"Who exactly are you?" Drawing her bow taut, aiming at Shirou directly in front of her. Atalanta glared at Shirou like an enraged cat.
"I told you, I'm the Black Faction's Assassin, Shirou, right?"
"Don't joke. I don't have your name in my memories."
After manifesting as Servants, Heroic Spirits' minds are imbued with various modern knowledge, especially myths and legends. Otherwise, how could Heroic Spirits from the past have heard of the legends of Heroic Spirits from later generations? But Heroic Spirits from the future of the current era are not among them. And in Atalanta's eyes, Shirou, who could instantly call out her True Name, was definitely a Heroic Spirit from her own era. But as for his name, Atalanta couldn't find a matching subject no matter what.
"Ah, I've already told you my True Name, it's not my fault if you don't know it!" With that, Shirou stomped his foot and leaped towards the tree trunk where Atalanta was.
"Dream on!" The arrow in her hand instantly shot out. At the same time, Atalanta continuously leaped backward, maintaining her distance from Shirou. Striking down the incoming arrows, Shirou continued to leap forward. Just like that, Shirou and Atalanta engaged in a chase through the jungle. In the dense jungle, as the fleeing party, Atalanta continuously widened the distance, constantly suppressing Shirou's approach. And Shirou, pursuing, was always unable to get close to the opponent.
"Tsk! As expected of the legendary huntress!" Looking at Atalanta, who was constantly retreating and shooting arrows, Shirou couldn't help but click his tongue. As a Servant with A-rank Agility, Atalanta's speed was extremely fast. But even so, Shirou wasn't unable to catch up to her. Under the skill reinforcement learned from the "Failed Knight" world, Shirou's speed could increase tenfold.
But the most troublesome thing was the environment here. Shirou needed to constantly dodge other tree trunks and choose which ones to jump on. Atalanta, on the other hand, treated this place like flat ground, with no intention of slowing down at all. And the other party was also constantly using arrows to suppress Shirou's speed, preventing him from fully accelerating. During this time, Shirou also thought about using other methods to entangle the opponent.
Whether it was Tsurumai Sanren or arrow shots, nothing could affect her. The reason for this was entirely due to the suppression of martial arts. Atalanta's archery was god-tier. Any flying weapon in front of her could be shot down. Therefore, facing Atalanta at such close range, Shirou couldn't even touch her, let alone wound her.
"As expected of a true Heroic Spirit, completely different from those fakes!" Looking at Atalanta, who was constantly turning back and shooting to suppress him while running, Shirou's eyes burned with fierce flames.
This was completely different from the Heroic Spirits summoned by "Dream Summon." Indeed, mages who became Heroic Spirits through Dream Summon inherited all their power. Whether it was basic stats, class skills, inherent abilities, or Noble Phantasms, all were inherited. This was unquestionable. But some things, Dream Summon could not inherit. That was the Heroic Spirit's martial arts. Which of those top-tier Heroic Spirits didn't have a god-tier martial art? Oh, Gilgamesh didn't.
Facing Atalanta's god-tier archery, Shirou, who often bullied others with his martial arts, finally experienced the feeling of being crushed by martial arts. This made him not only annoyed but also more eager to fight.
"I can't go on like this. It seems I need to show my hand too!" Shirou stopped chasing Atalanta and jumped to the ground. Then his magic power began to surge.
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"Stopped?" Sensing Shirou's halted figure, Atalanta couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. The other party's burst of speed was terrifying. If it weren't for this being a jungle, she might really have been caught!
And his basic stats were only Assassin. It seems she needed to be extra careful in the future and absolutely not let him get close.
"This is no place to linger; I'm leaving now!" After all, her Master's original command was to act as circumstances dictated. Atalanta had no intention of prolonging the battle. As someone who grew up in the forest, she had no hint of what could be called a sense of honor. "I'll retreat first. I don't need to worry about Rider at all!" Thinking
this, Atalanta quickly ran away.
But at that moment, a sudden, chaotic sound entered her ears.
"The forest is being destroyed!"
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"In a jungle chase, I'm certainly at a disadvantage, but in a flat-ground sprint, I won't be left behind!"
"Projection Start!" With the activation of Projection Magic, magic power began to wrap around Shirou's hands. Then, a pair of exquisite gloves covered Shirou's hands. This was a Noble Art from Usamaru Renren. Its ability allowed the wearer to continuously accelerate.
However, the drawback was that it couldn't stop; once stopped, it would have to re-accelerate.
"Next is this!"
"Projection Start!" This time, Shirou's magic power began to wrap around his entire body. Then, Shirou's body was completely enveloped by a full-body armor, making it impossible to see Shirou's shadow from the outside. This was the Noble Art Goliath from Momotani Takeshi. It could reinforce the quality of the armor without adding burden to the wearer, thereby enhancing the destructive power of a charge. For Shirou, these two Noble Arts were a perfect match.
"Then let's begin, charge!" As the magic power finished enveloping Shirou's entire body, Goliath's ability had also been unleashed to its maximum extent.
"Charge!" With a heavy stomp, Shirou's iron-clad figure instantly shot out, then crashed head-on into a blocking tree trunk. In the face of Goliath's immense mass, any tree trunk seemed fragile, directly shattering and flying in all directions. Just like that, with the continuous acceleration of Usamaru Renren's Noble Art, Shirou charged relentlessly like an unstoppable deity, rapidly rushing towards Atalanta. The distance between them, once widened, was negligible in the face of Shirou's continuously increasing speed. In the blink of an eye, Atalanta's figure had reappeared in front of Shirou.
"Bastard!" Looking at the iron-clad knight continuously crushing everything and charging towards her, Atalanta's eyes were bloodshot. If she were hit by this, she would definitely be finished!
"I can't run anymore; the opponent's speed is constantly increasing. I'll be caught sooner or later!" With a determined heart, Atalanta instantly drew out all her magic power, transforming it into an arrow and shooting it towards the sky with her Tauropolos (Bow of Heaven)!
"Offer this calamity!"
"Phoebus Catastrophe!" Blue magic arrows shot into the sky, then transformed into countless arrows raining down from above. Phoebus Catastrophe, Atalanta's Noble Phantasm. Countless light arrows shot from the sky, indiscriminately sweeping a designated area. Its attack area size could be adjusted; the more compressed the area, the more concentrated the light arrows descended, and the lethality increased accordingly. And at this moment, the attack range of Phoebus Catastrophe had been extremely compressed, raining down on Shirou from the sky.
But how could Shirou not have a countermeasure?
"Rho Aias!" In the "Failed Knight" world, Shirou, who had honed his magic control techniques to perfection, could perform Projection even in this situation. The light arrows raining down from the sky were all blocked above Shirou's head.
"Got you!" Looking at Atalanta, who was right in front of him, Shirou extended his magic-clad right fist.
"This is the decisive blow, Black Bird!"
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