"Shinji!"

Waver cried out.

Lorelei's right hand gripped the handle of her magic whip so tightly that the contact points between her fingers and the leather turned white.

Only Arcueid, with her carefree attitude, continued to snack, seemingly unconcerned.

In truth, there was no need to worry. Shinji, who had stopped himself at the edge of the train, showed no signs of being overwhelmed or anxious. Instead, he laughed.

"Hahaha, so that's how it is. So there's a way like this. I owe you my thanks, warrior who calls herself Hephaestion."

"Why thank me?" asked the female Servant, who had not pursued her attack after being interrupted by him.

"Because you've opened a new door for me. You've shown me the path I should take. Now, at last, I can see it—the hope of challenging her!"

Her—his Shishou, Scáthach. Defeating her was the ultimate goal of Shinji's life.

However, until just now, Shinji had seen no hope.

An incomplete Third Magic, a jumbled mix of martial techniques that fell short of mastery, Rune magic that barely reached a high level, and the power of All Generations stemming from his origin—though each of these would be enough to serve as an heirloom in the world of mysticism, they were still far from sufficient to defeat the queen who had slain gods and stood at the pinnacle of human history.

Scáthach had reached the dual peaks of warrior and magus, possessed the Wisdom of Dún Scáith obtained from being outside the world, an eternal body that countless curses couldn't kill, and had accumulated millennia of training. The gap between them was despairingly vast.

Countless simulations, countless calculations—every conclusion pointed to one possibility: only by completing the Third Magic could he have a chance at defeating Scáthach. But the task of completing the Third Magic might be even more challenging than defeating Scáthach herself.

After all, in history, only one person had ever completed the Third Magic, while those on Scáthach's level were not as rare. Although Shinji was recognized by Zelretch as the person closest to achieving the Third Magic, being close was not the same as completion.

One hundred percent and ninety-nine percent are only one percent apart, but that one percent marks a qualitative difference, a gap greater than that between human limitations and the inhuman.

But now things were different. Shinji had found a way to reach that peak—from the battle just now, he had learned to fuse everything in his life, his strengths, his weaknesses—everything that was part of him—and unleash it all together.

It's you, the whole person, who fights, not just a fragment of you. Use your entire being to fight; use every aspect of your existence—such brilliance cannot be ignored by anyone.