Chapter 523: Holy Grail War

Hum— Boom!

A scarlet aura wrapped around Bai Cangshu's body like a cocoon, and in an instant, it erupted with a roar.

Tohsaka Rin's eyes rolled back; the intense aura slammed into her spirit, and she felt as if she had been swallowed by the ocean in a split second. Her consciousness went black, and—thump...

Emiya Shirou's eyes also rolled back, but his spirit was more resilient. While barely maintaining his composure, he bit his lip hard, using that pain to keep himself from fainting.

"What is this... ah..."

The world seemed to twist in his eyes, and the panicked people in the distance were falling over like rows of straw.

As far as the eye could see, on this completely leveled ground, only a few people remained standing.

Emiya Shirou felt as if he were standing on the edge of a terrifying storm; the impact made it nearly impossible for him to breathe on his own.

The petite girl knight in a blue dress and silver armor displayed a strong sense of stability at this moment. Saber moved her footwork and blocked in front of Emiya Shirou.

"Shirou, take a deep breath. This is not wind; it will not suffocate you."

Saber's emerald eyes stared at the man standing in the distance. He was tall and upright, standing proudly in a posture that was almost distorted.

The terrifying aura was like a tide, spreading and crashing outward in circles with him at the center.

It was on the verge of sweeping across most of the city.

All the ordinary people within sight were knocked unconscious by this overly powerful aura. Aside from the Heroic Spirit servants, only a few people with strong wills remained standing.

Kuzuki Soichiro instinctively blocked in front of Medea. The injuries on Sasaki Kojiro had already been healed by Medea, and at this moment, he stepped out from behind the two, drawing his Monohoshizao and holding it vertically before him.

The sharp sword intent seemed to cut through the tide, slightly reducing the pressure on Medea and Kuzuki Soichiro.

"Who on earth is this monster?!"

Medea's voice was somewhat strained.

The Heroic Spirit Emiya also stood tall, his combat gear rustling under the impact of the Conqueror's Haki.

He first flashed forward, moving with incredible speed to place Tohsaka Rin further away, beside that Rider.

The weak purple-haired girl, Matou Sakura, actually still retained her consciousness at this moment, which made the Heroic Spirit Emiya think of something.

But the situation was dire, and it did not allow him to continue thinking, so Medusa nodded at him.

Right now, the girl radiating the light of Command Spells and the unprecedentedly terrifying Assassin standing in the field clearly revealed one intention.

【I will crush you all here and end the Holy Grail War.】

Although they could not understand the other party's arrogance, combined with the anomalies that had occurred previously, these servants had no choice but to unite and prioritize "expelling" this person.

Before this, these Masters and Heroic Spirits had all encountered Tao Baibai, either suffering attacks or facing threats.

Joining forces to fight the enemy now did not face much resistance.

Saber moved against the hurricane-like Conqueror's Haki; this surging spirit could not affect her in the slightest.

Among these Heroic Spirits, she was likely the one with the best compatibility for this type of aura-based ability.

She was, after all, a king who had ruled England; she did not lack such spirit herself.

"Nameless Assassin, state your true name."

"This kind of spirit could never belong to a nameless Martial Artist buried in history~"

Saber held her sword with both hands and advanced toward Bai Cangshu with an absolutely standard knightly gait.

Seeing that there were almost no ordinary people left standing in his field of vision, Bai Cangshu was satisfied. This level of battle did not need the interference of those worm-like cries.

He listened to Saber's question and shook his head, his fluorescent white hair dancing violently.

"Tao Baibai, naturally I am... Tao Baibai!" As if echoing his own words, Bai Cangshu suddenly tapped his feet, and his entire body vanished like a spirit crane, appearing in the sky hundreds of meters away the next instant.

With his hands spread wide like a spirit crane spreading its wings, he was simulating the martial arts fighting style of his "teacher," Tao Baibai, from his memories.

With the blessing of the Heart Vortex, he could almost experience the effects of the Third-Order Transcendent Spiral in advance.

People who appeared in his memory could also be simulated.

Whoosh!

The sound of his figure breaking through the air became light. Almost instantly, Bai Cangshu appeared before Saber, pointing his fingers like a sword, black as ink.

Pfft!

The sword-finger struck out, a black light ignited and vanished in a flash.

Saber raised both hands to parry!

Clang!

The sword light grazed Saber's gauntlet and plunged into the ground, emitting a dull thud.

Saber's eyes trembled. The opponent's speed was incredible; just in that instant of parrying, the air in front of her had been displaced.

Saber did not need to wait for the opponent's figure to solidify in her pupils; relying on instinct, she retreated a step and swung her sword violently with both hands.

Boom!

As the air was torn apart by the sword light, Saber felt the sword in her hands sink.

The next moment, she saw Tao Baibai tap strangely in mid-air, his body floating upward without falling, instead stepping onto her blade with one foot.

He landed on the ground following the momentum of her sword, his movements extremely light, unaffected by her sword force at all.

This is a Martial Artist...

In her long fighting career, Saber had naturally encountered such technique-oriented opponents. She immediately stepped forward, gripped the hilt with her gauntlets, and struck at the opponent's chest.

Originally, this strike was meant to attack the opponent's face, but the height difference between the two was too great, so she changed it to attack the chest on the fly.

Pfft!

A hand arrived first despite starting later, blocking before Saber's hilt and immediately gripping it.

A terrifying force erupted instantly.

Saber's expression changed, and her Magic Power erupted instantly.

Bai Cangshu felt a terrifying force erupt from the palm of his left hand in an instant, golden-red light exploded, and he also took the opportunity to retreat a few steps.

"Coincidentally" dodging the twin swords swung horizontally from behind by the Heroic Spirit Emiya.

Bai Cangshu strolled as if walking in a quiet courtyard, dodging Heroic Spirit Emiya's swordsmanship one by one, yet his gaze remained fixed on Artoria.

Artoria gripped her sword with both hands, as if having made a certain resolution; the next moment, she raised them high, and a terrifying power began to rise exponentially.

She was going to Release her Noble Phantasm!

At this moment, Bai Cangshu truly felt that life-or-death crisis once again.

Excalibur is one of the few Noble Phantasms capable of killing a user of Twelve Labors in a single strike.

The reason is unknown, but after being struck, one loses multiple lives at once.

This ability was, without a doubt, the one he was most wary of among the Heroic Spirits present.

Roar!

Suddenly, a terrifying roar erupted.

The shockwave of the thunderous explosion blew the caught-off-guard Heroic Spirit Emiya directly away.

Heroic Spirit Emiya's reaction speed was also quite fast; he placed his twin swords in front of him to block a portion of the damage, and as his entire body flew through the air, a shadow loomed over him.

It was Tao Baibai; such fast speed!

With movements that completely defied the laws of physics, Tao Baibai instantly approached the blasted-away Heroic Spirit Emiya from mid-air, grabbed the opponent's head with one hand, and violently smashed him toward Artoria.

(End of chapter)