Chapter 330: Dropping the Ball

Chapter 330: Chapter 330: Dropping the Ball

Even the king of knights couldn’t help but let out a stifled groan. She pressed her hand even harder against her nose, her emerald eyes widening instantly!

The source... found it!

It was in Stelle’s hand—a dried-up, weirdly colored thing (somewhere between deep green and grayish-black) that was emitting a rippling halo of stench so thick it was almost visible, warping the air—an immortal salted fish?!

What on earth is that thing?!

A Noble Phantasm?

Why would anyone bring something like that here?!

And hold it in their hand?!

Saber felt her brain going into overload.

She looked at Stelle, and Stelle looked back at her, her golden eyes calm and rippleless. She even gave the immortal salted fish in her hand a gentle shake toward her, as if signaling, "This way."

(Can she... can she not feel it?! Or rather... is she used to it?!)

Stelle indeed had no particular reaction.

To her, although the stench of the immortal salted fish existed, she was immune to it—nothing more.

Seeing Saber approach, she merely confirmed that her ally was in position, then turned around, carrying that fish which emitted an A++ rank stench, and continued deeper into the passage.

Saber froze on the spot. Watching Stelle’s nonchalant back as she walked ahead, and feeling that terrifying, pervasive stench that seemed capable of soaking through her armor, her heart fell into an unprecedentedly violent struggle.

(If I follow her... will I die? Not in battle, but from the smell?)

(But... my duty... I must eliminate the source of the pollution...)

Ultimately, her sense of duty as a knight and her responsibility toward the citizens of Fuyuki gained the upper hand.

Artoria Pendragon, with an expression of one facing certain death, took a deep breath—and was immediately choked into a near-cough—tightly covered her mouth and nose, and followed behind that "humanoid mobile stench source" and her "deterrent weapon" with slightly heavy steps.

Every step was a massive ordeal for both body and mind.

(Caster’s master... is truly an... incredible warrior.)

Saber thought dazedly amidst the suffocating stench.

Perspective shift.

Among the ruins, two inhuman figures clashed violently at speeds far exceeding common sense!

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

The eight bladed limbs on the back of the Bug Armor Assassin transformed into a vortex of death!

The two pairs of rapier-like limbs were like vipers flickering their tongues, stabbing and parrying, specifically targeting the joints and vitals of the Insectified Lancer’s carapace. The curved scythe blades drew treacherous arcs of light to block any escape, while the segmented whip-blades occasionally coiled for restraint or lashed out like steel whips.

The thick, hooked-claw gauntlets handled the most violent frontal collisions, each strike landing with a muffled boom like thunder!

The Insectified Lancer danced with all four arms. Its twin spears flashed with red and yellow light, their mana-bursting and cursed properties attempting to tear through the opponent’s defense, while its two blade-arms were like mantis scythes, striking from tricky and ruthless angles!

It hissed constantly, its body surging with eerie green light. The cracks in its carapace were slowly being repaired by some power, its movements becoming increasingly wild. It even occasionally traded wounds for wounds, attempting to use its powerful vitality to wear down its opponent.

The aftershocks of the battle further ravaged the already shattered hall.

New gashes and pits were constantly added to the walls, and the rubble on the ground was pulverized into dust under the impact.

"Waaah!"

Sitting not far away, March 7th was grazed on the cheek by a flying piece of rubble. The pain made her shrink her neck, and a few more tears welled up.

But she quickly wiped her face, her eyes reigniting with fighting spirit.

"No, no! I can’t just watch!"

She scrambled to try and manifest her ice bow again, but the previous Berserk state had consumed too much energy. Her mana circuits were still a bit disorganized, and the ice bow shattered halfway through with a "crack" just as it formed.

"Oh no! Dropping the ball at the critical moment!"

She stomped her feet in frustration. Looking at the fierce battle in the field, although the Bug Armor Assassin was sharp, the Insectified Lancer’s regeneration and frantic counterattacks were also extremely troublesome.

Suddenly, she saw the Insectified Lancer use a feint to deceive the rapier limbs, and its right blade-arm lunged at a bizarre angle toward the Bug Armor Assassin’s relatively fragile waist joint!

"Watch out on the left... no, the right!"

March 7th blurted out. Simultaneously, she subconsciously took the residual mana from the half-broken, unstable ice bow—a bit of power she had scrambled together in her anxiety—and threw it toward the Insectified Lancer!

A wobbly ice-blue arrow flew from her hand. Its speed wasn’t slow, but its aim... The Insectified Lancer happened to be knocked sideways by a heavy punch from the Bug Armor Assassin at that moment. The ice bolt went "pfft," grazing the Lancer’s shoulder armor and then... unerringly struck the back of the Bug Armor Assassin, who had just finished a dodge... well, right on its buttocks.

Plop.

The ice bolt hit the smooth, black carapace. Without even leaving a white mark, it shattered into a small puddle of ice slush and stuck there.

The location was so delicate that March 7th, seeing this, was instantly petrified, her small face turning beet red.

"Uh... I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to! I was trying to hit the green one!"

She pressed her hands together and apologized loudly with her eyes closed, wishing she could find a hole to crawl into.

However, something surprising happened.

The ice slush stuck to the Bug Armor Assassin’s buttocks didn’t slide off. Instead, as if attracted by some force, it instantly melted into it!

Immediately after, the Bug Armor Assassin’s entire body jolted!

The dark red energy patterns on its surface suddenly flared up, but the color shifted from dark red to a cold, ghostly blue!

A layer of crystal-clear ice began to condense rapidly over the originally matte black carapace!

The eight bladed limbs on its back underwent even more obvious changes—the edges of the rapiers and scythes were coated with sharp ice blades, the whip-blades grew ice thorns at every segment, and the hooked-claw gauntlets were encased in thick ice, looking like frost gauntlets!

A chilling aura diffused outward with it as the center, and the temperature in the hall plummeted!

"It evolved?"

Long Night Moon’s crimson eyes narrowed slightly, the tip of her umbrella lifting a fraction.

"Oh?"

The smile on Phantylia’s face deepened, interest piqued in her fox-like eyes. "Absorbing external elements for adaptive evolution? This is no longer just within the scope of The Propagation... what an interesting little thing."

The Bug Armor Assassin seemed to have a moment of confusion regarding the changes in its own body. It looked down at its frost-covered claws, then felt the bladed limbs on its back which had become even colder.

Then, it looked up, that dark red visual slit locking onto the Insectified Lancer once more.

The next second, it moved!

Its speed was even faster than before!

Its movements left behind afterimages of ice crystals!

As the ice-coated rapiers and scythes slashed out, the air was frozen into thin, white trails!

When the whip-blades lashed, they were no longer just simple strikes but scattered a wide-range spray of ice thorns!

The Insectified Lancer hissed and blocked, but the frost didn’t just bring sharper attacks and a low-temperature slowing effect; that layer of ice-crystal carapace also made its own attacks harder to land!

The Gáe Buidhe struck the ice armor, its mana-bursting effect melting part of the ice layer but failing to penetrate instantly; the blade-arms hacked at it, producing a piercing grinding sound and sending ice chips flying, but the wounds were shallower.

The scales of battle began to tilt!

The Ice Armor Assassin’s attacks became increasingly fierce. Its eight ice-blade limbs coordinated perfectly. The speed at which wounds appeared on the Insectified Lancer far exceeded its regeneration, and ghostly green insect blood mixed with ice slush splashed continuously.

Phantylia narrowed her eyes slightly.

(I can’t let this continue. While watching the show is important, letting this mutant of unknown origin win easily isn’t what I want.)

She gave her wrist an extremely slight flick. Toward the Insectified Lancer in the midst of the fierce battle, a wisp of power, almost imperceptible to the naked eye, shot out silently.

This was an attempt to further stimulate the frantic instincts of the insects inside the Lancer, making it completely abandon defense for a suicidal counterattack, ideally to heavily injure or even perish together with that ice-armored monster.

The ripple successfully reached the Insectified Lancer’s side.

And then... it vanished without a trace.

The Insectified Lancer’s movements didn’t change in the slightest; it was still being suppressed and beaten by the Ice Armor Assassin.

For the first time, Phantylia’s charming smile completely froze on her face.

She clearly perceived that the power she sent out had been blocked.

(How is that possible?! Who was it? That woman with the umbrella?)

She snapped her head around, her sharp gaze shooting toward Long Night Moon, who had been standing quietly watching the battle.

Long Night Moon was still holding her black umbrella. Her face under the umbrella was calm, and her crimson eyes were fixed on the battlefield, seemingly completely unaware of Phantylia’s gaze.

Phantylia stared at her for two seconds, then suddenly, a smile bloomed on her face again, though this smile lacked its previous laziness.

"Quite the trick."

Her red lips parted slightly, her voice not loud but clearly reaching Long Night Moon’s ears. "To break my move so silently... it seems I’ve underestimated you."

Long Night Moon: "...?"

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