One minute passed, unbeknownst to Naoki and Arthur. The two in the house were unaware that they had become the prey of the hunter.
And when that one minute arrived——
*BANG!* *BANG!*
Without any warning, two bullets suddenly shattered the windows of the house!
Instinctively hugging Naoki and pressing him to the ground, Arthur glanced out the window: "An enemy attack? Is it Archer?"
"You can tell from the sound that it's not Archer. If it were Archer, the sound wouldn't be this small!"
Judging from Gilgamesh's fighting style, at this point, the windows of the house wouldn't just be shot—they would have been turned to dust by the explosion. Moreover, Naoki didn't expect Gilgamesh to launch an attack using such a stealthy method.
In this Holy Grail War, there's only one person who could use such a sneak attack—
"Kiritsugu!"
Realizing who the attacker was, Naoki's mood immediately sank to the bottom. He hadn't expected to encounter the most difficult opponent so soon. At the same time, he couldn't help but feel a bit confused—how did they know he was here?
'And how did Morgan know that Arthur and I would appear at the back of the building during the day?'
Although a Magus can easily locate someone through a medium, that medium must be something connected to Naoki or Arthur, which Kiritsugu and Morgan shouldn't have access to.
So why—no, now isn't the time to think about that!
"Arthur, let's get out of here. Go meet Kayneth-sensei and Lancer as planned."
"Yes, Master!"
Magical armor immediately materialized on Arthur's body, and then he picked up Naoki, kicked the door open, and rushed out of the house!
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
Watching Naoki and Arthur's actions through his binoculars, Kiritsugu switched to Morgan's communication channel: "They're out, begin the operation, Caster."
'Understood.'
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
On the residential street.
Held by Arthur and looking at the empty streets around them, Naoki couldn't help but frown: "The streets are so quiet. Although there aren't many people around at this time, the sound you made when kicking the door was loud enough that it should have attracted attention... a barrier?"
"A barrier on this scale, set up in such a short time... Is that really Caster?"
Naoki was sure that at least an hour ago, there was no barrier nearby, as there were still people moving around outside at that time. In other words, the current situation is that someone has set up a barrier covering the entire residential area in just one hour.
The only one who could do this is Morgan.
'They must have targeted us as their primary objective, aiming to make us leave first?'
Naoki was completely panicked. He clearly intended to be a pacifist, never taking the initiative to attack, and his first thought when attacked was to retreat. So why did Kiritsugu and Morgan come to bother him? Did they really think he was a soft persimmon that could be bullied at will? If so, go find Waver! Isn't that guy easier to mess with? Even softer than Naoki!
*CLANG!*
Just as Naoki was complaining, the loud sound of metal clashing suddenly snapped him back to reality. As he regained his senses, his vision was suddenly engulfed in pitch-black darkness, and the magic circuits throughout his body twitched violently!
This abnormality wasn't caused by a problem with Naoki's body but by the chaotic and abnormal Mana filling the air around him, causing the magic circuits synchronized with it to also become unstable. As for the reason—it was the darkness filling his eyes.
"Berserker—!?"
Unable to hold back his shock, Naoki stared at Lancelot in front of him in disbelief.
"Why is he here?!"
According to Arthur, last night, Kariya and Lancelot forcibly attacked the Tohsaka family and were ultimately defeated by Gilgamesh. Given Gilgamesh's personality, he should have completely killed Lancelot when facing the mad dog that invaded his territory. Why is he here now?
No, moreover, Kariya had previously stated that in this Holy Grail War, he would never attack Naoki and Arthur.
Now—
"ARRRRR————————!"
Before Naoki could think further, Lancelot, emitting black mist all over his body, suddenly roared! The iron rod covered in black patterns in his hand was pulled back and then swung out directly! The sword struck straight toward Naoki, who was being held by Arthur!
*CLANG!*
Swinging the Holy Sword to block the attack again, Arthur couldn't help but frown as he felt the force transmitted to his arm.
Since he had to protect Naoki, he could only hold the Holy Sword with one hand. If he relied solely on one hand, even he would struggle to face Lancelot head-on.
In this case—
*BAM!*
Suddenly, a terrifying burst of magical energy erupted from Arthur's body. The massive Mana rolled out like a roaring wind, and the ground around them shattered into pieces. Empowered by the Mana, Arthur's strength immediately surpassed Lancelot's. He directly cut through the iron rod that had turned into a Noble Phantasm with his sword, then kicked Lancelot hard in the chest!
*BAM!*
Like a ball, Lancelot was kicked away, and several lampposts and walls crumbled and broke one after another.
The distance had been created!
Without hesitation, Arthur immediately planned to take Naoki and leave. However, as he was about to go, a magic circle suddenly appeared above their heads, and a beam of magical light fell straight down!
Facing the magical cannon falling directly above, Arthur simply gathered his Mana into the Holy Sword and swung it upward with all his strength!
*HISSSS!*
The slash of magical energy completely split the magical cannon in two, right down the middle!
Morgan couldn't help but frown as she watched this scene from the sky. "You can break that spell with just one slash? Compared to the Holy Sword I remember, the power of the Holy Sword from another world seems slightly different."
In Morgan's memory, the Holy Sword was powerful, but its strength was ultimately limited until its True Name was released. Without the True Name release, the Holy Sword would only be exceptionally sharp and strong. But the Holy Sword in Arthur's hands...
"Originally, I thought using two Servants might be a bit excessive, but now it seems it's just right."
"Morgan..."
Staring at Morgan appearing in the sky, then glancing at Lancelot, who had just stood up not far away, both Naoki and Arthur's expressions darkened.