Chapter 2: Since Ancient Times, Spearmen Are Mostly Noobs
The night wind swept up withered leaves, plunging the courtyard into dead silence. Emiya Shirou glanced at the Command Seals on his hand, then looked at Su Xiao. The magic circuits within his body were already connected to the Command Seals, which in turn were linked to the man who had emerged from the summoning array.
Emiya Shirou was clearly not stupid; he quickly pieced together the clues. The man who appeared later, wearing a long leather coat with a long sword hanging at his waist, seemed to be an ally?
The bewildered Emiya Shirou probably didn't yet know what this supposed ally would do in the near future. Clearly, Su Xiao and Emiya Shirou had a severe incompatibility in temperament, being complete opposites. However, Su Xiao had no habit of indiscriminately killing civilians; his enmity with the Blood Gate was irreconcilable.
"Kid, so you're the seventh Master. I underestimated you."
The spearman holding the blood spear spoke. He was the Lancer class of this Holy Grail War, one of the seven Servants, named Cú Chulainn, the famous hero 'Son of Light' from the Ulster region of Northern Ireland. But compared to the title 'Son of Light,' more people called him the 'Hound of Culann,' and some affectionately referred to him as 'Brother Dog.' Cú Chulainn himself had once said he would never harm any canine creature.
Cú Chulainn's looks definitely ranked among the top of this war's Servants. While spearmen generally weren't that strong, they were all more handsome than the last. The previous spearman who died at Su Xiao's hands had been sent by his Master to deal with Su Xiao due to entanglements of gratitude and romance with the Master's fiancée, ultimately meeting a tragic end.
Cú Chulainn glanced at Su Xiao, unable to guess which legend Su Xiao came from. Judging by his weapon, Su Xiao was clearly a close-combat fighter, which made Cú Chulainn instinctively assume he was an Assassin.
As a Lancer, Cú Chulainn naturally wasn't afraid of an Assassin's close-combat abilities. So he twirled his long spear, took a step forward, and gestured for Su Xiao to make his move.
Su Xiao took a deep breath. The air in the alternate space was foul, and the environment was dim and gloomy. As for the spearman Cú Chulainn, Su Xiao could take on two or three Servants of this level at once. If it weren't for the fact that Cú Chulainn's Master was an old schemer, and the Blood Gate Adventure Group hadn't shown themselves yet, making it unwise to cause too much commotion, he would have already used the Devouring Core to convert him into energy.
That's right. Another benefit of Su Xiao entering the Holy Grail World was the chance to level up his Azure Steel Shadow ability. Servants were composed of high-purity life energy. He had devoured many before, and the sweetest-tasting among them was naturally Artoria Pendragon. Unfortunately, he never got the chance to consume that Knight King.
"Spearman, go tell Kirei Kotomine that I'll 'visit' him when I have time. Even though he doesn't remember who I am, his father was an old acquaintance of mine—that patricidal brat."
Su Xiao's words made Cú Chulainn pause. He instinctively thought that Su Xiao was likely a Servant who had participated in the Fourth Holy Grail War.
"Are you... underestimating me?"
No sooner had Cú Chulainn spoken than he heard the sharp ring of a blade. Su Xiao had somehow already appeared behind him.
Bang, clang, boom!
Cú Chulainn crashed through the courtyard wall, rolling twice on the road before getting up. The speed... was simply not on the same level.
A dense barrage of blade auras sliced through the courtyard wall, heading straight for Cú Chulainn. As a Servant, he wasn't a pushover. He flicked his long spear, leaped up from the ground, and spun the spear in front of him, forming a blood-red wheel.
Clang, clang, clang...
Sparks flew. The blade auras Su Xiao had unleashed were all blocked. Before Cú Chulainn could catch his breath, Su Xiao appeared before him like a phantom.
With a swoosh, the long sword slashed across Cú Chulainn's cheek, leaving a trail of blood. Cú Chulainn twisted his spear, thrusting the tip toward Su Xiao's chin, clearly aiming to pierce his skull.
Su Xiao tilted his head slightly and actually let go of the Dragon-Slaying Flash in his hand. He ducked to avoid the spear while kicking Cú Chulainn in the shin.
Bang! Cú Chulainn was knocked back a step, his right leg completely numb from the knee down. Before he could retract his spear to defend, Su Xiao hooked his finger, and the Dragon-Slaying Flash flew back into his hand. Releasing the sword was just a distraction to draw Cú Chulainn's attention.
The blade cut through the air, leaving three crisscrossing slash marks on Cú Chulainn's chest. Before he could cry out in pain, a hand wrapped in blue smoke grabbed his throat.
The blue smoke enveloped most of Cú Chulainn's body, filling him with a sense of weakness that quickly turned into intense pain. It felt like his soul was being gradually stripped away.
As the Son of Light who had roamed battlefields, Cú Chulainn naturally wouldn't scream; he only let out a muffled grunt.
The Devouring Core was instantly activated to its maximum. Cú Chulainn's form rapidly dimmed within the blue smoke. A few seconds later, Su Xiao tossed the spearman aside.
With a crash, Cú Chulainn snapped a lamppost, crouched on the ground, and coughed repeatedly. At that moment, he was deeply puzzled. How could that boy's level of magecraft summon such a monster?
Servant energy flowed along Su Xiao's arm into the Devouring Core, eventually turning into colorless energy absorbed by the Azure Steel Shadow energy. Because the Azure Steel Shadow ability was too high-level, and Cú Chulainn hadn't been completely devoured, the ability's rank didn't increase.
"What a shame."
Su Xiao felt a bit regretful. If he had followed his usual style, he would have completely converted Cú Chulainn into Servant energy and silenced him. But compared to settling old scores with the Blood Gate Adventure Group, the remaining Servant energy in Cú Chulainn wasn't worth the risk. If a Servant died right at the start of the war, as long as the Blood Gate people weren't all idiots, they would definitely investigate thoroughly and eliminate the unknown threat.
Cú Chulainn, now somewhat translucent, stood up. In that instant, he had felt like he was about to be completely drained.
Without any more nonsense, Cú Chulainn gracefully leaped up and disappeared into the night in a few bounds. He could lose, but he absolutely couldn't lose his cool, even if he had just been pummeled into the ground.
Inside the courtyard, Emiya Shirou stared blankly through the large hole in the wall at Cú Chulainn's retreating figure. Earlier, that spearman had chased him to the ends of the earth, leaving him with no escape. Now, he had fled in disgrace.
"Thank you... for saving me."
Although Emiya Shirou vaguely sensed that Su Xiao wasn't from the lawful faction, the man had just saved his life. He had enough manners to offer a face-to-face thanks.
"If you don't mind, please come inside."
Emiya Shirou looked at the holes in the house and the wall, his expression pained. He was just a student, with only his adoptive father's inheritance and part-time jobs as his sources of income.
"If I'm not mistaken, you're Emiya Shirou?"
Su Xiao sat on the wall, lighting a cigarette with a click.
"You know me?"
Emiya Shirou was clearly puzzled, or rather, he still didn't understand the situation.
"I have some history with your adoptive father."
"Really?"
Emiya Shirou's impression of Su Xiao began to improve slightly.
"That's right."
Was that really the case? Of course not. In the previous Holy Grail War, Su Xiao had used the Spider Empress to phase through walls and shot Emiya Kiritsugu to pieces with a few bullets. Of course, this current Holy Grail World didn't have such a history.