Ludwig soared into the sky, his gaze piercing through the heavy mist as he surveyed the battlefield below.
"Now then, where should I begin..." he muttered to himself.
The compatibility between insects and fire was truly abysmal. Tokiomi's flame barrier had repelled the majority of the swarm's sudden assault, and the veins beneath Kariya's skin were beginning to burst, spraying blood outward in frantic pulses.
In the riverbed, Artoria and Diarmuid were locked in a stalemate. In terms of pure martial skill, they were evenly matched. To finish Lancer, she would need to unleash her Noble Phantasm, but the preparation process would undoubtedly be interrupted.
Standing behind Diarmuid, his Master, Kayneth, was evidently unscathed, using his Mystic Code, Volumen Hydrargyrum, to assist his Servant in the fray.
As for Gilgamesh, his injuries seemed to have healed significantly, which caught Ludwig slightly off guard. He mentally noted that Tokiomi Tohsaka, the King of Heroes' Master, was actually quite capable.
At this moment, Gilgamesh was engaged in combat with Lancelot. Because his wounds hadn't fully closed, he had been caught on the back foot. He was forced to rely on a continuous barrage of Noble Phantasms to maintain distance, yet he couldn't fully break away from the engagement, finding himself dragged into intermittent bouts of close-quarters combat.
Ludwig could see that Gilgamesh was currently in a state of blind fury—the mere fact that he was forced to trade blows with a Berserker on the ground was an insult to his dignity.
The reason Ludwig had insisted on bringing Berserker along to attack the Archer camp was specifically for this purpose: to thoroughly disgust the arrogant and self-indulgent Gilgamesh. Rather than finishing the King of Heroes himself, it would be far better to let him fall to Lancelot's blade.
With this in mind, Ludwig decided to descend and "help" Lancelot deal with that troublesome King. After all, looking at the situation, it didn't seem like victory was imminent. If Kariya couldn't hold out and his mana was exhausted, Lancelot would be finished as well.
He leaned forward, preparing to dive toward the battlefield, when he felt a sudden surge of killing intent coming from behind.
A dense rain of arrows followed immediately. Ludwig crossed his arms in front of his face. When the arrows struck him, it was as if they had hit a solid slab of super-alloy steel; a series of sparks erupted before the projectiles tumbled uselessly away.
Another master?
The identities of the seven Servants had already been confirmed. These arrows definitely did not come from any of the Servants in the Holy Grail War.
Could it be...
When the rain of arrows failed to take effect, a single, uniquely shaped and much heavier arrow followed.
In a split second, Ludwig shifted his body, narrowly avoiding a direct hit.
"Only one?"
He assumed his attacker, seeing the arrows were useless, had switched to a higher-caliber shot—but sending only a single one was surprisingly meager.
However, Ludwig soon understood why there was only one arrow. The heavy projectile did not fly past him; instead, it banked sharply in mid-air, continuing to track him with relentless precision.
A homing shot?
Ludwig felt a flicker of surprise. After dodging several more times, he grew tired of the persistent annoyance. Before the next pass could hit him, he reached out and snatched the arrow out of the air.
"Looking at it closely, this is less an arrow and more a sword-type Noble Phantasm—"
Before he could finish, the arrow suddenly detonated. The magical energy contained within was released all at once in a violent explosion.
Another blast rocked the sky. Though the other combatants in the fog could see the flash, they had no idea what had caused it.
"...Hmph. That should have done it... wait, what?"
On the upstream bank of the Mion River, a robust man draped in a white, coarse-cloth cloak slowly lowered his black longbow. He spoke with the weary, disgruntled tone of someone suffering through chronic, mandatory overtime.
The failure of the first volley of arrows had been unexpected, so he had used a more powerful, modified arrow and detonated it immediately upon contact. The man was surprised to have been dispatched to this city in the first place; evidently, a Holy Grail War was in progress, and through the thick fog, he could sense other Servants nearby.
Having landed his shot, he intended to investigate the situation before he was forcibly recalled.
Suddenly, a longsword came whistling out of the fog, aiming straight for his head. The archer was startled and quickly drew a short blade to parry, knocking the flying sword aside.
Durandal?
"The identities of the seven Servants in the Holy Grail War are already clear. So, where exactly did you come from?"
The youth's voice rang out from behind him. The man's spine went cold; acting on pure reflex, he leaped into the air, trying to put distance between them.
But he took a heavy kick to the back, sending him crashing down into the river water, which now barely covered his ankles.
Stripped of the composure he'd had while sniping from the shadows, the man stowed his bow and gripped a pair of short swords. He stared at the youth before him, his heart filled with utter bewilderment.
Ludwig floated directly in front of the man, looking down with cold indifference.
"I will decide how to deal with you based on your answer," Ludwig said.
No sooner had he spoken than the man felt a chill attacking his flank. He raised his short swords to block. The twin blades shattered like glass, and the impact sent the man tumbling several more times. His white cloak was not only soaked but covered in the riverbed's muck.
"That hit actually didn't kill you," the man remarked with a helpless smile.
"I was about to say the same thing. Your reflexes are good. You look like someone who has lived through many battles, honed to the absolute limit," Ludwig said. "I'm on a tight schedule, so I'll ask again: where did you come from?"
"I'm not a 'Servant' from anywhere in particular. I'm just a Guardian forcibly dispatched here to execute a mission." The nameless man saw no reason to hide it and revealed his identity.
Ludwig paused, then burst into laughter. "I thought it was about time. To think you'd actually show up. This time, it's not just the Planet—it seems even the side of Humanity is rejecting me."
"What?" The man calling himself a Guardian frowned.
"You're a Guardian sent by the Counter Force of Alaya, aren't you? Isn't it strange? Why were you ordered to eliminate me?" Ludwig spread his arms wide.
"It's not entirely unclear. The Counter Force views you as a threat. And from the current situation, your power is indeed quite threatening." The Guardian smiled unhurriedly.
Of course, the latter "threat" referred to the fact that his target's strength far exceeded his expectations; he likely wouldn't be able to complete the mission assigned by the Counter Force.
"I can give you the answer," Ludwig said, his face devoid of emotion. "Humanity refuses to allow any existence other than itself to become the new Primate... at least, it isn't ready to accept it yet. Therefore, a 'Next-Generation Primate' that shouldn't exist becomes an object that the human collective unconscious spontaneously seeks to exclude."
Conversely, in his own era, the collective unconscious of humanity had already accepted its own decline, allowing the Human-species or other A-Rays to inherit the Seat of Primacy. In Ludwig's view, this was likely one of the reasons why the Counter Force of Alaya no longer functioned in his time.
"Next-Generation... Primate?" The Guardian thought he had misheard, then gave a bitter laugh. "Can a single existence really lead the Counter Force to believe that something irreversible will happen?"
"You sound like you're having trouble accepting that fact," Ludwig said, shrugging. "I'd be happy if you just retreated. It would save us all a lot of trouble. After all, I know neither the Planet nor Humanity likes me; I'm well aware I'm not welcome."
"Regrettably, unless the mission is completed or marked as a failure, I cannot simply leave." The nameless Guardian raised his weapons.
"I did say I was on a tight schedule... Safety devices really are all the same: perfectly functional, entirely inflexible, and prone to making their executors suffer."
Ludwig let out a sigh and leveled his Magic Sword at the Guardian.
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Type-Moon: The A-Ray Knight's Holy Grail Journey(80 Chapter - Ongoing)
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