Weak?
Rin cursed inwardly. She didn't believe a single word from this black-hearted woman. If she remembered correctly, that Noble Phantasm was one of Avenger's most powerful—so powerful it was Anti-World (EX).
If a Servant with that kind of power was weak, then there was no such thing as a strong Servant in this World...
[Ara? Is Rinrin-chan cursing me in her heart?]
"—!!"
Rin's heart nearly jumped out of her chest. The Omniscient was terrifying....
Not even her thoughts were safe from her gaze...
Of course, Nia couldn't actually read minds—but with Rin's expression, it was obvious to her.
And teasing Rin was just too fun, so she laughed happily on her Throne...
[It's started... Est-chan is fired up.]
"Hm?..."
That was when the air grew heavy and Nia's teasing stopped. Rin lifted her head and couldn't help swallowing hard...
She'd been so focused on winning over Nia that she hadn't noticed Est and Altera were still staring each other down...
With every passing second, their fighting intent intensified.
So much so that the multicolored sword in Altera's hand began to tremble, as if gripped by fear—and ecstasy at the same time....
But that was only natural. She was standing before the Queen of Steel, the highest-ranked Demon Sword.
Before her, no sword could be wielded.
This was her ability—"Howl"...
Unless it was a sword of rank A++ or higher, no blade was worthy of standing before her. All swords had to obey their queen and could not be wielded against her.
One could say Est was the nemesis of every Saber in this war. No treasure in the form of a sword or dagger could be unleashed in front of her...
Not to mention her rank as Queen of Steel had risen even further. She had grown alongside her Master—Yuki had pushed her to a level even higher than her peak in her home World. She was a destroyer of giant planets....
Fortunately for Altera, her Noble Phantasm, Teardrop Photon Ray, was an enhanced version of Photon Ray—the Sword of Mars—with a rank of A++, two ranks higher than the original A. It barely met the conditions to fight Est, the Queen of Steel...
That only ignited Altera's fighting spirit even more.
She had never before faced an opponent whose presence made her sword tremble with fear...
She was the Destroyer of civilizations, and her weapon was the executioner—yet now that executioner was trembling...
"Foreigner?"
Rin asked cautiously, but Est didn't respond. Instead, she began walking toward her opponent.
As Queen of Steel, she would answer any challenger who tried to take her Crown. She already had enough trouble maintaining her position as her Master's sword.
And now there was another who sought her title as Queen. Her eyes locked onto Altera's Teardrop Photon Ray...
The Queen was going to teach this child a lesson....
Altera, of course, didn't back down. She walked toward Est as well, and as time passed, both of them—Altera and Est—broke into a run...
They closed the distance in an instant, and when they met, Altera raised her sword and brought it down with force. Est answered with a punch...
Clang
BOOMMMM
Metal collided, and a crater formed at the same time....
"W-What?! She blocked it with her fist?!"
Watching from a distance, Rin's eyes went wide.
She'd been worried Foreigner would be cut down by Altera. In both speed and strength, Altera surpassed Est.
She thought Foreigner would use her Noble Phantasm to finish Altera. She never imagined she'd block a Noble Phantasm with her own body...
Even more shocking was that the collision sounded like blades crashing together...
But that was only natural. Est was the spirit of the sword—her entire body was a Sword.
She was so hard that her level of endurance couldn't even be measured by a parameter panel....
Rin didn't know that, so she could only stare at the loli in disbelief....
"—!!"
Altera was just as stunned. Neither fist nor sword gave way. This was the first time someone had blocked her blade barehanded without suffering any injury...
Even though Altera's Strength was higher than Est's, Est was a higher-level Sword, allowing her to hold her ground.
More precisely, she was suppressing Teardrop Photon Ray. The multicolored blade trembled under the clash.
"Howl" was effective. Even if Teardrop Photon Ray met the qualifications to challenge Est, that didn't mean it was her equal...
Altera noticed her sword trembling, but using her superior Agility, she quickly pulled it back and swung again.
Her Agility was A, vastly surpassing Est's C. Before Est could strike again, Altera had already slashed her shoulder, aiming to cut her in half...
BOOMMMM
Another collision erupted—but just like before, Teardrop Photon Ray couldn't damage Est...
Altera couldn't believe what she was seeing...
Teardrop Photon Ray had struck Est's shoulder in a downward cut. Against any other Servant, even one wearing armor, it would have left them grievously wounded—or cleaved in two.
Yet Est wasn't wearing armor. Her white outfit remained pristine, and her shoulder wasn't cut at all.
Instead, Teardrop Photon Ray trembled again from the impact, as if it had struck an impossibly hard block of steel, leaving not even a scratch...
Then Est counterattacked. This time she didn't use her fist. She extended her fingers like a blade and slashed at Altera...
"—!!"
Altera's instincts screamed. She leapt backward, barely evading Est's extended fingers.
Barely.
A few strands of her hair didn't escape. The moment Est's fingers touched them, they were sliced clean in half...
Altera saw that and narrowed her eyes. If she hadn't dodged in time, her head would've been severed...
Fortunately, Est's reaction speed was slower than hers....
"..."
An icy silence fell. After two exchanges, Altera didn't take another step. She stared at her opponent, her mind racing for a solution...
Her opponent was a Loli, yet her body was insane. Even she, who possessed a "perfect body," was inferior to this Loli who could clash head-on with her Noble Phantasm—and win...
Faced with that reality, her skills "Natural Body" and "Emblem of the Star" activated at the same time. Her Strength surged, and star patterns lit up across her body...
Strength: B (B++)
Endurance: A (A+)
Agility: A (A+)
Mana: C+
Her magical power dropped, but her parameters rose...
Buzzzz
Just as Altera was about to launch a decisive offensive, Photon Ray in her hand began to tremble again.
But unlike before, when it trembled in fear, this time it trembled for battle...
This was no longer a fight between Altera and Est—it was a battle between the Queen of Steel and Teardrop Photon Ray.
The fact that Teardrop Photon Ray was fighting alongside Altera already broke the rules of a fair challenge for the title. After all, Est didn't have her Master wielding her...
And so, Teardrop Photon Ray refused to let its Master continue fighting.
That was its pride as a Sword. Multicolored lights flared intensely as a beam of colors began to compress...
The star patterns on Altera's body dimmed, and she lowered her gaze to her sword.
She understood...
"As you wish..."
Altera's desire for destruction couldn't be stopped—but her sword was the executioner. Gripping it with both hands, she raised it high as the multicolored light shone even brighter...
"Teardrop...."
Seeing that, Rin's hair stood on end. Altera was about to release her Noble Phantasm...
An Anti-Army/Anti-Fortress treasure rated A++—the destruction would be immense...
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