The pillar of light, formed from immense magical power, moved rapidly with Suya.
Suya had no idea what it was, nor could he understand why it kept following him.
All he knew was that under this spectacle, he felt like a monkey in a zoo, an object of public display.
His risk of exposure skyrocketed!
Or rather—
A chill ran down Suya's spine. He inexplicably felt a malicious gaze fixed firmly on him!
He suppressed this discomfort, desperately urging his warhorse to accelerate,
But the ominous premonition grew stronger.
"Merlin, when will this damn special effect end!?"
"You're asking me? Oh right—I actually do know this!"
Merlin turned to stare at the sparkling Suya, blinked, thought for a moment, and replied with some uncertainty:
"This is the phenomenon of a Noble Phantasm materializing. It will naturally end when the Noble Phantasm is fully formed."
"Noble Phantasm? What Noble Phantasm?"
Suya's scalp tightened.
Noble Phantasm? Isn't that something only Servants in the Fate series have? In other words, they are the manifestation of historical legends, something belonging to the dead.
Why would something like this hit a living person like me?
"By the looks of it, it should be a C-rank Noble Phantasm? Oh, it's coming—"
Merlin observed the pillar of light above Suya's head. Her crimson eyes seemed to perceive something invisible to ordinary human eyes.
She immediately shouted, "Raise your hand, catch it!"
"What?"
Suya was bewildered but instinctively raised his hand, just as he had been commanded by Merlin shortly before.
The next moment—
He felt a long, thin object appear in his palm.
Was it... a rein?
Suya blinked and looked closely. It was indeed a rein, entirely silver-white, with a rose motif.
It felt weightless in his hand and appeared somewhat ethereal, but the moment he saw it, Suya immediately understood its legend and purpose—
[Noble Phantasm: Edoardo's Charge]
[Rank: C]
[Description: Edoardo is a 'true knight,' but Edoardo is not Edoardo. Due to the dual nature of legend, the Noble Phantasm has two uses.]
[I. Charge of Knight Edoardo: Like Pheidippides, who ran from Marathon to Athens in Greek legend, Knight Edoardo possesses the same noble character and superhuman endurance. During the Conquest of Britain, Knight Edoardo discovered the whereabouts of the King of Britain, Arthur Pendragon. After a deadly battle, he dragged his dying body back to report to the army. After delivering the intelligence, he returned to aid his comrades who were covering their retreat. After a fierce and heroic struggle, he finally killed Arthur Pendragon.]
[II. Charge of the False King: As the one who truly killed Arthur Pendragon, he framed another, traversed alone through the Macedonian army of ten thousand, deceived everyone, plundered everything, and then hid his true name behind the legend. Hidden behind the truth of Knight Edoardo's charge is actually a meticulously designed escape.]
"I've got the Noble Phantasm. What now? How do I turn off the special effect?"
With a thought, the silver-white rein in his hand vanished.
Suya urgently looked at Merlin, only to find Merlin's gaze had passed over his shoulder, looking behind him.
And at that moment,
He realized that after he received the Noble Phantasm, the light on his body had disappeared, and the holy pillar of light reaching up to the heavens had also vanished.
Now,
The two had already passed through the western pass.
Their warhorse trod on the reddish, barren ground, scorched by the army's passage, arriving at a plain.
In the distance, a shattered city, shrouded in smoke, hung isolated in the center of the plain.
According to Merlin's earlier words, that was Lord Born's domain. After crossing this plain, they would reach Lord Ector's manor.
Although it was behind enemy lines, as long as the Conqueror King's army didn't pursue them, it could barely be considered a safe zone.
"Something's approaching fast!"
In front of the warhorse, Merlin suddenly frowned slightly and said,
"Right behind you!"
Suya's body tensed at the sound. He immediately turned his horse around and looked back,
And saw—
At the edge of his vision, from the hill pass they had just crossed,
A black warhorse, moving at a speed Suya couldn't comprehend, leaped high from the top of the hill.
On the 30-degree downward slope, it transformed into a black streak, charging directly towards him!
Closer and closer, closer and closer!
When it closed to within a hundred meters, Suya realized that there was no rider on the warhorse. The horse seemed startled, completely out of its mind, and despite seeing Suya in its path, it had no intention of stopping!
Or rather, it was charging directly at him!
Suya recalled the malicious gaze he had sensed earlier.
But where was the person?
"Jump!"
Merlin, looking behind Suya, suddenly shouted urgently.
Faster than Suya could react, she yanked Suya's collar, kicked away his left foot from the stirrup, and ducked, falling to the right side of the warhorse.
The next instant—
A cold sensation grazed the back of his head.
The two tumbled to the ground. Just as they were about to hit the ground face-first, Suya recalled the scout cavalry's technique of rolling off the horse while using the stirrup. He forcefully adjusted their posture while holding Merlin, rolling up,
At the same time, his right hand gripped the hilt of his sword at his waist.
Draw sword!
"Clang!"
Sparks flew!
A short spear swept across, its tip striking the strong part of the sword blade near the hilt.
The person who suddenly attacked Suya seemed surprised that Suya could react and draw his sword, and even more so that he had coincidentally blocked this strike.
However,
The short spear, locked in a clash, immediately flipped its blade, thrust forward, and hooked back, catching Suya's crossguard with a cross-spear lock.
Whoosh!
Suya felt a surging force transmit from the sword. His sword immediately flew out of his hand, tumbling away!
"Damn it!"
Suya's heart trembled. He instinctively looked up and saw the short spear's blade swing back and pull across, twirling in the attacker's hand. As he stepped forward and adjusted his stance, it continued to thrust towards his throat!
And at that moment, he saw the attacker's appearance—
Long red hair, a sinister face. For agility, this person hadn't even worn leather armor, only a black tight-fitting garment. Now, his eyes, fixed on Suya, were filled with cold killing intent!
And this person had no habit of listening to Suya's dying words. This direct thrust was aimed at piercing his throat and directly killing Suya!
However, just then—
"Bang!"
A sharp, brief explosive sound erupted extremely close to Suya's ear.
A cherry-pink beam of light flashed past the edge of Suya's vision, directly striking the red-haired man's face!
"Get up quickly!"
"Draw your sword!"
"This guy is the scout cavalry captain, a professional assassin!"
New stories are on their way! Once they arrive, expect two chapters from each story, daily. Keep an eye out!