Archer did not wait for the door to open and fired an arrow directly.
—Boom!
The entire elevator shaft was instantly blasted into ruins by the explosive magical energy unleashed by Broken Phantasm.
Dust and sand filled the air.
"Hmph."
The corners of Archer's lips curled up as he gave a muffled chuckle.
The dust raised by the explosion gradually dispersed.
Seeing the empty, destroyed elevator shaft, the smile vanished from his face. After a moment of thought, he turned and ran toward the window.
Archer narrowed his eyes at the four people desperately running across the bridge, trying to take the chance to get over it. Raising his greatbow and spreading his right hand outward, he gave a brief chant:
"I am the bone of my sword."
Another twisted black Chains of Heaven formed above his right hand. He gripped it, nocked it to his bowstring, and instantly drew the bow to its limit.
He first aimed at the four of them, then lowered his aim to predict where they would pass next.
Just before he released the string—
A faint disturbance suddenly came from beneath his feet.
Archer looked down and abruptly dodged to the side.
At the exact moment he leaped aside—
A crimson thorned spear—
Pierced through the floor from below.
"Was it you?"
Seeing the spear, Archer found the situation somewhat troublesome and prepared to withdraw.
After all, sniping across the entire map was not something his Master had ordered him to do. She had merely told him to gather intelligence and eliminate danger as much as possible.
If it was a Servant wielding that spear, then without absolute certainty, he should not engage alone.
"No."
Archer looked at the "spear" being withdrawn and felt an intense familiarity with it—a familiarity at the level of its very essence.
He tossed aside his bow and spiral sword. Before they hit the ground, both dissolved into spirit particles. Then, he projected a pair of swords: one black and one white.
They were none other than Gan Jiang Mo Ye.
He walked to the hole that had just been made and looked down.
The person holding the crimson spear was not the familiar blue Lancer.
It was Ryuguuin Seiya, dressed in a black Craft Essence marked with crimson patterns.
"—"
Ryuguuin Seiya looked at the man in red above him and tightened his grip on Gae Bolg.
"So it really was projection?"
Archer said as he jumped down directly.
"You nearly fooled me. Did that brat make those projections for you? I broke so many of his bones, and he still had the mind to help you project weapons? What a single-minded fool."
Ryuguuin Seiya did not answer. He glanced at the group chat.
Kazuma Satou: "One-third."
Using the Chat Group's time slowdown, he thought rapidly.
Fuyuki Bridge was 319 meters long. If he ran it himself, it would take around forty seconds.
But his own physical ability could not be used as a reference.
Considering that among them was someone like Mahiro Oyama, a "shut-in girl" whose health was probably below even subpar, the maximum estimate would likely be over eighty seconds.
In the best-case scenario, he still needed to stall for another fifty seconds. In the worst-case scenario, it might take more than eighty seconds.
So—
Ryuguuin Seiya's choice was—
—Run.
He raised his hand and hurled the clutter from a nearby office desk at Archer.
Archer cut everything in half with a single slash.
Taking advantage of that moment, Ryuguuin Seiya did not run for the stairwell. Instead, he jumped through the hole he had pierced in the floor earlier.
Without any hesitation—
After landing, Ryuguuin Seiya rolled to disperse the impact and immediately ran toward the emergency exit.
But he did not run at full speed.
Instead, he listened carefully for sounds and movement overhead.
If the other side did not pursue him, he would turn back and continue harassing him. If Archer did chase him, then he would run for it.
His foremost task now was not to confront the mysterious man in red head-on, but to stall until Kazuma Satou and the others crossed the bridge.
Their team had already spent the whole day tangled up with this unnamed red Archer.
Every one of them had already lost a life, and his own injuries had yet to fully heal.
The most important thing now was staying alive.
Crack—!
The sound of shattering glass rang out.
Archer leaped in through a broken window from outside. Before he even landed, he threw the twin swords in his hands at Ryuguuin Seiya!
"Hm—"
Ryuguuin Seiya sidestepped one blade while raising his spear shaft to block the treacherous second blade that arrived almost simultaneously.
"Hmph."
Archer had no intention of talking. He swiftly closed in and projected another weapon at the same time!
He stepped forward and unleashed four lightning-fast slashes in succession!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Borrowing the force of the impacts and spinning his spear, Ryuguuin Seiya blocked every attack!
"?"
Archer frowned. He had assumed his opponent was merely putting on a show, but he actually possessed some skill with a spear?
"Huff—"
Ryuguuin Seiya took a deep breath and rapidly chanted.
"Swift as the wind, still as the forest, let my blood boil, crimson flames like fire!"
"Scarlet Blaze!"
The blood inside his body began to burn, and frantic crimson magical energy surged around him.
This was precisely the standard Craft Essence set he had been assigned!
Scarlet Blaze (D): Takeda Shingen, the Kai warlord of the Warring States era, who led the cavalry corps hailed as the strongest of the age and became famous throughout the turbulent land. Legend said that when he marched with his army, he was as unstoppable as blood and fire. Imitation Noble Phantasm Effect: Gains Mana Burst D, releasing a torrent of crimson magical energy to strengthen the entire body. He could also overdraw his own blood tide, burning it to make his magical energy even more violent.
Archer had already fought Ryuguuin Seiya during the day. Seeing the blood flames boiling around him—
Rather than retreat, he smiled. He closed his eyes in a pretentious pose and abruptly unleashed his own blue magical energy.
The moment Archer released his magical energy—
Ryuguuin Seiya seized the opening, turned around, and ran.
He even let out a mocking laugh.
Archer raised an eyebrow, bent his knees, and launched himself forward like a cannonball in pursuit.
The two chased each other from the thirty-eighth floor all the way down to the thirty-fifth.
Ryuguuin Seiya refused to fight him head-on, doing nothing but defend and flee, but he was eventually forced to the window.
Seeing Ryuguuin Seiya with nowhere left to retreat, Archer stepped forward to finish him.
But Ryuguuin Seiya once again exceeded his expectations.
Crack—
He smashed through the window!
And jumped outside.
?!
Archer stared at the scene, stunned for half a second.
He was human. Wouldn't jumping from here be suicide?
Archer walked to the window and looked down.
Ryuguuin Seiya had embedded the spear tip into the wall, sending sparks flying.
—His entire body wreathed in blood flames, he was racing across the wall of the dozens-of-meters-tall building!
A-Xiu: "Holy crap, what kind of style is this team going for?"
Conan: "...What kind of high school anime set is this?"
Tadakuni: "It's hard to imagine that he's around the same age as me."
Gokou Ruri: "Is he really not some professional stunt performer?"
Shendu: "He reminds me of an old acquaintance."
Rasu: "He's practically Superman."
Archer was not surprised. He projected his bow again, aimed at Ryuguuin Seiya, nocked Chains of Heaven, and began firing wildly.
Explosions erupted one after another across the building.
Ryuguuin Seiya displayed flawless footwork, but his opponent's archery was far from ordinary. Otherwise, he could not have pinned all of them down so disgustingly.
Archer's first few arrows merely forced him to adjust his route.
Then three arrows arrived almost at the same time, completely sealing off Ryuguuin Seiya's movement along the building's surface.
Even if he smashed through a window and jumped inside, he would probably be blown to death on the spot.
Ryuguuin Seiya directly pulled out his spear, coated his legs in crimson magical energy, bent his knees, and leaped outward.
"Are you seeking death?"
Faced with such an easy airborne target, Archer did not attack immediately when he saw this suicidal move.
Falling from this height would almost certainly mean death.
Even with magical energy reinforcing his body, he could not emerge unscathed.
Ryuguuin Seiya watched the ground rapidly draw closer. A bead of sweat formed on his forehead. To avoid being sniped, he had to pretend he had no means of landing safely.
Watching the ground continuously enlarge before him, he suppressed his instinctive fear.
Ten meters.
Not enough.
Eight meters.
The other side would still have time to react.
Five meters.
Before you continue