Vol. 2 Chapter 52: Mordred Activates Her Skill: “Kill Steal”

"I entrust all of my will for victory to the sword of the King of Knights. I'm counting on you, Saber."

Lancer spoke with a smile.

A surge of fiery conviction welled up in Saber's chest. This was it—the will she had clung to throughout this Holy Grail War. The code of the knight.

At last, Saber felt as though she had found her kindred. Her battle spirit flared.

She clenched her left hand and struck her breastplate with a thud, declaring solemnly:

"I swear to you, Lancer—I will bring victory with this sword!"

With her vow, the Invisible Air dispersed in a whirlwind, revealing the radiant blade beneath.

The sacred golden sword—its brilliance dispelling the surrounding darkness as if it were forged from victory itself.

"So that's Saber's trump card..."

Zhuge Liang pushed up his glasses, eyes fixed on the sword as he began calculating the magnitude of the magic power it radiated.

{An anti-fortress Noble Phantasm, is it? The range... a beam of light, perhaps? Judging from its magical output, somewhere around rank A to A+.}

{The range will become clear upon activation, but... this weapon will drain a vast amount of mana. It won't be enough to destroy the King's Army in one go. Besides, Saber's intelligence is... less than ideal. Not much of a threat. But her Master—that one is a problem. If I'm right, he's nearby...}

Zhuge Liang's eyes swept the area, searching for the presence of Kiritsugu Emiya—but no luck. Giving up the chase, he returned to his original position and waved to the messenger as if nothing had happened.

"No time to waste. Have the soldier relay the message to Rider—get the sea demon into position."

Saber nodded. "Please do."

And just then—an ill omen split the sky.

A venomous voice echoed down from above.

"...Artoria..."

The Black Knight had abandoned his duel with Gilgamesh. He now surged forth aboard a corrupted jet-black fighter plane, headed directly toward Saber.

Seeing this, Gilgamesh merely smirked and halted her Vimana, amused by the developing drama.

The twisted warplane dove, and from its underbelly, a six-barreled 20mm Vulcan cannon roared to life—

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Zhuge Liang was the first to react. He immediately dove aside—yet even in this dire moment, he carefully masked the strength of a Servant, feigning the flailing panic of a fragile teenager.

The messenger dove atop him, shielding Zhuge Liang with his own body.

Saber and Lancer lightly tapped the ground with their toes and dispersed in opposite directions.

The magic-charged bullets tore into the riverbank, blasting stone and earth into the air.

The Black Knight wheeled the aircraft again, bearing down on Saber.

"Lancer!" Zhuge Liang shouted. "Use your Noble Phantasm—stop Berserker!"

Lancer didn't hesitate. He timed it perfectly, leaping onto the fighter just as it skimmed the ground.

"The prank ends here!!"

With a shout, he plunged Gáe Buidhe, the Crimson Rose of Exorcism, straight into the jet engine.

The weapon's anti-magic power surged—instantly canceling the plane's transformation. Lancer yanked his lance free and jumped off just in time.

Berserker, unable to control the now-exploding aircraft, was blasted backward by the shockwave.

"Tch... A mad dog is still just a mad dog—brainless and rabid."

Gilgamesh poured herself a glass of wine atop her levitating throne, Vimana. She rose slowly into the sky, looking down on the battlefield like a spectator at an opera.

"Very well. Entertain this king—show me how you rid yourselves of that wretched monster."

At long last, Berserker had fallen to Lancer. With the threat removed, Saber could finally gather her strength in peace and prepare to unleash her ultimate attack.

At that precise moment, Zhuge Liang dispatched a messenger to inform the King of Conquerors—it was time to position the Sea Demon precisely where it needed to be.

The world, warped by the thoughts of Heroic Spirits, suddenly snapped back to its rightful form. First came a shimmering mirage—a twisted shadow blanketing the night sky—before the monstrous figure took tangible form, its vast, grotesque body crashing into the river below. It landed exactly where Kongming had designated.

With the Sea Demon's reemergence, the Gordius Wheel blazed across the sky once more. The King of Conquerors, battered and bloodied, bore all the signs of a brutal clash within the Reality Marble. Yet even so, his presence remained as commanding as ever.

Without a word, the King of Conquerors charged toward the riverbank atop his chariot, seized Zhuge Liang by the collar, and hoisted him aboard.

Then—without so much as a backward glance—he retreated into the night, lightning crackling in his wake.

"Rider?! Where are you going?!" Lancer shouted from behind.

Iskandar didn't answer. The Gordius Wheel vanished into the distance in a blaze of sparks and thunder.

"Let him be," Saber said coldly. "That tyrant has always walked a path beyond our understanding."

With that, she raised her holy sword and strode into the shallows. A sacred radiance enveloped the blade—the crystallized prayer of every warrior who had ever longed for glory and died in battle. Saber raised her weapon high.

"EX—"

A crimson blur erupted from the void.

A knight clad in heavy red-and-white armor crashed into Saber at full force, knocking her aside mid-swing.

Thrown off balance, Saber's Noble Phantasm fizzled out, and she landed squarely on her backside in the water. Her furious gaze locked onto the very last person she wanted to see.

"Mordred, you—!"

The brat said nothing.

She merely took her place where Saber had just stood, and, without a word, drew the blade that had once defied her king.

"This is the wicked blade that destroyed my noble father—Clarent Blood Arthur!"

Light surged—fierce and unrelenting.

But this time, it was not the sanctified glow of a vow for victory—it was rebellion incarnate, the evil light of a blade raised against its rightful sovereign.

Saber sat dumbfounded, her face flushed as if slapped in front of a crowd.

The malevolent crimson mana surged forth, transmuting into a beam of destruction. Though technically an anti-army Noble Phantasm, in the hands of its rightful wielder, its force surpassed that of an anti-fortress weapon. The scarlet torrent erupted, devouring both the Sea Demon and the night itself in a vortex of annihilation.

The boiling river vaporized around them. The massive, nightmarish creature—the very embodiment of madness—had its every cell scalded and scoured by the searing blast. It shrieked in agony as it dissolved into ash.

Mordred, having obliterated the Sea Demon, gave Saber a side glance. Not a single word. Just a curt snort—and she sheathed her demonic sword.

But then, from the distant sky—

A crimson meteor blazed across the heavens.

A cry—raw, primal, anguished—split the night. All eyes turned to the descending light streaking toward the river.