I don't own HSDxD and gain no profit from this writing.

Chap 17

The pair of master and servant rode to the Kuoh Hill, for the umpteenth time that they didn't bother to count.

This would be the second time Lancer fought a Berserker in the same grail war. Who would have thought something like this could happen? But anything could happen in a war, and Lancer should prepare for it, including killing the legendary mad warrior tonight. Still it was interesting to know that it's possible to summon an extra servant if one has the resources, something that doesn't often happen in a grail war.

The hero Siegfried, mentioned in the Nibelungenlied, without a doubt would be way more powerful than the first viking Berserker that she had killed.

A sword that slain a dragon and now holds the dragon-slayer power, and the body that bathed in the dragon blood and now becomes invulnerable. Those are what people know the most about him, and the rules of belief will reinforce them.

Now matter how one looked at it, Siegfried was the archenemy of Lancer in this war.

'First it was Rider, and now it was Berserker. What rotten luck to have two dragon-slayer opponents.' Thought Lancer. 'Although I didn't have a chance to have a rematch against Rider, some experience against a dragon-slayer servant would be nice to have now.'

Truth to be told she was not unfamiliar with dragon-slayer warriors, and back in her time Lancer did fight against some of them. However none of them was as strong as Saint George nor Siegfried, and they didn't really try to kill or hunt her like a beast. George's feat of slaying a dragon is famous, but the achievement of the Norse hero against the greedy mad dragon Fafnir is way more recognized than the Christian warrior's. It would certainly increase his power thanks to the fame.

Fafnir was one of the Dragon Kings, while it was weaker than the Red Dragon Emperor which was the source of Lancer's power it was still a powerhouse. Siegfried had slain this foe alone, and that was the proof of his courage and might.

'A shame that he is reduced to a mindless beast now.'

If there was one thing Lancer considered fortunate, then it was the fact that they were fighting in an eastern country so their fame was relatively the same. If this war was to happen in Scandinavia or Germany Siegfried would be too powerful for her to handle. It would be similar to fighting a fusion of Lancelot and Gawain at noon, she assumed.

Tough as it sounded Lancer still looked forward to it. Any true warrior would want to test their might against another one. The thrill of victory was like good wine to the knight.

"... No, what I am thinking?" Lancer shook her head.

She shouldn't let her passion take over like this. The king had a duty, and it was to defeat the enemies to obtain the grail. Nothing more, nothing less.

"They are here… Wow, that guy certainly is strong. I can even feel his presence here." Said Issei.

When the hill entered their view Issei quickly jumped down from Lancer's horse and chased after Freed so she could engage Berserker at this distance. If they were closer to the focal point of the hill they might have to fight both Berserker and Assassin at the same time, which would give them a massive disadvantage.

"May fortune be with you, master!"

"Thanks! Good luck to you too, Lancer!"

If it was a one on one fight then Lancer could manage, but if Assassin joined the fray then she could very well use her iron maidens to hold Lancer in one place and let Berserker finish her, or her master could be killed. Therefore it was important for them to lure Berserker away from the center of the hill, and to make Reynare believe that Archer's master, Tobio, could kill her with his Sacred Gear so that she would need Assassin to protect her.

Still Lancer considered this a good development. Back then she had expected to fight at least 3 to 4 servants, multiple of them at the same time even. However now there were only Berserker and Assassin left. Looking from another perspective this certainly increased her chance at winning.

One more advantage was that they were going to fight outdoors. Previously she had to fight the viking Berserker and Saber in confined space which reduced her freedom of movements a lot. However in this open space a cavalry like Lancer can show her true strength. It was the same reason why she already had her horse with her.

'Hopefully Issei shares the same luck as me.'

She knew he had become stronger thanks to Boosted Gear, and what he had done to his body to gain said strength. But she was worried about him fighting another master. They had seen what Freed could do, and the inexperienced Issei clearly was not trained to fight an expert like him. She was afraid that it would be a repeat of the fight against Akeno. Berserker however, gave her no time to think about it when he opened their battle with his noble phantasm.

Lancer immediately had her mount jump sideways from that attack with the help of Invisible Air and at the same time she had her lance spin to respond with her own beam of light. Thankfully Berserker had lost his skills as a warrior and only used raw strength to compensate, therefore it was possible for Lancer to deal with his attack.

Their attacks clashed which resulted in an explosion, but it was as Tobio said, Caster had reinforced the hill so that it could withstand the battles between servants. Reynare must have kept it up too because if they destroyed the hill the leylines would no longer produce mana for her to use.

Not waiting for Berserker to fire the next wave Lancer became one with her horse. A drill of light that crushed through everything sped toward the enemy. Berserker however was still fast enough to use his noble phantasm to weaken her charge, and then he swung his sword upward to launch Lancer into the air.

Normally this would be a checkmate, as Lancer should be helpless with no land to maneuver. A free target for Berserker to finish with his long range attack. However Duh Stallion was no longer a normal horse, and he had no problem running on air. Lancer once again charged into Berserker, tearing away his wave of destruction with her own storm of light. Yet Berserker still managed to parry her thrust thanks to it being weakened by Balmung.

The next minutes had Lancer and Berserker firing their noble phantasm at each other nonstop. Several times Lancer tried to bait him into a melee fight, but he still chose to use his long range attacks and refused to move away from his position. Even charging at him from different positions didn't budge Berserker. He certainly made it difficult for Lancer to pierce him with her lance to deal real damage since her long range attack didn't seem to trouble Berserker.

The backlash and shockwave from the clashes between the two servants had slowly eroded the durability of the hill. Craters were created and rows of trees were reduced to dust. Still neither of them refused to back down. With a dragon core at Lancer's side and tons of mana crystals at Berserker's side none of them had problems with using their noble phantasm.

Lancer knew prolonging this battle was a horrible idea, but her Instinct told her that even a glazing hit from Berserker would result in a grave wound. In such a battle if she was to fall from her horse it would be her death sentence. Therefore she needed to play it safe to make sure that his wave of light wouldn't even touch her armor.

The two servants continue to stalemate in a contest of firepower until Berserker teleported away.

Instantly Lance knew her master was in danger. There was no reason for Freed to call his servant back unless Issei had managed to corner him. Lancer pushed her horse to gallop to where Issei and Freed were, because when she realized that Issei still hadn't used his command spell to teleport her she knew he had lost his cool.

'There they are!'

She could see Issei trying to run away from Berserker, and Freed who was beaten to a bloody pulp sitting nearby.

Lancer might be the fastest servant in this war, but it was not possible for her to intercept Berserker to save Issei at this range. It would take her 4 seconds to cross the 1000 meters distance from where she was, and 1 more second to block Berserker's sword. However 5 seconds was a generous amount of time for Berserker to kill Issei over a dozen times.

They had run out of time, and the bitter truth was that even if Lancer somehow managed to save Issei they would still be locked in a draw because neither her nor Berserker could finish the other one. Freed however could call Reynare to send Assassin here to kill them both.

Still the king did not give up.

"Duh Stallion, go beyond your limit and charge at the fallen enemy in front of us!" She dismounted and ordered her beloved horse.

If she was to ride it would take her 4 seconds, but if it was just the white horse then he could close that distance in less than 3 seconds.

The ground shook when Berserker pierced through Issei's chest. Duh Stallion's objective however, was the immobile Freed who was laughing like a madman. The white hair psycho still had a vulgar smile on his face even when his skull was crushed under the hooves of her mount.

Had Siegfried not been a Berserker he would recognize the threat of Duh Stallion to his master, but due to the fact that the horse didn't target him he didn't prioritize it. By the time he noticed Duh Stallion and raised the sword to fire his noble phantasm it was too late.

Lancer did not stand still when Duh Stallion charged toward Freed, she used the blessing of the wind along with Mana Burst to further increase her speed so that she could dash to Berserker at the same time, albeit slower than Duh Stallion just 2 seconds.

Thanks to that Berserker was caught off guard, as he turned his attention to Duh Stallion his back was shown to Lancer. A fatal mistake that could not be undone.

Lancer aimed straight at the vulnerable leaf-shape mark on Berserker's back, the tip of her lance pierced through his body and exposed at the chest.

"This is for Duh Stallion!" Lancer used her strength to bring the lance upward, breaking Berserker's head in two. Having his weak spot struck and losing his head Berserker simply disappeared, indicating that their battle was over. But there was nothing Lancer could do to save her beloved white horse which had turned into particles after Balmung burned it (along with Freed, but Lancer didn't care about him), a price that she had to pay in order to finish Berserker.

"Thank you, my loyal steed." Lancer gave it a final word before returning to her master's side to treat him.

Issei was shaking visibly on the ground, a deep purple hole was eating everything in his chest. Foam was forming on his mouth and his eyes were rolling in his head. It didn't require a genius to realize that Issei only had a few minutes left to live. Because his body had turned into more dragon-like this was what happened when he took the attack of the demonic dragon-slayer sword Balmung.

"Stay with me Issei." Lancer quickly pulled out a bottle from her pocket.

[Yes… That should be the last one. You got it right.] Confirmed the red dragon.

Lancer and Issei were back at the ruined shrine of Akeno inside Issei's room which had miraculously survived the battle between Lancer and Saber. Since Akeno had been secured in a safe place so Issei suggested doing this here.

A magic circle had been drawn on the floor. Lancer could recognize some characteristics of it, but her knowledge wasn't enough to replicate the formation. If Ddraig wasn't here they wouldn't be able to produce this circle.

"Alright, next are these."

Issei put two bottles and a package at the center of the magic circle, and then returned to Lancer's side. Lancer herself already had her armor and lance on. She knew what she should do if something went wrong.

"Let's do this." Issei sent the mana into the magic circle.

A flash of red light, and a minute later a being appeared from the magic circle.

Her crimson hair was no different from the color of blood, and the swirling vortex in the center of her inhuman blue-green eyes told the world of what she was. A flower among flowers, she had the charm of a mature lady and the air of a noble. What Lancer couldn't comprehend, was that this supernatural being in front of her was cladded in a luxurious red Japanese kimono. But it was a trivial thing, what happened next was crucial for them.

"Greeting my clients, my name is Rias Gremory. I am a devil from the Pillar Gremory, and tonight I am honored to be summoned by you. You may call me Rias."

The she-devil gave them a curtsy.

'... Strong.' Thought Lancer.

This was the first time she met a devil face to face. Although Merlin himself was born of a reunion between a human and an incubus, Rias Gremory was different from him from what Lancer saw. She estimated that physically this devil was on par with a servant. Additionally she could detect a large amount of mana inside her, and so she needed to be careful if they were to engage in combat.

The two bottles and the package on the floor floated to Rias' hands.

"Two bottles of dragon blood and one million Japanese Yen..." She wasted no time examining the content, fast and thoroughly. "What is it that my clients desire?"

If there was a devil that they could summon to exchange for something, then the Gremory was their best shot. This was what Ddraig explained to Lancer and Issei, and with Issei's blood turning into dragon blood they could use it for a bargain.

"We want two bottles of Phoenix Tear."

The legendary healing remedy. Lancer had only heard it from Merlin, yet she never saw it back when she was alive. Supposingly it could heal any wound, or even attach a separated limb.

The redhead she-devil considered it, and then she replied in a sweet voice. "Normally these alone are not enough for you to obtain two bottles of Phoenix Tear, but I can see that you two are anything but normal. Since this is our first time I am willing to show you the generosity of the Gremory."

From her palm two fancy bottles appeared. Next Rias made them gently fly to Issei's opening hands.

"Here you go, may this not be the last time we see each other." Rias winked at Issei before she finally disappeared.

"Hm… I didn't expect the devils to be this reasonable." Issei cut off the mana to the magic circle and erased it after giving Lance one of the bottles.

[That is because you just make a deal with the Gremory, and she is a benevolent one. You don't want to deal with the ones that obsess with human souls.]

"I wonder if this is a real thing." Lancer opened the lid. "It has no smell."

[True Phoenix Tear has no smell.] Proclaimed the dragon.

"I don't want to be pessimistic but it looks like the only way to test them is through battles." Issei put one bottle into his pocket, and Lancer did the same thing. "Let's go."

Issei's backup plan had worked wonders. Originally Lancer didn't consider getting some healing items for them since they didn't really have the means to. If Issei didn't propose to make a deal with a devil she would have a hard time saving him now.

The drop of Phoenix Tear instantly healed the deep hole on Issei. His skin was no longer pale and his breath had become normal again. However the wound inflicted by dragon-slayer weapons was not to be underestimated, especially when it belonged to a legendary hero. His life was not in danger, but Lancer assumed that it would take some time before Issei could regain his consciousness.

"There is no problem with the mana." Lance confirmed. "Looks like I have to finish it by myself."

Although in this state Issei's body would prioritize his recovery by redirecting every ounce of mana to heal him, the dragon core still produced more than enough for Lancer to fight another servant.

Berserker had been eliminated, the last two servants of this war were Lancer and Assassin. She only needed to win one more battle to achieve her wish.

Lancer glanced at her master one last time before she began to climb the hill.

If she wanted to protect Issei then the best she could do was to kill Assassin and Reynare before they could come here.

It didn't take long before a castle of limestone appeared before Lancer. Lancer stopped around 200 meters in front of it, she observed this castle warily.

"A base to protect themselves huh." The castle was not here when they came to the hill the first time, and this design told Lancer that Caster couldn't be the one who created it.

It couldn't be more obvious whose castle it was, and something was nagging on her mind about it. It was as if Lancer had seen this castle before somewhere, which could be a clue on the true identity of Assassin.

"Seems like that woman secretly has a Territory Creation skill… No, it could be one of her noble phantasms."

Yet in her eyes this castle could not be anything but a giant deathtrap. If she entered it Assassin would completely dominate her in the playfield, which was something Lancer wanted to avoid because she had no time to play that game. She recalled that Tobio said he would destroy the magic circles to stall the process of gathering mana to forcefully summon the grail, but there was no evidence whether it worked or not.

Lancer was no amateur when it came to defending a fortress, so she knew where Assassin and her master would be. That place would also fit the personality of Assassin who used a torture device to attack.

Thus, her course of action was clear.

Her noble phantasm, the lance that rivals the sword, has two modes of attack. The first one is to turn the user into a drill of light when she runs at high speed to charge into the enemy. She was going to use the second mode.

Lancer raised her lance, the metal bands unraveled themselves to reveal the pillar of light underneath. Earlier she couldn't use its full power against Berserker due to the speed of his noble phantasm, but now there was nothing to hold her back.

The wind blew around Lancer as the lance began to spin rapidly, gathering the mana around it in order to reenact the legend.

"My shining light, now it is the time to be released from the Ends of the World! Let us split the Heavens and tether the Earth, Anchor of the Storm!"

The spin turned the lance into a huge cone of light, Lancer took a stance, bracing herself against the might of her noble phantasm. Next she pointed the tip at the castle.

"Rhongomyniad!"

The unstoppable storm of light roared out. It sweeped away everything in its road along with the limestone castle. It continued to soar through the night and for a short time lighted up the sky. There was no explosion, the reinforced hill and the castle simply couldn't withstand Lancer's pillar of light.

Lance had the bands cover her lance to turn back into its dormant state while running to where the castle had been.

"... Nothing?"

It took her by surprise, because Lancer didn't really expect this. The castle had turned into particles after her noble phantasm destroyed it, but there was only a shallow crater afterward.

Earlier she had assumed that Reynare and Assassin would hide in the dungeon of the castle, because that would be the safest place, and it would take a lot of time to find out where they were hiding. Lancer had avoided destroying the dungeon because she was afraid that she would blow up the grail too. However apparently there was no dungeon in the first place.

"...Where are they?" Lancer was confused, she felt like she was missing something, and her Instinct couldn't give her a clear insight.

"Hold on, why is the castle located at the top of the hill?"

Lancer and Issei had gone to talk to Caster before, and from what she remembered their base wasn't at the top of the hill, but somewhere lower. Lancer immediately ran back to the place where mana gathered the most which theoretically should be the focal point of the leylines. It led her to a cave, which was actually hidden by some sort of illusion.

Lancer had a bad feeling when she broke through the protection to get inside the cave. This could be the real hideout of Reynare and Assassin, yet she still couldn't detect Assassin even when she had no problem finding her back at the supermarket.

"Wait, the mana…!"

Indeed there was a huge amount of mana here, but it was not even enough to support a servant. She could feel that the mana was being drained from the leylines, but it just went away for some reasons instead of being concentrated at a single spot. It didn't make any sense to forcefully summon the grail if the mana just disappeared like that.

"Why would they make the mana disappear? No, it feels like they are not even here, but if they aren't here in the first place then-" Lancer turned her head to the east.

"The church!" She gritted her teeth.

Lancer instantly ran back to where Issei was, angered by the fact that Reynare and Assassin had successfully tricked her into believing that they built the castle here to protect themselves while summoning the grail. The truth was that the castle was but a front to distract her. They had been draining the mana from the leylines of this hill, but they must have used some sort of magecraft to send said mana to the church in order to manifest the grail there.

"I should have realized that there is no way they would abandon their original base that easily!"

Lancer had wasted too much time fighting Berserker. If she had assaulted the church first they could have won the war now.

Issei was still unconscious when she returned to him. If Lancer carried Issei then she wouldn't be able to fight Assassin.

With no other choice Lancer hid Issei in the leftover of the forest. No wild animal could hurt him now, but if someone found him in this state then it would be too troublesome.

"Lord Ddraig, please tell my master that I am going to fight Assassin at the church."

[I will do so.]

"Thank you!" Lancer dashed away immediately.

Due to the loss of her mount Lancer had to run to the church. She estimated that it would take her more than an hour at top speed. Servants themselves are faster than humans, but when it comes to travel it is always preferable to have a mount. She also didn't want to go too fast, because she knew Assassin would place traps over there to ambush her. If she just rushed into it she could be killed carelessly.

The closer Lancer was to the church the denser mana she could feel from it, so did the thick smell of blood.

Originally Lancer should have no problem fighting Assassin at full power, however without her ride it would be more dicey. One advantage that Lancer had when she used the melee mode was that the lance would make her incredibly heavy and powerful thanks to the kinetic energy produced when she moves at high speed. No matter how thick or hard Assassin's iron maiden was it couldn't stop Lancer's Rhongomyniad in that state. Yet now Lancer had to execute it with just her legs, which would decrease the speed and weight by 2/3. If she was not careful Assassin could still trap her in the torture device to drain her blood.

The long range mode would have no problem turning Assassin into dust, but it required some time to charge since Lancer had to finish Assassin with a heavy strike as a casual one wouldn't cut it.

"Oh my, I thought it would take more time for you to figure it out. I guess there is a molecule of intelligence in that metal head of yours." Sneered the woman in red.

Assassin was just outside of the church to 'welcome' Lancer to this place.

"But first, let me congratulate you on defeating Berserker. I assume that you have also crushed that bug of a master. Neither my master nor I like him, so we give you our thanks." Assassin said in a 'grateful' voice.

She was still the same woman they met back at the supermarket, except the smell of blood was even thicker. Lancer also noticed that her stats had increased from the last time, and there was something… She couldn't explain it, but Assassin felt 'real' to her.

"Although I must say, who would have thought you self-proclaimed knight has no code of chivalry? Ruining a noble's castle like that." Assassin faked a sigh. "But what can I expect from a barbarian like you? Your parents must have no time to teach a bastard daughter manners."

Lancer's eye twitched, but she held back. She needed to calmly observe Assassin and her surroundings to determine where the traps were and how to shut up this tramp in one move.

"Besides, don't you see that you were too cruel? Killing all the innocent hostages that I have placed in the castle. Tch, tch. What a cold heart you have Lancer."

Lancer stayed silent at Assassin's words. Back then she did consider some other people besides Assassin and Reynare could be in the castle, but she had no time to find out where they were and what they were doing there.

It was more than likely that Assassin was lying to her, and even if there were actual hostages then it wasn't really a big deal. Lancer had ruled as a king for a decade, she was no stranger to civilians getting caught in the crossfire.

Thus, they were simply collateral damage to her, something that couldn't be avoided in a war.

"Big words for a countess who bathed in the blood of hundreds of maidens." Lancer retorted.

"Oh my?" Assassin covered her mouth, but Lancer could see a sinister smile behind her fingers.

"The iron maidens, the limestone castle and the smell of blood. They are associated with you, Lady Elizabeth Bathory."

Assassin, or Lancer should say Elizabeth, responded with a silver bell-like laugh.

"Of course! I am that famous!" Elizabeth said. "You are interesting Lancer. I like you. Why don't you switch sides and become my servant? I promise that I will feed you, dress you and only drink your blood once a week."

Lancer could only chuckle at that proposal.

"I guess bathing in blood too much can cause great harm to one's head. You need to clean that brain of yours before making a coherent conversation Elizabeth."

"Fufu, I really like that side of yours Lancer. A real noble always keeps a clown for entertainment, you will do one greatly."

Both Lancer and Elizabeth laughed at their jokes, but inside they wanted nothing more than the decimation and humiliation of the other party.

Yet Lance knew she couldn't keep this up, she needed to kill Elizabeth as fast as she could to secure the grail. During their talk Lancer didn't see Reynare, so the fallen angel could only hide inside that church.

The ground cracked beneath Lancer's feet as she used Invisible Air as a jumpstart to rush toward Assassin. However the countess was no longer there when the tip of her lance reached her.

'What!?'

Lancer repositioned herself and saw a puddle of blood on the ground, then it reformed into the blood countess.

"Impress yet?" Her enemy taunted.

"Tch!" Lancer gritted her teeth. She thought she could finish Assassin with one sudden strike, but this trick certainly could neutralize her melee attack. If Elizabeth could do this all the time then the only way for Lancer to win would be using Rhongomyniad's long range attack. No kind of liquid could take the heat of the light from the Ends of the World after all.

However using an attack that required charging against an opponent who was on par with her was too risky. Just as Lancer thought about it Assassin had conjured an iron maiden to trap Lancer.

"Hah!" A forcefield of mana exploded around Lancer, breaking the iron maiden into pieces.

"Hm… That strength of yours is so… intoxicating. I hate it when it opposes me, but I love it if it belongs to me."

Lancer saw no reason to reply to Elizabeth, she simply launched a weaker long range attack at her for a test, which was blocked by a giant iron maiden when it was about to reach its target.

Lancer held her breath, if Assassin could block her uncharged attack then this could become a long battle. Any second that Lancer was wasting on figuring out a method to kill Elizabeth was another second Reynare closer to summon the grail.

She took a quick glance at the church, wondering where Reynare could be. Because at this point it would be faster to win if she took some damage from Assassin to kill her master.

"Oh my, you are still thinking that you could get a grail! That is soooo cute Lancer."

Out of her expectation Elizabeth rolled up her right sleeve to show 3 command spells on her arm.

"Wha-?"

"Did I not tell you that you should become my servant? How can I do it if I have no command spell to control you?"

"Impossible! There is no way a servant can get-"

It clicked in Lancer's head, but such a thing was too bitter for her to swallow.

"Yes, it is exactly as you think. My master Reynare has managed to manifest the grail for her and me. She got her wish, and I have reincarnated in this eternal youthful flesh!" A satisfied smile appeared on her face. "The war is already over Lancer, you have lost!"

For a few seconds Lancer's head became blank at those words.

"These are proof that I am alive, Lancer. My master gave them to me because she didn't need them anymore."

Over? She had lost? Just like that?

"If you arrived 30 minutes earlier you could still have a chance, but my master would use 2 command spells to make me kill you instantly anyway." Elizabeth smirked at Lancer, and then she casually waved her hand.

Lancer snapped out of her stupor when she realized that they were still in the middle of a fight, but it was too late. Two gigantic iron maidens appeared on both of her sides and mercilessly devoured her arms.

"AAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!"

Normally this couldn't happen, a servant's limbs were very tough, and Lancer's durability was higher than an average servant. However Assassin's iron maidens were not normal, and they were specially made to hurt females.

Blood should have spurted out from her wounds, but there was none. Assassin would never let that blood waste on the ground, after all she had waited for so long to have it.

"Yes! Yes! This is it! This is the expression that I want to see on your face! Pain! Suffering! Despair! They are so beautiful on you!" Elizabeth relished in her crazy indulgence. "So delicious! Your blood is so much better than every peasant and noble that I have tasted! I cannot have enough of this!"

Was this the end for her? She had let down her guard in the worst time. There was no way Lancer could defend herself if she was to fight Assassin armless, and Assassin would never let her recover from this state.

Lancer would become the blood bag for the countess. That was her end.

"If you want to blame someone, blame God for making that boy summon you, Lancer."

The king looked down, an effort to keep her pride by not showing her misery face in front of the enemy. Then she saw it. She saw her lance which had rolled in between her still standing legs, which coincidentally was pointing toward Assassin.

The image of a certain Irish figure appeared in her mind.

In her naive days the knight had heard of the story, and in a foolish attempt she had tried to practise it. Lancer had never succeeded, but she wouldn't forgive herself if she gave up now.

Lancer bit her lips and held her breath. She held back the mana which was trying to regrow her arms. Instead she focused everything on her legs.

"Let's see, I still need to capture your master if I want to make you my servant. Since you obviously don't want to make a contract with me I will have to keep both you and that boy alive."

Unknown to Elizabeth Lancer was heightening all of her senses and slightly changed the stance to prepare for her last strike. She only had one shot, and she swore on the name of the Welsh Dragon that she would not miss this opportunity.

"-what do you think Lancer? Should I also cut his limbs-"

"DIE YOU ROTTEN WENCH!"

Lancer gathered every ounce of mana inside her to activate Mana Burst on her legs, and she picked up Rhongomyniad with her right foot and kicked it at Assassin who was still enjoying her imaginary future.

A huge iron maiden instantly appeared before Elizabeth to protect her, but it was useless against the all-penetrating power of the lance.

If Assassin had participated in wars back when she was alive, she would have realized that it would be better if she dodged the attack by turning into a puddle of blood. However because she was a sheltered noble Elizabeth didn't have the experience for her body to automatically react to a surprise attack, despite having the means to.

The spinning lance hungrily drilled through Assassin's right chest, breaking apart half of her upper body.

"YOU WRETCH-!"

At the same time the retaliation in the shape of a huge iron maiden caught Lancer who was falling after the kick, but anyone could see that she was grinning before the metal spikes pierced through her body.