Souji stood in place, her cold expression tinged with surprise.
"I even used Shukuchi, and she still managed to block it..."
She flicked her sword, and the blood on the blade arced through the air before splattering onto the ground.
As soon as she finished speaking, she took another step forward, closing the distance and slipping into Bazett's blind spot. In an instant, she appeared in front of Bazett, as if she had jumped through dimensions, and slashed toward her abdomen.
Bazett, always on guard against her attacks, was startled by her sudden appearance but didn't panic. She lowered her right arm.
A tearing sound echoed.
As the sound of fabric ripping filled the air, Bazett took several steps back to create distance. Her right arm burned with pain, but her abdomen remained unharmed.
"No problem, I can block it!"
Bazett felt a surge of excitement, and the fighting spirit returned to her eyes.
Souji's lips twitched in frustration.
She actually blocked it!
Her Shukuchi footwork was her strongest trump card aside from her Noble Phantasm. If she had to reveal it, she at least wanted to sever one of her opponent's arms to consider it a satisfactory result.
"This is my first battle since being summoned by my Master. Not only did I fail to defeat the enemy, but I didn't even inflict a decent injury. And my opponent isn't even a Servant—just a modern magus! What will my Master think of me?"
Souji's heart pounded with anxiety.
This is bad!
Will my Master think I'm weak?
"Saber."
"Yes, Master!"
Souji immediately straightened up, her expression like that of an obedient puppy waiting for instructions.
"You are permitted to use your Noble Phantasm."
Roy's voice, altered by magecraft, reached her.
"...Understood!"
Souji bit her lip, reluctantly agreeing.
To use a Noble Phantasm against a modern magus—her Master must have been utterly desperate and deeply disappointed in her!
Souji turned her gaze back to Bazett, only to find that the woman had somehow returned to where she had been standing earlier. She picked up the metal cylinder she had left on the ground and poured out a black sphere made of some unknown mineral.
A showdown of trump cards, huh?
Souji took a deep breath and reassumed the Hira Seigan stance, her feet spread wide.
The Hira Seigan stance was a common posture in Japanese swordsmanship, one of the mid-level stances. The blade was held at eye level, with the tip pointing at the opponent's left eye.
This posture made it easy for others to assume she intended to use a thrusting attack.
Souji, historically, was a master of the Hira Seigan stance. Her most famous technique was the thrust, which eventually became her Noble Phantasm.
"Prepare yourself for the flash of my secret sword! One step surpasses sound, two steps transcend space—"
Across from her, Bazett's face broke into a confident smile.
"A showdown of trump cards? Unfortunately, the moment we entered this state, I had already won!"
The black sphere floated up from her hand, ancient runes glowing on its surface. The sphere's form blurred, and a short sword, only about a foot long, extended from within.
Electric sparks danced along the blade, creating faint rings of smoke.
Bazett threw a punch, aiming to strike the sphere.
"Ugh!"
Suddenly, a searing pain, like an electric shock, shot through her body without warning.
Bazett grunted, her eyes widening in disbelief as her body collapsed to the ground uncontrollably.
The runes on the sphere dimmed, and it fell to the ground, now as dull as any ordinary mineral.
"That's enough, Saber. Stop here."
"Three Sta—huh?!"
Souji stumbled, nearly falling over.
When she regained her composure, she saw that Bazett had somehow collapsed to the ground.
"Ma~ster~~!"
The girl swordsman looked at her Master with a pout, her voice dragging out the last syllable.
"Ah, ah—!"
Bazett lay on the ground, clutching her chest tightly.
An unknown pain radiated from her chest, her heart pounding as if in rebellion. Her body was immobilized by the intense pain, and she could only let out agonized groans from her throat.
Her pitiful state was a far cry from her earlier heroic demeanor.
"Master, how did you do that?"
Souji scanned the area, finding no other enemies, and finally relaxed her guard.
She turned to look at Roy, only to be stunned.
Roy's eyes now glowed with a gem-like brilliance, black and white light swirling within them. Those contradictory, demonic pupils were fixed unblinkingly on Bazett.
Mystic Eyes?
Roy didn't answer Souji's question. Instead, he stepped forward, approaching the fallen Bazett.
"Master?"
"It's fine."
Seeing Souji's concerned gaze, Roy waved his hand dismissively.
He crouched down in front of Bazett and reached out.
Then he began unbuttoning Bazett's suit.
Souji: ┌(.Д.)┐
After unbuttoning the suit, Roy moved on to unbuttoning Bazett's shirt.
"Ma-Master?!"
Souji covered her eyes but couldn't help peeking through her fingers.
What is Master doing?
Is he going to... assault her because she's pretty?
Stop! My Master can't be this depraved!
With both the suit and shirt unbuttoned, Bazett's wine-red bra and large swathes of pale skin were exposed.
Bazett's figure was even more curvaceous than expected, her chest fully on display, and below, her toned abs were visible. Her body was clearly well-trained, the kind that could bend into many positions.
Bazett, overwhelmed by the pain, couldn't speak. She could only glare as Roy did as he pleased.
Roy looked down at Bazett's body and slowly reached toward her chest.
Souji: (*/ω＼*)
"Found it."
Roy's hand landed on Bazett's heart.
On the pale skin over her heart was a green magical crest.
Crunch!
Roy clenched his hand, and the crest shattered.
"Ahhhh!!"
Bazett's eyes bulged, and she let out a blood-curdling scream before her eyes rolled back, and she passed out.
"Let's go."
Roy picked up a piece of the shattered magical crest and grabbed Bazett's metal cylinder before turning to head down the mountain.
"Aren't we going to kill her?"
Souji glanced at the unconscious Bazett on the ground.
"No need."
Souji nodded, then stepped forward to cover Bazett's exposed chest before following Roy down the mountain.
The thirteen layers of barriers they encountered along the way ignored them completely.
"Is this the power of Master's Mystic Eyes?"
"Yes."
When they reached the foot of Mount Enzou, Roy closed his eyes, looking somewhat exhausted.
"These are my unique Mystic Eyes. There isn't a single record in human history of anything exactly like them, so I gave them a name—Mystic Eyes of Inverted Moon."
"Their effect is simple and easy to understand—they control all magecraft."
***
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