[center][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/271031448755109888/452429537993818112/AchBanner.png[/img]
[h2]’Lancer Prime’[/h2]
[h3][i]Crash Site, Einzbern Forest[/i][/h3][/center]

The soaring spearhead was stopped by the shield, and Lancer Prime’s delighted laugh echoed in the forest as the song of steel meeting steel began once again.

Certainly, it appeared his opponent was not to be underestimated — to begin with, not many heroes could claim to be able to keep up with him like that. Saber must have been a great warrior indeed, to be able to even raise his shield in time — exactly the sort of enemy he wanted to face, exactly the sort of hero he desired to clash against during this second life.

Just as he stepped forward, so did Lancer Prime step back and to the side in turn — it was not an unexpected strategy. After all, one of the basics he had gotten beat into his head during his formative years was ‘kill the enemy while they are at the wrong range’.

In this battle, his spear offered him the advantage of reach compared to his opponent’s sword, and if he could circle to the side his shield did not cover he would only make it harder for Saber to properly defend himself. Furthermore — 

His opponent’s strike was solid, doubtlessly breaching the Rank of A, as expected of any Saber worth the name, and if it hit, the damage should be worth noting even for someone like Lancer Prime, who boasted of great natural sturdiness. The only natural course would be to attempt a block.

He should be able to reach. After all, whether it was a sprint or his attacks, his divine speed remained the same as ‘the fastest of all heroes, without a doubt’. Even if Saber had already begun his attack, Lancer Prime should be able to outpace him.

—However, he instead took the ‘chance’ Saber had offered, sending a lightning-quick thrust with all the strength he could muster toward his exposed sword-hand. Did he intend to sacrifice his leg for it?

No.

To begin with, Lancer Prime’s body was one that had been endowed with ‘immortality’. His armor was something that took that characteristic and augmented it, in its own way, to make him ‘a hero that did not know death’. But that was far from its only function.

The greatest work of the renowned artificer of the gods. The final gift of someone who might as well have been his foster brother. He would trust it, and like many times before, it would not fail.

Even if Saber’s attacks made contact, they would not be met with blood and severed flesh — but stopped by the sturdiness of the armor his enemy donned. It was not the ‘immortality’ showcased by his skin that forbade all attacks but those that carried ‘Divinity’ from harming him, but simply the quality boasted by a masterwork courtesy of the greatest blacksmith of Greek mythology.

He was not the great hero that could even get back up after being killed. Lancer Prime had but one life to give. But Hephaestus had guaranteed that [i]taking[/i] that single life would be the greatest endeavor his enemies would undertake.

—Saber’s attacks doubtlessly reached the rank of A.

However, [i]the Rank of A alone would not be sufficient to breach his defenses.[/i]

Are you watching, Master? This is the strength of the man you've contracted with.

[@Cu Chulainn] [@Phonic]