If it were a top-tier magus, perhaps they could engage a Servant in battle.
But at most, they could only exchange blows with a second or third-rate Servant, and surviving the encounter would already be considered a success.
Even someone as powerful as Aozaki Touko could only manage that much.
Rin tightened her grip on the gem in her hand, poised to throw it.
No matter what kind of formidable enemy she encountered, she would never easily concede defeat.
Even if she had to die, it would only be after exhausting all efforts!
That was who Rin Tohsaka was.
Clatter!
Just as Rin prepared to make a desperate move, a large number of white papers fell from the sky, fluttering down like rain and rustling noisily.
As Rin watched in astonishment, these papers simultaneously radiated magical light, buzzing as they activated and formed transparent barriers that appeared in front of the two of them.
"Hm?"
The momentum of Hassan of the Cursed Arm's dive faltered slightly.
His hollow eyes, hidden beneath the skull mask, shifted away from Rin and locked onto the white-haired, red-eyed homunculus beside her.
He still held another stack of rune papers in his hand, seemingly ready to throw them at any moment.
Hassan's figure sank, landing on the ground.
With a twist of his wrist, a dagger flew from his hand and silently collided with one of the transparent barriers. With a crack, it was deflected away.
At the same time, one layer of the barrier shattered.
But compared to the total number, that one layer was insignificant.
The barriers spread out, surrounding the two of them in an airtight formation. Every direction was reinforced with at least a dozen barriers, totalling probably seventy or eighty in all.
'How many rune papers did this magus create?'
Hassan of the Cursed Arm was slightly shocked.
Ordinary magi are limited by their magical energy, and the number of rune papers they can produce in a day is finite. Accumulating this many would require years of continuous magic use—and the stronger the runes, the more mana they consume.
"Rune papers with this level of defensive power shouldn't be able to accumulate in such quantity!"
Without hesitation, Hassan flicked his hands, holding seven or eight daggers between his fingers.
His hands moved rapidly, focusing on one direction, hurling the daggers in quick succession. The attacks came so fast they blurred into a line.
Accuracy didn't matter—only speed and force did!
In just a few seconds, over half of the dozen or so barriers in front of Roy and Rin were broken.
Just one more barrage, and the barriers before them would be completely destroyed!
Rin was on high alert, nerves taut, clenching the gem tightly in her hand.
Hassan of the Cursed Arm pulled out another set of daggers and launched them like a chain, one after another, directly at the remaining barriers.
Crack, crack, crack!
The sound of shattering barriers was relentless, and the final layer in front of them crumbled.
Without hesitation, Rin hurled her gem.
Each of these gems had been nurtured since her childhood and infused with ten years' worth of magical energy. She only had ten of them, and each possessed a terrifying A-rank attack power! Not even Heracles could tank one without losing a life.
"Naive!"
Hassan of the Cursed Arm flung his hand again.
Several daggers flew out, colliding in midair like a chain reaction, smashing all the gems away before they could detonate.
The gems shattered mid-air, never even getting the chance to explode.
Rin's eyes widened in disbelief and frustration.
Yes—even Hercules would lose a life from one.
But that only applied if he stood still like a post and let her hit him.
Gritting her teeth, she pulled a ruby necklace from her chest.
It was a relic from her father, kept with the shed snakeskin in her treasure chest. It held an enormous amount of magical energy. If she used it to ignite an attack, its power would surpass even her own gems.
But before she could act—
Roy threw another batch of rune papers into the air.
They floated around the two of them like scattered flower petals, seemingly ready to form another round of barriers.
"Not so fast!"
Hassan of the Cursed Arm had anticipated this move.
He immediately lunged forward at top speed.
His eyes darted around, identifying the papers that were the first to emit magical energy, and flung daggers at them with wild abandon.
At the same time, his long, demonic right arm pierced through the floating papers, its fingertip charged with evil force aimed straight at Roy's chest.
"Roy!"
Rin's expression changed at once, and without hesitation, she hurled the ruby necklace toward Roy.
She hoped to form a barrier as fast as possible to block the Assassin's strike—
That was the thought in her mind.
"Heh!"
Roy, however, didn't look the least bit panicked. Instead, a confident smile spread across his face.
"You've fallen into my trap!"
The moment Hassan saw his expression, his heart suddenly clenched.
Roy had thrown the rune papers with his right hand.
But his left hand had been hidden behind him the whole time, using the grand movement of throwing with one hand to cover the subtle action of writing runes with the other.
With a flip of his left hand, the runes representing barriers burst from his palm, rapidly multiplying and expanding in midair, forming dozens of rune barriers in front of himself and Rin.
Now, the number of barriers was several times greater than before—and they were all personally controlled by Roy, with a continuous mana supply, making them much harder to break.
"Tch!"
Hassan's right arm was blocked—he couldn't touch Roy's heart. He had no choice but to retreat a step.
The frontal barriers were clearly a major obstacle, but the ones on the sides and back weren't as dense. If he simply changed direction, he could still breach them in a few seconds and find another opportunity to strike.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, Hassan let out a low grunt.
His retreat was halted as his back bumped into something.
He turned his head—and was stunned.
It was the previous rune papers.
The papers from Roy's second throw had connected and merged mid-air to form a boundary field, now enveloping all three of them like a giant bowl turned upside down.
And within this larger boundary, Roy's inner barriers formed a smaller bowl encasing him and Rin.
Hassan of the Cursed Arm was now trapped between the two bowls.
A strange smile spread across Roy's face.
He flipped his right hand.
The runes he had secretly carved into his palm were already multiplying and expanding.
While forming the first barrier, he had used another exaggerated motion to conceal the small action of inscribing new runes with his right hand.
"Unfortunately for you, I win. Prepare to die!"
Roy whipped his hand forward.
The runes in his palm flew out like countless chains, threading through the gaps between the barriers.
In the span of just two breaths, hundreds of runes shot into the air before them, forming a massive sphere of runes the size of a person.
"Damn it!"
Only now did Hassan realize the danger, his heart gripped with fear.
In a flash, the rune sphere exploded between the two layers of boundaries.
BOOM!!!
A deafening roar followed, and flames erupted like a blazing sun.
***
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