Xyrin Empire
Chapter 485: An Unexpectedly Formidable Opponent

Chapter 485: Chapter 485: An Unexpectedly Formidable Opponent

Sasaki Kojiro, a name that resonated like thunder among the common folk.

As the most famous swordsman of the late Sengoku period, Sasaki excelled at wielding the Wild Tachi, a blade seldom used by other swordsmen. Legend had it that his sword skills had reached a transformative realm. Even his sole defeat in life, at the hands of the Sword Master Miyamoto Musashi, was attributed to the latter’s deceptive tactics. One could say that in terms of sword skills alone, Sasaki had almost reached the pinnacle of this art—at least no one in Japanese history could match him.

However, the Heroic Spirit battling the Knight King was not truly Sasaki Kojiro; his forthrightness was astonishing. He not only revealed his true name but even admitted that he was originally a nameless swordsman who, through a lifetime of diligent practice, had mastered Sasaki’s signature technique: Swallow Return. This earned him the name "Sasaki Kojiro" posthumously, and he was summoned as a fictitious Heroic Spirit. Despite such revelations not being decisive in battle, his open and honorable approach earned the admiration of Altoria, who upheld the way of the knight. Thus, despite our numerical advantage, Saber insisted on facing him alone in a knightly duel to reciprocate the nameless swordsman’s openness.

Now, however, it seemed that the confident and powerful golden-haired girl was gradually falling into a disadvantage.

As a Heroic Spirit elevated from an unnamed swordsman, the long blade in Sasaki’s hand was not a divine weapon capable of contending with the King of Britain’s Holy Sword, nor was it even the lowest level of treasure. It was merely a beloved sword that had accompanied the swordsman throughout his life, crafted by an ordinary blacksmith. But with such a mundane weapon, the Assassin-class Spirit not only fought on par with Saber, who wielded the Swordsman class, but even began to overpower her. Much of this was due to his sword skills.

Altoria’s sword skills were undoubtedly powerful, honed on the battlefield over many years and practiced on the corpses of her enemies. Each of her strokes was simple and effective, fatal and without wastage. This kind of fighting naturally dominated in life-and-death battles. However, Sasaki’s swordsmanship was on a different level entirely; it had transcended mere combat technique and was elevated to the realm of Sword Dao. I understood that as a Heroic Spirit, Sasaki did not possess his own treasure. His swordsmanship was his "Treasure," capable of contending with the treasures of other Spirits through sheer technique. It was not surprising that Saber was outmatched in swordsmanship.

Under the quiet night sky, silver flashes repeatedly sliced through the air, leaving behind sharp sonic booms. At the narrow gate of Yododani Temple, the elongated blade and the invisible sword violently clashed, the resulting Wind Blades cutting even nearby blades of grass cleanly at their roots. Saber had already been injured in her battle with Hercules, though my makeshift Radiant Aura had partly restored her Magic Power and healed some wounds. Yet, under the pressure of being outmatched in swordsmanship, those hidden wounds were magnified significantly, visibly slowing the movements of the girl in her silver-white armor.

Moreover, maybe it was just my illusion, but wasn’t this "Sasaki Kojiro" a bit too strong? This was definitely far beyond his original strength; logically, even if Sasaki could dominate Saber in terms of swordsmanship, he shouldn’t have gained the upper hand so quickly. Moreover, Saber was in much better condition now than in the original plot, and should not have shown signs of flagging so quickly. Even though I was no expert in swordsmanship, I could tell from the current condition of both fighters that Saber had already exhausted much of her physical strength.

"Saber!" Emiya, who had been anxiously watching from the sidelines, shouted out as he saw his Servant struggling. Because of Saber’s firm stance before the battle, he, like all of us, could only watch. Believing that if Saber faced any further threats, this naive boy would rush to fight Sasaki regardless of his own strength.

"Don’t come closer!" the golden-haired girl panted heavily but spoke resolutely, "The battle isn’t over yet!"

"You are a formidable enemy," Sasaki said, his voice full of genuine admiration, "Indeed, I haven’t held back. If it weren’t for some special reasons, perhaps even if I fought with all my might, I couldn’t defeat you."

"Perhaps, but a duel holds no assumptions." After a few seconds of resting to gather some strength, Saber lifted her head again and slightly shook her arm, a gesture she had repeated a couple of times, "This, is it your Special Ability? Poison? Or is it Magic Power disruption?"

"Who knows," Sasaki tightened his grip on his long sword, positioning it horizontally in front of him, "In any case, it’s very effective against Heroic Spirits. A prolonged battle isn’t in your favor."

The next second, accompanied by the booming sound of cleaving through the air, both sides clashed together once again, still in a duel surpassing the limits of the human eye. Two blurry figures entangled and collided like a raging storm, and amid such a battle, I continuously assessed the strength of both individuals.

Although they were in a world of low magic and energy, as beings directly related to the origin of the world, the individual strength of these Heroic Spirits could reach the level of low-level Xyrin Apostles. Their true forms residing in the Heroic Spirit Hall might even be able to contend with a Xyrin Officer of Subordinate Commander rank. Of course, this refers purely to a physical brawl. If it were an Officer fully armed with a Photon Cannon and capable of calling for Fleet support at any time, presumably no Heroic Spirit could withstand it.

Having such combat prowess and being undying as long as the Heroic Spirit Hall remains intact, it was no wonder Sandora strongly supported my "Heroic Spirit Kidnapping Plan."

"Clang——"

A loud metallic clash rang out as the bamboo pole, initially about to strike its target, was once again parried by the Invisible Sword. But this time, Saber did not launch a follow-up attack as she had done several times before; instead, she swiftly retreated two steps and then propped her sword in front of her, breathing heavily.

She bore no wounds whatsoever, but she seemed to have lost even the strength to lift her sword.

At that moment, I noticed something unusual. It seemed that with the ongoing clashes against Sasaki, Saber’s physical strength visibly diminished rapidly, and her agility worsened. This was not simply a decrease in combat effectiveness due to physical exertion, but rather, it seemed like...

Could it be poisoning? Recalling the "poison" Saber had mentioned earlier, that was the first thing I thought of. But would a Heroic Spirit like Sasaki use poison in battle?

Then, could it be magic interference?

I couldn’t remember anything in the setup that suggested Sasaki had such an ability. Although it was a common ability for an Assassin, I knew that the ability most befitting of Sasaki’s Assassin role should be something like Concealing Breath, a skill for stealth and approach. As for poison and magic interference, those were not techniques a samurai of Japan would likely master.

Perhaps it was due to his nature, or perhaps due to the wary eyes from our side, Sasaki did not choose to pursue after repelling Saber. Instead, he appeared to casually place his long sword by his side, standing in front of the gate and calmly watching ahead.

"Saber, how are you?" Emiya finally could not help rushing forward, trying to support the girl. However, she managed to straighten up on her own, then turned her head to us with an apologetic smile, "I’m sorry everyone, this Heroic Spirit has a very peculiar ability. It can continually reduce an opponent’s agility in close combat, whether attacking or being attacked, just by contact, this ability becomes effective."

Sasaki watched indifferently from the front. Even though the defeated Saber had just informed her companions of his secret ability, he was utterly unfazed. He had already prepared himself for battling so many enemies, and even though only two of them could be considered combat-capable Heroic Spirits, he was ready to reveal all his tricks.

Wearing a cautious expression, Saber slowly retreated back to our side. Meanwhile, Archer, Emiya, and Tohsaka Rin stepped forward, wary of any potential sneak attacks. However, the man with the long sword in front remained unmoved by all this, standing like a statue, as if stating his earlier stance: My only mission is to stop you from crossing this gate.

As for Saber, who had retreated, I could clearly see that her body was rigid, especially her right shoulder, which almost seemed locked in place, making it quite difficult even to move.

"Ah Jun, do you feel it?"

Sandora’s voice echoed in my mind, and I nodded solemnly, "Very obvious."

"Saber, sorry, but could I take a look at your arm?"

The golden-haired girl guessed that I might have a solution for the current problem, so without hesitation, she removed her armor and used her still flexible left hand to rip the sleeve of her right arm. Immediately, the girl’s pristine and slender arm came into view for both Sandora and me, but more striking than the white skin was the crystallization emitting a strange blue glow, entwining like veins.

The crystal-like tissue had replaced the normal flesh and blood and was fully integrated with the girl’s arm, which explained why her movements were so stiff. If it had been a regular Heroic Spirit, by now, probably half of their body would have crystallized.

Ghost Energy erosion. The day Rider confronted us, Tsuruya’s ability had introduced a large amount of Ghost Energy into Rider, turning almost her entire body into a crystal statue within seconds. Therefore, I was not unfamiliar with this special injury that Heroic Spirits suffer from Ghost Energy contamination. Sandora was not present that day, but through our spiritual connection, she knew about the situation.

Sasaki’s attack contained Ghost Energy!

How was that possible?

Ghost Energy technology is unique to the Xyrin Apostles. As far as we knew, aside from us, only the Protos Natives of the New Eden Federation (a national union formed by the survivors of Old Kepulu) had touched upon the fringes of this energy. How could a regular Heroic Spirit from a world with low magic and low power grasp this kind of energy? Moreover, for regular Heroic Spirits, the Ghost Energy invading the body was even more dreadful than highly poisonous!

Spiritual power spread out, and the energy fluctuations in every inch of Yododani Temple were visible before my eyes with the focus on the Heroic Spirit known as Sasaki.

It was his long sword—on the edge of that blade, a faint trace of Ghost Energy lingered!

"Sandora, initiate the Mind Field, putting all irrelevant personnel into an absolute coma," I instructed Sandora through our spiritual connection, then I took a step forward.

"I don’t know what kind of coward your Master is, hiding in the shadows even in this situation, but now, let me be your opponent."

"You?" Sasaki looked surprised. "A mere human?"

I didn’t reply, but flexed my wrist, preparing to throw a punch; however, the next second, a voice in my mind made me halt my motion. After listening to the message from Avalon, I could not help showing an exasperated smile then I looked up at Sasaki and said, "Oh, then let someone else fight you."

With those words, I turned and walked away.

Everyone: "..."

"Are you insulting me!?" Sasaki’s angry voice rose from behind, filled with unmistakable murderous intent. I could understand his anger; in fact, I was also frustrated that the rare opportunity to tease the children had been taken away, but who could blame the master of cold weapon combat who suddenly became impassioned and volunteered himself?

The sound of metal clashing suddenly came from the darkness, "click, click," a series of rhythmic noises. I knew they were the sounds of metal limbs scraping the ground, Vega had, through the Avalon monitoring system, seen Sasaki battling with Saber. As expected, Scorpion Sister couldn’t help but feel the itch to fight this skilled Heroic Spirit. To use Scorpion Sister’s words, although his absolute strength wasn’t impressive, purely in terms of skills, Sasaki’s swordsmanship was quite interesting.

Facing such an event, the Armored Scorpion’s fervor was absolutely not less than Pandora’s passion for war.

Honestly, I could never understand Vega’s enthusiasm for this kind of battle. It felt like there was a huge chasm between our views on life, worldviews, and values. But the little scorpion usually was always a tight-lipped sort, seldom initiating any requests on her own. This time, her initiative just to spar with this Human loosened my resolve to fulfil her tiny wish.

"Look, this time it’s not a landing pod."

I shrugged my shoulders to the bewildered Emiya party, and then they all gasped in shock together.

"So, is it another photographer then?" Tohsaka had a helpless expression and rubbed her forehead continuously, "You really want to turn a perfectly good human society into... Ah! What is that!"

Not five meters away from Sasaki, a deep black vortex suddenly appeared in the air, the sound of metal impacts akin to footsteps emanated clearly from it. Under the gaze of everyone, the first things to come out of the vortex were two overly long war swords wrapped in lightning, followed by a figure appearing before everyone—a stunningly beautiful woman from the waist up and a two-meter-long, fierce mechanical scorpion from the waist down, a mixed "monster."

The Mechanical Scorpion, holding the gigantic war swords, walked calmly out of the Teleportation Gate. Merely standing there, it caused each nerve in Sasaki’s body to scream a sharp warning—an instinctive reaction only triggered by a close brush with death. The woman, or rather, the monster before him, radiated a pure intent to kill. To those present, whether it was the well-seasoned Sasaki, the war-hardened Altoria, or the blood-stained hands of Red A, this sensation was all too familiar. A pure killing machine, every hair, every cell, meticulously designed to be a weapon—that was the first impression they had of Vega after their initial shock.

Without paying any attention to the diverse looks around her, Vega stepped away from the Teleportation Gate and directly turned towards me, then "snap," she delivered a salute so textbook perfect that it could be used in an instructional manual of the Xyrin Army: "Imperial Armored Scorpion, Vega reporting for duty. To fight for victory, Commander!"

"That is your chosen opponent, attack at will."

"Tick—tack—" Two sharp metallic clicks sounded, Vega’s tail gently swung once, then slowly turned towards Sasaki’s direction. The atmosphere on the scene instantly became oppressively tense. Sasaki, who had been quite calm and composed up until then, now showed a slight sweat on his face. He tightly gripped the long pole in his hands, slightly turned his body and leaned forward, readying himself in a defensive stance. The two-meter-tall grotesque creature before him carried an unsettling scent of blood. If not for his duty-bound mission, he truly would have preferred to retreat immediately—while a joyful battle with a formidable opponent was Sasaki’s greatest desire, this desire certainly did not include facing such a sinister "Final Weapon."

"You cannot defeat me," Vega spoke, her voice echoing mechanically without any emotional fluctuation, "but your combat skills do intrigue me."

As soon as the words faded, Vega suddenly clashed her dual swords together. Instantly, the energy sparks entwined around the blades dimmed, while the caps on Vega’s tail, which had always been half-open and emitting a faint red light, had completely closed up.

"I will not use any special attacks, and I will wield the same strength as you," Vega stated matter-of-factly, "Now, let’s see how much surprise the combat skills honed by your primitive race can bring me." (To be continued, for following updates please visit www.qidian.com. More Chapters are available, and support the author by reading the original text!)