dea and Kirie were utterly confused, and another spectator, Lancer Cú Chulainn, was just as bewildered—though his confusion started earlier and for a different reason.
As soone who had graduated from the Land of Shadows and held the top spot on the leaderboard, Cú Chulainn knew Scáthach, as well as Shinji, did. So, seeing her manifest in the world as a Servant shocked him more than anyone.
"Wait, why is that woman here?"
"Since when can living people beco Heroic Spirits?"
"Could it be she died? No way! I'd sooner believe in the end of humanity than believe that this woman could die!"
Absolutely impossible!
"Oh, is that what you think?"
A cold voice rang out close to Cú Chulainn.
Upon hearing it, Cú Chulainn instinctively went into battle mode, his eyes locking onto the purple-haired woman he had just fought. However, since he didn't have his spear, his stance looked sowhat awkward.
"Are we still fighting, Rider?"
"That depends on your choice."
Rider, dusa, swung her Harpe, her deanor as cold as ice.
"My Master only ordered to lure you here. I wasn't instructed to kill you. Of course, if you wish to continue fighting, I'll gladly oblige."
"Oh, that's great! Let's call a temporary truce, Rider."
Cú Chulainn exhaled dramatically.
"Honestly, I'm not good with won like you."
"Because of her?"
dusa shifted to holding her weapon single-handedly, freeing her other hand to point at Scáthach, who had exchanged nearly a hundred close-range moves with Shinji.
"Uh, how do you know?"
"You let it slip while talking to yourself."
"Wait, I said that out loud?"
Hearing dusa's remark, Cú Chulainn's face turned pale, and he quickly covered his mouth, stepping back repeatedly.
"Damn, damn, damn, damn!"
There are so things everyone knows are true, but you never say them out loud—especially not in front of the person in question. For example, denying Scáthach's wish for death and claiming she would never die. If you said that to her face, the consequences would be disastrous.
Even Shinji, who had trained under Scáthach for only three months, understood this. And Cú Chulainn, who had trained under her for over a year, knew it even better. Back then, it wasn't just him learning from her; there were many fellow disciples. He had witnessed more than once soone getting chased across the Land of Shadows by a furious Scáthach for running their mouth. He had even experienced it himself.
Once, Cú Chulainn had fought Scáthach's sister, Aoife, who was also Scáthach's sworn enemy. After much effort, he defeated and captured her. Seeing that Aoife was beautiful, Cú Chulainn made her his lover for a brief ti before letting her go.
When Scáthach found out, she was genuinely furious. She lifted a massive boulder and hurled it at him from a mountaintop. If he hadn't run fast, he might not have lived to beco a Heroic Spirit. That incident left a lasting psychological scar on Cú Chulainn.
Recalling the boulder throw, which had an added guaranteed hit property capable of defying causality, made Cú Chulainn's scalp tingle.
"I need to get out of here fast. If that woman catches , it's over. But my spear is still there. If I leave, it'll disappear too, and I'll be found out anyway. Damn it, what should I do?"
As Cú Chulainn fretted, another person vaulted over the school wall.
"Lancer!"
It was his Master, Bazett. Although Bazett could fight a Servant head-on, she wasn't as fast over long distances as the famously swift Cú Chulainn, so she arrived a bit later.
"Master..."
"What's going on? Why do you look like that?"
Seeing Cú Chulainn's odd expression, Bazett quickly asked, gripping her fists tightly, her gaze warily fixed on dusa. She thought dusa had injured her Servant and idol.
dusa shook her head emotionlessly and pointed toward the edge of the sports field, where a man and woman were locked in close combat, indicating that she had nothing to do with it.
Following dusa's gesture, Bazett's eyes fell upon the crimson magical spear that had changed hands countless tis before suddenly slipping from the four interlocked hands and flying high into the sky.
Scáthach imdiately leaped to retrieve it, but Shinji grabbed her ankle and slamd her into the ground.
Boom!
Despite it being flesh hitting the ground, the sound was like a boulder crashing down, and the impact shattered the rubber track.
In the cloud of debris, Shinji, having successfully used a grappling move, didn't look the least bit pleased. Instead, he grimaced and clutched his wrist.
It turned out that while Shinji was slamming her, Scáthach had subtly injured his wrist with a clever twist, tainting his hard-earned victory.
Shinji bit his lip, his wrist muscles shifting as he popped his dislocated joint back into place. At that mont, the crimson spear that had flown high into the sky began to fall back down.
Just as Shinji was about to reach for it, he noticed that several runes had appeared on the spear's previously smooth surface—runes brimming with unstable, explosive magical energy.
"FEHU (Primordial Fla), THURISAZ (Thor's Hamr)!"
Recognizing the runes' effects, Shinji's face paled. He stomped the ground hard and, using Mana Burst, retreated at full speed.
In the next instant, the crimson spear erupted in a dazzling display of lightning and fire—the two most destructive forces in nature. The resulting explosion caused more damage than all the moves Shinji and Scáthach had exchanged, plus Shinji's final throw combined.
Thanks to his quick retreat, Shinji wasn't injured—though the school uniform he had donned to confuse Cú Chulainn was now completely scorched. It wasn't a combat suit woven by Justeaze, after all, and its magic resistance was zero.
Nonetheless, Shinji's hard-earned advantage was now lost.
He had managed to throw Scáthach hard enough to dislocate his wrist—a small victory. But now, having lost the spear, that small victory had turned into a draw, or perhaps even a minor defeat. Just as Shinji skillfully reset his wrist, Scáthach was the type of warrior who didn't care about injuries and only grew stronger the longer a battle dragged on. What did a re throw matter?
"Tch, completing howork isn't easy," Shinji muttered in frustration, tearing off the remnants of his burned school uniform.
"No, no, this result already satisfies ."
Scáthach stood up, dusting herself off as she spoke.
"That throw you just used wasn't sothing I taught you."
"I'm not arrogant enough to think I can defeat you with only what you've taught —what I just used was from Pankration."
"Ah, so it was ancient Greek mixed martial arts. In that field, I suppose I am a bit lacking."
Hearing Shinji's explanation, Scáthach sighed with a hint of regret.
"To maintain this elegance, I find it difficult to engage in hand-to-hand combat. I'm just that weak of a woman—but laughing is fine."
And so, soone laughed.
"Hahahahahaha!"
PS: A large part of why Cú Chulainn slept with Aoife was because she resembled Scáthach. According to Celtic myth, Cú Chulainn slept with Scáthach's sister, as well as her daughter, Uathach. So, who would believe he didn't have feelings for Scáthach? Of course, this also shows that both Scáthach and Cú Chulainn maintained their boundaries—Cú Chulainn avoided married won (though he accidentally did once, but he didn't know, and the woman set him up), and Scáthach was loyal to her husband. However, the Fate universe tends to ignore Scáthach's husband and children, so let's assu they don't exist.
PS2: To this day, I still believe the purple magician in the FGO Part 2 PV isn't Scáthach but her sister Aoife. Only Aoife would have the right to say to Cú Chulainn, "I don't know whether to love you or hate you." The reasons for the love are explained above, and as for the hate... well, Aoife bore Cú Chulainn a son, and that son was ultimately killed by his own father.
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