In the moonlight, Chiron held his longbow, continuing to nock arrows and draw the bowstring.
The arrows he shot nearly hit the expected spots, but the target's actions differed from expectations.
"Did it work?"
Facing the question from Caules, Chiron shook his head and said, "No, regrettably, only Saber was hit by an arrow. All other attacks were dodged."
"Even Kairi Sisigou?" Caules looked surprised. He had observed Chiron's archery skills during their training over the past two days.
In his mind, Chiron's arrows were comparable to modern weaponry. Regular shots equaled bullets. Full-draw powerful shots were akin to mortars. Multiple arrows from a single shot were like shotgun blasts. Most terrifyingly, all these arrows practically came with guidance systems.
Although saying so might upset his sister, Caules was confident that even if she wore an enhanced Mystic Code, she couldn't block a normal arrow from Chiron, let alone Kairi Sisigou, who lacked a defensive Mystic Code.
How did that guy dodge it?
Because the tower they were in was too far from the battlefield, Caules couldn't see what exactly had happened.
"Yes, the arrow aimed at him was first blocked by Red Saber's thrown sword, and the second time by Black Lancer."
"Black Lancer?" Caules couldn't understand. "Didn't you say they were just fighting? How could they—?"
"I don't know," Chiron shook his head. "But nothing is surprising on a battlefield."
"You're right, it's not impossible they teamed up and came over to kill us."
Shinji's voice rang out.
To utilize Assassin's concealment ability, he had remained in spirit form after leaving Millennia Castle, which is why Artoria only saw three people, with the last being Fiore, who hadn't spoken.
Shinji wasn't surprised at all by what happened in the distance. Though he didn't know how the two met, he had imagined many times what might happen after they did.
A fight was inevitable, likely initiated by Mordred, whose obsession with Artoria was profound. In contrast, Artoria had no such obsession with Mordred—neither hatred nor love.
In terms of strength, Mordred was no match for Artoria. After the discussion with Jeanne last night, Shinji specifically asked Artoria, "How did you end up in a draw with someone who counters you?"
The answer was unexpected yet made perfect sense.
Shinji was very aware of Artoria's living status, but preconceived notions led him to subconsciously ignore the 1,500-year gap.
To verify Artoria's strength, Shinji had personally sparred with her. The conclusion was that neither Vlad III, Karna, nor Achilles could necessarily defeat the current Artoria.
This was one of the reasons Shinji allowed Artoria to go deep into Sighișoara. With such strength, if she couldn't win, she could at least escape.
As for Mordred—heh, the gap between them was like a father overpowering his son, a complete thrashing.
After that, given Artoria's character, she probably wouldn't kill Mordred. Then, they could use the opportunity to win over Mordred and Kairi. Shinji had already thought of a way to win them over, and with Artoria present, it wouldn't be difficult.
Unexpectedly, before their fight ended, Chiron had already spotted them using his Archer's "Clairvoyance." Without considering any code of honor or fair play, Caules directly proposed a sneak attack, to which Chiron had no objections. Seizing the chance, he unleashed a series of combination skills, displaying his divine archery prowess.
Shinji did not comment on the matter. If it had been someone else, they might have been heavily injured or even killed by Chiron's arrows. But this father and daughter duo were different. Both possessed the special ability "Instinct," making it very difficult to ambush them—especially with Shinji secretly tipping Artoria off.
As a result, the ambush was thwarted. Although Artoria's action to save Kairi took him by surprise, considering her noble character and that this was a duel between knights, it wasn't unexpected.
And then they started coming together—well, shortly after Shinji mentioned it, they did start attacking together.
"Assassin, you jinxed it!" Caules frowned and complained, and even Fiore turned to glare at Shinji.
"Don't look at me like that. Instead of scolding me, why not think about how to handle the current problem?" Shinji, in his spiritual form, crossed his arms, looking completely unhurried. "At this distance, they'll be here in a few minutes. So, are we retreating or fighting?"
"Archer, what's your opinion?" Caules asked.
"Fight. The Black Lancer and the Red Saber have already had a major battle, and the Red Saber is injured. Retreating now would be a waste," Chiron replied while continuing to provide suppressive fire.
"Then we'll fight." Although Fiore had been in a strange state since yesterday, at this critical moment, she still displayed the decisiveness expected of the next head of the family. "Archer, you take the lead. Assassin, deal with the injured Saber. I'll handle her Master, Kairi Sisigou! Caules, you keep an eye out for the Lancer's possible lurking Master."
This arrangement played to everyone's strengths perfectly. Soldiers against soldiers, generals against generals, the strongest against the strongest—naturally, no one had any objections.
"Understood."
Chiron drew his bow, nocked two arrows, and simultaneously targeted Mordred and Artoria, signaling the start of a new battle.
"Leave it to me." Caules pressed his bracelet, summoning the spirits of wolf and leopard beasts.
"Understood."
At this moment, Shinji was already beside Fiore. The proximity made Fiore a bit flustered, and she instinctively wanted to move away. Just before she could, she heard Shinji's next words.
"Master, don't overexert yourself, and don't put too much pressure on yourself—just make sure to protect yourself."
He's worried about me. He's concerned about me.
In an instant, all of Fiore's confusion, shyness, and other chaotic emotions vanished.
She realized how ridiculous her previous behavior was. It was just a bit of awkwardness, yet she had blown it out of proportion, even letting it affect her relationship with her Servant.
Really, like an idiot.
Fortunately, there's still time to make things right.
Fiore gently pressed her hand to her chest and took a deep breath. "Yes, I'll protect myself. You go and fight with all your might."
After saying that, she "stood" up.