[Light Curtain Bullet Comments]
With Li Sushang's appearance and Mordred's almost insane, rapid-fire Noble Phantasm barrage, the bullet comment section of the video once again came alive.
[Boss Cao]: "Li Sushang? Whose general is this, to be so ferocious!"
[Riajuu Should Just Explode]: "I don't know who she is, but that name, Sushang, seems a bit familiar."
[Detective Conan]: "That's right. Before Guinaifen transmigrated, the light curtain showed a quick shot of a Sushang. But... these two Sushangs don't seem to be the same person at all."
[The Uchiha Dancer]: "Although they look identical, their behavior and abilities are completely different. Is this what they call an otherworldly counterpart?"
[Sushang, the Cloud Knight]: "Ah, ah! Is that me? No, no, no, that's not me, it's my counterpart! Heavens! What is that sword art that descends from the heavens? Can such a miraculous sword art truly exist? No way, we clearly look identical, how can the difference between two people be so huge!"
On the Xianzhou Luofu, upon seeing Li Sushang, Sushang was completely stunned, once again feeling the vastness of the world.
They both had the same face, so why was Li Sushang so cool, commanding a thousand swords from the sky, while she struggled just to lift a single one?
And that sword art that descended from the heavens was just too awesome! If she could pull off that move on the Xianzhou Luofu, wouldn't she become famous throughout the entire Xianzhou Alliance?
She might even become the future Sword Champion!
Lost in her fantasy, Sushang couldn't help but drool. Guinaifen, who was standing beside her, could only shake her head helplessly.
Though their names differed by only a single character, the distance between Sushang and Li Sushang was a hundred and eight thousand li...
[Overseer Otto]: "...It's actually her..."
---o---
["Hmm? So this is the Noble Phantasm that Monk Xuanzang spoke of? It is indeed endlessly powerful."
On the light curtain, the young woman calling herself Li Sushang calmly watched the crimson lightning hurtling towards her.
Though her words were full of praise, her expression showed not the slightest concern for Mordred's Noble Phantasm.
With a flick of her sword seal, the countless flying swords in the sky sang out in unison, their chorus echoing like the cry of a hundred birds across the West Village.
Then... the innumerable blades streaked towards Mordred, a rain of swords clashing violently with her Noble Phantasm.
The next moment, a swirl of blue sword qi and crimson mana dyed the entire sky.
In this fierce clash of power, Li Sushang's blue sword qi steadily gained the upper hand, brutally suppressing Mordred.
"This woman... is no simple foe!" Mordred thought to herself, tightening her grip on her sword.
Though she seemed mad, she had not actually lost her reason. Her frenzy was merely a side effect of the blessing bestowed by her "Father-King."
The current situation was very clear. This woman named Li Sushang had appeared and was completely dominating her. If she didn't pay a price, she likely wouldn't be able to take her down.
"The Unfettered Self Sect? What a mouthful. When did such a faction appear in this land of finality? No, this woman is an anomaly. I must find a way to eliminate her here, lest she interfere with my 'Father-King's' plan."
With this thought, Mordred no longer bothered with the strangers Agravain had ordered her to deal with. Instead, she let out a savage, wild laugh at Li Sushang. "You blocked the second blow? Let's see how many times you can block me!!!"
The rest of her words came out as a roar. At the same time, her Spirit Origin boiled once more, and the demonic sword in her hand thrummed, poised to release her Noble Phantasm for a third time.
"Whoa! This is too chaotic! Even if she has enough mana, her Spirit Origin can't withstand using her Noble Phantasm like this! If this continues, her Spirit Origin will definitely collapse! It has to! If it were me, I would have died for sure!"
Far away, on a mountain peak behind Li Sushang, a woman holding a Buddhist staff watched Mordred and couldn't help but cry out in lament.
"Ahhh, it's a good thing Benefactor Sushang is here. Otherwise, with my abilities, how could I possibly help Chaldea? I couldn't even beat one hundredth of a Mordred."
The seemingly timid woman thought to herself, then quietly observed Li Sushang's movements.
Perhaps because they were both from the Eastern cultural sphere, she felt a natural affinity for Li Sushang. Of course, the most important reason was that Li Sushang had previously rescued her when she was surrounded by demonic beasts.
With that life-saving grace, coupled with Li Sushang's identity as someone from the Divine Land, Xuanzang quickly came to see her as one of her own. The way she looked at Li Sushang was filled with the kinship of seeing someone from home, her eyes welling with tears.
In this land of finality, to find such a chivalrous young woman was truly rare. And even rarer was Li Sushang's identity.
According to Xuanzang's understanding, she was not a Servant, nor a magus, but someone from a world unknown even to the Buddha.
According to Li Sushang, she had simply woken up here one day. She had assumed the Rakshasas had awakened her, but unexpectedly, she had stumbled into a completely unfamiliar world.
"Amitabha. Although Mordred has the blessing of a goddess, Benefactor Sushang's power is unfathomable. Even if my great disciple were here, he would have to face her seriously. She... is not an opponent Benefactor Sushang can't handle."
With her palms pressed together, Xuanzang spoke slowly. And as her words fell, Mordred's third Noble Phantasm was also easily blocked by Li Sushang.
At this point, the Spirit Origin within Mordred's body could no longer withstand the terrifying mana consumption and high-intensity battle.
If she continued to fight like this, she would likely self-destruct from the collapse of her Spirit Origin.
But even so, Mordred still intended to release her Noble Phantasm a fourth time. She was determined to eliminate this person who would become an obstacle to her 'Father-King'.
And then, at that very moment, Li Sushang seemed to see through Mordred's intentions. She gave her no chance to release her Noble Phantasm a fourth time.
Descending from the sky, she gave up her aerial advantage and moved to engage Mordred in close combat. Seeing this, Mordred naturally would not retreat, and charged forward to meet her.
"Giving up your own advantage to fight me up close! You're the one who asked for this!!"
Looking at Li Sushang's figure, a wild grin spread across Mordred's face.
Her martial arts may not be as strong as Lancelot's, but in a real fight, she could give even him a hard time.
The reason was simple. Mordred... fights dirty!
No matter the means, as long as she won in the end, it wasn't a problem.
To hell with the precious code of chivalry. That thing was completely useless on her!
---o---
[Light Curtain Bullet Comments]
Perhaps because the scene was too shocking, the audience across the infinite dimensions fell into a brief silence.
Who?
They weren't mistaken, were they? That woman cowering behind a rock, was that Xuanzang?
As in, Tang Sanzang from the Journey to the West?
[Nobita Nobi]: "Tang, Tang, Tang Sanzang is actually a woman! So that means she really is Shizuka!"
[Riajuu Should Just Explode]: "I considered a million possibilities, but I never imagined that even Tang Sanzang could be a woman."
[Yukino Yukinoshita]: "Alright, who's next? King Arthur, Da Vinci, and now Tang Sanzang. At this point, I wouldn't even be surprised if the Buddha himself turned out to be a woman."
[Journeyer to the West]: "Oh my, this thing called history has always been a mix of truth and fiction, fiction and truth. What's the difference between a man and a woman? It's all more or less the same..."
---o---
["Clang!"]
Mordred's Western-style greatsword clashed with Li Sushang's Eastern-style longsword. In just a few short seconds, the two had exchanged several hundred blows.
Throughout the exchange, Mordred employed no small number of cheap shots. For instance, she would feint with her sword only to follow up with a kick, a tactic she used more than once.
But after a brief period of adjustment, Li Sushang became completely immune to Mordred's dirty fighting.
No matter what move Mordred made, it was easily neutralized by Li Sushang.
The martial arts of the Divine Land were vast and profound. Although Mordred's skills were decent among the Knights of the Round Table, when placed in the East, they were somewhat lacking.
Not to mention, the one Mordred was facing now was a grandmaster of Chinese martial arts, a prodigy of swordsmanship, a natural-born Sword Embryo—Li Sushang.
In terms of martial arts, there were very few in the world who could match Li Sushang. Even those Heroic Spirits known for their martial prowess wouldn't dare claim they could defeat her.
And against a brute-force knight like Mordred, Li Sushang's skills were an attack from a higher dimension. Forget Mordred, even Lancelot, the most skilled martial artist among the Knights of the Round Table, would probably be suppressed by Li Sushang, unable to gain any advantage.
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!!" Mordred roared, swinging her sword.
She was getting flustered. She was frantic.
She couldn't win with her Noble Phantasm, and now she couldn't even win in close combat. What else did she have?
This feeling of powerlessness... she hadn't felt it in she didn't know how long. The last time she had been this frantic was when her 'Father-King' told her she lacked the qualities of a king.
"Aaaaaah!!"
With a roar from Mordred, red lightning exploded. But Li Sushang, long prepared, simply formed a sword seal with one hand.
The next moment, Mordred was sent flying, the immense force shattering much of her armor. Finally, with a loud crash, she slammed into the mountainside.
"Cough, cough—"
Mordred, her armor shattered, climbed out from the mountain.
She was injured, but not severely, partly because she was tough, and partly because Li Sushang had no intention of killing her.
At this moment, Mordred had blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, her face a savage mask. The wild red mana on her body was still thick. Due to her blessing, her Spirit Origin was still boiling, filled with aggression.
Mordred looked at Li Sushang from a distance, wiping the blood from her mouth. After fighting for so long, Li Sushang seemed to be as full of energy as ever, as if she hadn't fought a battle in centuries.
"Hmph, not bad! Woman, ah no, Li Sushang, you actually managed to do this!"
"You're not even a Servant, yet you can defeat me while I have my 'Father-King's' blessing. You are worthy of praise."
Seeing that Mordred was willing to talk, Li Sushang also relaxed a bit and said in a calm voice, "This young lady is too kind. Since my awakening, you are the strongest opponent I have met. If I were not somewhat skilled in the sword, I fear I would not have been able to stop your Noble Phantasm at all."
Mordred was taken aback, then her expression turned savage again. "You bastard, you're doing this on purpose! Seeing me like this, you're deliberately trying to humiliate me, aren't you!"
"Fine, very fine! I was originally going to spare your lives, but now, I'll drag you down to hell even if it means my own death!"
"Come! I will burn my Spirit Origin, my everything, and let you witness my, Mordred's, wrath!"
Boiling mana, like a burning crimson flame, erupted from Mordred's body. That ferocious aura, no matter how you looked at it, was that of someone about to fight to the death.
Li Sushang was completely baffled. Did she say something wrong? Why did Mordred explode again?
Though confused, she had no time to worry about such things now.
Because with Mordred's current state, if she really were to fight with her life on the line, even if they ultimately defeated her, the losses here would be immeasurable.
She had to remember that behind them in the mountains were countless civilians of the mountain people. If Mordred truly unleashed her power without restraint, even if they won, those poor commoners would end up perishing with her.
And that was something Li Sushang could absolutely not accept.
Then, at that moment, Arash stepped forward and shouted, "Hey, hey, hey! Now's not the time, but let me say one thing, Mordred! You're not planning on burning your Spirit Origin's power to self-destruct, are you!"
"That out-of-control blessing, plus an enhanced Spirit Origin... if that explodes, we'll all be blown to smithereens."
Hearing this, Mordred looked at Arash. "...Oh? You, you actually know quite a bit."
Arash flashed a cheerful grin. "Oh, you know, it's just a coincidence, a coincidence!"
"But, to be honest, I do know a thing or two about 'self-destruction'."
"Even for a Heroic Spirit, the result of mana going out of control is just self-annihilation. At most, it can increase the power of a Noble Phantasm."
"But that blessing of yours is another matter. 'Loss of control' is just a nice way of putting it. In reality, it just turns your Spirit Origin into a ticking time bomb."
As he said this, he dropped his smile, his expression turning serious. "Do you really understand? The one who granted you this blessing sees you as nothing more than this kind of disposable tool!"
Hearing this, Mordred fell silent for a moment, then an annoyed expression appeared on her face as she shouted, "That's right, you're absolutely right! I'm a hound, aren't I? As long as I can keep killing prey, and finally die a miserable death in the wilderness, I'll be satisfied!"
"A result like this, I was prepared for it long ago! So, now you can die with me..."
Before she could finish, Mordred was met with an arrow to the face from Arash. She was forced to shut her mouth and use her sword to parry the arrow.
Then, Mordred looked at Arash in a rage. "You bastard, how dare you..."
Arash cut her off, his face a cold mask. "You bastard! Even if you are an enemy, I'm still getting angry!"
His words made Mordred pause.
Arash then continued his loud rebuke, "So you'll just end it all with self-destruction because you lost? You have no warrior's honor at all!!"
"Tell me, you bastard, can you even be called a Knight of the Round Table!? Are you only brave at the very beginning!?"
Mordred: "Urgh..."
She was clearly shaken by Arash's words.
Most importantly, Arash's words had touched upon the honor of the Knights of the Round Table. Although Mordred had no knightly code, she still valued the concept of honor, especially the honor of the Round Table.
And so, Arash seized the moment Mordred was stunned and continued his verbal assault, repeatedly bringing up honor and other such matters, declaring Mordred's actions to be utterly without honor.
Furthermore, he pointed out that her tendency to choose self-destruction was the most irresponsible and cowardly course of action, directly hitting Mordred's weak spot and shattering her composure.
In an instant, Mordred became flustered and exasperated, and the berserk, destructive aura around her unknowingly dissipated.
"Fine, you guys! Just you wait! I'll admit I lost this time, because my troops were all wiped out."
"But don't you dare think you've won! I will definitely be back! And when I do, don't you go getting killed by the other Knights of the Round Table first!"
After spitting out her threat, Mordred dematerialized and vanished on the spot.
---o---