Chapter 190: A Thousand Li Solo Ride

Reins of the Rider, A+ Rank Artifact, Medusa’s ultimate attack!

After discovering Guan Yu’s absolute dominance over demonic creatures, she knew she could never defeat him.

To survive this Lord Guan Sheng Di Jun, she had no choice but to risk everything!

Medusa gripped the reins tightly and rode through the crimson magical array before her.

Brilliant white light erupted beneath her, coalescing in an instant into the form of a divine celestial steed.

Two wings radiating white light instantly unfurled from either side of the steed’s back, causing the surrounding air to shimmer with countless floating white feathers—sacred, majestic, dreamlike.

For a moment, the entire forest’s sky was illuminated by the blinding white glow.

The mighty Lord Guan Sheng Di Jun stood on the ground, gazing at the white steed diving from the sky; in his solemn phoenix eyes, a faint, indescribable smile finally appeared.

That’s right—running away isn’t combat at all!

Cavalry charges—that’s the romance of generals and battlefields!

Without hesitation, Guan Yu seized his Green Dragon Crescent Blade and performed a phantom mount-up motion midair.

A crimson magical array materialized with his movement, surging forth streams of red light that coalesced beneath him into a magnificent crimson steed.

Guan Yu held the Green Dragon Blade in his right hand and the reins in his left, a faint smile on his crimson face.

“We meet again, old friend!”

“Neigh!”

The divine Chi Tu Ma let out a deafening, earth-shaking roar, then galloped forward on glowing red hooves, charging into the sky.

Feeling the Chi Tu Ma’s exhilaration and restlessness beneath him, Guan Yu was suddenly filled with boundless valor, as if he had been transported back to those days of unrivaled dominance, when heroes of the world meant nothing to him.

He swung his long blade, pointing it at Medusa atop the celestial steed, and declared proudly:

“How dare a firefly compete with the bright moon?”

“Remember this—your head falls to Guan Yu, Guan Yun Chang, one of the Five Tiger Generals, Marquis of Hanchou!”

Before his words faded, Medusa tugged the reins, and with a pure, ethereal neigh from her steed Pegasus, she plunged downward at high speed.

Guan Yu spurred his Chi Tu Ma forward, riding the red light toward the sky.

In this moment, his Green Dragon Crescent Blade blazed with brilliant green light.

Streams of green light enveloped him and his steed, forming a spectral image of a green dragon’s head—

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

A relic power forged from legends of slaying Hua Xiong while wine remained warm, slaying Yan Liang and Zhu Wen Chou, crossing five passes and slaying six generals—its maximum offensive power manifests in one-on-one duels.

Unfortunately, in folk tales, Guan Yu had once been defeated by Lu Bu.

As a result, the rank of “A Thousand Li Solo Ride” never surpassed its limit—it remains only A++ rank…

“Roar!”

As the green dragon’s spectral form appeared, a real, thunderous dragon’s roar echoed across heaven and earth.

The green dragon’s phantom streaked through the air, leaving a long trail, flying toward the sky at near-instantaneous speed.

“Boom!”

In the next instant, the green dragon’s phantom collided violently with Medusa, now a white streak of light.

Terrifying power erupted, streams of radiant energy exploding outward, forming two opposing curved shields—one green, one white.

They locked in midair, as if time itself had frozen for an instant.

The next moment, a violent shockwave swept outward, obliterating the surrounding forest like dry grass before a storm.

Beneath the green dragon’s shadow, Guan Yu threw back his head and laughed loudly—then shed his Lord Guan Sheng Di Jun form. His Green Dragon Crescent Blade emitted a deafening, dragon-like hum, slashing forward with the force of thunder and lightning.

“Boom!”

The green blade-light swept across, shattering the blue-white energy shield instantly.

Medusa, riding the celestial steed Pegasus, sighed softly, gazing at the green blade-light filling her vision, and slowly closed her eyes like amethyst gems.

“Slish—”

The brilliant blade-light swept past her neck, severing her beautiful head.

Guan Yu passed her by, hovering in midair a thousand meters above, looking down at the falling body and head.

“Boom!!!”

With a thunderous crash, the headless corpse, still riding the steed, slammed into the ground.

Residual energy exploded violently, shaking the earth with a deep roar, cracking the hardened soil in layers.

The violent shockwave spread outward from the point of impact, uprooting every tree it touched, hurling them into the air as if the earth itself had surged like a wave.

Dust and debris rose in a swirling storm, like a miniature nuclear explosion, forming a churning mushroom cloud.

Such violent tremors were even felt faintly in Winter City, let alone the nearby Tohsaka residence.

…

…

Time rewound five minutes earlier.

As is well known, Servants surpass human limits—even veteran magicians like Tohsaka Zangyan could never stand against a Servant, especially Saber.

With Saber’s aid, Bai Zeming and Emiya Shirou naturally defeated Tohsaka Zangyan.

We say “defeated” because after death, his body disintegrated into countless twisted, writhing worms.

Zooming in, the dense mass of worms wriggled frantically, inducing scalp-crawling horror and a rapid sanity drain.

Bai Zeming felt a deep chill and without hesitation fired a micro-missile at him.

“Boom!”

With a deafening roar, golden-red flames erupted.

All worms surviving the blast were incinerated, curling into charred corpses.

The oil from the burning worms crackled in the fire, making Emiya Shirou’s hairs stand on end—he stepped back two paces, fleeing the burning sea of worms.

“By the way, where’s Shinji?”

Emiya Shirou suddenly remembered the utterly insignificant little nobody and spoke up.

Bai Zeming glanced at him and nodded toward the nearby ruins.

“There.”

“… ”

Emiya Shirou turned quickly—and froze, pupils shrinking in shock.

Following his gaze, Tohsaka Shinji lay motionless on the ground, crushed beneath a massive stone stained with blood, his once-handsome face twisted with the terror of his final moments…

“Shinji… dead?”

Emiya Shirou stared blankly at Shinji’s corpse, unable to believe what he saw.

He and Tohsaka Shinji had once shared true friendship; back then, Shinji was still cruel, but far from the twisted monster he’d become.

If he could have chosen, he never wanted to see Shinji die—let alone die by their hands…

Bai Zeming watched his expression and knew this man still harbored feelings and illusions toward Tohsaka Shinji.

But sadly, this Tohsaka Shinji was no longer the middle-school boy he once knew. Not only had he tried to drain his classmates’ soul energy, but his cruelty toward Sakura alone was enough to warrant death!

Of course, Emiya Shirou, unaware of the truth, and gentle, weak Sakura might have chosen to forgive him.

But Bai Zeming—who had long despised Shinji and been killed by him and Rider during his second reincarnation—certainly would not.

Yes, Tohsaka Shinji was simply crushed by Bai Zeming during the chaos.

He killed Shinji for two reasons: to avenge Sakura and bury her shameful past, and to test the new ability of his Command Spell.

After Lin Yu’s modifications, Bai Zeming’s Command Spell gained a new function—

to absorb the souls of those he killed, using the power of the Throne of Heroes beyond the world, transforming them into Servant bodies to supply the Holy Grail with sufficient magical energy.

Feeling the terrified soul trapped within his Command Spell, Bai Zeming smirked and patted Emiya Shirou’s shoulder.

“It’s not your fault. Tohsaka Zangyan was a veteran magician. In battle with him, neither of us had the attention to spare. Blame only himself—for being so foolish as to join the Holy Grail War…”

“… ”

Emiya Shirou snapped back to reality, gazing at Bai Zeming with a complex expression.

“Will we do the same to the other Masters?”

“Not necessarily.”

Bai Zeming smiled, ready to explain the Command Spell’s details.

At that moment, a deafening roar erupted from the forest.

Both Bai Zeming and Emiya Shirou froze, whirling around—and stared, eyes wide, at the rising earthwave and miniature mushroom cloud from within the trees.

Regaining his senses, Bai Zeming slapped his forehead: “Damn it!”

“Did Second Brother kill Sister R?”

As the most legendary of the three Chinese Servants, even deified jointly by Buddhist, Daoist, and Confucian traditions, Bai Zeming had zero doubt that Guan Yu could defeat Medusa.

Even knowing the full power of 【Reins of the Rider】, he never doubted it.

Thinking this, Bai Zeming gritted his teeth and turned to Emiya Shirou.

“You and Saber handle this. I’m going to check on Second Brother.”

“… ”

Emiya Shirou blinked, then nodded, turning to face the ruins ahead.

At that moment, the fire before the mansion’s gate was suddenly blown away by a fierce wind, revealing three familiar figures behind it.

Seeing this, Bai Zeming halted, frozen in hesitation.

“Sakura?”

Wei Gong Vice Minister hurried forward, gazing at Kinoshita Sakura with concern: “Are you all right?”

Seeing Wei Gong Vice Minister’s face, Kinoshita Sakura in her school uniform paused slightly, glancing at Rin Tohsaka beside her, then softly murmured with a hint of sadness:

“I’m fine, Senior.”

Hearing their meaningless exchange, Rin Tohsaka rolled her eyes, about to speak—when she noticed Bai Zeming frantically signaling to her, as if wanting to speak privately.

Rin Tohsaka raised an eyebrow, thought for a moment, then walked over.

“What is it?”

“Nothing much…”

Bai Zeming glanced at Kinoshita Sakura nearby and asked in a low voice: “When you went in, did you see anything?”

Rin Tohsaka frowned: “What?”

Bai Zeming hesitated: “The basement… and the sea of insects.”

“Oh, those disgusting bugs? Archer killed them all!”

“What about Sakura?”

“Sakura is my sister—I’d never let Archer kill her!”

“...”

Bai Zeming’s face darkened with exasperation—this was clearly going nowhere!

As he struggled to find the right words, Rin Tohsaka suddenly frowned in thought:

“Speaking of Sakura, there’s something I find deeply puzzling—someone has placed a seal on her body; nothing and no one can touch her.”

“Even Archer got wounded by a silver light when he tried to pull her out…”

Bai Zeming blinked: “What kind of light?”

Rin Tohsaka repeated: “A silver light!”

Bai Zeming’s eyes lit up, then he smiled warmly: “Then there’s nothing to worry about!”

(End of Chapter)