I Don’t Want to Be a Heroic Spirit

Out in the wilderness, a small car suddenly roared across the desolate landscape.

"Yaaahooo!!"

Behind the wheel, Mordred gleefully twisted the steering wheel with reckless abandon.

"Th-this… this doesn't feel right, does it?"

From the backseat, Jeanne asked with a pale face. No one answered her.

In the passenger seat sat Kairi Shishigou, his silence borne of the pain from biting his tongue during one of the car's earlier jolts. Beside Jeanne sat Artoria, her expression a picture of regret.

The road was uneven, riddled with bumps, and Mordred's wild driving wasn't helping.

Apparently dissatisfied with the car's speed, Mordred had even enhanced it with Mana Burst, causing crimson lightning to spit from the exhaust.

Artoria had no idea how fast they were going, but one thing was certain: even on a highway, they'd be breaking every conceivable speed limit.

For a Servant, the velocity itself shouldn't have been an issue. Yet Artoria and Jeanne both looked increasingly unwell—carsick, to put it simply.

Naturally, as a summoned Servant, Mordred lacked anything like a driver's license. Even this car had been stolen by Kairi, something Jeanne had initially opposed on moral grounds.

Thanks to her Riding (Rank B) skill, Mordred was quickly able to master the vehicle despite having never driven in life. While the skill didn't let her ride Phantasmal Beasts, mundane vehicles posed no challenge.

Artoria, however, found this deeply frustrating—it brought back memories of her own struggles.

She still remembered failing her driving test three times during her human life. On her first two attempts, her mother had kindly driven her to the exam site. But by the third, her mother had simply said, "Take the bus this time," with a look of exasperation.

Those words had been seared into her soul: "Take the bus yourself."

To this day, it remained a sore spot.

The Riding skill was among the top three skills Artoria wished she had. (The first was "Thousand Languages" from Campione!—her schooldays had been marred by endless struggles with English vocabulary.)

While her Saber and Lancer counterparts boasted Riding, Artoria's Ruler-class incarnation lacked it entirely.

Thus, when Mordred had demanded the role of driver, Artoria had reluctantly acquiesced.

Now, she deeply regretted it.

"Am I cursed to always end up on disastrous rides?"

First, Saber Artoria had been duped into a car ride by Irisviel. Now, she was stuck on Mordred's literal joyride.

The wasteland they traversed was littered with homunculi corpses and the wreckage of familiars—a scene of absolute carnage.

In the distance, scorched earth and countless wooden stakes were visible, evidence of a prior battle between Vlad III and Karna.

The group was en route to the Black Faction's stronghold—the Yggdmillennia family castle.

Upon learning of the Greater Grail's theft by the Red Faction, Fiore and Gordes had immediately rushed back to their base. Artoria and her group had decided to follow.

With Jack the Ripper having escaped, and the failed hunt only making her more cautious, continuing the pursuit seemed futile.

The theft of the Greater Grail signaled the approach of an inevitable final showdown between the factions—one they couldn't afford to miss.

"Looks like this car's finally given out," Mordred said as they reached the outskirts of the castle.

"With the way you drove, it's a miracle it lasted this long," Kairi replied dryly.

Mordred's Mana Burst had propelled the car to terrifying speeds but at the cost of its durability.

Slapping the roof of the now-useless vehicle, Mordred turned to Kairi. "Hey, Master, let's jack another car later! I wanna drive again!"

"Drive, steal, do whatever you want. Just don't drag me into it next time. Your driving kills more than cars—it shortens my lifespan. I can't believe I fell for your lies and got in this thing."

"Oh, come on, Master! Have some backbone, will ya? Don't embarrass me in front of Father! Look at her—she's perfectly fine!"

Artoria, though metaphorically caught in the crossfire, kept her thoughts to herself. She wanted to suggest Mordred never drive again, but ultimately stayed silent.

Artoria and Jeanne had been to the Black Faction's stronghold before.

Now, as they returned, the castle looked unrecognizable—two-thirds of it had been obliterated, leaving a massive, gaping chasm where the missing section once stood.

That void, Artoria surmised, was where the Greater Grail had been housed.

Amidst the ruins, another sight caught their attention.

"What… is that?"

Even with a Servant's enhanced vision, the object floating in the distant sky was hard to discern.

Jeanne squinted, straining to make out the shape. "Is that… a castle? A flying castle?"

"Technically, it's a garden," Artoria corrected.

It was none other than the Noble Phantasm of Red Assassin Semiramis: The Aerial Garden of Vanity, an EX-ranked Anti-World Noble Phantasm.

The Black Faction had believed that fortifying their stronghold would ensure their safety. Little did they anticipate that their enemy's base could fly.

How could a mere modern mage's fortifications compete with a divine mage's temple? In fact, Semiramis' garden surpassed the grandeur of most temples.

"That's… Red Caster's Noble Phantasm, right?" Jeanne asked uneasily. Even for a Servant, such a weapon seemed almost beyond comprehension.

Artoria shook her head. "You're mistaken. That's Red Assassin's Noble Phantasm."

"???"

Jeanne's eyes widened. Assassin?

A giant flying temple summoned by an Assassin?

Besides, hadn't the Black Faction's Masters claimed that Red Assassin was Hassan of Serenity?

Jeanne blinked in confusion, her mind reeling.

"Wait… so this Noble Phantasm belongs to that venomous woman?"

Artoria and Jeanne turned to see Mordred and Kairi approaching.

The wrecked car had been abandoned, much to Mordred's dismay.

Both Mordred and Kairi had previously encountered Amakusa Shirou Tokisada and Semiramis, leaving less-than-favorable impressions on all parties.

Naturally, they knew that the Red Faction's Assassin wasn't Hassan of Serenity, but they had no obligation to correct the Black Faction's misconception. After all, they were still technically members of the Red Faction.