Shinji found himself in trouble.
A big trouble.
Along the way, he had already slain over thirty monsters with his scythe. None of the monsters could withstand the sharp edge of his Crescent Serpent Scythe. He had expected the night's work to continue in this manner, clearing the area until it was completely cleansed.
However, hidden among these rank-and-file soldiers was a leader.
A dark snake-like entity, countless snakes intertwined together, covered in suction cups the size of raindrops. It was about five to six meters long, with its tip as thick as Shinji's calf and its base even more robust than Shinji's body.
Yes, it was a tentacle, the summoning creature that Caster favored the most.
The base of the tentacle was hidden beneath the sewage, while the flexible tip lunged towards Shinji, disproportionate to its size.
Fortunately, Shinji reacted quickly, reinforcing his legs with magecraft and evading the tentacle's attack range just in time.
As he looked at the wall that had been partially demolished by the tentacle, a chill ran down Shinji's back.
"This thing has at least C-rank strength, possibly even B. Its pure power surpasses Sensei's whip-kick. If it lands a hit on me, I'm done for."
Before he could wipe away the cold sweat from his face, the tentacle launched its second strike.
Shinji dared not resist and continued to retreat, complaining as he did so.
"Hey, hey, I'm not a magical girl, I'm not to your taste. Stop staring at me."
However, this creature, far older than humanity itself, couldn't understand a word Shinji was saying. It only knew to follow its instincts and prey on the target ahead.
As a tentacle, it only had two methods of attack: striking and entwining.
But compared to Shinji's overwhelming strength, these two simple attack methods were filled with an awe-inspiring sense of oppression. The so-called fighting techniques only came into play when the power gap between the two sides was not significant. If the power difference was too great, no amount of technique would be of any use.
Harpe was a melee weapon. While it inflicted wounds on the tentacle, Shinji himself would also be harmed by the tremendous force of the tentacle.
The slingshot and rune bullets didn't have enough killing power, and the damage they caused would quickly regenerate.
Other attack methods required some preparation time, so all Shinji could do was dodge, dodge, and dodge.
However, the narrow environment of the underground sewer restricted Shinji's movement severely. Shinji ran, jumped, rolled, crawled, and even used techniques like leveraging off the walls, although he wasn't proficient in them. Still, he couldn't escape the relentless pursuit of the tentacle.
What should he do?
What should he do?
Shinji's mind raced, and suddenly, darkness fell before his eyes.
Oh no, it's a dead end!
Behind him, the thick tentacle lashed out like a long whip towards Shinji's back.
...
Shinji wasn't the only one entangled by the tentacle. Fifty kilometers away from him, Saber was also ensnared, not by one, but by five tentacles.
One bound her left hand, one bound her right hand, one wrapped around her left leg, one coiled around her waist, and the last one wrapped around Saber's neck, oozing sticky mucus that carried an unpleasant odor, smearing Saber's face.
Considering Saber's combat strength, her usual attire in a suit, the ability to change armor in an instant, and the eternal attribute of perpetual youth, it perfectly matched the portrayal of a magical girl in anime. It wasn't difficult to understand why she ended up in this sorry state.
Well, the above was purely speculative. Saber ended up in such a terrible situation because Caster had made thorough preparations.
During the grand performance of "All Six Servants on Stage" last night, although Caster didn't participate directly, he used a magecraft similar to Irisviel's observation magecraft to remotely watch from his workshop.
And it was because of this that he found what he sought, the "Holy Maiden."
Because of this, he was able to intercept the car carrying the "Holy Maiden" on the national highway.
Because of this, he gained knowledge of the "Holy Maiden's" attributes and combat style.
On the contrary, Saber had insufficient knowledge about Caster, only knowing his true name and expertise in summoning magecraft.
One side came prepared, while the other hastily engaged in battle. The result was predictable—the rhythm of the fight was completely controlled by Caster.
If someone had asked Saber before the Holy Grail War began who she was most confident in defeating head-on among the Servant classes, her answer would undoubtedly be Caster.
Because Saber, as one of the seven Servant classes, had the highest resistance to magic. With the class advantage, the magical resistance of the girl knight king, whose true name was Artoria, reached an insanely high rank of A.
This meant that she could ignore grand sorceries and ritual spells, and even the highest-ranked magi of the present era couldn't directly harm her with magic. For Caster, whose primary weapon was magic, there was no doubt that this was a disadvantage.
However, the current Caster was different; he was a magus skilled in summoning demons.
Magical resistance was a passive skill that only came into effect when someone used magecraft against her as the target. If the magecraft didn't target Saber, her magical resistance wouldn't come into play.
Therefore, Saber couldn't prevent Caster from summoning monsters from another world. Once the monsters were summoned, they would materialize and possess a threat different from magecraft. The teeth and claws of these monsters had the same attacking power as swords, and Saber had to rely on her sword and body to face them.
If her body was in perfect condition, Saber, who was known as the strongest in close combat, wouldn't care about mere monsters. However, Saber was injured at the moment, and confronting an endless army of monsters proved to be a challenge beyond her current capabilities.
Facing the continuously attacking tentacles of the monsters, Saber didn't retreat a step and maintained a swift attacking stance.
Whenever Saber swung her invisible sword, monsters in the air were cleaved into two pieces. Both the tentacles and the monsters couldn't withstand a single strike from Saber.
However, the monsters kept coming like waves, one after another, without giving Saber a chance to catch her breath. Slowly, Saber fell into a passive defensive predicament.
Saber killed monsters quickly, and Caster summoned monsters just as fast. As one monster fell, a new one would be born, endlessly. These monsters surrounded Saber layer after layer.
Saber's invisible sword and the continuously summoned monsters entered a stalemate.
The control of the battle fell into Caster's hands. He didn't seem to be in a hurry to win; instead, he systematically deployed the forces needed to counter Saber.
Caster exhausted Saber's stamina with the monsters, waiting for the moment when Saber became exhausted and couldn't keep up with the monsters' attacks. That's when he could obtain his coveted "Holy Maiden."
Saber, who had experienced a lifetime of battles and possessed the broken skill "Instinct," had long seen through Caster's tactics.
Initially, she planned to break through with her swordsmanship and momentum.
But when she realized that Caster's summoning speed was comparable to her killing speed, she was already heavily surrounded by monsters. She couldn't advance or retreat and could only switch from offense to defense, accompanying Caster in a battle of endurance to see who would give in first.
When Saber felt a dull pain in her left hand and her strength waning, she finally understood the principle of Caster's Noble Phantasm, "Prelati's Spellbook." It was an independent summoning Noble Phantasm that didn't require Caster's mana; she simply couldn't outlast Caster.
It was the worst situation, but Saber didn't give up. Her emerald eyes remained firm.
The King of Knights from Britain could die in battle but would never surrender.