Chapter 18 The Art of the 'Dao'

Chapter Eighteen: The Art of the "Dao"

"A swordsman?!" Lolita asked, though her tone was entirely certain.

"Indeed!" the figure replied as he turned around.

Lolita said politely, "I am Redona Lolita. May I ask for your esteemed name?"

Any Heroic Spirit would rarely reveal their identity so readily. Yet, faced with Lolita’s demeanor and words, the man only smiled faintly, speaking as if discussing something utterly inconsequential: "I am Sasaki Kojiro, of the Assassin class."

"Sasaki Kojiro? That famous Japanese swordsman?" For Tohsaka Rin, who excelled in her studies and possessed an excellent grasp of Japanese history, the name was naturally familiar. Although it was somewhat strange for someone to declare their identity right off the bat, the man’s attire undoubtedly matched that of Sasaki Kojiro.

"I am not Sasaki Kojiro himself, but merely a nameless swordsman upon whom the name has been bestowed. No matter; whoever wishes to pass through this gate must first snap the long blade in my hand. I crave a glorious, unhindered duel—that is the reason I answered the summon of the Holy Grail." With these words, Assassin struck a peculiar stance with the long sword in his grasp.

"Very well! Since you have stated your name, as a knight I must respond in kind. My name is Artoria, and my class is—" Saber’s utterance of her true name momentarily shocked Tohsaka Rin and Illya, but Saber’s words were abruptly cut short by Lolita.

"Saber, leave this to me. This is a battle between samurai, not knights," Lolita said, gripping Thunder in her hand.

Both Lolita and Shust had long wished to witness Eastern swordsmanship, but having only ever encountered Western styles, their desires had remained unfulfilled until now. Finally, Lolita had seized the opportunity.

Although Saber’s swordsmanship, forged on the battlefield, could be called the ultimate killing art, this was different. Lolita could sense that the swordsmanship used by the Assassin before her was truly close to the refined art of the "Dao."

The so-called "Dao," in the terminology of the Type-Moon world, was the attainment of the realm of magecraft through sheer technique. Against such swordplay, perhaps even the Nine Swords Defeating the Heavens could not compare.

If Lolita fought a duel with this Assassin, she would undoubtedly elevate her own strength by a massive margin. Although, at the eighth tier, she had long since surpassed the Daoist concept of returning to simplicity and naturalness, actually touching upon the "Dao" firsthand would allow her to comprehend the profound mysteries of that state all the sooner.

Seeing Lolita’s eagerness for battle, Saber paused for a fraction of a second before nodding. She had originally stepped forward out of the dictates of chivalry, but without a Master to replenish her magical energy, she truly ought to avoid combat whenever possible. Though it felt somewhat frustrating, there was simply no other choice.

"Do your best, Archer! But be careful all the same." Tohsaka Rin naturally raised no objections to Lolita; to someone like Lolita, an enemy of this caliber should hardly pose a threat.

"Understood. But Rin, you all go on ahead! I can sense that there is another—" Lolita turned back with a smile and said, "Another Servant inside."

"Nani?! Then we'll head in first. Archer, hurry over once you're done here." Tohsaka Rin was startled, clearly not expecting there to be two Heroic Spirits present. Yet, for Lolita, who possessed spiritual perception, such a detail could not possibly be mistaken. Just as her own side had formed an alliance, it was naturally entirely possible for other Masters to have done the same.

Without ever entertaining the thought that Lolita might fail, Tohsaka Rin led Shiro and Illya inside.

"Mama! Illya wants to stay!" Illya yanked herself free from Tohsaka Rin's grip and called out over her shoulder.

"Be a good girl! I'll be right there in a moment," Lolita quickly comforted her. This little demoness had put Lolita through a great deal of hardship; the last thing she wanted was to see the child cry, lest those damned Command Seals force her to do all sorts of suicidal things.

"Okay! Then Mama has to be quick, alright?" With that, Illya was pulled inside.

Watching the group enter Ryudoji Temple, Assassin did not make the slightest move. Whether it was guarding the mountain gate or serving at the beck and call of a witch, his goal from beginning to end had only ever been one thing: to seek a hearty, unreserved battle.

Though the Servant before him appeared to be a young girl who might struggle to lift a single chicken, Assassin did not dare let his focus waver for even an instant. He could sense that, unlike himself—a nameless swordsman upon whom the moniker of an peerless swordsman had been thrust—the girl before him was a genuinely noble Heroic Spirit, possessing a level of renown and mystery far beyond his reach.

"Now, state the parameters of your Servant Card," Lolita said, leveling her sword at Assassin.

"?" Though he did not understand her intent, much as a swordsman in a duel would announce the name of his blade, perhaps a confrontation between Heroic Spirits required reciting one's parameters—which idiot had come up with that idea, anyway? Assassin spoke up: "Strength: C, Endurance: E, Agility: A+, Magical Energy: E, Luck: A."

"Alright, Five-Element Seal." Somewhat surprised by his exceptionally high Luck parameter, Lolita sealed her own Strength down to E. "Let's begin!"

"Eh? Why didn't you state your parameters?" Assassin asked, puzzled.

"?" Lolita looked at him strangely. "What are you talking about?"

"Isn't it customary for Servants to exchange parameters before a duel?" Assassin inquired.

"Oh, come on," Lolita said, planting her stance on the ground. "Whichever jerk told you that? There's no such rule as trading parameters before a fight between Heroic Spirits!"

"Eh? Then the reason you asked for mine earlier..."

"Ugh, that's because I wanted a fair fight with you. After all, the lowest of all my base parameters is A+, so naturally I had to lower them a bit," Lolita said with a helpless sigh.

"Ah... well then, as a swordsman's courtesy, state the name of your blade!" Assassin said, holding his long sword horizontally and gently stroking the blade with his left hand. "Washing Pole! Five feet in length—thirty centimeters to a foot. My beloved sword."

Performing the exact same gesture, Lolita declared, "Thunder! Five feet in length, a part of myself."

Having spoken, the two simply stared at each other, standing in utter stillness.

Ten minutes passed, and neither made the slightest movement, yet Lolita’s aura shifted a fraction of a second faster than Assassin's.

A gust of wind swept by, stirring Lolita’s silver hair and Assassin’s purple locks, and this breeze served as the opening signal for their clash.

"——" In an instant, the two figures crossed paths. A single fallen leaf, swept up by the wind between them, was cleanly sliced into three pieces.

"Clang—" A full second after they crossed, the echoing resonance of clashing steel finally rang out, demonstrating just how absurdly high the level of skill in this exchange truly was.

"You are strong! But in terms of technique, you lost," Assassin said to Lolita.

"Indeed... though you shouldn't let your guard down. Be careful not to capsize in a small ditch," Lolita said earnestly, brushing away a few strands of silver hair that had been cleanly sheared off near her ear.

"I look forward to it." No sooner had the words faded than the two lunged toward one another...

When Lolita exchanged blows with Assassin, she was utterly astonished, for the man managed with every single strike to deflect the force of her blade using the absolute minimum of effort. Moreover, he unfailingly struck the edge of her sword with his tip precisely enough to make it graze past his own body, immediately followed by a counter-slash aimed straight at her...

"Pfft—" Fresh blood sprayed into the air.

With a single sweep, Lolita beat Assassin back, then clutched her left shoulder as she said, "It seems that in the mastery of swordsmanship, among all the Heroic Spirits this time, you are undoubtedly the highest." As her voice trailed off, the wound on her shoulder healed instantly, leaving even her clothing completely undamaged.

"You have yet to unleash the full profundity of your swordsmanship. Bring out your true abilities," Assassin said calmly.

"Hmph, you're right." Raising her right hand, a blood-red five-tachi materialized in her grip. Crossing both blades before her chest, Lolita declared, "Blood Dance of the Crescent Moon."

There was nothing else to it—merely a name—yet the chilling aura of slaughter radiating from the blade reminded Assassin that he was looking at an peerless weapon of doom.

"Dual-wielding! Is that a demonic sword?" Assassin asked, eyeing the Blood Dance of the Crescent Moon with a solemn gaze.

"Indeed it is, though not the genuine article," Lolita replied, the two swords in her hands shrinking down to three feet as she spoke.

"..." The dual blades stirred unpleasantly familiar memories in Assassin's mind, recalling the legendary Duel on Ganryu Island.

On the morning of April 13th in the seventeenth year of Keicho (1612), Miyamoto Musashi and Sasaki Kojiro fought their duel on the island of Kokura Funa.

During that confrontation, Sasaki Kojiro had drawn his blade and cast the scabbard aside, prompting Miyamoto Musashi to remark: "Kojiro, you have already lost. If you were truly the victor, why would you throw away your scabbard?"

Consumed by psychological defeat, Sasaki Kojiro suffered a crushing rout, his blood ultimately staining the golden sands.

"Dual blades bring to mind unpleasant matters," Assassin said, his brow twitching.

"My apologies for invoking bad memories, but I happen to be a dual-wielder," Lolita replied.

The battle resumed. This time, Assassin displayed the swordsmanship that was on the verge of touching the "Dao."

As she slashed at him with her left hand, his long sword precisely intercepted the tip of Thunder, gently brushing it aside. Shifting from a thrust to a cleave, Assassin aimed for Lolita’s neck, but Lolita brought her right blade up in time, crossing both weapons to intercept the fatal strike. She then compressed the angle between her swords, snapping them shut like a pair of shears toward Assassin’s neck.

Yet Assassin unleashed yet another bizarre maneuver, tilting his blade up by two degrees and, even while pinned between Lolita’s two swords, forcefully executing an iai-slash right at her.

Such an eccentric technique was something even Archer’s combat experience had never encountered. Acting purely on instinct in her haste, Lolita activated her Table Dancer ability, transforming into a streak of red afterimage to dodge the strike.

A sword is a weapon of slaughter, and swordsmanship is an art of killing—such statements were entirely correct, yet swordsmanship could simultaneously manifest as an art form.

Assassin’s movements undoubtedly exemplified this truth. Under identical conditions, he met attacks with counter-attacks in the direction of the assault, maintained an airtight defense, and effortlessly untangled even dead-end situations.

Lolita even had the fleeting illusion that she was acting in an action movie, while her opponent was the director, choreographing her every move at his command.

Yet Lolita felt not a shred of dejection, for this was a true master—a far cry from the sweeping, heavy-handed Western swordsmanship. If the two styles were pitted against each other, Assassin alone could easily slaughter an entire army using swordsmanship alone. His swordplay had already reached the level of an anti-army Noble Phantasm.

So, a sword could be wielded in such a manner.