Chapter Forty-Six: The Mysterious Lancer

"You found him? Did he leave his workshop?" Caster was a little surprised. Although she had only seen Roland’s Shadow Legion a few times over the past two days, these seemingly ordinary ninja soldiers were, in terms of functionality, even more formidable than her Dragon Tooth Warriors. Their stealth was unparalleled, and their intelligence-gathering abilities rivaled countless assassins working together.

In just a single day, Roland had already gathered intelligence on all other Servants and Masters’ bases—except for Danic, who had remained elusive. Caster had even begun to suspect he was using some special Noble Phantasm to achieve this.

"Not exactly left," Roland replied, his expression slightly odd. "He’s just hiding in a very unusual place."

Through the perspective of his shadow ninja, he realized that Danic wasn’t concealed somewhere the ninja couldn’t reach. Rather, he was simply in a location with such a low search priority that it had taken this long to find him.

Seeing Caster’s perplexed look, Roland waved his hand. "In any case, you should come and see for yourself."

The kneeling shadow ninja at their feet melted into a swirling pool of darkness, spreading beneath Roland and Medea until both were swallowed up.

—

Within a pitch-black, enclosed corridor, the lighting above flickered intermittently, the heavy, oppressive air filling the entire passageway.

Two mana furnaces roared at the corridor’s center, letting magical energy surge like electricity, flooding the square chamber.

Danic stood there, fully focused on the image gathering in the water mirror—an ethereal mist under the shifting lights.

"King Arthur and the Conqueror King... It seems this generation’s Masters have spared no effort," Danic muttered, his face clouded.

Then, he turned to the shadowy figure behind him. "Can you deal with them, Lancer?"

The figure stood quietly in the darkness, untouched by the light, and answered in a calm voice, "That Rider poses no problem. But if I must face the wielder of the Holy Sword, I can’t guarantee the outcome."

"That’s enough," Danic nodded. As a survivor of the previous Holy Grail War, having witnessed the terrifying battles between Servants many times, he found Lancer’s words reassuring. Although there had been some surprises, in terms of performance, Lancer’s power was beyond question.

"By the way, Master, what of the homunculi in your workshop? Since you activated the workshop’s defenses, they’ve vanished."

"They’re probably standing guard outside. But they’re soulless tools and can’t even touch this special branch of the workshop’s ‘otherworld’—the realm of dreams."

Otherworld transformation—this was one of the essential abilities of the most advanced workshops. While not as powerful as a Reality Marble shaped by one’s inner world, with enough magical energy, it could replace the workshop’s interior with another world of the owner’s choosing.

Under such circumstances, impossible phenomena—endless overlapping corridors, inescapable labyrinths, structures that regenerate as soon as they’re destroyed—could all be generated at the owner’s whim. This absolute control meant a magus inside such a workshop could freely alter distances and defend against intruders in any manner he wished.

Over sixty years, Danic had delved even deeper, entwining dream and soul to develop a method of placing his workshop within an ‘otherworld’ named Dream. Here, the quality of mystery alone determined whether harm could be done. Ordinary magecraft was powerless against Danic in the world of dreams.

"Of course, injuries in the dream will return to reality when the transformation ends, but among all the magi here, I suspect only that man, Kenneth, could wield magecraft potent enough to affect me even in dreams." Danic’s lips curled in a self-satisfied smirk.

"And Servants—if only souls of true substance can appear here, you can’t resist a Servant’s mystery," Lancer remarked from the darkness, as if appraising a weapon, pointing out Danic’s flaw.

"Exactly. But therein lies the paradox—once the workshop is activated, this place is already a dream. To kill me, you’d have to destroy the workshop first. But now that it’s become a dream, how would anyone even locate it?" Feeling as though he now stood on invincible ground, Danic continued, "No matter what familiars or Servants are sent, if they don’t realize I’m hidden in the dream, they won’t even sense my presence."

"That’s not quite true, Master."

Suddenly, Lancer, who had been silent, extended an arm, shielding Danic behind him.

"?..."

Danic frowned, uncertain what was happening, but his experience from the last war kept him from hesitating—he chose to trust Lancer’s reaction.

Sure enough, in the very next instant, countless black shadows materialized in this hazy otherworld. Soldiers clad in ninja garb rose up from the darkness, encircling Danic and Lancer.

"Impossible... This is a dream..." Danic instantly recognized the nature of these familiars by their ninja-like attire, and thus was utterly unable to suppress his shock.

To be able to move freely even in dreams—just what were these familiars made of?

But upon seeing these attackers, Lancer’s expression grew even more tense.

"Be careful, Master. This is an assault by another team."

As Lancer spoke, the shadow ninja that surrounded them suddenly parted to the sides, opening a path as if to respectfully welcome a master’s arrival.

Roland stepped out of the shadows, gazing warmly at the wary pair before him.

"You were hard to find, Danic."

"Master of Caster, what are you planning?"

"I merely came to see whether you’re worthy of being the first killed—or if you’re hiding some deeper plot."

Roland narrowed his eyes, focusing on Danic, who stood behind Lancer. This man was indeed a veteran of the last Holy Grail War, a master of concealment, never indulging in fantasies and always staying close to his Servant. His technique of hiding within a dream was intriguing—if not for the Shadow Legion, Roland would never have noticed the workshop was a dream without seeing it with his own eyes.

Yet, compared to that, the Servant he’d summoned was even more interesting to Roland.

For Masters in the Holy Grail War, unable to ascertain a Servant’s identity, observing their attributes was the best way to judge their strength.

In the original story, when Lancelot first appeared, all the Masters present were baffled by his identity, protected as he was by his Noble Phantasm.

But Roland’s situation was even stranger. A Master's qualities influence their Servant’s abilities—even with a homunculus like Irisviel, Saber’s stats varied. Yet this Lancer, whose true face remained hidden, had all five attributes at exactly B.

Without exception—so perfectly balanced, it was almost unnatural.