Invisible Air

is a sheath of wind that covers Excalibur and conceals it so that it cannot be easily recognized as the famous holy sword of King Arthur and expose her identity. It is a Bounded Field closer to magecraft than a Noble Phantasm that is made up of multiple layers of wind compressed into super-high pressure air with a massive amount of magical energy, which distorts the refraction of light and renders what is inside completely invisible. For the male King Arthur, Invisible Air acts as one of the seals along with the Restraints of the Round Table to Excalibur Proto's true power. While it has no basis in history, Kinoko Nasu figures it would be something Merlin could have managed because Heroic Spirits with overly famous Noble Phantasms generally have ways to hide their identities.
releaseia.jpg|Saber releasing Invisible Air
Saber releasing Invisible Air against Rider.gif|Saber releasing Invisible Air as Rider uses Bellerophon.
Artoria releasing Invisible Air during her fight against Diarmuid.gif|Saber releasing Invisible Air before her fight with Lancer.
Saber weakly releasing Invisible Air.gif|Saber weakly releasing Invisible Air during her fight with Archer.
Saber releasing Invisible Air as she is about to fight Archer.gif|Saber releasing Invisible Air after creating a contract with Rin Tohsaka.
Saber releasing Invisible Air during the Fight with Assassin.gif|Saber releasing Invisible Air during her fight with Assassin.
Miyu releasing Invisible Air.gif|Miyu releasing Invisible Air at the start of her fight with Chloe.
Upon Excalibur, it takes on the shape of the blade and renders it as an invisible sword that doesn't appear even as sparks fly off of it. It lacks the capacity to annihilate the enemy like Excalibur, being more suited as a "sharp tool" in battle. It isn't used for any particular strength, but it is easier to use in battle than Excalibur and it is a trump card that can bring about victory if used well. It is also possible to implement the barrier on something other than the sword. She can form the barrier in the area around her or as a quick defensive wall of wind, which she can keep active for a number of minutes with her magical energy. She uses it in Fate/hollow ataraxia to completely envelop the entire Central Building in an unbreakable protection, turning the whole building invisible except the front door. She releases it like an arrow to cover the body of her Yamaha V-Max motorcycle in Fate/Zero. Using the compression of the pneumatic umbrella surrounding her, she decreases the air resistance to zero to increase the vehicle's speed and keep the back wheel firmly against the cement with the pressure.
It is rather simple in execution, but it proves tremendously effective in hand-to-hand combat. The barrier isn't a vacuum, so the air constantly whirling around the blade is essentially a weapon. It increases the damage and cutting power of an attack, and the amount of magical energy released from each strike is high enough that it is visible to the eye. It also provides for an increased accuracy and defense against opponents unfamiliar with the nature of her weapon as it is difficult for the opponents to parry lunges and thrusts from Saber. They cannot discern the length, width, reach, or trajectory of the blade, or even the fact that it is even a blade until they actually make contact with the weapon, which leaves them constantly on guard due to having to rely solely on Saber's movement to decipher her attacks. They are confused both offensively and defensively, only allowing them to approximate the movements of the strikes and keep outside of her range to avoid being easily struck down. Against an opponent who can figure out the nature of the weapon quickly and correct the visual disturbance, such as Assassin with his Mind's Eye (Fake) ability, someone who is already familiar with the weapon, such as Berserker, or someone with a resistance to visual impediments, it becomes nothing more than wind around a sword.
IAboost.gif|Saber releasing Invisible Air for a boost in speed
StrikeAir.gif|Strike Air, with Lancer using the generated slipstream afterwards
SaberStrikeAirAtGil.gif|Saber using Strike Air to block an attack by Gilgamesh and attack him at the same time.
Once the barrier is released so that Excalibur can be used, the previously compressed wind surges around her chaotically, creating a vacuum as it diffuses into the air with enough force to knock over normal people and shake heavy, firm trees like a typhoon. The compressed wind can also instead be released as a single use projectile weapon called . Acting like a hammer made out of wind, it creates a gale made out of super high pressure condensed air that is powerful enough to easily crush and blow away armies and fling a stone slab weighing several tons into the air as if it were nothing. It is a long range attack with a constant amount of damage that is not influenced by Saber's physical condition or her level of magical energy. It can only be blocked by overwhelming it with a higher amount of magical energy. It can also be used to accelerate her own body towards her opponent, allowing her to travel at three times her normal speed. By holding the sword in a backward wide stance, she releases the air and changes into a supersonic bullet that charges towards her opponent. If working together with another person, the partner can use the vacuum left behind by the attack to immediately rush in behind it by using the surge of air taken in by the vacuum as a . After releasing it, she can recall it by compressing the surrounding air to reform the barrier.
When Artoria manifests as a Saber, this Noble Phantasm was something that conceals her sword, but when she manifests as a Lancer (including the Altered version), Invisible Air is treated as nothing more than a “Wind Noble Phantasm”.Fate/Grand Order material IV - Artoria Pendragon (Lancer), p.080-089, translated by Clyton at Beast's Lair.Fate/Grand Order material III, section on Artoria Pendragon (Lancer) (Alter)'s Noble Phantasms, translated by You at Beast's Lair. Used together with the Mana Burst Skill, it brings about the reinforcement of her Agility and a super-jump boost effect. Using all the stockpiled wind at once to fire a long range, area of effect attack (Strike Air) that mows down the enemies is still possible. Differing from Saber's version of Strike Air that is more of a piercing type, Lancer's version will mow people down. She primarily uses this Noble Phantasm to augment her attack power.Fate/Grand Order material III, section on Artoria Pendragon (Lancer) (Alter)'s Noble Phantasms, translated by You at Beast's Lair.
==References==
Category:Noble Phantasms
Category:Anti-Unit Noble Phantasms
Category:C rank Noble Phantasms
Category:Bounded Fields
Category:Noble Phantasms introduced in Fate/stay night
Category:Noble Phantasms of Artoria Pendragon
Category:Spells
Category:Swords