The air seemed to congeal, and the increasingly oppressive atmosphere set Li Ye's instincts blaring!
A faint fluctuation arose in the mana within his body, exactly like when he had previously strengthened Magic Resistance to purge negative effects!
Poison?!
Li Ye immediately realized that invisible, colorless poison had somehow filled the air, and its source was naturally the nameless Servant before him!
"Other than poison, what other tricks do you have!"
Bang!
Crimson Lightning flashed past, and as Li Ye charged out, the battle erupted once more!
Unlike their previous stalemate, or even when he had been suppressed, Li Ye now displayed absolute dominance!
His unrestrained Mana Burst greatly enhanced his physical strength. His power was unmatched!
As their blades met, the vicious crimson radiance that burst forth suddenly contracted. It abandoned its range and converged at a single point—
Wherever the blade passed, it was as though a crimson crescent moon had descended!
There was barely any deadlock. The instant the crescent moon descended, the nameless Servant was sent flying like a kite with its string cut!
"Where's your sword!"
Having finally gained the upper hand with one strike, Li Ye laughed wildly and shot forward!
The sword technique he had used in imitation of Chains of All Severance: Avalon le Fae could not compare in mana control or refined technique, but Li Ye had successfully condensed his wide-range Mana Burst into a single point as much as possible.
The end result was a massive increase in damage against a single target!
Crack—
A faint cracking sound drifted down on the wind behind Li Ye.
A terrifying battle played out across the desert. Having completely unleashed himself, Li Ye attacked at maximum mana output almost every moment, while the burden of mana on his body remained at its limit.
Bang!
With Li Ye's second burst of acceleration, he even caught up to the nameless Servant while she was still in midair!
And Li Ye finally saw how the nameless Servant had fired nine arrows at once—
She twisted her body in midair, drew her bow, nocked an arrow, and fired nine shots in rapid succession!
Almost simultaneously, Li Ye swung his sword upward!
The surging torrent shot toward the heavens, like a brilliant Pillar of Light standing tall in the desert!
The dazzling Pillar of Light swallowed the nine arrows and the nameless Servant whole.
Li Ye did not slow his charge. He knew an attack of this level could not end the battle!
When Li Ye truly closed in on the nameless Servant and clashed with her again—
Crack—
A crisp snapping sound entered Li Ye's ears again. The nameless broadsword in his hand had finally exceeded its limits and broken in two!
What kind of quality is this!
Am I the only one using an ordinary weapon?!
Li Ye could easily tell that the slender sword in the nameless Servant's hand was also some divine weapon, though it looked far too plain.
As the saying went, an inch longer meant an inch stronger; an inch shorter meant an inch more dangerous.
Now, the broadsword in Li Ye's hand was as short as a dagger. He could no longer fight with it!
Faced with such danger, Li Ye did not hesitate. He decisively gripped the sword in reverse, blocked the nameless Servant's blade, and pulled the distance between them closed!
The vicious crimson radiance blossomed again, and the resulting shockwave was like a ring that covered the sky, slicing straight through the endless yellow sand!
As the nameless Servant was forced back once more, a spray of blood mist quietly bloomed.
"So you can be hurt after all!"
The nameless Servant had caught Li Ye's punch barehanded, but the web between her thumb and forefinger had split open, leaving it a bloody mess!
This also allowed Li Ye to determine the limits of the skills and perhaps Noble Phantasms the nameless Servant possessed!
"Hm?"
Li Ye frowned slightly and stared intently at the nameless Servant's palm.
Runes formed from faint light swirled within it—
"So you're enhancing yourself with magecraft!"
Only now did Li Ye understand why the nameless Servant could withstand his attacks. She had relied on a large number of defensive spells to resist them!
The desperate situation where he could only turn things around with instant death had been overturned in an instant, but a new problem now stood before Li Ye.
The broken broadsword had cost Li Ye the only weapon he could use in battle.
Even with infinite mana, fighting a powerful Servant barehanded would still be extremely difficult for Li Ye.
An opportunity for instant death—
After some thought, Li Ye estimated that the remaining broken blade could probably be used twice more.
Based on Li Ye's current experience, there were only two reasons for the blade to break: clashing with the nameless Servant, and the overload caused by his own extreme Mana Burst.
With two chances, could he find an opportunity to kill the nameless Servant?
Li Ye barely needed to think about it. It was completely impossible.
*!*
Just then, alarm bells blared in Li Ye's mind as he was thinking.
Almost at the same time, the nameless Servant came at him with her sword.
The fierce offensive made Li Ye instinctively retreat, but the danger he sensed only became more apparent.
Not this one?
Below me!
Splurt!
A strange tearing sound came from beneath him.
Before Li Ye could pull away, Black Mud erupted from beneath him and instantly engulfed both him and the nameless Servant!
The nearly tangible curse frantically corroded Li Ye!
The crimson mana surrounding Li Ye's body was rendered useless by the Black Mud and was about to be devoured completely in an instant!
Yet the nameless Servant's offensive did not stop. Even though she had encountered the same corrosion, it was as though killing Li Ye was her highest priority!
Even if it meant sacrificing her own life, she would still kill Li Ye!
No!
Li Ye barely kept his eyes open. While he desperately stirred his mana to resist the Black Mud's corrosion, he could clearly see that the nameless Servant was not being corroded by it at all.
Or rather, the Black Mud clung to the nameless Servant's body without affecting her!
So they really are working together!
Li Ye's movements were restricted by the Black Mud, yet he still had to face the nameless Servant's frenzied assault!
Screech!
Sensing that things were going badly, Li Ye did not hesitate. Ignoring the nameless Servant's attack, he thrust the broken sword downward!
Boom!!
When the Crimson Lightning faded, Li Ye was completely unharmed, but the surrounding ground had become a patch of black earth corroded by deadly poison.
The nameless Servant had also been blasted dozens of meters away by the explosion!
Though Li Ye was completely unharmed, his expression was cold as he slowly swept his gaze around. Obvious mana fluctuations were continuously approaching him from every direction.
As expected, others are involved. Is it that Magus? No... Servants?
There's more than one Servant—
By Li Ye's judgment, after the nameless Servant, three more Servants had appeared to serve the remnants of the Crusaders—
No, these aren't Saint Graph reactions. Have they strengthened their Mage Circuits to the level of Servants?
Once Li Ye saw the newcomers clearly, he dismissed his earlier thoughts.
Even Li Ye could tell that these people were definitely not Servants.
One strange, gaunt humanoid after another stood upon the yellow sands. Though their appearances differed, they shared common traits.
Their eyes were vacant, like puppets.
The mana they emitted even gave Li Ye the illusion that they were all a single person!
The same technology as the Chimera—Artificial life like Aleka?
Li Ye's expression did not change. The difference in numbers would not trouble him, especially since these people might possess mana on the level of Servants, but were still weak in Li Ye's eyes.
What truly made Li Ye wary was the Magus who had remained hidden all along. Their curses were highly refined, whether it was the sand restraint from before or this Black Mud.
They had probably both come from the same person.
A Magus like that hiding in the shadows made it difficult for Li Ye to relax.
"Aren't you going to come out?"