---
Artoria: "Of course I have."
Though her words were resolute, Artoria was clearly displeased with her performan the video. As Chihiro had pointed out, she acted far too recklessly, relying on her armor to blo unknown Noble Phantasm. Even with her instincts as a knight, it had been a miscalcution. Was it because she trusted too mu her intuition or because she had Irisviel nearby to heal her that she took such a risk?
Her skill of "Instinct" allowed her to perceive the best possible course of a in bat, almost like an ability to predict the future. But it was still based on known information, and in the video, she was unaware of Diarmuid's spear's unique properties, leading her astray.
---
Diarmuid: "Ihat is my Noble Phantasm, 'Gáe Dearg, the Crimson Rose of Exorcism,' capable of nullifying magical defenses."
---
Waver: "So, this is the spear grao you by Angus, the Celtic god of love, right?"
---
Keh: "Lancer! What are you doing, revealing the identity of your Noble Phantasm so freely?!"
---
Diarmuid: "My lord, even if I did not , the video has already shown its effects quite clearly."
---
Keh: "Hmph!"
Regret welled up inside Keh. He had sidered ging the relimon a different Servant, and now he felt even more pelled to do so. How could they tinue when their strategy was id bare even before the war had truly begun?
---
[The video resumed, showing Artoria rec from her injuries. She addressed Diarmuid, "That spear of yours… it ignore magical defenses, 't it?"]
["Yes," Diarmuid replied fidently, "Your armor, fed with magical energy, is meaningless against it. To my spear, you may as well be naked."]
---
Chihiro: "Diarmuid, you really have a way with words."
---
Diarmuid: "..."
The phrasing in the video had indeed e across as rather suggestive, even if that hadn't been his iion.
---
[Realizing her armor was useless, Artoria dismissed it entirely. She surged forward, wielding her invisible sword with eveer speed, now uered by the weight of her armor.]
[Diarmuid gave ground, but his expressiorayed no . On the trary, he looked like a man with a pn.]
["You've made a mistake, Saber," Diarmuid said with a sly smile.]
---
Chihiro: "Artoria, are you really as experienced in battle as you cim?"
---
Artoria: "What's wrong with my approach? If his Noble Phantasm bypass defehen the only logical move is to attack without hesitation."
---
Chihiro: "Yes, but the problem lies in how readily you accepted what he said as absolute truth."
---
Artoria: "I believed that as a knight, he would not deceive me."
---
Chihiro: "It doesn't take a lie to mislead someone. Sometimes, what is left unsaid be just as deceptive."
---
Artoria: "What are you suggesting?!"
---
Diarmuid: "Chihiro is right. The version of you in the video fell for my trick, King of Knights."
---
Diarmuid: "To be frank, I was a little disappointed. Your judgment wavered far too easily."
---
[The video tinued with Diarmuid reag down arieving the spear he had previously cast aside. He uned the bao reveal a golden spear.]
["I never said I only had one Noble Phantasm," Diarmuid decred.]
[Artoria's eyes widened in realization. She had fallen for Diarmuid's ploy, and now, with the gap closed, she had no choice but to it to a reckless charge.]
[Lightning fshed as the two cshed. Both were injured in the exge, with blood dripping from each of their wrists.]
[Artoria's expression remained posed, but her thoughts raced. "My tendons are damaged, I 't grip my sword properly."]
[As a knight who specialized in wielding a two-handed bde, this injury severely hampered her bat effectiveness.]
["You fool, you didn't finish the fight," Keh scolded harshly from his vantage point atop a nearby warehouse. Even so, he cast a spell to mend Diarmuid's arm.]
[Diarmuid, unfazed, offered a smile. "You have my gratitude, my lord."]
[Irisviel, oher hand, tried to heal Artoria's injury but found the wound strangely resistant to magic.]
---
Keh: "Hahaha, it looks like we've secured victory in this duel."
---
Keh: "Even the great King of Knights is no match for Lancer with one arm injured. His twin spears will easily overwhelm her."
---
It was a se shared by many in the group. Giveuation, Lancer did indeed seem poised to cim victory.
Even Emiya Kiritsugu, watg the events unfold, couldn't help but doubt his choice of summoning Artoria. Her performan this fight had beehan inspiring, with her every a seemingly dictated by her oppo.
---
Artoria: "The wound… it won't heal. Is this because of that golden spear?"
---
Waver: "Yes, if I recall correctly, that's Gáe Buidhe, the spear given to Diarmuid by the sea god Manannán mac Lir. Its curse ehat any wound inflicted ot be healed."
---
Diarmuid: "Correct. I used the discarded spear to trick you into uimating me. And it worked, as you see."
---
Artoria: "I was fooled indeed. I didn't expect your strategy to succeed so fwlessly."
---
Keh: "Enough talking, Lancer. Stay focused."
Despite having answered the quiz question correctly, Keh was not in a celebratory mood. Diarmuid's Noble Phantasms had been revealed to all. If they faced Saber again, it would not be so easy to replicate this victory.
---
Waver: "So, Lancer was the victor in this duel, then?"
---
Chihiro: "Keep watg. The video isn't over yet."
---
[The se tinued as Diarmuid eborated on the effects of his Noble Phantasms, while Artoria donned her armor once more.]
[Just as the two prepared to tiheir duel, a bolt of lightning split the sky.]
[Apanied by the rumble of thunder, a chariot desded from above, ndiween them.]
[The chariot ulled by two oxen, and atop it stood Iskander and Waver.]
["Both of you, y down your arms," Iskander anded with a booming voice.]
["Show some respe the presence of a king!"]
---
Keh, who had briefly taken so the fact that his answer had been correct, felt his fidence shatter like gss.
Now, the true answer was unmistakably clear.
