Chapter 35 : Law circle

Walking through the dark forest.

A sense of unease that lingers in the back of your mind.

The barrier that covers this Einzbern Forest suddenly had a gap in one area. Someone had forcibly put up another field inside my barrier.

Only a very limited number of beings are capable of such a feat. This was probably the work of Caster.

(I thought you were going to run away.)

I thought they would use the remaining man, Hachiman, as a decoy to retreat, but it seems they intend to fight back. Field is making a desperate effort to increase their fighting strength even a little.

The field is quite large, and several minutes have passed since we set foot inside. We should be nearing the center soon, but...

"!?"

That's when my thoughts were interrupted.

Berserker suddenly grabbed me by the collar and threw me to the side. Immediately after, a torrent of light engulfed Berserker.

"What..."

After the light passed, what remained was the remains of Berserker, with the body above the chest gone.

"Shh! First thing!"

When he looked beyond the downed trees, he saw Saber with her sword lowered, and Rin beside her with a fearless smile.

"You're really going to do it...!"

He says and stands up.

"The King of Knights would be shocked to hear that. A surprise attack using a holy sword. But even so, Berserker is only able to do that..."

"Saber!"

"yes!"

Saber ignores what I'm saying and raises her sword. Magical power concentrates and shines brighter.

(Really?! Repeatedly?!)

"Berserker!"

Magic power was poured into Berserker, who had already begun to regenerate. With a bit of effort, Berserker instantly revived and stepped forward to cut in between them.

Berserker thrust out his left hand to block the wave of light that was once again emitted from the holy sword.

After a few seconds of struggle, the light subsided, leaving behind Berserker with no left arm.

"Tch! I guess that's impossible after all."

Rin clicked her tongue and stepped back together with Saber.

Without panicking, I walked carefully with Berserker, and stopped just where Saber and the others were.

There were no trees in that area, making it look like a small plaza.

On the other side of the center of the square, Shirou was sitting cross-legged as if in meditation, with Caster standing behind him with his hands on his shoulders. Saber and Rin stood guard over the two of them.

"...?"

I don't understand the meaning of the lineup.

I understand that Saber steps forward to protect the others, but why is Rin next to her?

Observing her opponent, she notices that Saber's parameters have increased.

(……I see,All the signs that should be brokenRule Breaker")

I remember the dagger that Hachiman had. It must have been used to rearrange Masters and Servants.

A Master's strength is directly linked to the Servant's abilities.

Shirou's aptitude as a Master cannot be described as high, even as a compliment. Even Saber, an excellent piece, is not being utilized to its full potential.

However, the current Saber, perhaps with the assistance of the field effect, was demonstrating a performance comparable to that of Berserker, who was strengthened by her class correction. This was probably Saber's true power.

(but……)

I chuckle to myself.

Being on an equal footing isn't enough. I can't reach Berserker's level.

『The Twelve TrialsGod Hand"

A "curse" bestowed upon Hercules by the gods due to the great feats he had accomplished during his lifetime.

A stock of life. That is Berserker's Noble Phantasm.

A Berserker cannot die unless he is killed twelve times.

Additionally, damage from any attack that he has received once is halved, and any damage below a certain level is canceled out before it even reaches Berserker.

This, combined with Berserker's inherent toughness, gives it an almost unreasonable defensive capability.

In other words, in order to defeat Berserker, a Servant would need to have at least twelve types of attacks that could penetrate Berserker's defenses. Such a Servant did not exist.

This is Berserker's greatest strength.

"I was really surprised. You used the holy sword repeatedly. But it ended up being a waste of time."

Even if it was mankind's strongest holy sword, with its power halved it would not be enough to defeat Berserker.

It was impressive that he managed to take one arm even after it had been halved, but that was gone now. Next time, it probably wouldn't even be scratched.

Saber's, no, their trump card was sealed.

"It took quite a while, but the hunt is over now. Let me thank you. I had a lot more fun than I thought I would."

Hearing my words, Saber and the others once again braced themselves.

I slowly raised my left arm and spoke the words.

"Well then, let's end this. Roar, Berserker!"

"!"

Berserker let out an indescribable roar and charged forward. Saber stepped forward and deflected the axe-sword that Berserker brought down from the front.

However, they no longer have any way to defeat Berserker. All they can do is wait to be worn down and killed by Berserker.

Rin went around to the side of Berserker, who was fighting with Saber, and threw a gem at him.

explosion.

It seemed to be a fairly powerful attack. Although there was no sign of damage, Berserker's movements stopped for just a moment.

In that instant, Saber's flash struck Berserker's neck, and then--

With surprising suddenness, Berserker's head fell off.

"What..."

What happened?

I couldn't comprehend what was happening right in front of my eyes.

Berserker soon begins to regenerate and a new head appears, but that doesn't matter.

That's impossible.

Attacks from the holy sword should no longer have any effect on Berserker, but Saber's attacks had easily defeated Berserker.

He stares at Saber, trying to figure out what trick she used. The holy sword she holds continues to emit a golden glow - golden?

He looks at the sword in a panic.

The holy sword was supposed to be gold with a hint of blue mixed in to evoke a feeling of purity. However, the glow that the sword emitted was an endlessly dazzling golden color. The sword she held was...

"No way..."The Golden Sword Must WinCaliburn"!?"

King Arthur is associated with the sword stuck in the rock.

Because this episode is so famous, it is often mistakenly believed that this sword was Excalibur, but in fact this is incorrect.

Stuck in the rock was a golden sword said to select the king, and after it broke, Excalibur was given to him by the spirit of the lake.

Both are powerful swords that have a deep connection to King Arthur. It is not surprising that Saber would bring them out. However...

(When did they replace it?!)

He hadn't taken his eyes off her. There was no sign of Saber switching weapons. He could say that for sure.

If from the beginning,The Golden Sword Must WinCaliburnEven if he had been using the "Battle Blade", that doesn't explain how he was able to ignore the two halves of power and cut off Berserker's head. It would be odd if he hadn't changed weapons midway through.

Saber, not letting her guard down, takes a stance towards Berserker. A magical light unravels from the tip of her sword, and another sword appears from underneath, the holy sword she had originally held. This is...

(Projection magic!?)

That's impossible.

King Arthur studied under the magician Merlin, so it's not unusual for Saber to be able to use magic.

However, it was projection magic that was difficult to use and inefficient, and even if it was based on a holy sword, it was a different story if it was refined enough to penetrate Berserker's defenses.

If such a fact existed, it would be strange if it had not been preserved as a legend. And if such a legend existed, there was no way that I didn't know about it.

Ignoring my confusion, Saber and the regenerated Berserker once again engaged in a duel. The moment they both repelled each other and created some distance between them, Rin leapt from behind Berserker, this time recklessly jumping at him.

"Out of the way!"

He orders Berserker to calm down.

Berserker swung his axe sword without even turning around. The axe sword seemed to accurately hit Rin in mid-air, who had no way of dodging it.

"『Seven Rings Covering the Fiery SkyRho Aias"!"

Saber yelled as petals of light appeared and enveloped Rin, deflecting Berserker's axe sword.

"What?!"

Rin then closed in on Berserker and pierced his heart with the sword she had been holding without realizing it.

"That's impossible!"

Seeing the sword Rin was holding, I screamed this time.

The sword she holds isUnbroken Lake LightArondight" It is a supreme sword comparable to King Arthur's holy sword.

It couldn't be a fake. A fake wouldn't be able to penetrate Berserker's defenses.

But at the same time, it can't be real.

『Unbroken Lake LightArondightOnly one person is qualified to wield the sword: Sir Lancelot, the "Knight of Knights." No one else is allowed to wield the sword, not even Arthur, the King of Knights.

"That can't be true... What is this? What is this?!"

「……Really, it's an absurd ability. Not only can he recreate legendary divine and demonic swords, he can even recreate the skills and qualifications to wield them all at once.」

Rin muttered as she gave me a sympathetic smile as I was unable to comprehend the situation.

In that hand,Unbroken Lake LightArondight' disappeared as if vaporizing, leaving only a faint glow of magical power behind.

(This is also a projection...?!)

If it wasn't real, it was something else. That was obvious. But it was unthinkable that it could be a fake created with projection magic.

The reason why projection magic is so rare in the first place is because it is simply impossible to use.

Not only is it difficult to control and use, but the tools created using the ten magical powers are at best only capable of performing level three. They can only be used as a substitute for small gadgets that you can't prepare.

Even if he were to create a magic sword using projection, it would only be a dummy. This kind of magic is so inefficient that he couldn't imagine using it in real combat.

"What is this?! What on earth have you done?!"

I couldn't help but scream. Rin replied with a slight shrug.

"Shirou has an interesting talent, and I'm using it."

"talent……?"

"Right. A unique barrier... something like 'Infinite Sword Formation', I guess?"

Unique barrier.

A forbidden technique that temporarily overwrites the laws of the world.

Its effects vary widely and are said to be heavily influenced by the user's personality. And Shirou is one of those users?

"That's quite impressive. The ability to replicate any weapon that he has seen even once in the spiritual world, store it, and summon and use it at will. It seems to work particularly well with swords. He can replicate a Noble Phantasm of this level at a low cost, and with almost no loss in performance."

"That's impossible!"

I yelled again.

Unique barriers are special magic. They cannot be acquired through effort, and their effects are often far removed from general-purpose magic. So it's not surprising that they have the kind of ability Rin mentioned.

However, as mentioned before, a unique barrier is something special that only the caster can use. It is impossible for someone else, and more than one person, to use the same ability at the same time.

Then, suddenly, an idea strikes me.

The Betrayed Magic Sword. Its owner was the traitorous witch. In her legend, if I remember correctly――

"You guys! Did you use Shirou as your walking stick?!"

The legend of the witch Medea includes an episode in which she transforms living people into magical wands.

The exact nature of this extraterrestrial power is unknown, but the wand's performance should correspond to the talent of the human it was made from. If Shirou possessed such an ability, he would be able to create a wand specialized for sword making.

They are using it in battle.

(I can't believe it...! What would you do to someone else's little brother?)

"I will definitely rescue him." Immediately after vowing this, Shirou, who seemed to have lost his sense of humanity, spoke up.

"That's not true, Illya. I accepted this of my own free will, in order to defeat you guys."

The caster will take over after that.

"Shirou, who has now become a staff made of swords, is able to share his own abilities with whoever he has designated as his 'owner'. He then distributes these to everyone through the links of the Command Spells, and recreates the powers of Saber's comrades from her past."

"That wouldn't work unless the magical connection was reinforced by the caster's field, though."

Rin added to Caster's explanation.

Caster continues looking straight at me.

"Magical circle 'The Knights' Round Table'. This field is Britain itself. Our power here is synonymous with the entire might of Camelot."

"In other words, we can now use all the Noble Phantasms of the entire Round at the same time."

Rin bared her teeth ferociously and said something outrageous.

"There are nine more 『Twelve Trials 【God Hand】』 left? If Archer had cut down a few, it would be fewer… but even so, will that be enough?"

"That's impossible!"

How many times have I said that line? But there's no other way to say it.

"Such magic cannot exist! This is not magic!"

Unless there are extremely rare exceptions, a magician would never combine his own magic with a completely different type of magic. This should never happen. Doing so would result in the magic he had created being altered.

Magicians keep their magic secret in order to protect their research.

Magicians care about bloodlines because any extraneous elements mixed in diminish the purity.

Magicians have only one ultimate goal: to reach the "Origin". To achieve this, they pass on their research and hone their skills across generations.

For this reason, magicians dislike mixing anything extraneous with their magic, as it would mean a setback in their research and a denial of the correctness of the magic they have inherited.

In other words, a proper magician would never come up with such a formula.

Of course, there are magicians who are not like that. There are magicians who view magic as merely a means to an end and are entirely practical.

However, in the case of such people, in order to seek more certain results with less effort, they prefer magic that is as simple as possible, and would never use such pointlessly elaborate magic.

In short, it was impossible. Such a spell was impossible. And yet, impossible things had been happening for a while now.

"What is this...?! This is crazy! No one who is a magician would ever come up with such a spell! Who on earth came up with such a ridiculous spell formula?!"

He holds his head and screams, the situation beyond his comprehension.

Rin shrugged her shoulders in response to my words.

"Who? Well, you just answered the question yourself."

"picture……?"

"It's something that a magician would never think of. That's certainly true."

"...Could that be...?"

"In other words, the person who came up with this was someone who had a life unrelated to magic."

"Hikigaya... Hachiman!"

How many times has this happened?! That man has swept me off my feet!

I completely misread the situation! That man was the one I should have eliminated first, no matter what!

Even if I regret it, things won't change.

Ignoring my panicked state, Saber calmly readied her holy sword and recited the words in a chanting voice.

"My master has given me strength.

My people lent me their strength.

And my comrades risked their lives to create a chance for victory.

There is no way we can be defeated now. Prepare yourself, great hero. Your head will be claimed by the Red Dragon of Britain."

Bonus

: "The Knight's Round Table" Explanation

Name: The Knight's Round Table

Range:

Maximum capture in the field: 4 people

Rank: A-E

Supplementary information

The witch Medea has an evil technique that can transform a living human into a wand.

There has been no official explanation as to what exactly it is, but from the direction in the play, it is assumed to be something along the lines of pulling out a brain and incorporating it into a magical device.

Since the device could not be prepared this time, it was substituted by giving the wand's functions to Shirou Emiya's body.

Originally, Shirou Emiya would have lost his human functions and fallen into a vegetative state through this modification, but Medea's concentration was increased to the limit due to the influence of Hikigaya Hachiman. Support from Tohsaka Rin. The protection of the holy sword's sheath. Shirou Emiya's own willingness to cooperate, and other favorable conditions came together, and in a miraculous balance, he succeeded in acquiring the abilities of a sword wand while retaining his human form. Although

Shirou Emiya, who has been transformed into a sword wand, is no longer able to deploy a unique barrier, he is able to constantly use a sword-made wand at a similar level through projection magic. (Compared to the Infinite Sword, its performance and speed are half a rank lower. Instead, its magical power consumption is reduced by 60%, which is a great improvement. However, since a field correction is always applied when the Knight's Round Table is deployed, there is no degradation in performance.)

Also, by magically setting one's owner, one can give that person the same power of the Sword as oneself, and can share the magical power used for projection magic.

The Knight's Round Table functions by setting Medea as the owner of Emiya Shirou, and virtually directly linking the two sets of Command Spells. By adding the

connection of Emiya Shirou = Medea to the two combinations of Saber = Emiya Shirou and Medea = Tohsaka Rin, and reinforcing them with a field, a link of four people is forcibly created.

In this state, they are able to share memories and magical power, and from Saber's memories, they can reproduce the weapons and skills of all the people who were enrolled in Camelot, not only the Round, but also ordinary soldiers and servants. It seems that cleaning tools and cooking utensils also count as weapons.

In the play, Medea and Emiya Shirou did not move at all, but this was because they were concentrating on maintaining the field, and they were also able to take combat action.

In addition, in this state, Saber and Medea receive the ability correction of two Masters. This is a side effect that was not anticipated by Hikigaya Hachiman, who proposed the technique, Tohsaka Rin, who actually created the technique, and Medea.

In theory, various weapons should be available by switching Saber with another Servant, but the power of the sword staff does not function without the protection of the holy sword sheath, so it cannot be used in combination with anyone other than Saber.

Its weakness is that it is based on the correction by the field, so it can only be used in "awaiting battles."

If even one member of the Knights' Round Table is defeated or goes outside the field, it will instantly collapse.

It requires multiple special conditions such as command spells and specific Servants, and the process is too complicated to be practical. It is also completely useless for research into the origin, which is a bad thing.