Saber Artoria, the servant who made a contract with Emiya Shirou back then.
Her most famous treasure is certainly Excalibur, her weapon.
But in battle, what makes her enemies most unable to predict and hard to grasp is the special treasure she possesses—Wind Barrier.
The so-called Wind Barrier is essentially a kind of magic.
The wind wrapping the sword changes the light's bending, making the sword's shape invisible. By focusing strong wind on the sword, the Holy Sword's blade is hidden.
The reason for this is twofold: first, Artoria's weapon is too famous. Excalibur, as the strongest Holy Sword, is enough to let people recognize King Arthur's identity at a glance. Servants with overly famous weapons generally use special means to hide their weapons. Second, the Wind Barrier hides the weapon's specific shape, making it difficult for enemies to grasp the sword's attack range. Though simple, it can have a huge effect in close combat.
At the same time, in addition to making the blade transparent, releasing the compressed wind can also be used as a one-time ranged weapon.
Artoria showed a similar ability to Emiya Shirou in the past, releasing the focused air the moment she released the compressed wind, creating a near-vacuum environment.
The Wind Barrier itself also has a certain amount of destructive power. Even if it doesn't reach a vacuum state, the wind wrapping the sword is very deadly and can increase the power of the strike.
In short, it was Artoria's use of the Wind Barrier that gave Shirou inspiration.
After witnessing Nakul and Jad's teamwork, he realized that a head-on confrontation would not be advantageous. He had to find a way to break the situation with an unexpected move.
Based on this, he thought of Artoria releasing the Wind Barrier, directly sweeping away all enemies at once.
Although the Sword of Assured Victory that Shirou uses doesn't have the Wind Barrier, since he knows the principle of the Wind Barrier, he can create a similar effect with magic.
Shirou wasn't even using magic just now, but using the spells that Roxy taught him.
Although Shirou's wind magic isn't outstanding, and in the end is only low-level, as long as he has mastered the basic methods, he can release Wind King Hammer by greatly compressing the air and instantly releasing the strong wind!
"Boom!"
Extremely strong wind howled out.
Shirou's quick thinking worked very well.
This sword, which compressed the air, not only split open the ink balls that Jad threw over, but also blew away all the ink from the ink balls!
As a result, the effect of the ink didn't work on Shirou. Instead, Nakul and Jad were affected by their own hidden weapons, and their vision was blocked.
"He can even use magic!?"
Nakul was shocked. "How are you weirder than us North God Style Swordsmen?!"
Normal swordsmen don't learn magic.
This is not only because multitasking can lead to decreased efficiency, but also because most swordsmen don't have much talent for magic.
Even if Shirou seriously taught Ghislaine, the limit of what she can do is just some low-level magic, and she can't even do it very well.
Although North God Style Swordsmen are said to be able to use any kind of move, including magic, most North God Style Swordsmen don't actually have much talent for magic, and at most only know a little bit.
That's why Nakul was so shocked that Shirou used magic.
In contrast, Shirou himself didn't feel proud that his move took the opponent by surprise. He knew very well that he was still at a disadvantage facing two North Saints at the same time.
"Snap!"
Therefore, Shirou didn't miss the best opportunity when Nakul and Jad's vision was blocked. He gripped the golden Sword of Assured Victory with both hands, got into position, and rushed towards Nakul and Jad at an extremely fast speed!
"!!!"
Nakul got a few drops of ink in his eyes and couldn't even open them now. He could only retreat quickly to deal with his vision first.
Jad's situation was better because he was further away, so he could only block Shirou alone for his brother!
Jad wasn't flustered. He believed that even if Shirou was a half-step Sword Saint and his strength wasn't bad, he could only fight him, a North Saint, equally at best.
As long as he stalls for enough time until Nakul is able to adjust his condition, they will naturally be able to regain the advantage in the battle.
Jad's idea was simple, but reasonable.
At least under normal circumstances, it's impossible for Shirou, a half-step Sword Saint, to quickly defeat a North Saint.
But there are always exceptions in this world.
Especially for some people who are good at creating miracles.
As long as there is a possibility of it happening, it can definitely be achieved!
"Whoosh!"
Just as he was about to approach Jad, Shirou suddenly took a deep breath. At the same time, he released the magic power within his body and wrapped all his fighting energy around himself, making movements that almost tensed his body to the extreme.
If someone from outside the world were present, they might notice that Shirou's movements at the moment were strikingly similar to those of King Arthur Artoria.
Shirou's movements could almost be said to be completely imitating Artoria's movements, even down to the most subtle details, without any difference!
Moreover, Shirou was imitating much more than just Artoria's movements.
The moment he performed the projection, he clearly realized what made King Arthur Artoria so powerful, and the reason her swordsmanship was so extraordinary!
And what he had to do was imitate Artoria's strongest technique!
"Boom!"
In an instant, Shirou's foot slammed into the ground.
If someone were to carefully observe Shirou's body now, they would find that the young man's body was wrapped in a layer of unclear, strange energy.
Magic power mixed with fighting energy was completely covering Shirou's entire body, even merging into his limbs and bones.
The overly expanded energy even made him look like a swollen balloon. Only because of the human body's exaggerated elasticity could he maintain his original shape, even though he had instantly poured in energy far beyond the limit of what his body could withstand!
"What!?"
Shirou's change was especially obvious in Jad's eyes.
Originally, Jad had already prepared to deal with Shirou. He didn't think that a swordsman who hadn't truly become a Sword Saint would have any abilities beyond his imagination.
But his fantasy could be said to have been shattered instantly.
After using a unique move, Shirou suddenly burst out with a speed three to four times faster than normal, and that speed was still increasing.
"Impossible! Did you master the real Longsword of Light!?"
Jad was shocked.
Although novels always mention protagonists breaking through in battle, suddenly comprehending ultimate skills that they shouldn't have been able to comprehend, and breaking through difficult bottlenecks, stories are stories precisely because those things are difficult to happen in reality.
It takes an advanced swordsman dozens of years of training to become a Sword Saint.
Even with extraordinary talent, it takes at least years of hard work.
How can someone break through just by saying they're going to break through?!
And in fact, Shirou hasn't broken through to Sword Saint and mastered the real Longsword of Light.
The reason his speed suddenly increased in the battle was because he imitated and used Artoria's most powerful ability through projection—Magic Burst.
As King Arthur, Artoria was able to be so powerful and fight against armies alone, not just because of pure skill. Even against Sasaki Kojiro, her swordsmanship was difficult to face head-on.
Artoria's real strength is her enormous magic power, which is like a flood that can drown all opponents.
However, no matter how strong the magic power is, it's difficult to directly interfere with the battle without chanting or using magic.
Otherwise, the casters would probably all go into close combat.
The reason Artoria is able to win every battle with her enormous magic power is because of a special skill called Magic Burst. She can forcibly output magic power through special means and specifically strengthen her weapons and body.
If she has enough magic power, Artoria can even flip Berserker Heracles with her bare hands when releasing magic power to strengthen her body (she did it in a blackened state).
This shows how broken the Magic Burst ability is.
However, although Shirou can imitate Artoria's Magic Burst skill, he can't copy Artoria's enormous magic power that's like a flood.
This means that although Shirou can use Magic Burst to augment his body, the intensity and duration of his augmentation are far inferior to Artoria herself.
But even this weakened version of Magic Burst provides enough of a boost for Shirou to instantly display strength beyond that of a half-step Sword Saint.
With the double blessing of magic power and fighting energy, Shirou even feels like he can unleash the real Longsword of Light, no less than the genuine article!
"Slash!"
No extra skills, no special tricks.
The Sword of Assured Victory that Shirou unleashes with all his strength is like Artoria herself wielding the sword. It is a pure crystal of power, unleashing a blazing wall of iron with its enormous energy.
The golden longsword even seemed to feel its master's burning emotions and bloomed with brilliant light.
"——!!"
Jad had no way to avoid this attack.
All of his moves as a North Saint were completely powerless against this pure destructive force, this pure violence!
"No!!!"
In Nakul's sharp scream, Shirou's full-strength sword fell.
"Bang!"
The overly intense magic power even created a sonic boom in the air!
Half of Jad's body was blown apart by Shirou on the spot. Although he survived, he had completely lost all consciousness.
Shirou didn't have any idea of finishing him off and looked at Nakul as quickly as possible.
His already meager magic power was almost exhausted in the previous blow. If he had to fight again, it would really be an extremely difficult battle.
If it really came to that, Shirou was prepared to completely release all the magic power in the Sword of Assured Victory, even at the cost of damaging it, and unleash a blow that could be called a light wave.
Fortunately, Nakul seemed to have lost his will to fight.
After dealing with the ink on his face, he rushed to his brother Jad's side as quickly as possible. After discovering the other party's serious injuries, he didn't even have any extra thoughts and turned around and left with his brother in his arms.
"At least he has feelings for his family..."
Shirou nodded slightly at Nakul's attitude.
But he also knew that the other party might still become his enemy in the future.
Unfortunately, he didn't have the ability to keep the other party here now.
The previous attack had almost exhausted all of his magic power. Not to mention using Servant Emiya's projection, even continuing to fight would be very difficult, so he naturally had no intention of chasing after them.
The main thing is that he still needs to ensure Princess Ariel's safety first.
No matter what, nothing must happen to Ariel...
Shirou wrapped the Sword of Assured Victory in cloth and dragged his tired body to Ariel's side.
The blonde girl was lying on the ground with her hands tied. Although she didn't witness the battle with her own eyes, she already knew the outline of what happened just by listening to the sound.
So, when Shirou came to her, she wasn't too surprised, and her eyes sparkled with a bright light.
"Thank you, Shirou."
After Shirou untied Ariel's restraints, Ariel suddenly hugged him and kissed him directly on the face.
"!!!"
"Hehe, this is your reward."
Ariel smiled and winked at Shirou.
Shirou really couldn't handle this scene, especially when Luke looked at him with a complicated gaze. He felt incredibly tired.
He only had one thought left now.
Please, Your Highness, hurry back to the royal capital.
Don't torture him anymore.
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