Chapter 53: Clash
The Chains of Heaven tightly bound the Counter Shield, and Su Xiao, inside the shield, looked at the Heroic King dozens of meters away. He had nearly killed him moments ago, but unfortunately, he hadn’t succeeded.
Though the Heroic King was arrogant, after this incident, he would never let Su Xiao get close again so easily.
Drip, drip.
Blood dripped from the Heroic King’s severed arm. A few drops stained his face, and the warm sensation disgusted him. As for the searing pain within his body, he simply ignored it.
“You… have wounded this king.”
This time, the Heroic King no longer shouted “mongrel” or “bastard” but instead addressed Su Xiao as “you.” Su Xiao’s strength was undeniable—just over ten seconds ago, he had nearly taken the Heroic King’s head. If he still called him a mongrel now, what would that make himself, having lost an arm to a “mongrel”? A dog-bastard?
Strength was the ultimate truth. The strong earned respect everywhere.
The Heroic King shed his contemptuous attitude. Behind him, a vast expanse of golden spatial ripples spread, and in his remaining left hand, he gripped the Sword of Rupture. He was about to get serious. If he didn’t go all out now, he would be no different from a fool.
The Heroic King hadn’t been “corrupted” by the Holy Grail’s mud yet, so he wasn’t foolish. On the contrary, he was very intelligent. How could someone who once ruled a nation be stupid?
Su Xiao stared at the Heroic King from afar. Without a doubt, this was his greatest enemy in this derivative world. Once the Heroic King got serious, he was formidable.
Though the Chains of Heaven hadn’t bound Su Xiao, if he deactivated the Counter Shield, they would surely ensnare him, and then he’d be riddled with Noble Phantasms.
Su Xiao wasn’t sure if he could break free from the Chains of Heaven, but he could cut them. The Chains of Heaven were “god-binding” tools—the higher one’s divinity, the harder they were to escape.
Ordinary slashes might not sever several Chains of Heaven at once, but Su Xiao, having mastered the Blade Grandmaster skill for so long, had naturally developed his own techniques. Though most were impractical, some were excellent, like Ring Break.
Beyond Ring Break, Su Xiao had been developing another move. Though still in the developmental stage, it was close to completion.
This move wasn’t a skill upgraded with Paradise Coins but one Su Xiao had created himself.
Standing inside the Counter Shield, Su Xiao sheathed the Dragon-Slaying Flash. He gripped the hilt with his right hand and the scabbard with his left, holding the sheathed blade horizontally before him.
“Fate decides all. Whether I can use this move depends on luck.”
Su Xiao let out a long breath. He converted 300 mana points into Cyan Steel Shadow Energy, which enveloped the sheathed Dragon-Slaying Flash.
The long blade slowly slid out of the scabbard, the motion extremely slow. Su Xiao’s aura grew sharper and sharper.
Swish.
Fine cut marks appeared on the ground beside Su Xiao’s feet. This effect occurred before he even struck. If he actually swung the blade, the power would be unimaginable.
Su Xiao slightly lowered his body, assuming a charging stance, his leg muscles tensed.
“This is bad.”
Sensing Su Xiao’s sharp aura, the Conqueror King grabbed his Master, Waver, and retreated several steps. Saber also signaled to Irisviel, gesturing for the beautiful young woman to fall back with her.
“Such momentum…”
The now-serious Heroic King fixed his gaze on Su Xiao. This time, the golden spatial ripples behind him were filled with high-grade Noble Phantasms, and the Sword of Rupture in his hand pointed forward.
Just as the two were about to clash again, the Heroic King’s expression suddenly changed.
“You, a mere nobody, dare command me to retreat?”
Something had happened, and the Heroic King was furious—no, enraged. He hadn’t shown anger when Su Xiao severed his arm, because that wasn’t something to be angry about. But now, he was livid.
“Tokiomi, you have quite the nerve.”
The Sword of Rupture in the Heroic King’s hand vanished, and the golden spatial ripples behind him dissipated.
“That’s enough for today.”
As he spoke, the Heroic King’s body gradually faded, eventually dissolving into particles of light. Tokiomi had used a Command Spell to force his retreat. Though he had lost an arm, it wasn’t a major issue. Tokiomi was an excellent mage; restoring a severed limb of this degree was entirely within his ability.
The Heroic King didn’t know a surprise awaited him. Tokiomi’s magecraft was indeed impressive, but could an arm severed by the Dragon-Slaying Flash really be restored so easily?
After the Heroic King left, the Chains of Heaven binding the Counter Shield vanished. Su Xiao dispelled the shield. Since the Heroic King had withdrawn, there was no need to use that move. Besides, whether he could even execute it was uncertain—he only had a 70% chance.
As for why he chose to use an unfinished move against the Heroic King, it was because of its speed. Even if the enemy was dozens of meters away, Su Xiao could strike them instantly, and its power far exceeded Ring Break. It was his strongest offensive technique, bar none.
With the Heroic King gone, the tense atmosphere on the battlefield eased slightly. Even so, the other Servants remained wary of Su Xiao.
His earlier slash had left a deep impression on everyone. If used to assassinate a Master, no Master could survive under Su Xiao’s blade.
Three Servants remained on the field. The Conqueror King and Saber stood in front of their respective Masters or proxy Masters. These two were upright Servants; as long as they drew breath, they would never allow Su Xiao to harm their Masters.
Su Xiao’s gaze swept over everyone present. Both the Conqueror King and Saber were tough opponents—one excelled at group combat, the other wielded a Holy Sword with A-rank Instinct.
Half a kilometer away, at a high vantage point, Kiritsugu Emiya observed the situation through his scope. His expression was grim. Having one “monster” like the Heroic King was already a headache, and now another had appeared who nearly killed him in an instant. The Servants in this Holy Grail War were so strong it left him speechless.
In truth, Kiritsugu was overthinking things. Su Xiao’s strength lay in close combat. If the distance were widened, he wouldn’t be a match for the Heroic King. Su Xiao was well aware of this and wouldn’t blindly overestimate himself.
That was precisely why Su Xiao had gone all out from the start, aiming to use his speed and close-combat advantage to eliminate the Heroic King. Unfortunately, he hadn’t succeeded. The Heroic King was no pushover.
“Are all of you planning to gang up on me?”
Su Xiao looked at Saber and the Conqueror King. With the Heroic King gone, among the remaining three Servants, the easiest to deal with was Hassan-i Sabbah (Hundred Faces). So, Su Xiao set his sights on him.
“And this is?”
The Conqueror King couldn’t guess Su Xiao’s class.
“Berserker.”
Saber enlightened the Conqueror King.
“Berserker?”
The Conqueror King was taken aback. In his view, a Berserker shouldn’t be this rational. Even without the Madness Enhancement, they wouldn’t be this composed. The earlier figure wreathed in black smoke seemed more like a Berserker.
“And that black one earlier?”
“That was Berserker’s Master. If I’m not mistaken, the Master’s appearance was caused by Berserker.”
“What?”
The Conqueror King’s expression changed. He would never turn his Master, Waver, into such a hideous state, no matter the reason.
“You bastard…”
The Conqueror King was clearly displeased. Waver, his Master, hid behind him, looking at Su Xiao with great wariness.
“Judging before knowing the full story—this is the Conqueror King, Iskandar?”
Su Xiao’s words made the Conqueror King cough lightly.
“So there’s a reason? But turning a Master into that state… ah, forget it. Perhaps there were difficulties, but I can’t agree with your methods.”
The Conqueror King agreed with Su Xiao’s point. He shouldn’t judge before knowing the whole story.
“A reason? Perhaps. I don’t explain my actions to others. You can also think I forcibly turned him into a monster.”
Su Xiao seemed to be chatting casually with the Conqueror King, but in truth, he was constantly sensing Hassan-i Sabbah’s movements. This guy had been an assassin in life, skilled at concealment. If he wasn’t dealt with now, he’d hide somewhere, causing headaches later.
Hassan-i Sabbah also sensed something was wrong and wanted to retreat but hadn’t moved. The reason was simple: he was being targeted.
Stranger still, the “Berserker” Kariya Matou had vanished during Su Xiao’s battle with the Heroic King, nowhere to be found.