Chapter 338: The Gundam Pilot

His body was still his own, but another thought had entered his mind.

It was a thought that crossed time and space along with martial arts, spells, and cultivation—all things not his own—tracing the "fate" to find someone, uncontrollable, like instinct.

Weigong Shilang: "Is this really possession?!"

Su Lin: "How could it be, my friend? I'm a humble person. For you to say 'Peak of Swords' must be your own issue—it's your ambition and arrogance at work."

Weigong Shilang: "."

Weigong Shilang: "Can you control it at all?"

Brilliant starlight, all beings watching.

Heroes of ten thousand ages, gathered here together.

Countless treasures tore through the atmosphere with thunderous roars, beneath the falling starry sky, within this worldline about to be severed and judged, across the vast earth's reflection of ten thousand ages of history.

"Peak of Swords, pride of the world—where I, Weigong Shilang, stand, there is heaven!"

As if declaring it to the world, the people of Chaldea and Tokiomi looked upward along the voice; all Masters, including Tenzan Lixiang, could only see what the Servants saw above.

"Peak of Swords?" Tenzan Lixiang asked blankly: "What is that..."

Gilgamesh: "Arrogant mongrel!"

A red-haired youth in a white robe, his long hair whipping wildly in the wind, now held an ancient, plain eight-direction sword; countless meteors altered their trajectories, trailing long flames as they surged toward him.

He raised his right hand, sword aloft, his sleeves snapping violently in the gale; with his left index and middle fingers pressed together, he drew them along the blade's length, and the sword glowed with an ultimate white halo.

"Cut!"

The sword's cry was high and mighty, crushing all resistance!

The torrent of light bursting from the blade swallowed countless meteors in the night sky, like dawn breaking—all colorless stars ultimately vanished in the inevitable cycle of sun and moon.

As dawn faded, the river of night once more enveloped all, dreamlike and illusory—only the boundless starry sky remained suspended high above, the fallen heavens now seeming like a hallucination.

Not enough emptiness.

A powerful emotion surged suddenly in Weigong Shilang's heart; his gaze fell upon those in the city, in the mountains and fields, and the enemies steadily arriving; guided by instinct, he slowly closed his eyes.

Ordinary people emerged onto the streets, staring at the Servants in strange attire racing toward Mount Enzo, and at the chariots, celestial horses, dragon-litters, and dragon-beasts summoned by them—wondering if they'd fallen into an Illusory Realm.

The entire Tokiomi currently holds 6,732 riders, 1,453 riders hidden—likely Assassins.

Six Spirit Foundations are unique, their scale and quality nearly surpassing all others.

The Crowned Assassin's concealment method is unusual—set aside for now.

His vast spiritual sense swept across, and every person and object in Tokiomi appeared in three-dimensional form within Weigong Shilang's mind; he opened his eyes and shouted toward the city:

"Who is the Crowned Sword? I shall end his life!"

As Weigong Shilang shouted, his expression shifted instantly—but the rush of cathartic relief quickly drowned out shame; behind him, a great solar phenomenon rose slowly, ascending to the moon's position in the night sky.

Daylight descended.

Then he opened a blue teleportation gate, from which flew a plain, ancient spear interwoven with Jin Xuan and Erse colors, its surface bearing Zhongli's full-power Jade Barrier shield.

Weigong Shilang hurled the spear downward; it pierced space and drove straight into the ground three inches before Gilgamesh's feet.

It was the Vortex Piercer, specially crafted by Zhongli, imbued with the power of authority.

Like a tide spreading, a thin layer of Jin Yu protective barrier appeared across the entire planet's surface.

Without pausing his motion, he hurled the ancient sword into the great sun above, then shattered the sound barrier and charged toward the Crowned Assassins there.

"Crowned Archer? Why are you wielding a sword?" Weigong Shilang gripped a magnificent sword engraved with Elven script in one hand: "Isn't Crowned status fixed? I've played too long without touching it—I forgot the settings."

On the edge of a skyscraper rooftop, an old man hidden beneath a hood chanted ancient incantations; countless identical swords materialized in the sky.

An untimely, extreme cold emanated from each sword; ice-formed circuits rapidly spread, jointly constructing a massive array shaped like a giant snowflake.

The next instant, a Crowned Servant—some mythic figure—along with himself, transformed into a blazing light that surged into the array; the formation, once confined above Tokiomi, expanded after absorbing the light.

"Too long a casting delay."

The blue teleportation gate opened again; the Tianqing Yu Xu Sword flew in from its other end.

He gripped the hilt in reverse and slashed; star-dusted celestial light tore through the heavens, warping the air, unleashing ultimate sword radiance that broke Earth's bounds and severed the great magics of the Divine Era all the way into the deep cosmos.

"Our arms forge all things, to the horizon. My arms touch all, tear all, forge all. We shall reach the other side of the universe!"

At the moment Weigong Shilang slashed, a golden array rippled across the sky; a rain of light spears fell—each capable of destroying mountains—yet the sun above seemed to echo the enemy's radiance, as countless ancient swords wreathed in solar fire erupted from the solar disc.

When the Divine Ancestor 【Romulus】 realized the array's center, a brilliant blue sword was already pressed against his neck, while the Weigong Shilang below dissolved into particles and vanished into the air.

"What are you—?!"

Chaldea's communication devices flickered with intermittent signals, but even fragmented words filled Tenzan Lixiang and the others with inexplicable terror—the kind of dread that made the world's end feel imminent at a single glance.

In the ancient melody, the evening bell tolled; a familiar voice chanted a death decree; as countless wings drifted down, the Illusory Realm of Heaven rose in fleeting reflections.

"Who exactly are you..."

A voice, normally calm, now carried rare shock; from that world of light, a violent aura tore through Heaven, gushing forth ethereal blue spiritual light.

Countless golden rays descended one by one; among the drifting light feathers, blazing sunlight fell upon the Assassin's skull mask; his nearly shattered body strained to extend a hand, as if trying to firmly grasp the figure above with white-gold eyes.

"You're not..."

Sword qi, like endless mountain ranges, swallowed him from above; once unleashed, it never faded—even falling starlight shattered and was drawn into its vortex.

Tenzan Lixiang: "."

Even without seeing, one could feel the Servants beyond Mount Enzo vanishing in waves.

The solemn atmosphere did not last long; when Weigong Shilang suddenly materialized from thin air, dragging a familiar knight behind him by a chain of condensed light, every figure present fell utterly silent.

"Three left. Ran away at the first sign of trouble? Need divination? Nah, too troublesome—better to just cleanse the entire planet's surface."

As Weigong Shilang muttered to himself, he noticed the strange glances from the crowd and snapped back to himself, shuddering slightly as he regained some sense of self:

"Sorry, I lost control for a moment—ignore the nonsense I just said."

"Control what?" Tenzan Lixiang asked tentatively.

Though Weigong Shilang spoke those words, everyone present stared unnaturally at the hooded male knight he dragged behind him.

"King Arthur," Mashu said blankly: "Senior, King Arthur is the Rank-1 Saber who descended this time."

"I care less about that—I want to know what this Rank-1 Emiya really is." Tenzan Lixiang sensed confusion in the other's speech, yet the tone and the air of supreme disdain moments ago clearly weren't fake.

"Less than a minute."

The danger level even surpassed that of the Extraterrestrial Deity.

Were all previous battles just the opponent playing around?

Weigong Shilang unbound the chains from 【Rank-1 Sword】 Arthur, and the latter made no other move—only rose helplessly from the ground.

"What kind of difficulty did the Inhibitor assign us?" Arthur glanced helplessly at the Caster's group and asked: "Are you allies?"

The Caster's group shook their heads violently.

"I see." Arthur sighed, turning to Weigong Shilang: "Can you return the Holy Sword to me? Capturing me is meaningless—let me, as a knight, fall holding my blade."

In fewer than ten exchanges, his sword suddenly slipped from his grasp. In that instant, he seemed to see a pair of white-gold eyes watching him through the shattered blade-light. When he came to his senses, his entire body was completely sealed—even his self-destruction of the Spirit Core was impossible.

"The so-called Rank-1 Sword disappoints me." Weigong Shilang's expression was cold, his voice icy once more:

"I stand atop the peak of the Sword Dao, overlooking the river of time—yet not a single soul in this world deserves my full swing."

"I wanted to see what true strength the Rank-1 Sword possessed on the path of the Sword Dao—but you cannot even fully control your own weapon."

"A sword is but an extension of will. A true swordsman, even without any weapon, can sever sun, moon, and stars with a blade of grass or a single leaf."

He swept his sleeve, one hand holding the sword behind his back, and walked to King Arthur, the Star Holy Sword Bearer. He took the Holy Sword and disdainfully plunged it into the ground.

"Can you contact the Inhibitor?"

Amid the stunned gazes of all, Weigong Shilang slowly said: "Tell the Inhibitor to take human form and come before me, kowtowing—one kowtow per step."

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly shook his head, pressed his forehead, and fell silent for several seconds.

"Senior Weigong," Tenzan Lixiang asked uncertainly: "Are you unwell?"

"Don't worry about it." Weigong Shilang's lips twitched several times, then turned back to Arthur: "Have them cancel the pruning of this timeline—or come out and speak with me."

Alaya had appeared briefly before, offering me a contract to become her guardian after death—but I refused.

"Impossible." King Arthur shook his head slightly, looking solemnly at Weigong Shilang:

"We only learned after descending that our mission was to erase you—the one disrupting the timeline—and the magician who achieved the Third Magic. This timeline is nearly sealed, becoming a battlefield."

Though a cooperative relationship, once summoned, the Inhibitor imposes constraints on Rank-1 Servants: they must follow the Inhibitor's plan, not their own judgment.

To depart from the plan, one must terminate cooperation—at the cost of abandoning the Rank-1 Spirit Core.

Of course, this maneuver was premeditated by the Inhibitor: they did not wish Spirits to permanently gain Rank-1 status during missions, yet needed Rank-1 Spirit Cores as fuel to unleash greater power—so they had already simulated every possible scenario where a Rank-1 would abandon their Core to achieve something.

Perhaps for battle, perhaps to aid a stranger, to save a life—thus, even when Spirits arrive bearing Rank-1 Spirit Cores, the Rank-1 status is consumed upon their return to the Throne of Heroes.

"Dada Liya," Weigong Shilang froze, then suddenly felt an inexplicable surge of rage—he looked anxiously into the Great Holy Grail; the girl had not yet returned.

"Don't worry, Shilang," Zhidun said: "It'll be fine. Soul Materialization is the Esoteric Art of the Einzbern family."

"I understand." Weigong Shilang's face darkened; finally, under the influence of "another thought," he abandoned his previous idea.

The other method is fine too—do exactly as you say.

The chains of condensed light dissolved into radiant streams, absorbed into his body. Then, a sword mark appeared on his forehead's third eye; the Daoist robe on his body bloomed with faint crimson dots.

Su Lin held up a movie poster, comparing it to the image on it, then asked Yi Leina: "How's your research on Dimensional Magic?"

"What do you mean, 'how's it going'?" Yi Leina asked, puzzled. "It's one of my main topics."

"Form a team," Su Lin said. "Give him a new skill. Of course, the pilot is me—anyone who tries to take it from me will regret it!"

Lu Mingfei asked with a strange expression: "Are you treating his body like a Gundam?"

Second activation: Trace Origin. Next will be Severing Sin.

As long as Spiritual Power is sufficient, borrowing the "fate" of several people is no problem.

For living beings, the prerequisite is their consent.

"Weigong Shilang prayed to the Hall of Heroes—and was answered by a group of netizens," Kleine joked: "Loading progress is too slow—only 49%."

"It's already faster than your home Wi-Fi," Su Lin replied, then transmitted the "Bing" Secret from his exchanged 【Third-Generation Source Heaven Master Skill Card】.

(End of Chapter)