"North God Style? Just who are you..."
Shonder's overly strange behavior made Shirou vaguely aware of the other's identity and purpose.
And his brief moment of distraction and deep thought was seized by Shonder, who used the staff in his hand like an extended arm, stabbing directly toward him with great skill!
Shonder's martial arts were extraordinary, but the most important thing was the opponent's incredibly rich experience, which even allowed them to predict Shirou's movements, as if they could see what would happen a few seconds later, launching attacks to counter Shirou in advance.
Even when Shirou called out Kanshou and Bakuya, using his best swordsmanship from being the Servant Emiya, he found it difficult to block the opponent's continuous fast attacks.
However, Shonder also seemed unable to break through Shirou's defense. Because the Servant Emiya's swordsmanship was a very special parrying skill, combined with Shirou's Mind's Eye ability, even if he couldn't keep up with Shonder's movements, he could still react from a specific angle.
After gradually adapting to Shonder's attacks, Shirou even had the ability to launch counterattacks!
"Crack!"
With extremely amazing movements, combined with Sword God Style techniques, Shirou instantly arrived behind Shonder, taking advantage of the opponent's blind spot to launch an attack.
He thought this sword would at least hurt Shonder, but he didn't expect Shonder to easily dodge his attack.
Even though the opponent's eyes weren't looking behind them, it was like they had eyes in the back of their head, easily figuring out his attack path.
Shirou was very familiar with this ability, because it was an ability he also possessed, a skill called Mind's Eye!
This was undoubtedly a very surprising fact.
After coming to this world, Shirou had encountered many strong people, but most of them didn't use the Mind's Eye skill.
This was because the Servant Emiya's Mind's Eye was honed in countless battles, fighting in endless time and space as a guardian.
The foundation of the technique was countless battles against enemies with different abilities, forged in blood and fire into a false intuition.
Even if ordinary people could have a natural ability similar to intuition, few would have a learned skill like the Servant Emiya's Mind's Eye.
After all, it couldn't be obtained in just one or two battles. It required countless clashes to turn into a real skill.
At least, ordinary humans only had a lifespan of one hundred years. Even if they devoted all their time to fighting, without eating or drinking, they might not be able to turn the Mind's Eye skill into reality.
"..."
While Shirou was surprised that Shonder actually possessed Mind's Eye, and was questioning the other's true identity, Shonder was also surprised by Shirou's movements, and couldn't help but say, "Sword God Style, Water God Style, North God Style, you've really learned every swordsmanship you could. But there's a saying that a jack of all trades is a master of none. If you don't focus on one area, you can't become a true master."
"I know."
Of course, Shirou understood the path in Shonder's words.
When he trained with Paul, he thought the same way, which is why he only learned the Sword God Style.
However, as time went on, Shirou realized another path. Ordinary people weren't qualified to compare with geniuses.
Even if Shirou devoted all his time to the Sword God Style, he could never catch up to the real geniuses like Sword God Gail Farion, Eris, Ghislaine, and Jino. Instead, he would be left further and further behind.
Even if ordinary people without talent put everything into it, they would never be able to catch up to even a tiny bit of someone with talent.
Shirou understood this path, so he took a step back and chose another path, which was to use his special ability of projection to learn and master all the skills in the world.
He would learn as many martial arts as he could.
By using projection, his body could memorize almost all moves. Even if he couldn't reach the peak in one path, combining countless martial arts might allow him to break through the limitations of ordinary people.
This was why Shirou now possessed the Saint-level of three styles: Sword God Style, North God Style, and Water God Style.
Now, having confirmed that Shonder's strength was at least a top-level Emperor, Shirou dared not hold back any longer. Holding Kanshou and Bakuya, he launched a sudden attack!
He started with the Sword God Style.
Although he couldn't unleash the real Longsword of Light due to the limitations of his armor, even the Soundless Sword was fast enough when facing opponents who weren't Sword God Style users.
"!!"
As expected, Shonder couldn't keep up with his speed.
Although Shonder could easily catch any opponent with the staff once they entered his attack range, his legs couldn't keep up with the Sword God Style's speed outside the staff's range.
"Snap!"
Using the Sword God Style to close the distance, and stopping just outside Shonder's attack range, Shirou raised his hand and threw Kanshou and Bakuya in his hand.
This was a North God Style technique, a weapon-throwing skill that every North God Style swordsman would use.
Since the North God Style didn't care about the weapon, they would even carry several swords with them and throw them out as hidden weapons in critical moments.
Shirou projected this skill from the swords of the North God Style swordsmen in the Holy Land of Swords, and constantly improved it through practice. Combined with his Clairvoyance, he now had extremely exaggerated accuracy.
Even from a great distance, he could easily hit the place he wanted to hit.
However, this level of attack would naturally not hit Shonder.
The opponent held the staff and easily knocked away Shirou's weapon.
Shirou wasn't discouraged and continued to project a pair of Kanshou and Bakuya, throwing them towards Shonder!
"Interesting magic, to be able to create weapons. This is the first time I've seen it."
Shonder showed an interested expression towards Shirou's projection magic.
Shirou was happy to see the other party's attention drawn to his magic, because everything he had done just now was to prepare for the next attack!
"Crane Wing, Falling Short!"
"Mind Skill, Mount Tai Arrives!"
Chanting the inscriptions on Kanshou and Bakuya, Shirou decisively started his movements, raising the third pair of Kanshou and Bakuya projected in his hands high!
"Mind Skill, Yellow River Crossing"
"Name Only, Passing to Heaven"
"Two Heroes, Separate Fates Together!"
After Shirou completed all the preparations.
The Kanshou and Bakuya that had been knocked away by Shonder were now, under Shirou's deliberate control, surrounding Shonder from all directions.
And because of the unique properties of Kanshou and Bakuya themselves.
The weapons would attract each other.
Therefore, the three weapons were now in a just-right situation, extremely targeted at sealing off all of Shonder's positions, completely locking him down!
Having done all this, Shirou attacked without hesitation.
Swinging the double swords with all his might, Shirou seemed to already see the scene of his sword piercing through Shonder.
Only at this moment did he realize that he had acted a bit too harshly. Using an attack of the level of Crane Wing Three Formations without knowing Shonder's identity was a bit of an overreaction.
However, Shirou's thought only lasted for a moment.
He soon realized that his thoughts were too naive.
Because Shonder, when facing the Crane Wing Three Formations' sealing, showed no panicked expression at all despite having no way to dodge. Instead, he maintained the same movements as before, calmly waving his staff, and like a magician, blocked Shirou's sword from three directions at the same time.
Even though the other party wasn't using fighting energy, the pressure coming from the sword made the projected Kanshou and Bakuya unable to support it, and they were completely destroyed!
"Oh my, I didn't expect to see such a move. You're really a guy with more talent than I thought."
Shonder laughed heartily.
He calmly took Crane Wing Three Formations, and had no intention of seizing the opportunity to attack Shirou at all. He casually spun the staff in his hand, and held it.
At this point, even if Shirou was dull, he would have realized that something wasn't right.
He looked at the man in front of him with a helpless expression and said, "Mr. Shonder, you shouldn't be just some passing nameless swordsman, right? Can you tell me your identity?"
"Oh, oh, did I finally wait for this question!"
Shonder showed a satisfied expression, as if all the performances just now were just to hear Shirou ask this question.
He then raised his right hand in a very exaggerated manner, making a strange pose, and then laughed and said, "I am Alex Leibach, invited by the Sword God to teach you the North God Style, Shirou."
"Alex Leibach?"
Hearing the other party announce his name so suddenly, Shirou had no impression of this name at all.
Or rather, although he had a slight impression, Shirou couldn't remember it at all for various reasons.
Seeing Shirou's reaction, Shonder, or rather Alex, was very disappointed, but he seemed to have expected this and said, "Well, it's been too long since I used my old name. You can just call me Shonder from now on, Shirou. I've been using this name to communicate with people for the past hundred years."
"One hundred years?"
Unable to tell if it was a joke or the truth, Shirou's brain was a bit stuck because he had taken in too much information.
Of course, the most surprising thing for him was what Shonder said next.
Shonder put away the staff, showed a frank attitude, and said with a smile, "Sorry, sorry, because I've been keeping my identity secret, I rarely mention my real identity with people these days, so it's normal if you don't understand. In short, my original name is Alex Leibach, and the more well-known identity is the previous North God, the second North God."
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