Buzz!
The powerful pressure made the dragon-slaying swordsman's face turn serious. From just that brief contact, he had already judged that his Noble Phantasm could not withstand Karna's thrown spear.
But it was not time to give up yet.
As an Anti-Army Noble Phantasm, Balmung's firepower could only be considered average, but in terms of loading speed it was far faster than many holy swords and demonic swords.
When he was alive, Siegfried could release the demonic sword continuously within a single breath.
After being summoned as a Servant, it became somewhat slower, but after Medea adjusted the output power of the Greater Grail, the massive amount of magical energy made up for that shortcoming.
"Ahhh!"
The ether magic crest on his chest lit up with a jade-like blue glow. Endless magical power poured into the blade.
The dusk light that had been gradually weakening surged again, even surpassing before, forcibly blocking and pushing back the flame spear born from the sun god.
'Splendid!'
"Beautiful!"
Seeing this scene, Karna rarely showed a smile. He felt that accepting the summoning and coming to the present world to participate in this Holy Grail War was the right decision.
Not only had he witnessed the bearing of a king from a foreign land, but he could also fight such an outstanding warrior. It was truly exhilarating!
If, during his life, he had had more reliable comrades like Siegfried, perhaps the path of his life would have been different.
Unfortunately, such silent and perfect warriors are not many, and those willing to befriend Karna are even fewer…
Watching the dragon slayer resist the divine spear head-on, all enemies would feel helpless, because it meant no one could defeat him in direct combat.
Yes, limited to "enemies."
Puch!
At the same time the Unfading Blade was pushed back, Siegfried's pupils suddenly shrank, and the light of the demonic sword in his hand flickered unstably.
"!!!"
Under everyone's shocked gaze, sharp five fingers pierced through the great hero's chest from the inside. A pale tender hand, covered in blood, tightly gripped the still-beating, fresh heart.
"Noble Phantasm… Hyakka Ryouran!"
Siegfried was extremely shocked, yet unbelievably he quickly calmed down. With emotionless eyes, he looked behind him.
"Assassin…"
"Sorry, Dragon Slayer. I'll take your heart, Saber!"
Whoosh!
The golden spear flew back and was caught in the Son of the Sun's hand.
Karna still had strength left and could immediately launch a counterattack to eliminate the black Servant who had caused internal strife.
Yet he made no further move. He simply used his calm but powerful eyes to look directly at Siegfried and Shuten Douji.
Splash~
Puchi!
Shuten pulled her hand back. The dragon slayer's heart kept beating in her hand, as if it had not yet realized it had left its body.
In terms of mainstream weapons like sword, spear, and bow, Shuten's skill could be called first-rate, but she could not compare to heroes like Siegfried, Achilles, or Karna, whose techniques had reached the realm of gods.
But the move she had just used to sneak attack Siegfried from behind could truly be described as flawless, not only in technique, but also in timing and execution.
The seemingly ordinary backstab perfectly seized the gap when Siegfried was switching his force.
It avoided his perception, pierced through the weak point at his back heart, and at the same time precisely cut arteries and blood vessels with her five fingers, removing the heart intact.
It was equivalent to completing the most difficult surgical operation in an instant.
Hyakka Ryouran was originally a torture Noble Phantasm meant for stripping bones and skin, but at this moment it had clearly been transformed into a one-hit kill.
It must be said that this is how an Assassin should act. Although Shuten's Presence Concealment is only C rank, her execution ability truly lives up to the class that walks in darkness.
"Cough!"
Siegfried spat out a large mouthful of blood. His tall body knelt halfway to the ground, supporting himself with the demonic sword of dusk.
In his eyes there was neither anger nor unwillingness, neither regret nor sorrow, only a slight confusion.
He truly did not know why Shuten would do this.
But questioning the black Assassin now seemed meaningless.
"Betrayal… no, rebellion!"
At the edge of the battlefield, Jeanne and Atalanta, who witnessed everything, were equally confused. Jeanne directly called Shuten's actions "rebellion."
Because Shuten's sneak attack on Siegfried was not only a betrayal of Black Saber personally, but also a damage to the entire black faction's interests.
As a magus family, Yggdmillennia may have many internal conflicts, but when fighting the Association they would unite against external enemies. Internal competition would only begin after defeating the red faction.
But Shuten's actions would not only cause Siegfried to exit the stage, but also completely destroy Yggdmillennia's internal understanding. Other Masters and Servants would never just sit by and watch.
It was hard to imagine what kind of madness had possessed Shuten Douji's Master to give such an order…
'No, wait!'
"Assassin, could it be that you did something to your own Master…"
"I didn't do anything at all~", Shuten smiled openly.
"I only fulfilled his wish and let him indulge in an eternal beautiful dream. This world is so cruel. Wanting to escape reality is not such a strange thing, is it?"
"You!", Jeanne gripped the flagpole tightly, her face full of anger.
Although what Shuten did fell only within the scope of personal morality and did not break the balance of the Holy Grail War, it still made Jeanne unable to tolerate it.
Atalanta, standing to the side, was calmer. She had already received information from Iori and Sella that the red Masters were collectively controlled. Hearing something similar again did not shock her too much.
Like Semiramis, Shuten is also an expert in poison. If Semiramis is more versatile, then Shuten specializes in poisonous wine that stimulates laziness. At her level, harming her own Master is not difficult.
Command Seals are useless in such a situation. Shuten's Master may even have been tempted to drink the poisoned wine voluntarily.
After all, in the original legend, Shuten is a demon that causes people to fall into corruption.
"Doing something like this means you have already betrayed Yggdmillennia, right… just for the holy relic?", Atalanta asked loudly.
"Anyway, I have no personal grudge with Saber.", Shuten looked completely indifferent.
"I am not a hero nor a saint, just a demon who brings disaster to the human world. Isn't doing bad things only natural?"
"…"
Jeanne's expression was serious, tacitly acknowledging this statement.
Loyalty is a requirement only for orthodox Heroic Spirits. Servants born from monsters or anti-heroes have always been double-edged swords.
It is not strange for them to bite back at any time. Masters should have that awareness when summoning them.
"Those things are none of my concern. But you ruined my battle with Saber. This fight should have ended with one of us defeated."
Karna floated in midair, his spear pointing at Shuten Douji.
"Fortunately, although you look like a child, you have the nature of an evil demon. That way I can discard unnecessary mercy."
"If you can do it, then come try!" Shuten Douji laughed loudly.
But before the laughter stopped, Karna had already turned into a falling meteor and smashed down. His speed was like teleportation, leaving no time to react.
BOOM!
The golden spear stabbed precisely between Shuten Douji and Siegfried, then erupted with powerful flames, controlled by the Son of the Sun into a one-directional wave that concentrated its release.
The scene resembled an airplane engine, except the flames were even more condensed, almost piercing through the atmosphere as if they had substance.
Shuten Douji was swallowed by the flames almost without resistance. Her small figure struggled within the fire, letting out sharp screams. In just a few seconds, she turned into a pile of ashes…
Having easily dealt with the enemy, Karna showed no sign of relaxation. Instead, he slightly frowned.
'An illusion?'
No. Red Lancer possesses an inherent skill called Discernment of the Poor. It is not easy to perform a visual trick in front of him.
Moreover, he was absolutely certain that Shuten Douji had indeed "disappeared," not hidden nearby in the darkness.
But a demon who dared to betray her entire faction and killed a dragon-slaying hero at her first move… would she really die so easily?
"It's a Command Seal!"
Jeanne was the first to react.
"If Assassin secretly controlled her own Master, then she may have remotely activated a Command Seal through some method."
"She was indeed hit by Lancer's flames, but she did not die. She shed her skin and transferred to another place."
Atalanta froze. "Shed her skin?"
"Like a snake." Jeanne's eyes showed a trace of worry.
"To extend its lifespan or allow itself to grow… a snake sheds its old skin and reveals a brand new form.
Shuten Douji… she took Rhein Gold and Siegfried's heart. What exactly is she planning…"
———
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Iori continuously used Shunpo. The long sword in his hand repeatedly swung out, releasing powerful sword pressure that shattered the layers of barriers in front of him.
But no matter how he shifted, the enemy's attacks followed like a shadow.
Wooden stakes, wooden stakes, wooden stakes… the sky was filled with wooden stakes.
The Grand Duke's Noble Phantasm was like an army, orderly and relentless in surrounding and strangling. Everywhere within sight were these execution tools.
Although a single stake's power and strength were average, when thousands or tens of thousands stacked together, even a Servant would be pierced countless times instantly.
Vlad III is undoubtedly powerful. These stakes can attack like a swarm, or combine into thick spikes with terrifying penetration power.
The attacks are not limited by position or angle. As long as he is within his territory, he can create them at will.
As long as he lands one hit, regardless of form or depth of wound, the enemy will be completely locked.
The Grand Duke can even generate stakes from within the opponent's body to pierce through them.
Once that happens, there is no turning back. The opponent can only struggle in pain until death.
Even a Servant's Spirit Origin cannot endure several penetrations and will soon collapse completely.
An existence invincible within his own territory. That evaluation may be too absolute, but it is not exaggerated.
However, even the Grand Duke probably would not imagine that there exists a Servant in this world whom one "cannot touch."
Iori had already released his Zanpakuto. The power of Arashi allows Iori, who holds the blade, to easily "avoid" the no-blind-spot saturation attacks of the stakes.
But he did not openly use this ability. He still mainly relied on Shunpo to dodge, used sword pressure to block and destroy stakes, only phasing when necessary, and carefully controlled the intervals evenly.
He wanted others to misinterpret his ability.
He was looking for an opportunity, a chance to turn the tables. And for the Grand Duke, it was the same.
But just as the two were playing this game of tactics, Iori's expression suddenly changed slightly. After dodging the army of stakes with a flash, his sharp eyes looked toward the manor in the distance.
"This presence is… not exactly according to plan, but this works perfectly!"
Whoosh!
A crescent-shaped sword pressure cut through the tide-like group of stakes. But in the blink of an eye, more stakes filled the gap, continuing to shrink the circle to completely crush the target.
Immediately after, a figure leapt out from the opening and with a backhand released blazing flowing fire, blasting a charred hole through the dense wall of stakes, temporarily stopping them for a moment.
But the enemy Iori faced was not just the stakes. As hooves thundered and the wind roared, the elegant king had already launched a charge.
In a short time, he crossed nearly a hundred meters and thrust his uniquely shaped slender silver spear viciously toward Iori's back heart.
Clang!
Iori held the sword backward and knocked the spearhead aside. As he turned, he aimed his left hand at Vlad III.
BOOM! BOOM!
Two blazing crimson flames exploded in the air at close range, making it impossible for the Grand Duke to dodge. But Iori himself was also swallowed by the explosion.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
The two figures flew out of the smoke at the same time. The king's mount had vanished, yet his speed remained astonishing, as if he were gliding close to the ground rather than running.
He tightly pursued Iori, the sharp spear thrusting again and again, clashing with Iori's long sword and producing a continuous line of crisp sounds.
The Grand Duke's absolute strength is weaker than Asterios, but his speed and martial skill far exceed him.
With the home-field advantage of his territory, he is enhanced in all aspects. In close combat, his threat is even greater than that Berserker.
Iori focused and responded. Though troublesome, he could generally maintain a balance.
"Hmph!"
Perhaps tired of this back-and-forth exchange, the Grand Duke snorted coldly. The ground behind Iori was instantly pierced by sharp long spikes, like deadly venomous snakes baring their fangs at him.
It was not just one direction. The same traps activated from the sides, and even from directly above, a sky-covering swarm of stakes swept down.
Vlad III's spear and the stakes from all directions instantly sealed off every escape route above, below, left, and right.
"Arashi!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
One stake after another passed straight through Iori's body, yet it was as if they only swept past a phantom. There were no wounds and not a single drop of blood splashed out.
However, Vlad III was not surprised. Seeing the stakes that had passed through Iori flying toward himself, he slightly narrowed his eyes.
With a horizontal sweep of his spear, he made the thousands upon thousands of stakes bypass him, circle halfway, and once again descend toward Iori.
Buzz!!!
Like a turbofan engine of an airplane, the atmosphere was continuously torn apart. The dense sound of breaking air overlapped together, almost becoming tangible and making the earth tremble.
The young man's ears were constantly filled with such noise. Feeling the piercing attacks on his body, which could not be measured by "number" but only by "density," he could not help but click his tongue.
It could only be said that luckily it was him. Otherwise, even a natural monster like Asterios would be scraped into a skeleton alive by these ten thousand stakes.
Even Iori himself could not remain under such density of slaughter for too long.
The principle of his "phasing" is to turn his body into dispersed energy, then reassemble it.
Because only the part in contact with the attack disperses and recombines, not the entire body becoming energy, it appears as though he stands there without any change.