Type-Moon, but the Servant is Tom

"????" Sphinx looked at the half-mech leaping towards it, taken aback for a rare moment. This human had just said he was going to answer questions, so why was he now launching an aggressive attack?

Sphinx quickly realized that Bai Song had feigned choosing to answer questions and was actually planning to launch a surprise attack. This didn't sit well with Sphinx, the 5000-year-old veteran. Was it really okay for this person to deceive and ambush a venerable elder?

Recognizing Bai Song's intention to ambush, Sphinx's anger flared up. It was truly exasperated by this cunning move. The Cat-Mouse-Dog Mech, driven by Bai Song, was now aiming to strike its face.

Without hesitation, Sphinx changed its stance. Instead of staying slightly crouched in anticipation of an answer, it pushed upward with its front limbs, lifting its upper body off the ground, leaving only its lower body to support its weight.

However, the airborne Cat-Mouse-Dog Mech had already seen Sphinx's movement. But due to the competition rules, it couldn't change its direction in mid-air. In other words, even though it could perform a mid-air double jump, the rules restricted it from doing so.

As a result, although the mech had aimed at Sphinx's face, Sphinx's action caused its front limbs' knees to occupy the position where the face should have been.

Helpless, Bai Song continued to operate the airborne Cat-Mouse-Dog Mech. He leaped up and swung its small fist the size of a cooking pot to viciously strike the knee of Sphinx's front limb.

"Crack!!!"

"Ahoo!!!"

Feeling the intense pain in its right elbow, Sphinx quickly covered its injured area with its other front limb. It glanced at its reddened and slightly swollen right elbow and then at the Cat-Mouse-Dog Mech, which had landed and was standing using its rocket propulsion system. Sphinx's expression was one of disbelief.

Putting aside the fact that it barely felt any pain, the wound required to cause this type of pain would have been significant. The blow to its elbow was dealt with the full power of a punch. Even with the Holy Grail enhancement by Gilgamesh, the wound should have healed almost instantly from such a minor injury.

But... there was no sign of healing. The wound was there, and Sphinx couldn't fathom why. Yet, it was beyond amazed.

Shaking its head to clear its confusion, Sphinx decided to focus on what it could control. Instead of trying to solve the puzzle, it focused on solving the person who had posed it.

With a flurry of punches, Sphinx attempted to strike the recently landed Cat-Mouse-Dog Mech. "Ora ora ora!"

Although Sphinx's attacks were undoubtedly powerful, the Cat-Mouse-Dog Mech was more agile. Using its rocket-powered "posterior," it hopped and dodged on the ground to avoid Sphinx's assault.

“Biu~，biu~，biu~。”

"Phew!" Every time the Cat-Mouse-Dog Mech landed and moved, it emitted a "biu~" sound, reminiscent of someone walking in slippers with an uncomfortable squelching feeling.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Sphinx's fists pounded the ground, raising a cloud of dust that engulfed everything in its vicinity. Only Gudako, along with Mashu and Red Hare under her command, remained outside the dusty cover. From Gudako's perspective, all she could see was the towering head of Sphinx and its pair of wings.

"It looks like Schrödinger is in danger, senpai," Mashu hesitated for a moment and asked Gudako, "Should we go help?"

If they teamed up with Schrödinger to attack now, they might be able to defeat this unusually strong Sphinx quickly. Although Schrödinger and its livestock could likely handle this Sphinx on their own, it would still take some time. If they wasted time here, the progress of their group would be delayed.

Other groups had likely already cleared their individual paths, and here they were getting caught up in a negative spiral of competition, where it was more about not letting the other win than about winning themselves. Was this really okay? No, it wasn't.

Surprisingly, Gudako shook her head confidently. "No need, not at all. Have some confidence, Mashu. This battle will end quickly."

"True... judging by their strength, we probably won't be needed," Mashu finally nodded, thinking that Gudako was right. Schrödinger's strength was evident, and it would likely end this battle soon, easily reducing this Sphinx to a pile of wreckage on the ground. Perhaps Gudako would even collect some materials from it. Speaking of materials, wasn't Sphinx used for "Forbidden Beast's Lamp"? In any case, Mashu's concerns seemed a bit unnecessary in light of the situation.

"You're right. It seems Schrödinger will turn that Sphinx into minced meat soon," Gudako's expression turned gleeful. "What a beautiful outcome~!"

"Yes, that's true, this is quite the beautiful... Wait, senpai, are you okay?!!!"

Mashu smiled as she looked towards the ongoing battle, echoing Gudako's words. However, halfway through her sentence, she began to feel that something wasn't quite right. Was her senpai really trusting the magical creatures to beat up Schrödinger?

Mashu's sudden exclamation startled Gudako. "What's wrong? Don't shout so loudly, you're almost deafening me."

"Senpai, under these circumstances, shouldn't the enemy of our enemy be our friend? We should team up with Schrödinger to defeat that Sphinx first, right?"

Gudako nonchalantly spread out her left hand and innocently said, "But Schrödinger is also our enemy. If the enemy of our enemy is a friend, then Sphinx becomes our friend too, doesn't it?"

"This..." Mashu tilted her head, looking at Gudako with a dazed expression. For a moment, she didn't know how to refute Gudako's paradoxical argument. Even more absurdly, she felt like Gudako's words were starting to sway her.

Yes, Schrödinger could be an enemy's enemy and therefore a friend to them. However, Sphinx could also be considered an "enemy's enemy is a friend" scenario. Mashu's brain felt like it was about to overheat from all the contemplation. In the end, she had to give up on trying to persuade Gudako and instead turned her gaze towards the direction of the dust. The dust kicked up by Sphinx's punches had settled.

The Schrödinger's Cat Mech, the cat-mouse-dog amalgamation, seemed to have started its counterattack!