We're No Match for Them! / Fortune and Misfortune Go Hand in Hand

"A futile effort!" Vlad III sneered, brandishing his weapon as if to take the attack head-on, while wooden stakes beside him surged toward 'Mikaela' like a tidal wave.

It seems to intend to completely pierce through this 'individual'!

The wooden spikes attacking 'Mikaela' were destroyed by the dandelions, and Vlad III, completely unafraid, charged straight at them.

"What?!"

Vlad III quickly realized his mistake; he shouldn't have taken the attack head-on, because at the moment their weapons clashed...

He noticed the dandelion in the other person's hand! It was very heavy!!!

Even in that brief encounter, Vlad III realized that the enemy's weapons were unimaginably heavy, and that the last thing he should have done was to engage in a direct confrontation!

He made a terrible move!

"Bang—!!"

Vlad III was sent flying in just one round; he was sent flying by 'Mikaela' who was holding a dandelion, though he himself was not injured.

However, in a simple clash of strength, he lost completely!

"..."

'Mikaela', who was wearing Buddhist prayer beads, silently walked towards Mikaela. She seemed to reach out to touch the other, but then shook her head.

A gorgeous yet unreal kimono replaced the maid outfit, and the face, which had been pixelated, was now partially restored.

Those were eyes, eyes as red as blood, bright red eyes appeared, she glanced at Mikaela, and then disappeared like a ghost.

P. S.: "The Booker server crashed again."

Chapter 220: No match for them!

Like a ghost, 'Mikaela' floated down below. She looked at Vlad III, who was embedded in the ground, and dodged the wooden stakes that suddenly appeared beside her.

"Did you come here to mock me?" Vlad III sneered, getting up rather awkwardly from the ground. He said in a very calm tone, "If you want to mock me, then you can mock me to your heart's content, but you can only mock me for now."

Vlad III admitted he was wrong for taking the hit of the dandelion head-on. He could accept the ridicule and sarcasm because he had indeed acted like an idiot, overestimating his abilities to try and wrestle with others.

"..." Wearing a kimono, 'Mikaela' did not speak. Her blood-red eyes stared calmly at Vlad III. Finally, she slowly extended her hand adorned with prayer beads.

"Ring~"

The crisp sound of bells rang out all around.

"Hmph!" Vlad III waved his hand, and countless wooden stakes appeared from various spaces, intending to kill this 'Mikaela'.

"Um?!"

Vlad III quickly noticed the anomaly: 'Mikaela's' body was indeed pierced by the stake, but... it seemed as if the stake had not pierced her body at all; it looked as if the stake had passed right through her.

It did not cause her any harm; her body gradually became ethereal, like Servant about to disappear.

Unlike the previous 'Mikaela's' who silently unleashed their skills and vanished at lightning speed, this one seemed to possess self-awareness. She looked at Vlad III and said in a chilling voice:

"Oh, the pitiful shadow bewildered by the darkness."

"To hurt or belittle others."

"A soul indulging in sin."

Want to try dying once?

At this moment, the patterns on the kimono that 'Mikaela' was wearing seemed to come alive and floated toward Vlad III.

Vlad III seemed to want to resist, but he seemed to see something, a look of confusion flashed in his eyes, and he stopped in place, motionless.

The work on those wooden stakes ceased temporarily after Vlad III lost control of them.

Mikaela in the sky was puzzled. He didn't understand what the other 'self' had done to Vlad III.

No one knows what he saw, but judging from his excited and happy expression, he had entered a wonderful world.

"Pfft!"

Suddenly! A wooden stake appeared from the void and mercilessly pierced 'Mikaela's' heart. This time she was truly pierced through, but she herself did not seem to be much surprised. Instead, she continued to stare at Vlad III with her red eyes.

"A beautiful illusion, I must say, it's a very clever tactic." A hint of disgust flashed in Vlad III's eyes. He stared at 'Mikaela's' blood-red eyes and gave a cold smile. "However, I despise so-called 'falsehood' the most. Although the illusion is beautiful, it is not a reward for my efforts, but something you made up."

Indeed, 'Mikaela' used her power to create a beautiful illusion for Vlad III, an illusion that fulfilled all of Vlad III's wishes.

That is to restore one's reputation!

He wants to restore his reputation and remove the stigma of "Dracula the vampire"!

He didn't want to deny the path he had taken; he wanted to accept the fighting against Türkiye, the imprisonment, and the various unpleasant times as part of life with optimism.

However, he could never tolerate his name being smeared in a place that had absolutely nothing to do with him.

Perhaps in 'Mikaela's' eyes, she created a beautiful illusion that Vlad III would fall into. However, she did not expect that he would only enter the illusion, and after roughly understanding the situation, he would mercilessly fight his way out of the illusion.

"Pfft pfft!!"

The wooden stake buried 'Mikaela', who was wearing a kimono. Before disappearing, she sighed softly and said calmly, "I must say, she truly lives up to her reputation as Heroic Spirit."

She transformed into a spirit and disappeared into the wooden stake.

"Let's continue the fight!" Vlad III gripped his fist, intending to launch another attack. He stood on the wooden stake again, planning to charge into the sky once more. Destroying more 'individuals' was useless; only killing the 'main body' would bring true victory.

"Whoosh—!!"

Suddenly, a cold light flashed, Vlad III instinctively moved to the side. However, he did not completely dodge the light, and a bloody mark appeared on his neck. Instead of bleeding, the wound was frozen.

"Are they here?"

Vlad III looked at 'Mikaela' floating in the void beside him. A light blue hilt hung at his waist. Although the sword was not drawn, a chilling aura already surrounded him.

"..."

'Mikaela' assumed a perfectly standard sword-drawing stance, and with a 'clang,' the sword was drawn.

An ice spike suddenly rose from beneath Vlad III's feet. This attack seemed to appear out of thin air, making it impossible to defend against!

Having suffered a few setbacks earlier, Vlad III was wary of the strange and unusual moves of those weapons. He decisively jumped up and narrowly dodged the ice spike attack.

"Crunch."

As if opening a door with a key, another 'Mikaela' appeared on the other side. He inserted the long black key in his hand into the void, and seven or eight tentacles emerged from the void, slapping towards Vlad III.

"What?!"

Vlad III was caught off guard. Previously, the 'individuals' had attacked one by one, but now two of them were attacking at the same time!

"Bang!"

Vlad III, suspended in mid-air, had nowhere to hide as the tentacles that emerged from the void slammed directly onto him.

"Clang—!" The sound of drawing a sword rang out once again, and ice spikes appeared in the void again. This time, Vlad III seemed to be deliberately trying to cause trouble, and he crashed directly into them.

His right leg was hit by an ice spike. Just from the impact, his right leg seemed to freeze completely.

"!" Vlad III was a ruthless man. Seeing that his right leg was spreading towards his body, he decisively swung his weapon in mid-air and cut off his right leg.

'Darnic! Quickly use Command Seal to teleport me away, this guy! He's too strong!'

At this moment, Vlad III realized that he was no match for Mikaela on his own, so he decided to flee!

Pfft. jpg

P. S.: That's all for tonight =A=!

Chapter 221 Fortune and Misfortune are Intertwined

"Whoosh—!!"

Seemingly sensing something, 'Mikaela', wielding the Ice Lotus Sword, rushed forward. He drew the sword completely and swung it more than a dozen times at a speed that was difficult to detect with the naked eye.

The surrounding air seemed to freeze as more than a dozen blades radiating an icy blue light rushed toward Vlad III.

At this moment, Vlad III felt himself enveloped by a chill. He moved his hand slightly, and a dozen wooden stakes appeared beside him, seemingly to protect him. He had already lost a leg and could not afford to lose any more body parts, otherwise the subsequent treatment would be very troublesome.

"Snap!"

The wooden stake had barely surfaced when it was smashed to pieces by tentacles that suddenly appeared.

'Mikaela', holding Black Long Key, was still watching Vlad III's every move.

'Hateful!'

Vlad III, seeing that the wooden stakes could not protect him, hurriedly tried to defend himself with the weapons in his hands.

'Heh.' 'Mikaela,' who was holding the Ice Lotus Sword, seemed to laugh. He sheathed the sword and assumed the standard sword-drawing stance.

"!!!!"

In that instant, Vlad III understood that compared to those 'individuals' that would disappear immediately after unleashing an attack, this kind of 'individual' that attacked continuously and was not afraid of his wooden stake was the most troublesome existence!

"Clang—!"

With a crisp sound, the knife was drawn once again.

Unable to gain leverage in mid-air, they tried to use the wooden stakes for support, but as soon as the stakes appeared, they were stopped by 'Mikaela' who was holding Black Long Key.

It's a dead end. If Darnic doesn't use Command Seal to teleport him away quickly, then it's already a dead end.

"Fantasy Greatsword: Balmung (Fallen Demon)!"

Just as they were on the verge of life and death, a semi-circular, twilight-wave-shaped sword aura struck, perfectly blocking the blade aura released by 'Mikaela'.

"Sizzle!"

Although the blade's energy was blocked, Vlad III's left hand was still frozen by the ice spikes that appeared out of nowhere. He mercilessly used the wooden stake to cut off his frozen left hand!

The next moment, Vlad III vanished from his spot, and at the same time, Siegfried, who had been stabbed in the back, also vanished from his spot.

Did they escape?

Mikaela, still in her Noble Phantasm state, fell from the sky and glanced at the 'individual' beside her.

Seemingly sensing that the enemy had disappeared, those 'individuals' that had not yet launched an attack silently turned into spiritual particles and dissipated.

Just like Valkyrie's Noble Phantasm, those summoned 'individuals' possess a degree of self-awareness.

"..." Mikaela, holding the Ice Lotus Sword, floated back. He looked Mikaela up and down, seemingly smiling.

He pointed to the Ice Lotus Sword in his hand, shook his head, then pointed to 'Mikaela' carrying the Oath of Judas on her back, and nodded slightly, as if hinting at something.

"What are you trying to say?" Mikaela didn't think it was a meaningless gesture, but rather that the other person was hinting at something.

'Mikaela', holding the Ice Lotus Sword, nodded slightly. He seemed to want to say something, but his body had already begun to dissipate, and even if he wanted to say something, it was too late.

Soon, the other 'individuals' also disappeared, and Mikaela also canceled the release of her Noble Phantasm.

To be honest, this kind of boosting service... is kind of fun.

It doesn't require much magic power, yet it can effectively attack enemies, with the majority of the energy consumption borne by another 'self'.

In a way, Mikaela has fallen in love with this Noble Phantasm! It's just so useful!

"Master, are you alright?"

At this moment, Sigurd rushed back. Seeing Siegfried's attitude of risking his own weakness to release his Noble Phantasm, he was afraid that his Master would be seriously injured. So he did not release his Noble Phantasm, but instead stabbed Siegfried in the back, which was his weak point, and watched as Siegfried was summoned away by the Command Seal.

He rushed to Mikaela's side, but to his surprise, Mikaela was unharmed. He was floating in the air and even had a look of lingering satisfaction on his face. This reassured Sigurd for a moment, and he finally said with some helplessness, "I'm sorry, Master, I let him escape."

"It's alright."

Hearing Sigurd's words, Mikaela couldn't be happy anymore. He calmly said, "Vlad III was seriously injured by me. Since Siegfried was able to use his Noble Phantasm right under your nose, I believe he was injured as well."

"Hmm." Sigurd nodded, and he exclaimed, "Even though he was bound by Command Seal, Siegfried was still a very powerful swordsman. If he hadn't exposed his back to support Vlad III, I wouldn't have been able to inflict any serious injuries on him in such a short time."

Sigurd and Siegfried are evenly matched, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, they could fight for three days and three nights without a clear victor.

Of course, this is on the premise that no Noble Phantasm used and it is just a simple melee combat.

"Siegfried was injured in the back? That makes things easier." Mikaela nodded slightly, clearly very satisfied with the battle.

Vlad III did not die, but he lost a leg and an arm. The next time he met Vlad III, it would be his death day!

Siegfried was similar. Although his opponent was strong and possessed the Armor of Fafnir, a defensive Noble Phantasm that could be considered a bug, his weakness in the back was a fatal flaw.

Once attacked from behind, it's impossible to recover in a short time, even with healing Magecraft.

This wasn't a physical injury, but rather a curse-like attack. Generally speaking, if Siegfried was stabbed in the back, his life would be nearing its end.