Chapter 9: Working up a Sweat

Fuck, this is terrifying.

Being on the receiving end of Artoria's glare was a very harrowing experience. It felt as if she was staring directly into his soul and peering at all of his little secrets. Facing her in combat was even worse. It was an experience similar to an ant challenging an elephant.

How he wished the emotion called fear never existed. Unfortunately, the homunculus race did not come with any emotion suppression traits, unlike with certain undead races. Lohan had to feel the full brunt of the terror that Artoria's mere presence brought about.

Still, he refused to back down now.

This was his mess, his responsibility. He needed to deal with the consequences that his actions had caused.

Besides, he was Lohan, the sole guild member of Lostalgia. Although he was not an inherently prideful individual, he at least had enough self-respect to not immediately give up at the first sign of trouble. For his own sake and for the guild's sake, he could not show weakness now.

Lohan gritted his teeth as he slowly picked himself up from the ground. He watched carefully as Artoria once again reared her right foot back and lowered her center of gravity. She was planning to attack again. He could see it not only in her actions but also in her eyes; a steely glare practically glowing with focus. He refused to give her the chance.

Now, let's see if this works…

He widened his stance as motes of ephemeral blue light suddenly danced around him. The lights gathered together, forming a thin outline of a short sword.

It was a composite spell, one of his all-time favorites, from back during his gaming days.

Composite spells were custom player-created spells. They were created by combining various spells together to form an entirely new spell. There was practically no limit to composite spells, thanks mostly to Yggdrasil's surprisingly intuitive magic system. Regardless of the game's various problems, when it came to customization, Yggdrasil was uncontested.

First, Lohan used molding magic in order to form the shape of the projectile. Next, he used [Field of Force] to give the projectile solid mass. Then, he attached [Target Lock] and [Self-Propulsion] onto the projectile to ensure that the spell would hit and pack enough power to actually do damage. Finally, he prepared a simple [Burst] in order to help launch the projectile towards its intended target.

The end product was the composite spell known as [Sword Bullet].

It was a spell based off of a certain anime character from the Fate franchise. Lohan was a fan of throwing swords at his enemies, so he decided to emulate that ideology. Considering his prior successes with the spell, he liked to think that he did a pretty decent job.

For a single projectile spell, [Sword Bullet] was decently strong, but Lohan almost never went with just one…

It took less than a second for one 'sword' to finish forming. After another second, more blue motes of light danced in the air. In a blink of an eye, over two dozen sword-shaped magic projectiles had formed above his head.

Each weapon was shaped like a sword, but they did not share a uniform appearance. Some swords were large and imposing, more akin to giant steel slabs than actual weapons, while others were thin and pointy, like enlarged sewing needles. Regardless of shape, each and every sword was half-transparent, almost as if they did not truly exist within this world. They also emanated a faint-bluish glow; wisps of mana practically roiling off their sharpened edges.

If a single [Sword Bullet] was enough to deal with one mid-tier mob, then this advanced version was created specifically to take on entire armies. The name of this new spell was [Sword Barrel].

Lohan paused for a moment, secretly admiring his spell.

While he had used [Sword Barrel] plenty of times in the game, the sensation he felt from activating the spell in real life was completely different. The magic was palpable. He could feel it on his skin, the slight vibrations in the air practically humming an invisible tune that sent shivers running down his spine.

He glanced over towards the other side of the field. Artoria had also stopped to watch his magic, but instead of the awe that was present on Lohan's face, she looked at the spell with a weary, analytical glare.

After giving Artoria a moment's consideration, he decided to apply [Triple Maximize] to his original spell. Almost immediately, the number of magic swords tripled, reaching a number close to eighty. In addition, the swords began erratically vibrating, the mana within them threatening to break free.

Lohan quickly straightened his back and pointed a hand towards his adversary. With a voice that he did not know he possessed, Lohan uttered the spell's activation chant and simultaneously declared his intentions to the blonde-haired king of knights.

To challenge the hero who once wielded the strongest holy sword.

To declare himself equal to the knight who now brandished one of the strongest divine constructs in the universe.

To show to the world the might of Lostalgia's one and only guild leader.

"Trigger set, target locked. Sword Barrel, Full Open!"

The magically created sword-shaped projectiles flew at a speed far faster than he thought possible.

Artoria managed to dodge the first few, but she quickly discovered that her actions were entirely pointless. To her surprise, the swords that she initially avoided suddenly changed directions. The flying projectiles altered their trajectory until they were once again facing her direction.

Left with no other choice, Artoria decided to simply take the spell head-on. She swung her spear and directly shattered each magical construct that flew her way.

That was fine. Lohan had expected something similar from her. That was why he had set the swords to explode upon contact.

BOOOOOM!

As if on cue, dull explosions filled the air.

He watched as a transparent sword exploded when it made direct contact with the shaft of Artoria's spear. The blast was not enough to lift her off her feet, but it did manage to push her back by a few inches, directly onto the path of another sword bullet. For the next few seconds, Artoria was bombarded by over eighty magically created sword projectiles.

The final attack came in the form of ten consecutive sword bullets streaking down from up above her. Each sword, each explosion drove her further into the hard earth. After the tenth and final blast, Artoria was practically knee-deep in dirt.

Still, despite taking the full brunt of his most favored spell, Artoria was left almost entirely unharmed. The only thing remotely out of place about her was the dirt stain that mired her once immaculate skirt/combat outfit.

Although he had prepared himself for failure, it was still a bit disheartening to see his spell's less than desirable outcome. He needed more time to think of a better plan, but Artoria was already pulling herself free from her earthen prison.

Lohan decided to stall her with another salvo of [Sword Barrel].

It worked well enough as a distraction.

Unfortunately, the second round was not as effective as the first.

The moment Artoria heard the familiar sound of whistling air, she immediately made her move.

Instead of heading straight for him like last time, Artoria juked to the right. She ran around the perimeter of the field, narrowly avoiding the magical projectiles. None hit her, but it did not end there. The swords quickly changed trajectories and chased after her, acting akin to homing missiles.

Lohan couldn't help but be impressed. His swords were fast, extremely so. Even now with his enhanced reaction time, he could barely keep track of them. Somehow, Artoria managed to outrun them, or at the very least, keep pace with them. He never realized she was this fast.

Artoria zigzagged across the courtyard, streaks of blue trailing her way. She briefly glanced back, taking stock of the swords that chased after her. There were more than 180 projectiles aimed her way. That was over twice as many as last time.

She did not panic. In fact, the corners of her lips slightly twitched upward.

Without warning, she changed directions. The blonde-haired King of Knights made a beeline towards Lostalgia's only guild member.

Lohan briefly wondered what she was planning when he caught sight of the magic swords trailing behind her. His eyes widened in panic. Unfortunately, he was unable to do anything about it as a more immediate danger suddenly presented itself. In less than a second, Artoria was on top of him.

She lifted her spear up in preparation for a piercing strike. Lohan reflexively braced himself, but instead of the attack he was expecting, she twirled the spear around until part of the spear's shaft was behind him. She then used the spear as leverage in order to throw him backward, towards the oncoming projectiles.

If that wasn't enough, Artoria herself followed up with her own attack. She spun around on her heel and rushed back towards him. This time, her spear was already in mid-thrust.

Lohan was stuck between a rock and a hard place and not even his enhanced reaction time could save him from the pain that was about to come.

"Full Rotation!"

He barely heard Artoria scream out the name of a familiar skill, before his whole world was dyed in fiery pain.

The first of the magic swords struck him in the chest. Next came Artoria's own attack. He felt a ripping sensation blossom from the center of his back. It was a bit difficult to describe, but one thing was certain: it hurt a lot more than the magic swords. It was like the difference between someone using a kitchen knife versus someone using an industrial drill. The former pierced and penetrated, while the latter completely eviscerated everything in its path.

He was almost positive that the blow had shattered his spine, but he did not even have the luxury to think about his future life as a paralyzed cripple before he was propelled forward by the attack's residual power. Unfortunately, he was sent directly into the remaining barrage of swords.

Lohan attempted to block them, but he quickly found himself overwhelmed by the sheer volume. He cursed himself for using [Triple Maximize]. Now that he was on the receiving end of his own attacks, he discovered just how utterly annoying they could be.

The barrage lasted less than five seconds, but by the end of it, Lohan's entire body was littered in numerous sword wounds. He dropped to the ground, barely resisting the pained groan that threatened to leak out from his throat.

After what felt like an eternity, he finally retained enough of his bearings to look up at his opponent.

She was pointing her spear towards his direction, but other than that, she made no move to attack. An impassive expression masked her face. Lohan was inwardly grateful for the fact that Artoria was a fully trained knight. Due to her sense of honor, she did not press her attack. Instead, she waited for her opponent to recover.

Still, that did not make the pain that he felt any easier to deal with.

"…"

"…"

The two stared at each other for a while. At some point, they had entered some sort of weird stand-off.

Now would have been a good time to speak up and commence his original plan of information extraction, but a part of him hesitated.

Not like this. He could not talk while in his current state. It wouldn't feel right. It wouldn't be right. Beaten and bruised, opening his mouth now felt too much like an admission of defeat. What little pride he had left prevented him from following through with his original plan.

He shook his head. For now, he needed to concentrate on the battle.

Lohan decided to use this brief respite to assess the damage to his person.

The first thing he noticed were his clothes. Despite the swords hitting parts of his torso and legs, his outfit remained entirely undamaged. While this initially surprised him, he was quick to understand why.

Again, it was due to Yggdrasil's extensive customization feature. In the game, players were allowed to freely change the appearance of any player-created weapon or armor. Lohan used this feature extensively when he was crafting his weapons. His outfit was the same. Despite appearances, the stuff he wore had the same level of defense and protection as a full suit of divine-rank plate armor.

In terms of appearance, Lohan's current attire was simple. It consisted of a pair of slim black pants and a white sweater. In short, it looked like regular clothing.

His choice of clothing mostly came from the desire to not wear full armor. Lohan was the type to avoid bulky clothing. Even if the armor did not really impede his movements, he still disliked it on a psychological level.

Next, he checked his HP.

While he wasn't entirely sure if the concept of Health Points still applied to this situation, it did not hurt to check. With a subtle use of [Discern Life], Lohan soon discovered that he was down by a little less than a third of his maximum health, or at least somewhere around that approximation.

Using the skill was weird. In the game, the spell would normally just directly show him the HP, but here, it was different. It only gave him this vague feeling, similar to someone tracing an outline on his back.

Lohan also used the spell on Artoria. Much to his dismay, the knight was still close to full health; he had barely shaved a seventh of her total. Apparently, his previous attacks did little to faze her.

It should have surprised him, but truth be told, he had subconsciously come to expect such an outcome.

From their brief exchange, he understood several things.

First of all, Artoria was knowledgeable of Yggdrasil-exclusive skills.

[Full Rotation] was a skill that was exclusive to the Spearman job tree. In fact, it was one of the stronger skills available for basic job classes, thus an immediate favorite for players wanting to spec into spearman/lancer type builds. It was also one of the skills that Pyglet had programmed into the blonde-haired NPC.

If Artoria knew of [Full Rotation], then it was safe to assume that she also had access to the rest of her Yggdrasil abilities.

Not only was she powerful, but she was also skilled. The way she moved around on the battlefield and utilized everything to her advantage spoke greatly of her martial prowess and tactical capacity. Artoria was not just some NPC brought to life less than an hour ago; she was a knight with a lifetime's worth of experience on the battlefield.

Lohan once again reaffirmed just how dangerous his opponent was.

He wanted to sigh, but held himself back at the last minute.

Fortunately, it wasn't entirely hopeless.

Despite how blisteringly fast the heroic spirit was, Lohan could somehow keep up with her. It was all thanks to this new body of his, specifically his improved reaction time. If it was the him now, then he stood a chance at victory. If he couldn't manage that, then an admirable defeat was fine too.

Less than five seconds had passed since he first started analyzing the situation. It was apparent that his computational speed had also increased. Seeing how he had long since recovered, Artoria once more prepared to attack.

Lohan was quick to notice. He needed to respond. Since long-ranged attacks were clearly ineffective, he had to fight her directly.

She dashed forward, her spear leading the charge.

Lohan fired off a quick [sword bullet], hoping to throw off her aim. Unfortunately, the blonde-haired knight just barreled through it.

She struck out with her spear. Lohan drifted to the right, barely avoiding the initial blow. Unfortunately, he was unable to respond fast enough for the follow-up attack. She swept the weapon to the side, the shaft colliding with his exposed abdomen.

Lohan breathed out a quick gasp, but unlike their previous exchanges, he managed to maintain his footing.

The homunculus reared his hand back and pulled out a divine-rank sword from within his inventory space. The sword was a drop item from a dungeon that Lohan had previously conquered. It wasn't a very good weapon, at least not by his standards. Still, it was divine rank for a reason. It should hold up against Artoria's Rhongomyniad.

For the first time since the battle began, Lohan struck out with his weapon. Artoria was quick to respond, blocking the blade with the edge of her spear.

The duo exchanged blows for a while, but it quickly became clear that he was entirely outclassed, both in terms of skill and speed. Skill was pretty obvious, but he was honestly surprised to learn that Artoria was faster than him.

As the holder of the World Creator class, he had far higher stats than most of his contemporaries, including NPCs. So, how is it that Artoria was faster than him?

After scrutinizing his opponent, Lohan quickly learned that Artoria was, in fact, not faster than him. She simply moved before him. The King of Knights used a fighting style that mixed years of discipline with raw instinct. The end result was a warrior that was always two steps ahead of their opponent.

Thanks to her unique fighting style, Lohan had trouble keeping up with her. At most, he could block half of her incoming attacks. The rest somehow managed to worm their way past his defenses.

The short exchange left his body scarred and bleeding. While his high-speed recovery racial trait was already working hard to heal him, he needed to find a way to turn the tides. If the situation continued as is, then he was guaranteed to lose.

If the current me can't do it, then I'll just need to be someone even stronger!

Just as he was about to act, Artoria beat him to it. In an incredible display of spearmanship, she stepped into his guard and disarmed his sword. His weapon went flying, sailing past the courtyard until it came to a stop amongst Avalon's collection of rusted blades.

Lohan gritted his teeth. He quickly casted [Surge of Force]. A violent wave of invisible energy swept through the courtyard with him as the epicenter. It tore through the grass and uprooted the earth.

While Artoria remained mostly unaffected by the blast, the ground beneath her feet was not so lucky. It, along with everything else within a ten-meter radius, had been gouged out. As a result, Artoria's footing disappeared, forcing her to adjust accordingly.

Lohan did not let the opportunity go to waste.

With a quick [Burst], Lohan practically threw his body backward, further increasing the distance between the two combatants.

Despite the space he had created, he did not have a moment to waste. He could see that Artoria had already recovered. Even now, she was preparing for another lunge.

It was time to use one of his trump cards.

"Divine Possession…"

A skill that he had learned after acquiring the Divine Vessel racial class. It was probably one of the strongest abilities in all of Yggdrasil, something that allowed him to touch the boundary of divinity and gain momentary strength that rivaled even Yggdrasil's strongest class of enemies (World Enemies).

It was a power that he further strengthened through years of grinding and countless dungeon runs.

"Soul Harmonization: Model Indra!"

He felt the change almost immediately.

It was like something had forced its way into his heart, kind of like a parasite, except friendlier. The change left behind a pleasant burning sensation that threatened to spread throughout his whole body.

Lohan had never felt anything like it before. He absolutely loved it.

Divine Possession was a unique skill that temporarily boosted his parameters by implanting a divine soul into Lohan's body. The power-up lasted for as long as the skill remained active. It also gave him access to new spells and abilities.

Basically, it was a power-up form comparable to the type you'd see in a Shonen anime.

Lohan was in possession of nine different divine souls, meaning he had a total of nine different forms. Model Indra was the form he took on when he fused his soul with the divine soul of the Storm God Indra. Despite Yggdrasil being primarily a game based off of Norse mythology, it also incorporated other myths and legends into its lore.

Model Indra just so happened to be one of his favorites.

After the activation of his skill, Lohan's appearance underwent a slight change. His eyes shifted to a crimson red, while parts of his hair stuck up, almost as if it had been electrocuted. Red-colored lightning sparked across his skin.

He barely noticed any of these changes. Lohan was more focused on the new sensations that assaulted his senses.

The scent of burning sulfur wafted around him. Lightning cracked, electrifying the very air that he breathed. His senses had also apparently been amped up to an eleven.

He could hear the distant sound of heels clicking within the castle. He felt the minute changes in temperature brought about by the lightning his body unconsciously exuded. Even from more than fifty meters away, he could see each strand of golden-blonde hair that cascaded over Artoria's oval-shaped face.

He had never felt so alive. It was almost overwhelming.

Lohan snapped out of his reverie when he noticed Artoria shuffling. He glanced over. He saw the way her body tensed. Her heels slightly dug into the dirt, just as her torso imperceptibly leaned forward.

She was preparing to lunge. He did not give her the chance.

Without hesitation, he shot forward.

In the blink of an eye, he was upon her with a sword already in his hand.

Artoria's eyes widened in surprise as she hastily brought up her spear to block. Lohan's nameless divine-ranked blade clashed against Artoria's Rhongomyniad.

The two exchanged blows, although it was mostly Lohan desperately trying to break her guard. Each strike erupted forth with devastating force. Arcs of lightning flew through the air.

Unfortunately, despite all the flashy fireworks, none of his hits actually landed.

Lohan was clearly faster and stronger than his opponent by a large margin, yet it still wasn't enough. Every strike, every swing, it was all just a moment too slow. Artoria relied almost entirely on her instinct to weave through his attacks like a leaf dancing along the wind. How was she doing it? Was this the difference between a regular person and a true hero of humanity?

After a while, another problem became apparent.

His weapon was breaking. Small cracks and chips had formed along the blade of his sword. Despite being of a rank similar to Rhongomyniad, Artoria's lance was clearly superior. For a moment, he inwardly cursed his own crafting skills. Why the hell did he have to make the damn thing so damn amazing?

Lohan swung the sword one last time, fully expecting it to break the moment it made contact.

He was quickly proven true as the sword's bladed edge shattered against the shaft of Rhongomyniad.

Without pause, the pseudo-god ducked down and lunged into her guard. He raised his hand out towards her exposed abdomen.

"Triple Maximize, Storm God's Fury!"

It was an eight-tier spell with a destructive power comparable to some of the game's strongest ninth tier spells.

A flash of light filled the courtyard, before the very air exploded all around him.

A small smile stretched his lips. He had felt the spell land. Without a doubt, it was a direct hit.

Before he could start celebrating though, Lohan suddenly felt a heavy blow impact his side. It stole his breath away.

Wind rushed past him as Lohan found himself flying through the air. Unlike before, he immediately twisted his body and propelled himself back down to the ground with a quick [Burst] spell.

He breathed out a sigh of relief. The pain in his side had been reduced to a dull ache. In time, it would disappear completely, like all his other wounds.

Still, for Artoria to retaliate immediately after my spell…

It was something he had not expected.

He looked up at his opponent.

To his further surprise, she looked unbothered. In fact, it was almost as if the spell had left her completely undamaged. Lohan grimaced. The only blow that he had landed barely did anything to her. It was not a good feeling.

Artoria stared back at him with a frown on her face. After a short pause, she pointed her spear towards him. In response, Lohan took out another weapon from his inventory. It was another random divine-rank sword. He was not willing to risk potentially breaking any of his creations against Artoria's lance. Besides, most of his stuff was still in the Hidden Armory.

Without preamble, she shot forward. This time around, Lohan opted to wait, betting on his body's improved reaction time and superior speed in order to fight her.

The following exchange was the longest within the entire fight. Once again, the difference between the two became readily apparent. It wasn't that she was faster or stronger than him. Even her instinctive awareness was only enough to even the playing field.

When it came down to it, the real game-changer was her skill.

Artoria Pendragon was a real, authentic knight. Her skill level was a testament to this.

In comparison, Lohan was lacking. While he had played Yggdrasil for years, it was nothing compared to actually fighting on a battlefield. The difference in their skill level became more and more apparent the longer the fight let on.

He was quickly losing ground. If this trend continued, then it would only be a matter of time before he was defeated.

Even worse was the fact that Artoria had noticed. The frown that mired her face was clear for him to see. To Lohan, it was an expression of disappointment. She had expected more from Lostalgia's guild leader.

For some reason, that pissed him off.

He needed something to turn the tides, to prove to her, to prove to himself that the title of Guild Master was not wasted on him.

Lohan looked through his memories. He found something.

While blocking a downward swing from Artoria's spear, Lohan activated a particular spell.

Parallel Operation!

Within the game, [Parallel Operation] was a spell that allowed a player to use two types of magic at the same time. The actual description of the spell was that it partitioned the caster's thought process into two, essentially creating two different strands of thought within their mind.

Activating it for the first time like this was surreal. The weird sensation almost made him mess up.

With one strand of thought, Lohan focused on the fight. With the other, he activated a racial skill that was exclusive to his "Perfect Humanoid" racial class. The name of the skill was [Perfect Recollection]. It was basically an advanced version of photographic memory. Not only did it allow him to memorize everything within his field of vision, but the skill also granted him the capacity to apply the collected information in real-time.

Within the game, it was a skill that players used to copy an opponent's physical skills. It was definitely a useful skill, but it was not entirely without limit. For example, a player without the necessary levels of sword mastery would find it impossible to replicate high-tier sword skills.

Lohan used the skill to memorize and analyze Artoria's combat ability. He then used the skill's secondary feature in order to replicate her level of skill. He was essentially stealing her years of experience.

Lohan was nothing more than a thieving cheater and he did not regret any of it.

The difference was almost jarring.

While it was difficult to translate spearmanship into swordsmanship, Lohan found a workaround with another one of his skills. [Absolute Weapons Proficiency] was a passive skill that granted him instinctive mastery of all things weapon. It was a skill that he had learned after unlocking the [Master-at-Arms] job class.

In fact, Lohan had been using [Absolute Weapons Proficiency] since the start of the spar. It was probably the only reason why he was able to swing his sword without accidentally cutting his arm off. Still, while he possessed the theoretical knowledge, he lacked the experience to properly utilize said knowledge. Fortunately, that was what [Perfect Recollection] was for; it would teach him the things that he needed to know, whether that be theoretical or practical.

And it worked.

For the first time since the fight started, Lohan was able to keep up with his opponent. In fact, thanks to his superior stats, he was slowly overpowering her.

The frown on Artoria's face remained, but the meaning had changed. Instead of disappointment, the frown she wore now expressed her determination.

Lightning arced all around him as both their weapons locked in a desperate struggle. Lohan was physically stronger, but his sword was beginning to show signs of breaking. Without hesitation, he pressed his assault forward. At the last second, he raised his leg and kicked out.

Lohan's foot met her stomach with a meaty thud. Artoria was sent flying.

As the blonde-haired knight landed fifteen meters away from him, Lohan noticed the slight grimace on her lips.

He raised a brow in confusion.

In the past, he had fired off so many attacks, yet they barely even fazed her. Now, just one kick and already she had shown more pain than in the entirety of their battle. What had changed? It wasn't like he had casted any magic on his legs or something.

Wait a minute, is that it? Was it magic?

Lohan had noticed it a while ago, but his magic spells were less than effective against the blonde-haired king of knights. Since when did Artoria possess such high magic resistance?

He narrowed his eyes.

Did she perhaps possess a passive that prevented magic from working on her? Even if she did, it shouldn't be this strong. Lohan's lightning attacks while in his Indra form had at least 9th tier attack potency.

Magic nullification did not go that high, especially for players/characters of the same level.

Then, how was she able to do it?

That was when Lohan remembered something.

It could explain why, but I need to confirm it first…

"You know, I never thought much about it before, but you have some pretty good magic resistance there, Artoria." For the first time since the battle started, Lohan spoke to his opponent.

Silence, then she responded.

"I thank you for the compliment, Mast— Lohan."

Artoria lowered her center of gravity and entered a combat stance. She held her weapon at an angle near perpendicular to the ground. For some reason, the body of the lance started ominously rotating. A soft white glow emanated from the weapon's stalk.

How was it doing that? Did he ever install something that could make Rhongomyniad glow like that?

Unaware of his growing confusion, Artoria continued, "If it wasn't for my A-rank Magic Resistance, then I would have surely lost. As expected, you are as skilled in the art of combat as I originally expected."

Lohan did not deign to comment. Instead, he entered into his own combat stance. Several thoughts buzzed through his head. The fact that [Parallel Operation] was still in effect meant that there were twice as many thoughts in his head than normal.

Ignoring the weirdness of her weapon for a second, it's just as I thought. She really does have A-rank magic resistance. That sort of thing belongs to the original Artoria from the Fate franchise, not something that an NPC should have access to. So, how does she have it?

Pyglet's habit of over-customization was the only answer he could come up with.

That woman basically copy and pasted Artoria's entire background into the NPC's character information window. That also included Artoria's servant stats and combat capabilities.

It was something to think about for later, but for now, he had a fight to finish.

Since magic clearly isn't working, let's try something else.

Lohan deactivated his Indra form. From the very start, Model Indra was a magic/close combat build. While it was the form most compatible with his usual fighting style, its effectiveness took a major hit against an opponent that could actively resist magic.

For situations like this, he would need another form, one that had no need for magic. A form that specialized in strength and strength alone.

"Divine Possession, Soul Harmonization: Model Alcyoneus!"

Lohan's muscles noticeably bulked up for a second before they deflated back to normal. His skin took on a shade of healthy pink, while wisps of steam began emanating from his pores. Even his hair color had changed. Instead of the pale grey that he was used to, it had changed into a dark mahogany brown.

The sensation of syncing with this new soul was similar, yet different from his Model Indra. If Model Indra made him feel alive, then Model Alcyoneus made him feel powerful.

In mythology, Alcyoneus was a giant with strength unrivaled. He wreaked havoc across the entirety of the Greek pantheon. Not even multiple gods working together could defeat him.

In terms of pure physical strength, Alcyoneus was his strongest form.

Lohan had originally gotten the idea to use this form after he recalled a particular scene from the original Fate anime. More specifically, he remembered the battle between Saber Artoria and Berserker Heracles. The mountain of a man had smashed through Artoria's skill using nothing but pure brute strength. While his situation was slightly different, the theory should still work.

He wanted to mimic Berserker in order to triumph over this version of Artoria.

It was kind of ironic actually. In the original Greek myth, it was Heracles who killed Alcyoneus.

You know what they say, the enemy of my enemy is still my enemy…

Since he wanted to finish this fight fast, Lohan decided to go all out. From his inventory, he pulled out a familiar sword. It was a short sword seemingly carved out of coarse stone.

[Ambivalence], Lostalgia's one and only guild weapon.

The sight of the sword made Artoria hesitate. "Are you sure about using the guild weapon, sir?"

"Yes," Lohan nodded his head. "Ambivalence is strong. It can definitely take it. I made sure of that."

Lohan was confident in his assessment. Ambivalence was probably the single most sturdy weapon within the entire guild. In this regard, it even surpassed some world items. Not even Rhongomyniad's out of place strength could break it… well, hopefully.

Artoria was left speechless at Lohan's declaration. In the end, she decided to simply listen to her Master. Besides, he was the one who crafted the weapons. He should know best, right?

With that out of the way, Lohan wasted no time and rushed forward.

The ground beneath his feet cratered. Each subsequent step that he took further shattered the earth beneath him.

Artoria tried to meet his attack with one of her own, but she had greatly underestimated their difference in strength.

A single clash resorted in Artoria flying nearly halfway across the courtyard. Lohan chased after her like a crazed berserker. In the blink of an eye, he was upon her. With a downward swing of his sword, he slammed the blonde-haired knight straight into the ground, cratering the courtyard in the process.

Artoria let out a meaty gasp.

Her arms trembled. Although she had managed to block his swing at the last second, it did little to actually mitigate the damage she received. Blocking just one of his blows already took so much out of her. She did not want to imagine what would happen if she were to receive any more of them.

No, confronting him head-on was inadvisable. Unfortunately, Lohan refused to give her any other option.

For the next few minutes, Lohan relentlessly attacked. He gave Artoria absolutely no leeway, smacking her around the courtyard like she was some kind of ragdoll. Still, that was not to say that Artoria just stood there and took the beating. She resisted with all her might, either blocking or avoiding his mountain-leveling smashes.

It was a reversal of their situation from earlier in the spar. Now, it was Artoria who teetered on the edge of defeat. She needed a reversal and there was only one thing she could think of. Normally, she would not resort to this attack, but this was a spar against the guild master. It behooved her to try her absolute best.

For a moment, Artoria's grip on her lance slackened. Lohan did not let this opportunity go to waste. He swung his sword with all of his might. The knight received a heavy blow to her exposed abdomen. Instead of resisting, she followed through with the blow, using it as an opportunity to gain distance from her opponent.

She landed on the other side of the courtyard. Lohan was just about to give chase when he noticed something peculiar.

Motes of golden light danced throughout the courtyard.

Lohan looked around his surroundings. Warning bells blared in his head. For some reason, this scene looked familiar.

He directed his gaze over to his opponent.

Artoria stood there in a familiar combat stance. Her breath ran ragged, but her eyes shined with determination. She held the spear at a slight angle, its tip pointed straight towards him. Ephemeral light leaked out from her weapon in uncontrolled bursts. The main body of the lance began rotating like a drill. The speed of the rotation accelerated with each passing second.

The golden light that danced through the air intensified.

Lohan narrowed his eyes. He recognized what she was doing. Artoria was preparing to use her Noble Phantasm.

He did not even have the time to ponder how she even had access to such an ability. Lohan's survival instincts kicked into gear.

This was Artoria's strongest attack. He needed to match her attack with his own strongest. If he can't manage that, then there was a high possibility that her attack would wipe him completely off the map. Naturally, he couldn't let that happen.

"[Herculean Strength], [Blessings of Gaia], [Draconic Aura], [Sharpen Blade], [Mantle of Chaos], [Convert Strength] …"

Lohan immediately began stacking all the strength buffs that he knew of.

In order to survive Artoria's next attack, he needed to pull out his strongest physical attack. For that, he planned on using the skill [Reality Slash].

Reality Slash was one of the strongest skills within his entire arsenal. The skill was a downgraded version of the 'cheat' skill [World Break]. World Break was a skill exclusive to the World Champion job class. By default, this made Reality Slash the single strongest physical attack that a regular player was allowed to learn.

If it was this attack, then he might be able to survive.

Even if it was against an EX rank Noble Phantasm, so long as he had this one attack, then he would make it out of this situation alive.

He had to, there was no other way. Lohan refused to die here. Not now, not ever.

"RHONGO—"

Ah, she was already starting. Lohan needed to respond.

"REALITY—"

"What are you two doing!?"

A sudden shout knocked all the wind from his sail.

Lohan almost tripped from the shock. Artoria was no different. The golden light that had previously gathered around her began to dissipate. Lohan's skin continued to steam, but he slowly lowered Ambivalence. The duo turned to the source of the noise, only to see a familiar silver-haired maid.

It was Grayfia.

She was glaring at them. Even after facing a battle-hardened Artoria, Grayfia's glares were plenty scary.

"Ah, Grayfia what are you doing here?" Lohan was the first to break the silence.

"For what reason did you interrupt us?" Artoria quickly followed suit, looking more than a little peeved.

Grayfia maintained her glare for a few seconds longer, before she begrudgingly responded. She turned to face him. "I finished setting up the dining hall, so I came to fetch you, Master."

"Ah, and I'm guessing that's when you caught us fighting like this?" Lohan sheepishly scratched the back of his head. By now, he had deactivated Mode Alcyoneus. His pores stopped steaming and his skin and hair color returned to normal.

"Mn," she nodded her head. "Why on Earth are you two fighting? While I know Artoria's character can be… less than desirable, I never took her as someone who would stoop so low as to openly attack Lostalgia's one and only Guild Master."

"I-I would never!" Artoria squawked out, her face red with anger from the accusation.

That was when Lohan decided to explain the situation.

"… so, in the end, we were just sparring." He concluded.

Lohan made no mention of the specifics of the battle, nor did he say anything about the information that he had gathered from his little exchange with Artoria.

First of all, he retained his strength from his time in Yggdrasil. In fact, he might be even stronger, considering his skills and spells worked somewhat differently here than in real life. Next was Artoria. He had come to the conclusion that Artoria was considerably stronger than a normal level 100 NPC. Not only did she retain her skills and stats from her days in Yggdrasil, but she also seemed to possess skills and abilities that should have been exclusive to her original franchise.

The latter was a bit troubling.

"I see…" Grayfia murmured to herself as she locked eyes with Lohan. "While I do not know why you would want to have a spar with this gorilla—"

"Hey!" Grayfia ignored the indignant voice.

"—Do you not think that you two went a little overboard?" A resigned sigh leaked out from her ruby red lips. The silver-haired devil looked at the courtyard. Lohan and Artoria followed her gaze.

Suffice to say, the place was a mess. There were craters everywhere, large patches of grass ripped out from the earth, and giant fissures that seemingly extended halfway across the island. Grayfia was right, they did go overboard.

"Um, I apologize…" Lohan stated. He really did feel bad. Grayfia was a maid, so it was her responsibility to keep the castle clean and orderly. He basically made more work for her.

"I'm sorry too…" Artoria stated back with a flush so deep that it went down all the way to her chest. While it pained her to act so meek in front of someone like Grayfia, it hurt even more to realize just how badly she had damaged the castle's courtyard. Avalon was her layer. It was her responsibility. An Overseer shouldn't be damaging their own layer like this. It was shameful.

Grayfia let out another sigh. "It matters not. Fixing it is a simple issue, just don't do it again."

With that said, the silver-haired maid raised her arm and activated the ninth-tier spell, [Time Reversal]. Right before his very eyes, the courtyard started to repair itself. It looked as if time was going backward and considering the name of the skill that she had just used, that was pretty much what happened.

Lohan breathed out a sigh of relief. With this, he did not feel so guilty anymore. Although Grayfia's glare did still hurt a little.

After some consideration, he turned towards Artoria.

"I guess we can end the spar here."

She nodded her head. Truth be told, she did not know how much more she could have taken. Lohan was very… vigorous with his attacks.

Lohan looked down at his fellow sparring partner. Despite himself, he could not help but take in her appearance.

The spar had left Artoria looking quite ruffled. While her outfit remained relatively undamaged, it was a little disheveled. He could even see a hint of pale pink poking out from the corners of her chest window. Was it just his imagination? Lohan's instincts practically begged him to get a closer look, but before he could do so, Artoria had already readjusted her outfit.

He looked up at her face. Her cheeks were red. Even her ears and neck sported a similar complexion. Had she noticed him staring? Lohan was almost seventy percent positive that her flush was not due to physical exertion.

The trio (for Grayfia was watching this byplay with an annoyed look on her face) stood there in awkward silence. Fortunately, Artoria was quick to put an end to it. More specifically, it was her stomach. It growled like a caged beast begging to be fed.

"Then, what about that meal?" Lohan offered with a smile.

"Ah, yes."

Artoria meekly lowered her head. The blush on her cheeks was now for an entirely different reason.

Author's Note:

How was the fight scene? I'm not all that confident in writing an engaging fight scene. Heck, I feel that way about writing in general.

Also, to those who keep asking for male NPCs, don't worry. I already have characters in mind for that.