...The tip of his sword was trembling.
Su Shu could no longer hold back.
At this very moment, his "DNA was stirring," in the most literal sense.
Like a certain blonde vampire seeing a delicious, tender piece of bread, he desperately wanted to begin his feast.
The bloodline of the White Dragon made it difficult for Su Shu to restrain the impulse to bully the Red Dragon.
Even if it was just a spar, just training.
The pleasure brought by this victory would allow him to enjoy an ultimate, brain-trembling delight.
In short, bullying someone like Artoria was just too damn exhilarating!
...Beyond this vile purpose, Su Shu also intended to use this battle to try and crush the girl's confidence.
Abandoned by the Round Table, betrayed by her own child, close friends parting ways one by one, the nation she treasured falling apart inch by inch...
As a spectator who had witnessed the entirety of the Fourth and Fifth Holy Grail Wars, Su Shu knew with absolute clarity the final fate that awaited this girl.
Born from the twisted hope of the people who pushed her to be king, this pure and innocent girl named Artoria had surely not committed any sin so grave as to deserve such a tragedy, right?
Although in one timeline's ending, she might have finally found release, pain is pain. No matter how you dress it up, it is still undeniably pain. Some people go their entire lives without touching suffering, while others must spend their entire lives healing from it.
...On what grounds?
—Yes, on what grounds did I have to suffer a terminal illness? On what grounds did I have to race against time even after being transmigrated? If one could live a happy and stable life, who would care for some so-called golden finger?
Comforting words like "heaven tempers one's will and strengthens one's muscles, for it is about to confer a great responsibility upon them" were all lies. Su Shu knew this well. They were just rhetoric, like bitter medicine meant to numb the heart.
If you feel like you're carrying a heavy burden, it's undoubtedly because someone else is living a peaceful life for you.
Driven either by the weight of survival or the hopes of the masses, they struggle forward on a path full of thorns.
In a way, he and she were kindred spirits in suffering.
Therefore, with this opportunity for a face-to-face, heart-to-heart talk, Su Shu didn't want her to repeat the same mistakes.
If she were to fall into despair, if her conviction to become king were to waver...
For the girl, perhaps that would be a stroke of good fortune.
CLANG—
Blade met blade, letting out a sharp, solid sound.
Despite her possessing the blood of the Red Dragon, Su Shu knew with absolute certainty that the Artoria of this moment was no match for him.
This was not a gap in aptitude, talent, or stats.
As a man-made king possessing dragon's blood, Artoria's parameters were also monstrous. Furthermore, because she had the Dragon Factor, she could endlessly generate magical energy just by breathing in this Age of Gods.
Strong, she was very strong—in fact, she was already stronger than the vast majority of the pretenders in Britain who had nothing but a name.
Her exaggerated strength was like his own; even without being fully developed, she was an out-and-out humanoid dragon.
But, unfortunately...
The outcome had already been decided outside the arena.
CRACK—
The wooden sword in her hand was suddenly struck from her grasp, and the sword stance the girl had struggled to maintain collapsed. She was even sent flying by the heavy blow, landing in a heap of grain, looking utterly wretched.
In less than a minute, the match was decided.
His own sparring partner was the Vile King Vortigern. Although he didn't know who Artoria's swordsmanship instructor was, in all of Britannia right now, it was impossible for there to be anyone whose mastery of the sword surpassed the White Dragon.
Under Vortigern's direct tutelage, Su Shu's lethal swordsmanship could be said to have inherited a third of the Vile King's true essence.
However, the gap in swordsmanship alone shouldn't have been this vast. The more important reason was...
"—You're far too timid.
"You engage in combat but don't dare to strike at weaknesses, only defending blindly. What kind of Saint-style swordsmanship is this?"
The girl panted in silence.
Su Shu frowned, his words continuing to mercilessly pierce her heart.
"You admire the figure of the 'Pale Silver Star,' don't you?
"You want to protect the townspeople, to vanquish the bandits and Demonic Beasts, to bring clarity to this chaotic Britain.
"But do you think the plundering bandits and the Demonic Dragon Vortigern will kindly put down their blades in the face of your goodwill, offer their necks to be slain, and achieve enlightenment on the spot?"
Calling his own father a Demonic Dragon was outrageously unfilial.
But the infamous title was truly useful, and since his old man couldn't hear him anyway, Su Shu used it as material for his speech.
"Are you expecting your enemies to have a great epiphany and show you mercy?
"With such a weak mentality, what's the point of being a knight? You might as well go home and raise pigs!"
A sword can convey one's heart better than words.
Through this brief clash, Su Shu could already see the problem with Artoria, who had not yet become king...
—She hoped for the good in people. She was too noble, noble to an almost pathological degree.
Because she possessed the blood of the Red Dragon and could easily recover from injuries, she didn't dare to use her full strength even against the idol she admired.
She always thought of others, but in that bleeding dragon's heart, she had neglected her own place.
This couldn't help but make Su Shu think of Shirou Emiya's own pathological sense of justice.
Of course.
If she didn't possess such a generous resolve, she wouldn't be the dazzling figure of our King.
However.
The idea of protecting others by harming oneself was undoubtedly extremely distorted.
Su Shu wanted to correct her, completely.
"You and your sword are laughable to me."
The silver-haired boy expressionlessly raised his sword, pointing it at the golden-haired girl's disheveled face. His resonant voice bloomed like the true words of a Buddha.
"Are you insulting me?! Did you think I would go easy on you just because this is practice?! If you truly want to show respect, then give me your all!"
"Th-Thank you for your guidance..."
An outstretched hand, trembling, picked up the fallen wooden sword.
The girl panted, slowly getting up from the ground, and once again assumed a sword stance.
Yes, she was actually keenly aware of the great power contained within her body.
She had long since memorized the swordsmanship her foster father taught her.
In this vast land of Britain, few could instruct her in the martial arts.
But, just as her foster father had pointedly remarked:
Hoping for the good in people, she did not yet have the resolve to kill.
Even a rough wooden sword, when reinforced with a burst of magical energy, would become like solid iron, sharp enough to cut a person in two.
Therefore, in her past training, the girl never dared to go all out.
Now, her instant, decisive defeat made her understand—she finally had an opponent worthy of unleashing her shackles.
"My apologies, Sir Alvin."
Holding the sword with both hands in a proper middle stance, the girl's body emanated a powerful aura that, like a pressure wave, caused the wheat fields to sway.
Yet Su Shu stood unmoving within this aura, holding his sword high with one hand, his body turned sideways to face her, looking as if he were full of openings.
She was using her full strength, but so what?
It's not enough, not nearly enough—
A sword of protection carries a burden; it is far from being as liberating and swift as a sword of unrestrained slaughter.
Su Shu could mercilessly attack her weakest points, but out of concern for injuring him, Artoria's strikes were hesitant and uncertain.
BANG! BANG! BANG—
The blades clashed continuously.
The girl's wrist, holding the sword, trembled from the immense force, and it seemed her heart was becoming unsteady along with it.
As her magical energy output became erratic, the fragile wooden sword could no longer withstand the ferocious slashes between the dragon-blooded youths.
Crack—
A faint crack appeared on the blade, and then...
SNAP.
With a sharp sound, the wooden sword in the girl's hand suddenly broke. The overwhelmed tip of the sword fell limply to the ground, shattering into pieces.
The sword was broken.
This was a defeat even more humiliating than having it knocked from her hand.
Standing in the field, the girl stared blankly at the broken sword in her hand, looking completely dazed.
"A sword that cannot kill cannot hope to protect anyone."
Su Shu lowered his gaze.
"Just like the title of knight that people so admire, Altoris—your sword is equally boring."
"Boring."
The evaluation was like a blade through the heart.
Such words must be hurtful enough, he thought.
He expected her to throw away the broken sword, to show an even more lost, confused, disillusioned... an utterly delightful expression.
However, the girl's resilience still far exceeded Su Shu's expectations.
Ignoring the trickles of blood from the cracks between her fingers, her fair, slender wrist trembled slightly as the girl picked up a new wooden sword from the ground.
"Again...
"It is my honor to learn from a strong opponent. Please... please guide me, Sir Alvin!"
"Don't call me 'Sir'..."
"Understood, Lord Alvin!"
"If the path is wrong, persisting ten thousand times is a futile act... Today, I will make you understand this."
Was he annoyed by her stubbornness?
No, it was more likely that he felt a sense of shame for his own despicable desire to make her give up.
Just as the girl was finally able to unleash her full strength, facing Artoria, his fated rival and the strongest opponent Su Shu had encountered besides Vortigern, brought forth his most exhilarating output of power.
The pressure from their clashing auras nearly flattened the wheat field, yet the girl's figure, like a resilient reed, swayed but never fell.
Unbreakable... is she?
Then I'll use even greater force to crush you completely! If ten thousand horses aren't enough, then a hundred thousand! If a hundred thousand isn't enough, then a million!
Sword intent surged, blood boiled—
Waves of air radiated from his body like ripples.
Without holding back anything short of a killing blow, Su Shu completely unleashed the combat form of the Ultimate Life Form.
There were no shadows to borrow under the bright sunlight, but it didn't affect the display of his skills.
Greater strength, more refined techniques, swifter speed, more lethal killing moves—
A one-sided, overwhelming contest.
BOOM—
A torrential waterfall of sword light poured down on the girl's precarious sword defense, sending her flying once again, causing her to fall wretchedly to the ground.
And then...
The next challenge immediately followed.
"Again..."
Knocked down, she got back up.
"Again."
The web of her hand holding the sword bled, so she wiped it away.
"Again!"
Wrist dislocated, sword hilt broken, she reset the joint and picked up a new sword.
"Again—"
Her soft golden hair lost its luster, her delicate face was covered in dirt.
But the girl's deep green eyes remained as pure and clear as when he first saw them.
Ah, Artoria...
The more pristine the flower, the more it tempts one to pluck it.
As if angered and wanting her to submit immediately, Su Shu's sword rained down even more ferociously.
Blades clashed, several times, dozens of times, hundreds, thousands of times—
In this seemingly tireless duel, Su Shu finally saw that her trembling, bleeding fingers could no longer grip the sword hilt.
Clatter.
The wooden sword slipped from her hand, fell to the ground, and kicked up a plume of dust in the wind.
Under the sunlight, the girl let out a faint, weak whimper.
"I-I'm sorry, Lord Alvin..."
Whew...
Su Shu slowly let out a long breath.
As expected, yet he also felt a hint of sorrow.
Very good. After being defeated so many times, you've finally realized the ridiculousness of your ideals and are choosing to give up?
Losing heart is the first step to falling, Artoria.
Just as he thought this, in Su Shu's almost frozen gaze...
The disheveled girl slumped into a pile of wheat, rubbing her stomach with a distressed expression.
"I'm starving..."
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