Chapter 96: Teacher Must Have His Reasons
Whoosh—!!!
A sharp slash aimed straight at the jet-black warhorse, but the red-haired young man atop the steed immediately countered.
Clang—!!!
After the clash, the opponent instantly widened the distance between himself and Mordred.
"Hey, are you just going to keep running and dodging instead of fighting? Do you not have the pride of a Heroic Spirit?"
Mordred shouted in frustration.
"Apologies, but my teacher once taught me that when facing close-combat fighters like you, I should first gather enough information before finishing the fight in a single decisive strike."
The red-haired young man responded calmly.
"Always going on about 'teacher' this, 'teacher' that—your so-called teacher is probably cowering somewhere on the battlefield, trembling like a coward, isn't he? Taught by a coward, you're nothing but useless trash."
Mordred charged forward once again, swinging her sword, but she was blocked once more.
"Did you think that would make me angry?"
The red-haired young man remained on horseback, countering with his short sword.
"But I have gotten a decent grasp of your strength now."
Saying that, he yanked the reins, causing the black steed to leap far back before raising his short sword high.
"It's time for my teacher to witness how much I've grown—let's go, Bucephalus!"
The black warhorse neighed loudly in response to its master's call.
"For the place I shall reach one day!Now is the time... for me to take my first step...The First Trampling Domination!Bucephalus!"
Lightning roared down from the sky as if answering his declaration, striking with overwhelming power!
With determined eyes, the red-haired young man spurred his steed forward, its iron hooves pounding the ground as it charged toward Mordred like a bolt of lightning!!!
"Oh? So you've finally stopped acting like a coward?"
Mordred smirked in satisfaction.
She hadn't been fighting at full strength from the start, which might have made her opponent underestimate her.
Without hesitation, she gripped her radiant Clarent tightly, pouring an immense amount of magical energy into it.
"Crimson Lightning!!!"
At her command, a crimson surge of lightning—formed from her magical energy—should have enveloped her armor… but nothing happened?!
And at that moment, the enemy's attack was already upon her!
With no other choice, Mordred swung her sword to meet the strike head-on!
CLANG—!!!
The moment Clarent clashed with the red-haired young man's short sword, Mordred was immediately pushed back.
"——?!"
Unlike before, the opponent's short sword now carried the weight of a thousand tons!
On top of that, the magical energy within her body refused to flow smoothly into Clarent—as if some invisible force was sealing it!
"Damn it, what the hell is going on?!"
Mordred gritted her teeth, struggling to hold her ground, while her opponent firmly held the reins, making his black warhorse rear up on its hind legs. All its weight was now concentrated on its front hooves—wrapped in crackling lightning—as they came crashing down toward her!
"Apologies, but with the barrier my teacher set up beforehand, you have no chance of victory."
Just as Bucephalus's hooves were about to stomp down—
CLANG—!!
A figure rushed in, taking the full brunt of the attack.
"Mash?!"
Mordred gasped in shock as she saw the young girl standing protectively in front of her.
"HAA———!!!"
Mash mustered all her strength, using her shield to deflect the red-haired young man and his warhorse, forcing them back.
Realizing that more enemies had arrived, the young man immediately pulled his reins, retreating to a safe distance.
"Apologies for being late."
Ethan had also arrived, quickly helping Mordred to her feet.
"Are you alright, Mordred?"
"Master, why are you here too? I'm fine, it's just a small setback."
Mordred, unwilling to concede, tightened her grip on Clarent.
"Master, give me a moment, I'll clean this guy up in no time."
"No, Mordred, we have to retreat."
Ethan immediately interjected.
"This place has a barrier—you can't unleash your full strength."
"A barrier, huh? No wonder something felt off."
Mordred frowned in frustration.
"Besides, the enemy's main force is about to arrive. We need to get out of here first."
The three minutes according to their plan were almost up.
"Master, what about that witch? Are we not going to save her?"
Mordred asked while glancing toward where Jeanne Alter had been earlier—but at some point, she had vanished.
It seemed Reines had already handled the situation.
"It's fine, someone else is helping."
"Someone else?"
Mordred was momentarily skeptical.
"We'll talk about it later."
"Senpai, this way!!!"
Mash used her shield to push back the surrounding soldiers, creating an opening for Mordred and Ethan to retreat through the weakest point in the enemy's defenses.
The red-haired young man watched them leave without immediately giving chase.
"The enemy has completely retreated! Your Majesty, please grant us permission to pursue them!!"
"No need."
The red-haired young man waved his hand.
"Teacher taught me not to hunt enemies to the bitter end. Besides, even if they escape for now, it won't change the fate of this country. If we leave them be, they'll show up again eventually."
"Report!!!"
Suddenly, a lightly-armored soldier rushed over, dropping to one knee before the young man.
"Reporting... the tactician-dono... appears to have betrayed us!!!"
"What?! Sensei?!"
The young man's eyes widened in shock as he unconsciously muttered:
"Sensei must have his reasons… perhaps this is a ploy to lure the enemy."
Then, he turned his gaze toward the place where he had last parted ways with his beloved teacher.
—
"Too slow!"
Waver wiped the sweat from his forehead as Ethan and Mash finally got Mordred out of the danger zone.
"My Noble Phantasm won't hold out much longer!!!"
Ahead of them, small cracks began to form in the fabric of space.
"Sorry!"
"Let's go, retreat this way!!"
Waver immediately led the group toward a nearby forest, activating small stone traps along the way with his feathered fan.
"Reines and the others have already gone ahead. As for your white-haired Servant, she's an absolute menace! She wouldn't stop screaming about going back to find you. In the end, Reines had to use some tricks to finally shut her up."
"That... I'm really sorry…"
Ethan could already picture Jeanne Alter going into a rage. He could only apologize in advance.
"Seriously, now I've been dragged into your mess too. How the hell did things turn out like this?"
Just thinking about the chaos made Waver's exhaustion deepen.
"For now, let's just find a place to hide. We can deal with everything else later."