Chapter 179: If You're So Capable, Go Challenge My Big Brother

"Vwoom—"

Accompanied by the hum of energy particles, the purple plasma spark blade, carrying scorching heat, slashed down at high speed.

At the same time, the spear in Lancer's hand shattered the ground, its crimson spearhead sinking into the hard concrete.

Sensing the hot air current surging from ahead, Lancer frowned, immediately released his left hand, stomped his right foot to crack the ground, and used the recoil from his left leg to launch himself skyward, kicking heavily against the spearhead embedded in the ground.

The next second, the spearhead tore free from the ground, carving a crimson arc, and collided with that purple energy blade.

"Vwoom!"

A sound unlike metal clashing came from ahead; the scorching plasma blade tip narrowly grazed past his nose.

Lancer seized the opportunity, gripped the spear, and thrust forward like lightning.

"Shoo—"

The crimson spearhead tore through the air, arriving with a piercing shriek, forcing Bai Bai Zeming to cross his blade to defend while leaping backward, retreating to Emiya Shirou's side.

Once he stabilized his stance, Bai Bai Zeming raised his head; the purple plasma spark blade hung at his side, and a pair of pitch-black eyes stared fixedly at the blue-armored youth ahead through the helmet's holographic projection.

"Not bad reflexes!"

Lancer casually spun a spear flourish, slung the crimson spear over his shoulder, and looked at him with interest, saying, "I underestimated you!"

Bai Bai Zeming snorted coldly; the triangular reactor on his chest operated at full power, emitting a dazzling blue light too bright to look at directly.

"I'm curious..."

He stared at Lancer and said in a deep voice, "How did you discover me?"

Lancer raised an eyebrow, a somewhat strange Expression Grim appearing on his handsome face.

"Kid, are you serious?"

"..."

Hearing this, Bai Bai Zeming was stunned, then frowned, a sense of ominous foreboding surging in his heart.

"Let me explain then!"

A crisp, pleasant voice came from the side.

Bai Bai Zeming turned to look and saw Tohsaka Rin, dressed in red, landing on the rooftop; she glanced at him and said, "I don't know what the traditions are over on the Continent, but from the start, the magic power on your body was as conspicuous as a light bulb; it would be hard not to notice, right?!"

So it was because of the mana!

Bai Bai Zeming suddenly understood.

No wonder this experience was slightly different from the last time.

Last time, he was just an ordinary person who knew a little bit of martial arts.

Although Emiya Shirou had decent talent, he had only received beginner-level magecraft education; his magical circuits had been closed for a long time, and even Tohsaka Rin was unclear if he was a mage.

Furthermore, Tohsaka Rin was attempting to analyze the barrier, which triggered the barrier's magical nodes, causing mana to permeate the area near the nodes, providing cover for the two nearly mortal individuals, which is why they were not discovered by the Heroic Spirits.

But this time, Bai Bai Zeming had already implanted a spiritual root and possessed mana.

This mana was essentially a variant of mana from the Frieren world, completely different from the mana under the Fate worldview, and thus was more conspicuous than the latter.

"I have never seen this kind of ancient mana, nor these peculiar Noble Phantasms."

Tohsaka Rin, with an Expression Grim, gazed at the silver-red battle armor and said slowly, "Transfer student, who exactly are you?"

Never seen it?

Then that's correct!

Bai Bai Zeming glanced at her and said indifferently, "Regardless of who I am, it has nothing to do with you. This spear-wielding fellow has a personal grudge against me; as a Master, you shouldn't mind stepping aside, right?"

"..."

Lancer raised an eyebrow, looking at Bai Bai Zeming as if somewhat surprised.

Tohsaka Rin was slightly stunned and couldn't help but look at the air beside her.

The next second, the air distorted, and another Heroic Spirit Servant materialized.

He had a head of pale short hair, his skin slightly dark, yet radiating an indescribable fortitude.

His eyebrows were also white, but his eyes were deep black; on his tall frame was a red-and-black tight-fitting battle suit, highlighting the stacked, muscular physique.

"Of course, I don't mind!"

After appearing, the white-haired Heroic Spirit crossed his arms and said with a smile, "Please, go ahead!"

Hearing these words, Lancer grinned, lowered the spear in his hand, and assumed an offensive stance.

Originally, he had some resistance to the command to kill an innocent youth, but since it was a trained warrior, that should be fine, right?

"Kid, are you prepared?"

"..."

Bai Bai Zeming did not reply, only looking deeply at him.

The next second, the thrusters on his legs and back instantly activated; the silver-red battle armor shattered the ground and shot toward Lancer like a streak of light.

"Good!"

Lancer laughed loudly, wielding the spear to meet him.

"Vwoom! Vwoom! Vwoom!"

Accompanied by the hum of energy tremors, the purple energy blade and the crimson spear collided repeatedly in the air.

Bai Bai Zeming's feet left the ground; the leg thrusters, adjusted automatically under Lucy's calculation, stabilized his body in the air while he circled Lancer, launching attacks from various tricky angles.

But unfortunately, Bai Bai Zeming had never properly trained with weapons.

What he was best at was White Eyebrow Fist; wielding the energy blade actually prevented him from exerting his full strength.

Meanwhile, after initial probing, Lancer had already gauged this youth's level.

How to put it? He has some skills, but not many...

Disappointed in his heart, after a long sigh, he shook both arms, swept the spear diagonally to deflect the plasma spark blade attacking from above, and then thrust sharply diagonally upward.

"Whoosh—"

In an instant, a crimson spearhead, carrying a whistling gale, surged forth like a blood dragon emerging from the night, instantly piercing between the two arms clad in silver-red armor and thrusting toward the equally silver-red visor.

"Warning! Warning..."

The artificial intelligence's warning voice echoed in his ears.

Bai Bai Zeming's heart sank, and blue light instantly bloomed in his palm.

The next second, a blue energy cannon roared out from his palm, blasting toward Lancer's cheek.

Lancer seemed to have not expected this; caught off guard, he could only barely tilt his head, letting the pale blue beam graze past his ear and hair tips.

"Boom!"

A deafening roar erupted, blasting a basin-sized crater into the concrete rooftop.

Using the recoil force, Bai Bai Zeming soared up, hovering about five or six meters in the air, looking down at Lancer with lingering fear.

At this moment, Lancer had already sheathed his spear and stood, his expression somewhat grim as he raised a hand to touch the scorched, curled blue hair behind his ear.

Seeing this, Tohsaka Rin's expression became somewhat strange.

At first, she thought this steel armor was some kind of special Magic Crest, but now, looking at it, it seemed just like the exoskeleton armor from sci-fi movies!

But how could that be possible?

Leaving aside whether current technology could even produce such armor, even if someone truly mastered such technology, how could it possibly injure a Heroic Spirit like Lancer?!

Undoubtedly, this armor was far from just technological armor!

Just as Tohsaka Rin was thinking this, Lancer lowered his arm, looked up at the hovering Bai Bai Zeming in the sky, assumed an offensive stance again, and said lightly:

"... Kid, from now on, I'm going to get serious!"

Bai Bai Zeming hurriedly said, "Wait!"

Lancer paused, frowned, and asked, "What trick are you up to now?"

Looking down at the Lancer whose hair was merely damaged, without a single scratch, Bai Bai Zeming's expression was incredibly complex, and he sighed deeply in his heart.

Indeed, even with the steel armor and the implanted artificial spiritual root, with his current strength, he was absolutely no match for a Heroic Spirit.

Although he still had some trump cards unplayed, similarly, Lancer had not yet exerted his full strength...

No, it should be said that except for that final palm cannon, the entire battle had been under Lancer's control.

Compared to the opponent's legendary spear technique, Bai Bai Zeming's methods were like a child just learning to walk, utterly unable to make the opponent feel even the slightest bit of pressure.

And now, Lancer had become serious.

It would be very difficult for him to ambush the opponent with unexpected methods as he had just now.

Under these circumstances, Bai Bai Zeming knew very well that he absolutely had not the slightest chance...

Recalling the terrifying pressure he had faced when confronting that crimson long spear, he said in a deep voice:

"What a pity, if only I had been given another year..."

"A year?"

Lancer shook his head and said, "Considering your youth, I'll give you at most one more minute. If you're afraid, fly away with your armor immediately; if you're late, you'll never get another chance!"

Before the words had fully left his lips, Lancer suddenly frowned and said in a low voice, "I understand... No objections... Alright, I will deal with these two teenagers who saw us..."

"Sigh, truly a detestable job; can this even be called heroism?"

Lancer sighed, then raised his head, looking at the hovering Bai Bai Zeming in the sky and said, "Sorry, kid, you've landed a troublesome Master; I must ask you to die here..."

Hearing these words, Tohsaka Rin frowned and couldn't help but take a step forward.

But before she could approach, the white-haired, red-clad Heroic Spirit beside her raised a hand to stop her.

"Archer?"

Tohsaka Rin furrowed her delicate brows and said in a low voice, "Do you really intend to sit idly by while Lancer kills these two innocent students?"

Red A glanced at her and said lightly, "Master, I don't dislike your overabundant kindness, but before taking action, wouldn't it be better to carefully observe the situation first?"

"... The situation?"

Tohsaka Rin frowned and said, "Can't you see? They are completely no match for Lancer!"

"Is that so?" Red A remained noncommittal, his tone strangely complex as he said, "But I somehow feel that since a moment ago, that boy has lost his pressure and panic."

"As if he suddenly made a decision capable of influencing the battle..."

Tohsaka Rin was slightly stunned and couldn't help but raise her head, looking at the silver-red armor in the sky.

She saw Bai Bai Zeming remove his visor, as if giving up, revealing his face, and looked down at Lancer, stating plainly:

"Alright, I admit, you are indeed stronger than me, but for a great Heroic Spirit, what's the point of bullying a human?"

"If you have the guts, go spar with my big brother!"

Oh?

There's a helper?

Lancer raised an eyebrow, shook his head, and said, "Although I am somewhat interested in the big brother you speak of, distant water cannot quench immediate thirst. Unless you can summon him using a Ling Zhou, in the end, death is unavoidable..."

"What's the rush?"

Bai Bai Zeming grinned, revealing two rows of white teeth:

"Want to see my big brother? That's simple!"

"I'll call him right now!"

(End of this chapter)