The Exorcism Tale of Hachiman

Seeing Assassin's actions, Hachiman Hikigaya pulled Sakura into his arms and retreated towards Karna, while simultaneously slashing his sword to block the incoming attack.

However, as if Assassin knew that Hachiman Hikigaya was very strong, five more masked men jumped down from above the pit to join the hunt for Hachiman Hikigaya.

"Master!"

Karna and Artoria, who were fighting, saw what suddenly happened and immediately stopped fighting to rush to the rescue of their respective Masters.

But they hadn't gone more than a few steps when several masked men blocked their way.

"So many assassins?"

Looking at the dozen or so figures around Hachiman Hikigaya, then at the three people around Kiritsugu Emiya, and the few people blocking his and Karna's way.

The total number of assassins has clearly exceeded twenty!

"He only knows some simple tricks like creating clones..."

Despite being outnumbered, Karna remained unfazed. He charged directly at one of the assassins in front of him, completely ignoring the attacks from the other assassins around him.

With a single shot piercing the chest of the enemy before him, Karna stepped on the dying assassin's body, pulled out his spear, and surveyed the surrounding enemies.

Just like the comments he made to Hachiman Hikigaya before.

Although there were many assassins, they posed no threat to him whatsoever!

Compared to Karna's composure, Artoria was much more anxious.

After all, Kiritsugu Emiya is different from Hachiman Hikigaya. Not only is he weaker than the latter, but he also doesn't have a single weapon at the moment.

He was merely relying on magic that was extremely taxing on his body to barely evade the Assassin's pursuit.

If Artoria doesn't return to Kiritsugu Emiya's side in time, Kiritsugu Emiya will surely die!

However.....

Artoria swung her sword at the Assassin in front of her, but he instantly retreated to avoid her attack.

At the same time, an assassin appeared on either side of Artoria, wielding a dagger and forcing her to retreat to her original position.

Having succeeded in their attack, the Assassins did not press their advantage. Instead, they remained in place, quietly waiting for Artoria to attack again, clearly intending to buy her time.

"You damned bastards!"

Artoria glared angrily at the three assassins in front of her, gritted her teeth, and charged forward again.

This time, she rushed straight towards Kiritsugu Emiya, thinking that even if she got injured, she would return to Kiritsugu Emiya's side.

However, at that moment, Assassin pulled out a bunch of modern grenades from who-knows-where and threw them at her.

With a deafening explosion, Artoria emerged from the smoke, covered in soot, and continued running towards Kiritsugu Emiya.

"boom!"

Another explosion rang out at Artoria's feet.

"Landmines?!"

Upon hearing the sound, apart from Kiritsugu Emiya, who was desperately dodging the attack, the other three all turned their gazes in that direction.

Artoria was thrown several meters away by the powerful blast.

She rolled several times on the ground before finally stopping with the help of the sword in her hand.

"Hahaha......."

Seeing Artoria's disheveled state, the three assassins responsible for blocking her threw explosives at her while laughing mockingly.

"How shameless..."

Karna sighed; he simply couldn't bear to see the Assassin's disadvantage any longer.

"Your journey in the Holy Grail War ends here."

Looking at the assassins around him, who were also cautiously observing him with modern explosives, Karna announced the end of their lives.

The next second, a cluster of fire appeared on Karna's body, and then Karna, holding his spear, spun around in place at a speed invisible to the naked eye!

As the six corpses collapsed to the ground with a thud, the world fell silent instantly.

"........."

Seeing Karna walking towards him, the Assassins surrounding Hachiman Hikigaya involuntarily retreated.

Hachiman Hikigaya seized the opportunity, grabbed the arm of an assassin who was swinging his sword at him, kicked him in the stomach and sent him flying into the air, then sliced ​​off his head with his demon-slaying sword.

Because the heroic spirit's body is entirely composed of magic, the blood splattering all over them did not occur.

"How come this guy seems even more skilled than us?"

Seeing Karna approaching step by step from not far away, and then looking at Hachiman Hikigaya, who had killed one of their companions with his mortal body, the remaining Assassins wavered.

Led by the only female assassin in the team, they eventually abandoned their plan to surround and kill Hachiman Hikigaya and Sakura, and instead focused their attention on Kiritsugu Emiya, whose physical strength was about to reach its limit.

Seeing the Assassins who had been surrounding him heading towards Kiritsugu Emiya, Hachiman Hikigaya stood still without offering any help.

"Shouldn't we just ignore it?"

Karna walked up to Hachiman Hikigaya and asked him as he watched the departing Assassin.

"If it were Irisviel, perhaps I would help. But since it's him..."

Hachiman Hikigaya didn't finish his sentence, but Karna understood what he meant.

"Is that so? It seems Saber is quite pitiful..."

After realizing that Hachiman Hikigaya didn't want to save Kiritsugu Emiya, Karna, who also disliked him, shook his head as he looked at Artoria, who was completely trapped with the help of the new Assassin, and couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy.

She was a knight king who upheld the rules, but she just happened to encounter a Master like Kiritsugu Emiya. She can only blame her bad luck.

Chapter 244 Reaping the Bitter Fruit

"With my final Command Spell, I command you, Saber, eliminate all the Assassins around me!"

Things have reached a point where Kiritsugu Emiya least wanted to see.

Seeing the Assassins rushing towards him, and Artoria blocked not far away and unable to come to his aid, Kiritsugu Emiya had no choice but to use his last Command Spell to strengthen Artoria and have her eliminate the Assassins beside him.

With the use of the last Command Seal, the Command Seal symbol on Kiritsugu Emiya's left hand completely faded away.

At the same time, a massive surge of magic power instantly flowed into Artoria's body, restoring her to her peak condition in just a moment.

He bent down and rushed forward quickly.

His body was rapidly spinning and being cut amidst the explosives thrown by the assassins.

Artoria swept past the Assassins blocking her path like a whirlwind, appearing behind them and continuing her charge towards Kiritsugu Emiya.

After her, the assassins who blocked her way first stood there like wooden figures, and then their bodies collapsed instantly like porcelain vases.

"Kill him quickly!"

Seeing Artoria rushing over at incredible speed, the Assassins surrounding Kiritsugu Emiya launched another coordinated attack.

This time, even if Kiritsugu Emiya used his Inherent Time Control to accelerate his own time flow, he still couldn't escape it.

However, at the crucial moment, Artoria released the Wind King Barrier once again.

A powerful air cannon shot pierced Kiritsugu Emiya's cheek and struck an Assassin, creating an opening in the encirclement.

Kiritsugu Emiya managed to escape through the gap Artoria had created for him, but Artoria then passed over him and continued her charge towards Assassin, creating a whirlwind...

"What a pity..."

Seeing that Kiritsugu Emiya had used his last Command Spell to save his life, Hachiman Hikigaya's face was filled with regret.

Although they spent very little time together, he greatly admired Artoria's character and conduct.

If Kiritsugu Emiya had died obediently, at least he would have prevented Karna from personally killing Artoria and causing her to exit the stage.

"But since all three Command Seals have been used up, they're not really a concern anymore, are they?"

After all, based on the two battles just now, it's an undeniable fact that Artoria is no match for Karna.

Without the aid of Command Spells, Artoria's defeat was only a matter of time.

"In other words, Saber's Master merely used Command Seals to delay his departure..."

Karna stood behind Hachiman Hikigaya and delivered the final verdict.

Although they wouldn't take advantage of the assassins' attack, it was clear that after Artoria dealt with those assassins, they definitely wouldn't be able to leave the pit alive tonight!

"Pfft!"

The sound of the sword cutting into flesh echoed continuously in Artoria's ears.

With the last assassin falling beside her, this sudden attack launched by the assassins temporarily came to an end.

However, neither Artoria nor Kiritsugu Emiya relaxed their guard.

The two turned their heads at the same time to look at Hachiman Hikigaya, and sure enough, Hachiman Hikigaya was also looking at them with a cold expression, showing no sign of softening.

"Saber, is it possible to escape?"

Kiritsugu Emiya looked at Hachiman Hikigaya with a furrowed brow.

He desperately didn't want to continue fighting, but now whether or not to fight was no longer up to him.

"I'm sorry, Kiritsugu, with him around, I don't think we can escape..."

Although she was reluctant to run away, Artoria knew that it was the only way to avoid being eliminated.

Unfortunately, even though she had made up her mind to leave the battle, with Karna around, she was unable to retreat with Kiritsugu Emiya.

"Is that so? Then we have no choice but to fight..."

Artoria's answer was as expected. Although Kiritsugu Emiya was somewhat disappointed, he could only accept the outcome of the life-or-death struggle, as he had been prepared for it.

"If only Avalon had been brought out earlier."

Thinking of Avalon still inside Irisviel's body, Kiritsugu Emiya felt somewhat annoyed.

If Artoria had her scabbard, it would at least increase her chances of winning by several levels...

However, it's too late for regrets now. With Hachiman Hikigaya and Karna eyeing him menacingly, Kiritsugu Emiya can only hope that Artoria can create a miracle.

"Karna, it's the third and deciding game."