Aetius specifically dispatched a cavalry unit to escort Suzuki Yuki and Gilles de Rais to the location where Brunhilda was hiding. Before their departure, he performed another divination and confirmed that the results remained unchanged before informing Suzuki that they could set off.
This small detail made Suzuki somewhat concerned. He didn't inquire about it directly, but he realized that Aetius was hiding something. The divination results involved more than just the location and a keyword "anchor"; they might also be connected to the outcome of their interception.
It didn't take much time for them to ride to the location provided by the divination. It was around 9 a.m., and Suzuki had already been escorted to the foot of the hill. Dense trees obstructed the view of the mountain, but Gilles de Rais had already noticed that the entire hill was enveloped in a bounded field.
"Master, shall we proceed alone? What do you think?" Gilles de Rais deliberately dismounted and approached Suzuki, asking. He wasn't concerned about the issue of having a dozen or so Roman cavalrymen following them, as he knew it would be suicidal. Nor was he arrogant enough to believe that the two of them going alone would be able to evade Brunhilda's surveillance. He needed those men to mislead the witch within the barrier. Even if it only added 10% of doubt, it would be enough to distract her from her ritual.
"Alright, let them return."
Suzuki's sensitivity to magic was not particularly impressive, which might be related to his tendency to concern himself with the lives of unrelated people during non-emergency situations. Traditional magus viewed ordinary people in their field as nothing more than bait. Now was the perfect time for fishing. He didn't bother to question why Aetius had sent a cavalry unit to escort him.
"No, Master. Let them search separately," Gilles de Rais conversed with Suzuki in French. The Holy Grail provided the participating Master and Servant with basic knowledge.
"We know roughly where Brunhilda is; there's no need to search."
"We know, but our enemies might not be aware of our exact location. In the Holy Grail War, gathering intelligence is crucial. You said you came from the future and underwent systematic training under the Chaldea organization. Haven't you learned how to confuse enemy intelligence?" Gilles de Rais directly gave the accompanying cavalrymen the order to search separately. These soldiers believed that they had come along to gather enemy intelligence and prevent the Hun forces from ambushing them with small squads.
After Gilles de Rais' "reminder," Suzuki understood the other's intentions. Indeed, he had never learned these kinds of techniques. The combat methods taught by Chaldea professors mostly focused on confrontations, including alliances and gathering intelligence. They never emphasized tactics like indirect approaches, as if they didn't require them to attack from the sides, or perhaps only Suzuki's group was meant to engage in direct combat.
A moment of contemplation left Suzuki somewhat confused. The knowledge he had acquired about the Holy Grail War seemed to lack many aspects, which became evident during this actual battle. If he were to strictly follow Chaldea's combat methods, he would barely survive two battles before being ambushed and defeated by hidden forces with clear intelligence. Fortunately, this time the factions were divided, and dangerous individuals like Assassins were identified and exposed before they could lurk undetected.
One after another, they put on the talismans provided by Aetius, using them to evade detection by the bounded field. These Mystic Codes were temporarily effective but couldn't compare to Aetius' invisibility magecraft. However, they could still manage to elude Brunhilda's perception from a distance.
Watching the dozen or so cavalrymen riding off in different directions, Suzuki hesitated for a moment before entering the range of the bounded field.
Gilles de Rais walked ahead, alert to possible traps, though one night was not enough time to establish a magical stronghold, especially for an injured Servant. His caution did not yield any results as they continued along the mountain path without encountering any traps.
Similarly, as they approached their destination on the mountain, they found nothing.
"Something's not right, Master. Stop, don't move."
Without the "Prelati's Spellbook," Gilles de Rais possessed limited knowledge of Black Magic in his Saber class state. His combat experience compensated for some of the shortcomings, but unfortunately, his keen insight was not enough to penetrate Brunhilda's bounded field.
Following Gilles de Rais' advice to stop, Suzuki carefully surveyed the area ahead. Beyond the trees, there was only a cliff, and there was no magical response in the surroundings. The divination had indicated that the location should be here.
At that moment, Suzuki felt a faint response from the Command Seal on the back of his hand. It seemed that the ritual on the other side had already begun. "No, Jeanne is not here. The magical response is at least 500 meters away."
"500 meters?" Gilles de Rais was surprised. If the actual location deviated by 500 meters, considering the visible mountainous area and the straight-line distance to the mountaintop being less than 200 meters, drawing a circle with a radius of 500 meters would encompass the gentle slopes, excluding their route up the mountain. Does this mean that the ritual location is in the border area? Did Aetius's divination go wrong?
Suzuki instinctively reached into his pocket, and as his fingers touched the copper mirror "Vulcan's Talisman," strange dizziness caused him to stop. It wasn't a headache or another outbreak of the flame hallucination but rather a distortion in the light that entered his eyes, a sudden change that made him uncomfortable.
"What's wrong with you?" Gilles de Rais anxiously took two steps back, closely observing his temporary Master. He was very concerned that their whereabouts had been exposed and that Suzuki had been cursed by the enemy's black magic.
"I'm just feeling a little dizzy. I have the Mystic Code 'Vulcan's Talisman' given to me by Aetius. If I'm attacked by black magic, I can at least buy some reaction time," Suzuki said while touching the copper mirror in his pocket again. This time, the feeling of dizziness became stronger, and he could see another layer of distorted and similar scenery.
Suppressing the discomfort, Suzuki grabbed the copper mirror and held it in front of his chest, gripping it with both hands. Suddenly, all the scenery in front of him changed, except for Gilles de Rais, the Servant standing before him.
Suzuki remained stunned for a full three seconds before he reacted. He and Gilles de Rais were still in the same position they were in when they first entered the range of the bounded field. Judging by their estimated position, they were roughly 400 meters away from the mid-slope location they had perceived in the illusion.
Gilles de Rais also freed himself from the disturbance of the illusion. He opened his eyes again and confirmed that both he and Suzuki were still at the foot of the mountain. He even turned his head to look behind, where the dozen or so cavalrymen were still standing in their respective positions, occasionally searching or surveying the surroundings. They were not far from each other, yet they had failed to notice the presence of others so close.
Nearly half an hour had passed, and Gilles de Rais estimated that they had already been fully exposed. He grabbed Suzuki's hand and immediately ran toward the divination spot. Engaging in a magical battle with a witch who was proficient in black magic was indeed a bit of overconfidence.
"Have we been exposed?" Suzuki continued to hold the copper mirror with both hands, unsure if the illusion would still affect them. However, having it in his hands gave him a sense of security.
Gilles de Rais didn't answer. He had been overly anxious to save Jeanne, and some of his decisions since yesterday were not appropriate. Just like now, choosing to go straight to the destination wasn't the best approach. Even if their presence had been exposed, recklessly going there directly would only increase the level of danger. But he couldn't worry about that now. The only goal was to save Jeanne.
After reaching the supposed location from the illusion, the dense forest that appeared normal in the illusion was completely gone. Instead, broken wooden stakes were scattered on the ground, and the severed trees created an open space that was inconvenient to traverse.
Berserker, La Hire, stood in the center of the open area, wielding a giant sword and glaring at Gilles de Rais as he emerged from the forest.
"La Hire?" Gilles de Rais drew his sword, immediately on guard as his opponent charged towards him. Both he and Suzuki had surveyed their surroundings, and they quickly noticed the distortion in the scenery ahead.
"Master, keep a certain distance from me. Don't let La Hire get close to you. His ability to release mana burst could easily take your life," Gilles de Rais said and started walking towards La Hire in the center. He could have waited for the opponent to charge and increased the distance between them.
Suzuki was aware of the information about the two Servants. La Hire's attributes were superior to Gilles de Rais in every aspect, except for the fact that he couldn't use his Noble Phantasm. However, Gilles de Rais had already lost his Noble Phantasm... No, Suzuki noticed that Gilles de Rais was gripping the hilt of his sword, emanating an unusual aura. His roar overwhelmed the crazed La Hire on the opposite side. At that moment, Gilles de Rais displayed a madness that was on par with La Hire. His body suddenly became faster, and before La Hire could swing his giant sword, Gilles de Rais thrust his sword into the gap in La Hire's lower rib armor.
Swiftly evading La Hire's grasp, Gilles de Rais attempted to continue charging forward. He didn't want to engage in a fight with La Hire right now. Perhaps he could defeat La Hire, but it wasn't the time for a duel. Gilles de Rais only cared about whether Jeanne was ahead or not.
Seeing this, Brunhild immediately chanted a spell and created a black swamp to block Gilles de Rais' charge.
"Damn it!" Gilles de Rais desperately wanted to see if Jeanne was behind the illusion.
"Quickly eliminate this Saber-class Servant!" Brunhilda ordered again. She seemed to have no intention of fighting Gilles de Rais, even with the absolute advantage of two against one.
The berserker, driven by madness, was unaffected by the stab wound. As he turned around, the newly added sword wound on his body began to heal.
"Ah!" La Hire let out a beast-like roar and chased after Gilles de Rais, who had his back turned to him. In his eyes, the knight standing on the edge of the swamp had no specific appearance. He was an enemy threatening the maiden and therefore needed to be eliminated immediately, following the orders of the maiden (Master).
The blades clashed, and the strength of the two was evenly matched.
