Fate: The Forged Arthur Pendragon

A flurry of complex thoughts flashed through his mind in less than half a second.

On the field,

Suya and Shugus's gazes met, locked in a standoff.

Both could see the killing intent in the other's eyes!

Seeing Suya's expression that screamed "I must ram you to death immediately,"

Shugus silently adjusted his movements. His toes scraped the ground, and the toes hidden in his boots strangely turned to the other side, gripping in the opposite direction of his foot.

He stared coldly at Suya, counting silently, treating Suya's impossible ability to activate a Noble Phantasm as a fact, and preparing at any moment to evade the strike, calculating the time Suya needed to activate the Noble Phantasm, the interval of activation, and the speed gained after activation.

A rein-like Noble Phantasm was likely a cavalry-type Noble Phantasm. Such Noble Phantasms typically enhanced the speed and impact force of the mount.

Although Suya seemed comically to be tying the rein to himself,

It was undeniably a way of using it.

At this moment,

"Hiss—"

Suya took a deep breath.

He felt the rein tied around his neck forcibly extracting something indescribable from his body, and then injecting a peculiar, scorching warm current into him.

This warm current was like boiling water poured into his stomach in the dog days of summer.

His skin was heating up, his intestines were cramping, and where the warm current swept, it felt like being cut open with a knife, producing phantom pain from inside out.

This was magical energy.

Suya's complexion visibly turned red at an extreme speed, and dense, tangled blood vessels quickly spread across the whites of his eyes.

The next instant—

This power surged to its peak!

"Hiss!" Suya hissed out a white stream of vapor through clenched teeth, and at this moment, he suddenly raised his head.

He took a large stride forward, his foot grinding the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust!

"Noble Phantasm—"

Shugus's expression hardened, his brows furrowed, his gaze locked on Suya, his hand tightly clutching his dagger.

"Is it coming?!"

"Edoardo's—"

Almost unable to suppress the sudden surge of violent power within him, Suya's shoulders twitched strangely. Half of his body was numb and senseless from the magical energy impact.

He could only clench his teeth, strain to lift his head, his gaze flickering around Shugus, aiming with difficulty in one direction.

He ground his foot, and with all his might, roared:

"Charge!!!"

A sudden burst of air instantly enveloped Suya, forming a spindle-shaped white light cone.

The next instant—

Boom!!!

A sonic boom erupted from the ground!

Shugus's eyes widened abruptly, staring in disbelief at the white beam of light charging towards him!

He finally understood what a Noble Phantasm was!

No matter how trashy a Noble Phantasm, even one weaker than a D-rank Noble Phantasm in attack power, it was not something a human of his level could take on!

This speed, this speed—

He couldn't fully dodge it. Even at full speed, he would at least have an arm forcibly shattered!

But, but—

Shugus gritted his teeth fiercely, abandoning his left arm without hesitation, his entire body rotating at a speed faster than the human eye could track!

The next moment,

A massive wave of air slammed into his face!

The white beam of light instantly shot past, three meters from Shugus's body!

After charging nearly 400 meters in 1 second, it suddenly made a turn, carving a huge V-shape in Shugus's field of vision!

Shugus turned his head in a daze and saw—

The light cone formed by the air wave disappeared,

Suya, unable to stop, was flung out by the immense inertia.

And the landing spot—

Was precisely where that bastard sword, which Shugus had knocked away, lay!

Suya endured the soreness throughout his body and regained control, performing a front roll in mid-air to land on the ground. His hand effortlessly found the hilt of his sword.

Draw sword!

"Merlin!" Suya roared, ignoring the pain throughout his body, and forcefully tugged at the rein around his neck again!

The next instant,

"Second Restriction, Release!"

"This battle, is to fight against those stronger than oneself!"

Merlin unhesitatingly raised her palm, splayed her fingers, and aimed them at Suya. The blue gem on her goose-like neck glowed faintly.

"Acknowledge—Merlin!"

As the cold voice faded,

Two commands for restriction release and the magical energy forcibly converted from life force by the Noble Phantasm furiously circulated within Suya's body!

Under the triple enhancement, a line of text suddenly appeared before Suya's eyes:

[Panel Update]

[Strength: F, Agility: F-, Endurance: F-, Magic: F, Noble Phantasm: C]

[Magic Crest (Activated): Third Law - Spiritual Evocation.]

[Conditions for employment met. Upon employment, the number of legendary paths will increase.]

"I'm betting on you to win!"

Before Suya could ask Merlin why this reinforcement was so powerful,

Merlin, after uttering that sentence, fell straight down, and the six petals circling her also dropped to the ground.

Suya propped himself up with his sword, looking somewhat startled at the fallen Merlin.

He took a deep breath, then turned his head, looking coldly at Shugus, who was not far in front of him.

Now, the physical gap between them was negated.

All that remained—

Was a contest of combat skills.

"So that's it, you can't control your Noble Phantasm at all."

Shugus also looked at Suya at this moment, seemingly to hide the fear and hesitation he had just shown, and chuckled coldly.

"That's right. How could you, someone not even a professional, wield such a miracle?"

"Hmph~ What's that look on your face?"

"Brat, don't tell me you think your crude swordsmanship can defeat me?"

Shugus sneered, twirling the dagger in his hand and adopting a stance.

"Between us, there's a full five levels of combat skill difference!"

"Combat skill?!"

Hearing this, Suya was slightly surprised.

After all, the term itself sounded impressive.

So, what was it?

Just then, an untimely, monotonous voice suddenly came from the ground.

"Combat skill is a measure of professional-level individuals. Those who have initially mastered 1 to 3 combat skills are called Squires. Those who have mastered 5 or more combat skills are professional-level."

"A 'professional' is an absolute elite who lives by it."

"A 'hero' is a peerless champion who dominates the battlefield."

"And a 'legend' is a miracle of the world whose name and presence can inspire people even after a thousand years, a fleeting moment in history!"

Hearing this sudden voice, Shugus was startled, then his face darkened as he looked at Merlin lying on the ground.

Who asked you?

Suya suddenly understood, then realized something was wrong, and also turned to look at Merlin lying on the ground.

"Hey, you're not dead?"

Merlin, lying on the ground, had a blank expression, chanting emotionlessly:

"Bastard, I won't die even if you do."

"Also, be careful. This guy has mastered at least three combat skills: [Swift Step], [Feint], and [Bone Pick]."

"Swift Step is..."

Shugus's face, almost completely exposed, darkened again. Unable to bear it any longer, he immediately tried to take advantage of his speed and deliver a finishing blow to the mage lying on the ground, who was buzzing in his ears like a fly!

However, the next second he tried to turn,

A figure, using a bizarre footwork, suddenly appeared in front of him!

"So this is combat skill?"

Suya looked surprised, his eyes gleaming with the excitement of having discovered something new.

"Wha—what!?"

At this moment,

Shugus's face suddenly changed. He looked in disbelief at Suya's footsteps, which were eighty percent similar to his own.

That was precisely the absolute technique he had painstakingly mastered over years of training, a valuable ability his subordinates eagerly flattered him to learn!

Yet, since they first met, this brat had shown no aura or stance of a professional. In other words, just minutes ago, he hadn't mastered any combat skills at all.

But,

What this brat was using now, if not his [Swift Step]!?

Although the footwork still seemed a bit unpracticed, unable to execute higher-level techniques like the sliding movement of Swift Step,

But—

Learning a combat skill that typically takes months or years for an ordinary person to master, just by watching, in a matter of minutes?

Was this even human?!

"Hmph."

Suya sneered, gripping his sword with both hands before his chest, staring at the red-haired man before him, a cold light in his eyes.

"If this is combat skill!"

"Then I'm sorry—"

"Against me, who has mastered thousands of combat skills,"

"You stand no chance!"

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