Not a single building in Ryudo Shrine remained standing.

Dust filled the entire area.

Archer used this opportunity to achieve his objective.

Assassin wanted to pursue Archer, because Archer was heading right towards Koe.

But before Assassin could take more than a few steps, a figure hidden in the dust blocked her.

The figure picked up something that looked like a long and thinblade.

“Wuhh…” The figure casually waved her empty right hand to dispel the dust around her.

When that didn’t work, the figure swung her blade.

With a single sweep, all of the dust was blown away, restoring visibility.

It was a woman with short black hair and casual clothes holding a flaming blade in her left hand.

She looked towards where Archer ran off to.

The woman sighed in disappointment.

Then the woman looked around her, her gaze sliding past Caster who was still in the air.

But when she saw Assassin, she tilted her head in confusion.

"Assassin?" She asked interestedly, her eyes flashed with orange flames.

She was quite intrigued by the secrets Assassins possessed.

"Ha ha." The woman bitterly laughed. “My troubles just keep piling up.”

The woman moved her right hand, creating a throwing dagger out of orange fire.

But just before she threw the dagger, she heard an explosion.

Archer was flung into the air.

Everyone present watched Archer fly through the air.

A man appeared from where Archer was thrown from.

He was Souichirou, a teacher from Shirou's school.

As a former assassin, he was a master of deadly martial arts.

He had used those martial arts in combination with Caster’s various reinforcement spells to ambush Archer.

Seeing Archer was no longer near Koe, the woman calmed down and dematerialized her dagger.

Like a boundless ocean, the woman flooded the area with her aura, attracting the attention of all the servants.

"Ahem, fine." The woman cleared her throat and said to Archer.

“Archer, please leave now.”

Archer regained his footing and furrowed his brows at her words.

However, when he saw the woman, he couldn't help but feel something.

Archer, True name: EMIYA.

He was a Counter Guardian pact-bound to protect the Earth.

Archer was different from the other servants in this war, instead of being summoned from the Throne of Heroes, he was summoned while still being a Counter Guardian.

However, he had lost some of his powers when he was summoned by Rin.

Rin’s pendant was the only catalyst that was related to EMIYA’s heroic spirit.

As a former Counter Guardian, he could identify all threats to mankind and the Earth.

With just a look, Archer could tell that although the woman is a threat to the world, she is also an agent of the world.

Archer became both surprised and confused.

He didn't know how this was possible.

Moreover, this was only the second time he witnessed such a being. The first time he saw such a threat was when he saw Koe.

Koe was the reason why Archer was here.

Seeing Archer’s expression, the woman surmised his thoughts and added.

“I know what you think of me, but believe me, fighting me is unnecessary.”

The woman sneered, “We could even be called allies or even colleagues. I might even be your senior."

Seeing Archer’s misgivings, the woman swapped her approach.

“Let me take care of Shirou Emiya.”

The woman pointed her blade at Koe..

“In exchange, you can either leave this place or help me.”

Still confused, Archer decided to follow his instincts and Counter Guardian oath, to protect humanity from all threats.

Archer summoned his two short swords and slid towards the woman.

Disappointed, the woman faced Archer head on.

She skillfully stepped forward and swung her blade.

Like an illusion, the woman swifty approached and slashed Archer with the flat edge of her blade before he could react, yeeting Archer into the air again.

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“I told you, I'm not who you think I am. We are allies…” The woman considered her words again. “To be more precise, we share the same enemy, does that make sense?"

Archer frowned as he dug himself out of the ground.

Upon seeing Archer’s response, the woman thought to herself, ‘Despite expecting this, I still don’t like it.’

The woman then raised her right hand, forming two short swords above it.

Although similar to Archer’s they seemed stronger and of higher quality.

The woman threw the two short swords at Archer.

"If you really want to fight, then help me expel Shirou's servants."

"But I'm saying it last time! Don't go near Shirou Emiya or..." The woman’s aura burst out again. "I won’t hesitate to kill you!"

Archer accepted the two short swords, his surprise was evident.

As EMIYA, the possessor of Unlimited blade Works, he could trace all weapons he saw and reproduce them. Only the fiery aspect of the swords before him was the only difference between them and his usual swords, thus they felt extremely familiar.

Seeing the woman leave, Archer made his choice.

Assassin went after the woman while Caster stood on guard to prevent Archer from interfering.

With Souichirou here, Caster had an additional card to use.

Archer leapt towards Caster but was blocked by Souichirou.

Archer swung his sword, but unlike before, it cut through Souichirou’s right hand, despite Caster's spells.

Amazed at this, Archer continued his assault, forcing Souichirou back after losing his right hand.

Archer stopped and looked back at the two short swords in his hands.

His speculations couldn’t answer his questions.

The two short swords had changed the tide of battle.

[Caster! Activate the teleportation magic now.] Koe urged Caster.

Then another explosion could be heard.

Not daring to look at the source, Caster replied to Koe's message. [Unfortunately that's impossible right now, Master. Something is interfering with all my magic circles.]

Despite being sure it was the woman, she didn’t know how she had done so.

While she was thinking, Archer continued to attack.

The woman had the clear upper hand as she pushed Assassin back every time their weapons clashed.

The disparity between them was massive.

'Who is this woman? Is she a servant?'

'Why does she want to kill me so much?'

Judging by her gaze, she knew Koe well, yet he had never seen her in his life.

The explosion had been caused by Assassin crashing into the ground, despite how she appeared, she was far stronger than that.

Getting up, she grasped her sword without wavering.

The woman had a strange expression. "Assassin..."

The woman could detect any servants nearby, except the Assassin before her.

This displeased her.

"You remind me of a servant from the previous war, if I'm not mistaken, she was a saber class servant."

“Her real name is Artoria, the King of Camelot and also the leader of the Knights of the Round Table.”

The woman pointed her blade at Assassin.

"Tell me." The woman's gaze became sharp. "What's your relationship with that servant? Did you also belong to the Round Table?”

The Assassin didn't respond.

Suddenly an idea popped into her mind.

“External variables, eh?” The woman could only randomly guess where Assassin came from.

Looking at Koe, her gaze nearly pierced into Koe’s soul.

"When are you going to stop hiding behind your servants?"

Even though she encountered many servants, she treated them emotionlessly. But when she saw Koe, she couldn’t control herself.

Koe tried to calm himself down, however with just her gaze, he found it hard to breathe.

Then another explosion boomed out, it was unmistakably from Archer and Caster battling.

But Koe ignored it, his life was in danger.

'Assassin lost to this woman, however… If I order the Assassin to buy me time while I run away then maybe I can survive as a loser of this war.'

That was okay to Koe, as he didn’t have a wish he wanted granted.

However, the woman looked at Koe like he was her prey.

Koe wasn't sure that he would survive this even if he sacrificed Assassin.

Despite all his and Caster’s preparations, it was all in vain. This made him feel very angry and helpless.

But he had hope, Assassin still had her noble phantasm.

Koe anxiously and restlessly thought about how to survive this plight as the two women fought.

[Assassin use your noble phantasm against that woman.]

But Assassin did not reply to Koe's message.

Then Koe seemed to feel a dagger stabbing into his body.

Caster died!

The bond between Koe and Caster had vanished, only death could sever such a link.

Realizing Caster was gone, the woman shouted.

“Archer, take care of Assassin while I take care of Shirou.”

The woman put some distance between Assassin, then started to move her entire body.

She then used a technique almost on the same level as a noble phantasm.

The woman's blade flicked like a whip and threw two strikes at Assassin.

Because they were so fast, Assassin couldn’t parray the second attack and was yeeted into the air.

Archer followed up her attack and swung at Assassin.

Not wasting any time, the woman slid towards Koe, her blade burning with orange flames.

Despite being unconscious, Assassin could sense Archer approaching her to deal the final blow.

The woman landed her right foot, pulled out her blade, and with all her strength, slashed towards Koe.and with all her

At the same time, Archer was about to behead Assassin with his swords.

The woman wanted to split Koe into two..

Archer's two swords were a hairbreathe away from decapitating Assassin.

Suddenly, light shined around Archer, causing him to disappear.

Assassin fell to the ground without further injuries.

Just before the woman’s sword touched him, a pale blue light surrounded his body.

Instead of being a bisected corpse, Koe, still intact, was standing a few meters away.

However, his face was pale and he fell to his knees, vomiting blood.

The woman wanted to finish him, but a sword attacked her from behind.

Assassin had regained consciousness and came to aid her master.

However, due to the Assassin's injuries,the woman sent the Assassin flying back with just a swing.

Blue pale light then enveloped Koe's body and began to heal all his wounds.

Seeing this, the woman became cynical and disgusted.

“As I thought, both the tail and the head are troublesome pests.”

Giving Koe no more time to recuperate, the woman continued her attack.

Her body flew swiftly like an arrow released from the bow asshe readied her attack and then swung her blade.

A pale blue light flashed faintly from Koe's body.

Like cutting through the wind, Koe's body nimbly and narrowly dodged the woman's attack.

Assassin once said that Koe hid his swordsmanship abilities, a fact.

Thanks to Caster, Koe was finally able to improve his swordsman technique.

Like a soft snowflake flying through the winter sky, Koe dodged every attack using that technique.