Chapter 190: A Thousand Li Solo Ride

The Bridle of Riding Heroes, an A+ rank Noble Phantasm—the strongest attack Medusa possesses!

After discovering that Guan Yu absolutely countered magical beasts, she knew she could not possibly be his opponent.

To survive at the hands of this Sacred Emperor Guan, she could only choose to stake everything on one desperate strike!

Medusa gripped the reins tightly with both hands and passed through the crimson magic circle before her in a mounted posture.

Brilliant white light bloomed beneath her, coalescing in the blink of an eye into the form of a divinely handsome celestial horse.

Two wings radiating white light unfurled instantly from either side of the celestial horse's back; the surrounding air seemed to scatter with drifting white feathers at the motion, looking sacred and majestic, dreamlike and illusory.

For a moment, the sky above the entire forest was lit up by that dazzling white radiance.

The Sacred Emperor Guan, whose divine might stretched vast and wide, stood upon the ground, gazing up at the white horse diving down from the sky; within those majestic phoenix eyes, a smile that could not be named finally surfaced.

That's right—what kind of fighting is it to always run away?

Cavalry charging head-on—that is the romance between warrior and battlefield!

Without the slightest hesitation, Guan Yu seized the Green Dragon Crescent Blade at his side and mimed the motion of vaulting onto a horse in midair.

A crimson magic circle manifested with his movement, from which streams of red flowing light surged forth, coalescing beneath him into an incomparably handsome scarlet steed.

Guan Yu gripped the Green Dragon Blade in his right hand and held the reins in his left; a faint smile surfaced on his scarlet face.

"We meet again, old friend!"

"Neigh!"

The handsome Red Hare let out a long whinny that shook the mountains and forests, then spread its four hooves and charged toward the sky upon crimson light.

Feeling the excitement and restlessness of the Red Hare beneath him, Guan Yu was suddenly filled with boundless heroic spirit; in a daze, it seemed he recalled those years long past, returning to those days of striding across the realm, looking upon all the heroes under heaven as nothing.

He swept his long blade forth, pointed at the Medusa riding the celestial horse in the sky, and declared with pride:

"How dare the firefly's light contend with the brilliant moon?"

"Remember this—he who takes your head is the General of the Five Tiger Generals, Marquis of Hanshou Ting, Guan Yu Guan Yunchang!"

Before his words had faded, Medusa tugged the reins and dove down at tremendous speed amid the ethereal, holy long whinny of the celestial horse Pegasus.

Guan Yu likewise drove the Red Hare beneath him, charging toward the sky upon crimson light.

During this process, the Green Dragon Crescent Blade in his hand blazed with brilliant azure radiance.

Streams of azure light enveloped him and the Red Hare beneath him, forming a phantom image of an azure dragon's head—

【Green Dragon Crescent Blade · A Thousand Li Solo Ride】!

A Noble Phantasm ability that gathered together the legends of generals slain—"Slaying Hua Xiong with Warm Wine," "Beheading Yan Liang and Zhuang Chou," "Passing Five Passes and Slaying Six Generals"—and possessed the greatest attack power in single combat between warriors!

But unfortunately, in the popular legends, Guan Yu has a record of defeat at the hands of Lü Bu.

This caused the rank of A Thousand Li Solo Ride to fail to break through its upper limit, reaching only A++…

"Roar!"

Accompanying the appearance of the azure dragon phantom, an incomparably lifelike dragon's cry shook heaven and earth.

The azure dragon phantom drew a long afterimage across the sky, flying toward the heavens at a speed nearly that of teleportation.

"Boom!"

The next instant, the azure dragon phantom and the white-streaming celestial horse knight collided violently together.

Terrifying force erupted explosively; streams of iridescent energy scattered and churned at the point of impact, forming two arc-shaped energy barriers—one azure, one white—crashing against each other.

The two locked in stalemate in the air, and the air itself seemed to freeze for an instant.

The next instant, a violent shockwave surged outward, destroying the surrounding forest with irresistible force.

Beneath the shroud of the azure dragon phantom, Guan Yu laughed heartily toward the sky; he had actually exited the Sacred Emperor Guan form, and the Green Dragon Crescent Blade in his hand emitted a violent dragon-roar-like hum as it hacked forward bearing the momentum of a thunderbolt.

"Boom!"

The azure blade-light swept across, instantly shattering the blue-white energy barrier that had been locked in stalemate.

Medusa, riding the celestial horse Pegasus, sighed softly; gazing at the azure blade-light that kept filling her field of view, she slowly closed her amethyst eyes.

"Squelch—"

The brilliant blade-light swept across her neck, severing that gorgeous head.

Guan Yu and Medusa brushed past each other, hovering in the high sky at roughly a thousand meters, looking down at the body and head plummeting below.

"BOOM!!!"

With a tremendous crash, the headless corpse astride the celestial horse, its momentum still unabated, slammed into the ground.

The residual energy erupted explosively; a rumbling tremor passed through the earth, and the hard soil cracked apart layer by layer.

The violent shockwave force spread madly outward in all directions from the point of impact; every tree caught in its path was ripped up by the roots, crashing down amid waves of soil.

Dust filled the sky, swirling upward like a small nuclear bomb detonated in an instant, rising into a billowing mushroom cloud.

Such an intense tremor was even faintly felt in Fuyuki City, let alone the nearby Matou residence.

……

……

Time rewinds five minutes.

As everyone knows, the might of a Heroic Spirit surpasses that of humanity; even a veteran magus like Matou Zouken could not possibly be a match for a Heroic Spirit—let alone Saber.

With Saber's assistance, Bai Bai Zeming and Emiya Shirou naturally defeated Matou Zouken.

The reason it is said to be a defeat is that after his death, his body crumbled into countless writhing, squirming insects.

The view zoomed in: the densely packed insects writhed madly, making one's scalp tingle and one's SAN value plummet.

Bai Bai Zeming felt a deep chill in his heart and, without the slightest hesitation, gifted him a micro missile.

"Boom!"

Accompanying the thunderous roar, golden-red flames surged upward.

Every insect that survived the explosion was scorched by the fierce fire, curling up into charred corpses.

The insect oil boiled from the raging fire crackled and popped within the flames, making Emiya Shirou's body hair stand on end; he couldn't help but step back two paces, leaving this sea of burning insects.

"By the way, where is Shinji?"

Emiya Shirou suddenly remembered a certain insignificant king with zero presence and couldn't help but speak up.

Bai Ze Ming glanced at him, nodded toward the ruins not far away, and said:

"There, right over there!"

"..."

Emiya Shirou quickly turned his head to look, then his pupils shrank, and he froze in place.

Following his gaze, they saw Matou Shinji lying motionless on the ground, a blood-stained boulder pressing down on his body, his twisted handsome face filled with the fear of his final moments...

"Shinji... is dead?"

Emiya Shirou stared blankly at Shinji's corpse, seemingly unable to believe the scene before his eyes.

He and Matou Shinji had indeed shared a period of true friendship; back then, although Matou Shinji's personality was still vicious, he was far from being twisted to this extent.

If he could, he truly did not want to see Shinji die, let alone die at their hands...

Bai Ze Ming glanced at the expression on his face, knowing this guy still held certain feelings and illusions for Matou Shinji.

But unfortunately, the Matou Shinji of today was no longer the middle-schooler he once was; not to mention his attempt to absorb the soul power of his classmates, the very atrocities he inflicted upon Sakura were already grounds for death!

Of course, Emiya Shirou, who knew not the truth, and the gentle, weak Matou Sakura might choose to forgive him.

But Bai Ze Ming, who had been extremely dissatisfied with Shinji long ago and had even been killed by him and Rider during the second reincarnation, certainly would not!

That's right, Matou Shinji was the one Bai Ze Ming had casually crushed to death amidst the chaos just now.

The reason for taking Shinji's life was twofold: first, to avenge Matou Sakura and cover up her disgraceful past; second, it was also because Bai Ze Ming wanted to test the new function of the Ling Zhou.

After Lin Yu's modifications, Bai Ze Ming's Ling Zhou had acquired a brand new function—

namely, absorbing the souls of those he killed, utilizing the power of the Throne of Heroes outside the world to transform them into Heroic Spirit bodies, so they could replace true Heroic Spirits and provide sufficient mana for the Holy Grail.

Feeling the terrified soul within the Ling Zhou, Bai Ze Ming curled the corner of his mouth, patted Emiya Shirou's shoulder, and said:

"Don't blame yourself; Matou Zouken is after all an old-school Magus. During the battle with him, neither you nor I had time to attend to anything else. If anyone is to blame, it is only himself for overestimating his abilities and insisting on participating in the Holy Grail War..."

"..."

Emiya Shirou came to his senses and looked at Bai Ze Ming with a somewhat complex expression.

"After we deal with the other Masters, will we do the same?"

"That is not the case."

Bai Ze Ming smiled and was just about to explain the intelligence regarding the Ling Zhou.

Just then, a deafening boom echoed from the forest.

Both Bai Ze Ming and Emiya Shirou were stunned; they snapped their heads around, then widened their eyes, staring blankly at the earth wave and small mushroom cloud rising from the forest.

Once he came to his senses, he slapped his forehead: "Oh no!"

"Did Second Master kill Sister R?"

As one of the three Chinese Heroic Spirits possessing the most legends, even being deified jointly by the Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian schools, Bai Ze Ming did not feel at all that Guan Yu would lose to Medusa.

Even though he had long known the power of 【Rider's Reinforcement】, he had not the slightest doubt.

Thinking of this, Bai Ze Ming gritted his teeth, turned his head, and said to Emiya Shirou:

"Leave this place to you and Saber; I'll go check on Second Master!"

"..."

Emiya Shirou was slightly stunned, then nodded in agreement and turned to look toward the ruins ahead.

Just then, the great fire before the mansion was suddenly dispersed by a wild gust of wind, revealing the three familiar figures behind the door.

Seeing this scene, Bai Ze Ming stopped in his tracks, hesitating and freezing in place.

"Sakura?"

Emiya Shirou hurriedly stepped forward and looked at Matou Sakura with some concern: "Are you okay?"

Seeing Emiya Shirou's face, Matou Sakura, wearing her school uniform, was slightly stunned; she couldn't help but glance at Tohsaka Rin beside her, then said softly with some melancholy:

"I'm fine, Senpai."

Hearing the two's utterly meaningless dialogue, Tohsaka Rin rolled her eyes and was just about to speak when she saw Bai Ze Ming beside her constantly signaling her with his eyes, as if he had something to discuss with her alone.

Tohsaka Rin raised an eyebrow, considered it for a moment, then stepped forward and walked over.

"What is it?"

"Nothing much..."

Bai Ze Ming glanced at Matou Sakura not far away and asked in a low voice: "When you went in, did you see anything?"

Tohsaka Rin asked in confusion: "What?"

Bai Ze Ming spoke somewhat hesitantly: "The basement, and the sea of insects."

"Oh, those disgusting bugs? Archer got rid of them all!"

"What about Sakura?"

"Sakura is my sister; how could I let Archer get rid of her?"

"..."

Bai Ze Ming was covered in black lines; this meant he couldn't understand what was being said, right!

Just as he was pondering how to phrase his words, Tohsaka Rin suddenly said thoughtfully:

"Speaking of Sakura, there is indeed something that confuses me greatly; it seems someone placed a restriction on her, preventing anyone or anything from touching her body."

"Even when Archer tried to bring her out, that silver light pierced his hand..."

Bai Ze Ming was slightly stunned: "What light did you say?"

Tohsaka Rin repeated: "Silver light!"

Bai Ze Ming's eyes lit up, and he immediately broke into a smile, saying cheerfully, "Then there's no problem!"

(End of this chapter)