Arrow Leaping Through the Forest

Arrow Leaping Through the Forest

At that moment, Luo Zhen's consciousness began to drift away.

His mind seemed to split into hundreds of fragments, flying toward every corner of the forest.

Then, hundreds of images surfaced in his mind.

They were scenes from every corner of the forest.

Some of those images remained still, like footage seen through surveillance cameras, while others were in motion, reporting the conditions throughout the forest to Luo Zhen.

And so, Luo Zhen saw them.

From every corner of the forest, one "aberration" after another was racing this way.

They were Lizardmen with bluish-green muscles covering their bodies, fangs protruding from their mouths, clubs clutched in their hands, and heads resembling those of crocodiles or lizards.

"Grrraar!"

"Grrraar!"

The Lizardmen roared like beasts as they charged toward Luo Zhen.

Looking closely, a small bird was flying ahead of each of those Lizardmen.

Clearly, the Lizardmen had chased those birds in Luo Zhen's direction.

With his eyes closed, Luo Zhen watched the scenes and calculated inwardly.

"Individually, they aren't frightening. They're only Mid-Level Familiars, and I can defeat one alone. But there are too many—312 in total, and the number is still increasing."

"With this many, if I get surrounded while alone, even ten of them would give me nearly a ninety percent chance of being unable to escape. Even with Archer, a few dozen would be manageable, but this many would be dangerous even if we faced only half of them."

"A Simulated Battle is still a Simulated Battle. Having a Servant doesn't mean guaranteed victory. There has to be some difficulty, or it won't serve as training."

"What a pity..."

"I still have to stomp the weaklings."

As Luo Zhen muttered to himself, Archer behind him had somehow already drawn a bow.

"Hum!"

As surging magical energy flowed, an arrow appeared in Archer's hand and was nocked onto the bowstring.

At that instant, Luo Zhen also poured magical energy into Archer's body.

Servants were ultimately spiritual entities. They relied on magical energy to materialize, and they did not inherently exist in this world. If they wished to remain here, someone had to provide them with magical energy.

The magical energy required by a Servant could not be supplied by a Magus alone. This was one reason humans could not Summon Servants by themselves.

A Servant consumed magical energy simply by existing.

Once battle began, the expenditure became even more astonishing.

Fortunately, as the Masters' support, Chaldea could pay that magical energy cost through the Heroic Spirit Summoning System.

However, a Master's existence was still necessary to a Servant.

As long as they had a Master bound to them by contract, that Master could use the pathway established through their contract to supply magical energy to the Servant.

And the more magical energy there was, the greater the power a Servant could unleash.

Now, Luo Zhen supplied Archer with a great amount of magical energy, causing the black mist around Archer to churn with all its might as though it had come alive.

Then...

"Three o'clock! Fire!"

Luo Zhen gave the order.

"Thoom!"

With a sound like a bell being struck, an arrow became a shooting star and shot forward.

The moment Archer released the string, the arrow launched with tremendous force, whipping up a violent gust as it descended toward one area of the forest.

There, a Lizardman happened to be running toward them, meeting the incoming arrow head-on.

"Squelch!"

The sound of flesh tearing rang out.

The arrow, saturated with magical energy, pierced the Lizardman's bluish-green skin, hard as iron, tore through the incomparably dense muscles beneath it, and drove straight through its chest before bursting out of its back.

"Guaaah!"

The Lizardman let out a pained cry and collapsed dead amid a spray of blood.

Only then did the sound of the arrow tearing through the air and the impact of its gust reach them.

The monster Luo Zhen would have needed tremendous effort to kill alone died instantly to a single strike from a Servant.

This was the power of a Servant.

This was the beginning of slaughter.

Luo Zhen issued another command.

"Seven o'clock! Fire!"

The arrow streaked across the sky, shooting toward seven o'clock.

"Squelch!"

The sound of flesh tearing rang out again as a Lizardman's head was pierced through. It died without even having time to scream.

"Eleven o'clock! Fire!"

The arrow flew through the forest, shooting straight toward the direction Luo Zhen indicated.

"Squelch!"

Another Lizardman was pierced through the body. Driven by the tremendous force of the arrow, it slammed into a tree behind it and was nailed there.

Thus, Luo Zhen began issuing commands without pause.

"One o'clock! Fire!"

"Five o'clock! Fire!"

"Nine o'clock! Fire!"

"Twelve o'clock! Fire!"

"Eight o'clock!"

"Five o'clock!"

"Ten o'clock!"

"Seven o'clock!"

"Fire!"

"Fire!"

"Fire!"

Under Luo Zhen's successive commands, arrows filled with magical energy leaped through the forest, shooting furiously toward one Lizardman after another.

Every arrow hit a Lizardman without exception, piercing, tearing apart, or sending their bodies flying. One powerful Lizardman after another died on the spot, falling into pools of blood.

"Grrraar!"

"Grrraar!"

The Lizardmen's roars sounded one after another, whether in anger or fear, no one knew.

Even so, Archer's shooting continued.

And although the Lizardmen's numbers were steadily decreasing, they continued advancing without pause.

Chaldea, Central Command Room.

Here, the reports of the technical staff also rang out continuously.

"Spiritron Dive—everything normal!"

"Virtual World—maintaining stability!"

"Simulated Battle—proceeding smoothly!"

"Magical energy readings are fluctuating steadily! Continue monitoring!"

"Continue monitoring!"

"Monitor!"

The technical staff shouted their reports while operating the instruments before them, busy beyond measure.

Olga Marie looked out over the scene and watched the projection screens spread out before her.

The Simulated Battles of nine Masters were being displayed there.

Olga Marie inspected them one by one before stopping at one of them.

That was Luo Zhen's Simulated Battle.

Watching Luo Zhen continuously issue commands to the Servant beside him, allowing Archer to display flawless marksmanship and precisely shoot down the advancing Lizardmen one after another, Olga Marie could not help biting her nail.

"His qualities are as outstanding as ever—you think so too, don't you?"

The words came from Leff, who stood beside Olga Marie.

Leff was also watching Luo Zhen's Simulated Battle. As though he clearly knew what Olga Marie was thinking, he smiled as he spoke.

"To achieve those results, what exactly did he do? I believe you can see it, Marie?"

Leff spoke in a slightly teasing tone.

PS: (Everyone thinks Archers are all melee fighters? Today, I'll show you what a real Archer looks like! :-D)

PS2: (Please recommend! Please click! Please save!)