Shinji Matou At Your Service

Chapter 402: The Dragon Slayer

Upon hearing Gordes' explanation, Siegfried quickly reacted. The "+" in his B+ strength attribute burst forth, doubling the power in his arm.

What does doubling strength mean? When strength reaches B level, it can already be measured in tons. Doubling that...

Artoria was equivalent to being hit by a car traveling at 60 km/h. Fortunately, the nearby trees had already been destroyed by their earlier clashes; otherwise, Artoria would have shared Siegfried's fate from a few minutes ago—being slammed through several trees in succession.

Of course, this was beneficial for Artoria. With no trees to block her, she would be flung farther away, making it harder for Siegfried to pursue. Additionally, Artoria's maneuver of manipulating the atmosphere during her flight to accelerate herself further completely thwarted Siegfried's pursuit.

Artoria flew a full fifty meters through the air. The first thing she did upon landing was check her weapon—Siegfried's final burst had indeed pierced through the highly compressed air and touched the blade of her thin sword.

Fortunately, the blade remained straight and bright, which relieved Artoria. The "Invisible Air" had absorbed most of the force, leaving the remaining power insufficient to cause irreparable damage to the thin sword.

Yes, the secret behind Artoria and Siegfried's clash, where they could inflict damage without their blades touching, was her Noble Phantasm, "Invisible Air."

Weapon-type Noble Phantasms are often limited by their class, but other types of Noble Phantasms face fewer restrictions. Artoria's most commonly used Noble Phantasm, "Invisible Air," falls into the latter category.

This is a low-ranking but very practical Noble Phantasm. Its essence lies in manipulating wind, or in other words, the atmosphere.

It can be used to change the refractive index of light, rendering her weapon invisible. Because the "Excalibur" is so famous—famous to the extent that it can be recognized by its appearance alone without the need for a true name release—Artoria uses "Invisible Air" to hide the Holy Sword whenever she materializes in the Saber class, preventing her true name from being revealed.

This strategy isn't wrong, but it does waste the potential of "Invisible Air." During King Arthur's campaigns, she developed various uses for it.

For example, it could increase the speed of her or her horse, sweep away enemies in one blow, or use the wind as a blade to enhance the weapon's destructive power, whether it be a sword or a spear.

During a contest of strength, she used the latter. Specifically, she highly compressed the atmosphere to create an invisible air sword that enveloped the tangible thin sword. In other words, the thin sword was merely a framework for shaping the external air sword, which was her true weapon.

When used single-handedly, the compressed air could change the form, either increasing Artoria's speed or injuring enemies with wind blades.

Both the air sword and wind blades inflict physical damage rather than being classified as a Noble Phantasm. Thus, despite "Invisible Air" being only C-rank, it could still break through the "Armor of Fafnir" under the influence of B-rank strength and the "Mana Burst" skill.

Due to the invisibility, this attack is nearly impossible to defend against. Even top-tier Servants like Siegfried inevitably suffer injuries. Coupled with the poor visibility at midnight, Siegfried was hit three times in twenty exchanges without discerning the cause.

The Knight King thought it would take at least another twenty exchanges before being seen through, but Gordes revealed the secret in one sentence.

Holding the sword horizontally in her right hand and running her left hand along the blade, Artoria recondensed the air dispersed by Siegfried. She glanced with mild surprise at the stout man, whom she considered morally questionable. Indeed, a person's character and abilities are not directly correlated.

Gordes didn't notice Artoria's gaze; he was still immersed in his joy.

Without relying on Command Spells, he had used his strength and insight to uncover the secret of the Black Lancer's sword, creating an opportunity for his Servant.

This feeling—

This feeling—

This feeling—

It was simply fantastic.

When he came to his senses, Gordes found himself looking into Siegfried's eyes. In them, Gordes saw gratitude and a hint of recognition.

These were details he would never have noticed before. Even if he had noticed, he would have ignored them. He might have even scoffed, thinking, "A mere puppet dares to recognize its master?"

But at this moment, he felt nothing but joy—a joy so intense that it shook his fat, making him want to shout. No, he already had.

"Go, Saber! Defeat Lancer for me!"

Siegfried didn't understand why his Master was so excited, but he didn't think much of it. He faithfully executed his Master's command. A voice in the back of his mind told him that he could now receive more support and unleash greater power.

Am I also being influenced by my Master? Well, it's not bad.

Taking a deep breath, he let this fighting spirit infuse his entire being, causing his battle aura to surge and boil.

If, a moment ago, he was like a mountain—majestic but not particularly dangerous—now he had become an ocean, with turbulent undercurrents lurking beneath its calm surface, ready to engulf anyone at any moment.

Then, the undercurrents surfaced, and sword energy surged.

Along with the sword energy spread an indescribable power.

Gordes couldn't sense this power, nor could the other participants in the great battle. Only Artoria could.

It was the feeling of a cheetah eyeing an antelope, a griffon targeting a stallion—the feeling of being watched by a natural enemy.

This feeling was like an instinct. Even if the antelope could potentially ram the cheetah to death, or the stallion had the strength to kick the griffon to death, they would still feel danger and even fear when confronted.

In the moment when her body's instincts protested to her brain, Artoria recalled the greatest legend of Siegfried's life—battling the evil dragon Fafnir, which had destroyed thousands of villages, and ultimately killing the dragon with his human strength.

He was a true "Dragon Slayer." When this legend was sung and glorified by the people, he gained an advantage over all dragons and those with dragon attributes.

And she, Artoria Pendragon, known also as the "Red Dragon of Britain," indeed possessed the dragon factor, placing her squarely within Siegfried's realm of advantage.

Previously, Artoria's low-level dragon attribute, combined with the advantage provided by "Invisible Air," had allowed her to dominate the battle without much influence.

But now, with Siegfried's fighting spirit soaring and his desire to attack growing stronger, the pressure he exerted also intensified.

The great sword that once slew the evil dragon Fafnir swung down, and the Dragon Slayer bared his fangs.