“By the holy lake lady!”

I involuntarily take a few steps back. The fight going on in front of my eyes is a few cuts above me. I’m just glad I didn’t insist on joining.

Lancer’s transformed state is a lot more humane than I would have guessed. His stories suggest that his appearance while in his warp spasm is more like a monster than a human. His muscles grew a lot, and his face got more beastly, but that is it. His legs are not bent back, he doesn’t excrete any gas, and his face is as symmetrical as it was before. Rather than his definition in the stories, he looks more like a shorter, more beastly Heracles.

And yes, I will still be calling them Heracles and Lancer.

Anyway, the only change is not his looks.

Among the servants I met, he was the fastest, period. Among the people I met during my life, and I met many great, legendary warriors, there was only one man that could match his speed. I trained with that man for more than half of my life. I never matched him in speed, but I could deal with it. Neither he nor Lancer, nor anyone else could ever overwhelm me with speed. That, I was convinced of.

Right now, if Lancer attacked me, I doubt the fight would last more than half a minute. It is more than just his inhuman, no, inservant speed. His strength has grown as well. Heracles might be the mightiest on earth, but Lancer is matching his blows head on.

I take a few steps back, this time voluntarily.

For the first time, I see Heracles struggling. He is fast, too fast for his size, and faster than me. Yet he still can’t keep up with Lancer’s speed. That warp spasm is clearly not your usual, run of the mill mad enhancement. To think someone could put Heracles completely on the defensive.

But that is not to say it is one sided. Heracles is still Heracles, and actually even more so now. He looked impressive before, and was someone I would not want to fight with if I had any other choice. However, it is only now that I understand the reason for him being the greatest hero. He suffered a single scratch during Lancer’s first charge attack, which would likely be my end if I was the target, and that is that. He is on the defensive, but he has not yet suffered any other wounds. He fights, his master on his shoulder still wrapped safely by the impenetrable pelt.

They are both laughing. No, that is wrong. All three of them are laughing.

…

Perhaps, I should leave?

I take a small step back, than sprint with all I’ve got, leaving the fight behind me. Unhindered, I arrive at the end of the park.

I look forward. Heracles and Lancer are continuing their fight. I turn back and sprint. I stop. The park is in front of me, with Heracles and Lancer fighting.

I close my eyes and concentrate. I ignore the sounds, and focus on the magical energy around me. I locate the boundary field around the park, put there to keep non-magical people away. I was sure it was put there by Lancer’s master. I had checked its function when I first came here. Now, it is different. Now, I cannot leave.

Did he do this before using Warp Spasm? He altered his master’s boundary field, without me noticing despite being right next to him and inside the said field? Such smooth modification on an already active spell cast by someone else is impossible… Unless they use the same kind of magic. His master must be a rune mage. They must be even more compatible than me and Rin.

I open my eyes just in time to witness Heracles uproot a tree with his empty hand and swing it down on Lancer.

A tree... With one hand… Yeah, I must have took a wrong turn while coming here; I’m obviously in the wrong place.

“Come, Sten. I’m tired of this. We won’t be returning home before finishing of at least one enemy.”

I remember the words Rin uttered as we left her house. I remind myself that I promised Rin not to come back before taking out a servant. I remind myself what I said to Heracles just a few minutes ago.

I look at my weapon. A spear he had called it, although its blade is too wide to be one. It finishes what it starts, he had said. Make a cut, no matter how small, even a scratch will do, and it will do the rest, he had said. Its owner was the same. He fought till the end. He faced his death, knowing his fight would be completed by us, he had said as he gave me the spear.

Heracles’s club meets Lancer’s swing head on. The resulting shockwave showers me with dust and wind all the way here. I catch a flying pebble. It is wrapped in blue paper. A piece of all the confetti I had spread around.

…

All right.

Lancer looks a lot more human than he should. The reason? Are his stories simply wrong or could it be The Grail affecting his appearance? Servants are summoned into prepared vassals. The human shaped vassal could technically affect the appearance of the summoned servant. Now, when did I think about The Grail’s humanization policy before? Oh, yes. Rider, my suspicion of your identity just got stronger.

However, that is for another time. For now, I got a god and a human to kill.

You know? Two demigods? Their sum is one god and one human? Oh, shut up, me.

Lancer told me to stay back, that I wasn’t needed. But I was here before him. Who is he to keep me away from glory? A demigod who is the fastest and one of the strongest people I’ve met? So what?

One spear and one piece of confetti. That’s what it will take to take down a god and a human.

You know? Sum of two demigods?

…

Concentrate. You have a mind crafted to process all kinds of information at the same time. Use it.

Heracles and Lancer… arm length… width… height… legs… head… stance… hold on the weapon… the pelt… girl’s placement… eyes… field of vision… weapons… length… spear… runes, four set…

I call to my blood and it heeds my call. It does what it does best as I feel my muscles growing. I limit it to the maximum safe level to stay in control. My mind was enhanced to control my blood, to keep me human, and it is used to this level of blood activity. It does not stop.

Trees… floor, position… magical energy… Number? Fifty seven in the boundary field... other seventeen, outside… locations…

One pebble, one spear, one hit... One human and one god. Oh, shut up me.

The second wound. Heracles suffers his second wound, a slash to his upper leg, against Lancer long after his first one healed. Actually it hasn’t been that long, but with the speed of their battle, their weapons have clashed dozens of times.

Why am I attacking both of them again? Right, one hit, two demigods. Sole reason is the charm of that phrase.

I say nay! No attacking while they both live. Patience. Await the perfect moment. The relaxation that comes right after overcoming a foe, and right before switching to the next one. That sweet moment. Whichever of you attains that moment first…

The moment comes quickly.

Warp Spasm Lancer is essentially a berserker. It’s just that, his berserk mode is such an important part of his legends, it surpasses the mad enhancement class skill of usual berserkers. It is a Noble Phantasm of its own. His already great stats has increased more than they would be expected from a berserker. Which makes him a really frightening foe, but it doesn’t give him some special patience trait. Seeing his enemy still alive and well, he goes for a great attack.

I know Lancer’s stats. I know my own stats. I’ve seen Lancer’s offensive Noble Phantasm. I’ve seen his reaction to it not working on Heracles. I know they fought before. I know his normal attacks are working right now.

If his Noble Phantasm, which I suspect was strengthened by that red set of runes, also harms Heracles, I will have made sure of the condition of Heracles’s nigh invulnerable skin. Although, if Lancer’s attack works and Heracles dies, that will no longer be important.

“Gae Bolg!”

A voice from the throat; more similar to a hound’s growl than the words of a man. This time it works.

The crimson spear passes through Heracles’s defending club just as it was destined to, and makes its way through his chest, all the way to his heart.