"'Fate/Zero' takes place during the Fourth Holy Grail War. Among all the Heroic Spirits, the one whose ending is perhaps the most regrettable is the eternally unlucky Lancer."
"His true identity is Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, the chief warrior of the Fianna Knights of Ireland from Celtic mythology, known as the 'Peerless Hero' and the 'Knight of the Radiant Face.'"
"In one branch of Celtic legend, he shared a famous forbidden romance with Gráinne, the Irish princess and fiancée of his lord, Fionn mac Cumhaill. He deeply loved Gráinne after she became his wife and greatly admired her determination to abandon her royal status, wealth, and honor to follow her convictions."
"It was precisely because of this forbidden love that his lord sent people to hunt him down. Diarmuid treasured friendship above all else, so even while being relentlessly pursued, he steadfastly refused to fight his former companions."
"The legend of Diarmuid Ua Duibhne's romance is widely believed to be one of the inspirations for the tragic love triangle involving King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, and Lancelot. Thus, under the rules of the Type-Moon universe, Diarmuid possesses abilities that comprehensively suppress Berserker Lancelot during the Fourth Holy Grail War."
"Given this background, Diarmuid did not participate in the Holy Grail War for the Grail itself. Instead, he regretted never having fully served his lord in his previous life. His sole reason for joining the war was to fulfill the duty he failed to complete before—to serve a master as a knight until the very end."
"Unfortunately, this noble aspiration was met with suspicion by his Master, Kayneth. To make matters worse, Kayneth's fiancée fell in love with him. As a result, Diarmuid was never trusted from the very beginning and was destined to fail in his wish to serve a lord loyally."
"No wonder his Luck is E-rank. It's like the entire world is conspiring against him."
That night, Kamiyā Yuu entered the consciousness space and continued planning the 'Fate/Zero' novel.
Thinking about all the unfortunate events awaiting Lancer later in the story, he could not help feeling a trace of schadenfreude.
Throughout the various Holy Grail Wars, Heroic Spirits summoned as Lancers almost always suffered far worse fates than Servants of other classes.
After being repeatedly mocked in the comedy anime 'Carnival Phantasm', it had practically become an immutable law of the universe.
Looking at it now, even if 'Fate/Zero' fell into Kamiyā Yuu's hands, he still could not change Lancer's fate.
He intended to replace Diarmuid entirely with another Heroic Spirit, effectively erasing all of Diarmuid's role in the story.
Whether that was fortunate or unfortunate was difficult to say.
Among all the Servants, Lancer had originally received some of the least screen time.
The one scene most people remembered was when he voluntarily destroyed his Noble Phantasm to heal Saber's wounded hand, allowing her to unleash Excalibur and destroy the gigantic sea monster summoned by Caster.
For a long time, Kamiyā Yuu had one particular regret regarding the Type-Moon franchise.
Heroic Spirits from China received far too little attention.
Despite China's vast and ancient cultural heritage, with countless legends and historical figures, the Type-Moon series featured surprisingly few notable Chinese Heroic Spirits.
Among the more famous examples were:
Li Shuwen, the legendary Bajiquan master from the late Qing Dynasty.
Lu Bu, the greatest warrior of the 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms'.
Zhuge Liang, the greatest strategist.
Jing Ke, the assassin who attempted to kill the King of Qin.
Yet most of them appeared only in side stories or games as supporting characters.
This time, Kamiyā Yuu wanted to replace Diarmuid's position as Lancer with a famous general from the Three Kingdoms era:
Zhao Yun.
In many ways, Zhao Yun's experiences resembled those of Diarmuid.
Setting aside the embellishments of the 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms', Zhao Yun repeatedly saved Liu Shan's life and yet was never fully appreciated, ultimately dying in frustration.
From various perspectives, Zhao Yun could participate in this Holy Grail War for much the same reason as Diarmuid—to fulfill the regret of never having completely served his lord.
"Zhao Yun, huh... Should I genderbend him?"
Kamiyā Yuu suddenly considered a very important question.
After serious thought, he abandoned the idea.
'Fate/Zero' was, after all, a serious story.
Having one "King Arthur can't possibly be a girl" was enough.
Having two would inevitably undermine the atmosphere.
"As for his parameters... Hmm, I'll use Heroic Spirit Lu Bu as a reference."
"Zhao Yun and Lu Bu were roughly comparable as military generals, so their combat capabilities shouldn't differ too much."
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**Zhao Yun**
**Strength:** A
**Endurance:** A+
**Agility:** A+
**Mana:** C
**Luck:** E
**Noble Phantasm:** A
### Class Skills
**Magic Resistance: B**
Possesses relatively high Magic Resistance.
Can effortlessly nullify magecraft below the level of three verses.
Even great magecraft and ritual spells have difficulty inflicting damage upon him.
**Riding: A**
A general who frequently fought on horseback during his life.
After becoming a Servant, he possesses A-rank Riding.
Capable of skillfully handling a wide variety of mounts, including ancient chariots and modern land vehicles.
### Personal Skills
**Instinct: A**
Instinct is the ability to instantly determine the optimal course of action during combat.
At A-rank, it approaches the realm of future prediction.
Allows him to predict trajectories through intuition and subtle environmental cues, enabling him to evade firearms and projectile weapons.
Also, it partially negates visual and auditory interference.
**Mind's Eye (True): B**
A superior combat insight cultivated through training and discipline.
Allows him to accurately predict enemy actions and overcome dangerous situations.
Even when cornered, he can calmly assess both himself and his opponent and identify a path to survival.
**Charisma: C**
Known as the "Ever-Victorious General."
Having fought countless battles without defeat, he possesses the ability to command armies effectively.
Even in desperate circumstances, the troops under his command maintain exceptionally high morale.
### Noble Phantasm
**Spear of Certain Victory — Gentian Bright Silver Spear**
**Rank:** A–A+
**Type:** Anti-Unit / Anti-Army Noble Phantasm
**Range:** 2–99
**Maximum Targets:** 100,000
**Description**
Zhao Yun's most powerful Noble Phantasm.
Possesses three attributes:
**Demon-Breaking** — Directly destroys defenses constructed from magical energy.
**Unyielding Defeat** — Wounds inflicted upon enemies cannot heal.
**Gentian Courage** — Temporarily strengthens Zhao Yun's parameters, raising all attributes by one level.
While in the Gentian state, he may unleash the ultimate strike known as **Army-Breaking Blow**.
**Legend**
"With the Qinghong Sword in his left hand and the Bright Silver Spear in his right, riding a White Dragon Horse, clad in gleaming white armor and helmet, he charged alone through Changban Slope to rescue his lord. He cut a path back and forth through two hundred thousand soldiers of Cao Cao's army, unstoppable and unmatched.
Such a mighty warrior was none other than Zhao Yun of Changshan, Zhao Zilong!
And the full name of his spear was the Gentian Bright Silver Spear."