Leff's teasing words irritated Olga Marie somewhat.
"You think I don't know who I am? How could I possibly fail to see that?"
Olga Marie snorted and stared intently at Luo Zhen's simulated battle, as if glaring at him, before speaking in a low voice.
"He shared his senses with his Familiar, didn't he?"
That was right.
Luo Zhen had shared his senses with his Familiar.
Under such circumstances, the Familiars Luo Zhen had summoned and scattered throughout the forest had become his eyes and ears. Everything they saw and heard was relayed back to Luo Zhen.
This was not particularly astonishing.
Sharing one's senses with a Familiar was not unusual. Magi who possessed Familiars could basically all accomplish it.
The problem was that Luo Zhen was not sharing his senses with just one Familiar. He had shared them with hundreds, even thousands, of Familiars.
"The sights and sounds of hundreds or thousands of Familiars are all being transmitted into his mind, giving him hundreds of separate sets of senses. The fact that he hasn't gone insane is truly astonishing."
Leff sighed in admiration.
"Not to mention, Luo Zhen is perfectly controlling all of his Familiars, allowing every one of them to perform reconnaissance and even lure out the enemy. That level of control is impossible not to admire."
That was why Luo Zhen had been able to understand the terrain of the entire forest, locate the large number of enemies within it, and even exploit their low intelligence. Using the flock of birds that served as his Familiars, he had lured nearly all the enemies toward the high ground he had selected.
As a result, all these Lizardmen had become targets in the sights of the Sniper Rifle.
"If Luo Zhen's Servant were the type summoned normally, then it would be able to use its 'Noble Phantasm,' right?" Leff said with a smile. "If it could use its Noble Phantasm, then with its abilities, it would certainly be able to devise an even better strategy."
—The Noble Phantasm.
It was the strongest armament possessed by Heroic Spirits, as well as the trump card mentioned in that Heroic Spirit's legend.
Every Heroic Spirit possessed a Noble Phantasm from their lifetime, and its performance, power, and effects were just as described in legend.
Sometimes they were weapons; at other times, they could be shields, ornaments, or even the ultimate techniques used by the Heroic Spirit itself. They were true trump cards capable of determining the outcome of a battle.
If a Heroic Spirit itself was not very powerful, possessing only the strength of a High-Level Familiar, but its Noble Phantasm was extraordinarily powerful, it could still possibly defeat a Servant at the level of a Top-Level Familiar.
That was what a Noble Phantasm was: something possessing such overwhelming power that it could turn defeat into victory.
Noble Phantasms were also divided into ranks according to their strength.
From highest to lowest, there were five ranks in total: A, B, C, D, and E.
If the ranks were represented numerically, E-rank was roughly "10." Each increase in rank added another "10," making D-rank "20," C-rank "30," B-rank "40," and A-rank "50."
Under such circumstances, even if one's own strength was only that of a High-Level Familiar, if the opponent lacked a powerful Noble Phantasm while one possessed a high-ranked Noble Phantasm, one could turn defeat into victory and decide the outcome in a single move.
However, Noble Phantasm ranks sometimes also came with the concept of "+."
For example, A+ and B+. In such cases, it meant that the power could double in an instant.
C-rank was originally "30."
But C+ could double in an instant, surging to "60" and thus exceeding A-rank's "50."
That was the meaning of "+."
Besides that, there was also "++," which meant the power could instantly triple. If "+++" existed as well, it meant quadrupling the power, making it impossibly strong.
Incidentally, above A-rank, there was also Ex-rank.
This meant that the power was so great that comparison was meaningless. Numerically, it was "50" or above, outside the range of A to E.
Of course, if a "+" multiplier was involved—for example, if A+ was "100" and Ex-rank was also "100"—the two could be evenly matched. Ex-rank was not necessarily stronger than A-rank.
In short, no matter what, a Noble Phantasm was an extremely important trump card for a Heroic Spirit. Even when summoned as a Servant, its Noble Phantasm would be brought over along with its Class.
For example, if Luo Zhen's Servant had the Archer Class, then that bow was very likely its Noble Phantasm.
Perhaps that Servant had possessed other Noble Phantasms during its lifetime, such as a sword, but as a Servant manifested in the Archer Class, it would not possess the Noble Phantasm of a sword unless special circumstances applied.
This was the direction in which manifestation as a Servant was fixed. A Servant of the Archer Class would naturally be restricted to the domain of an archer.
"Unfortunately, Servants summoned for simulated battles have no will, their abilities are greatly reduced, and they can't even use their trump card—the Noble Phantasm."
Leff described it in a tone that was either regretful or resigned.
"If Servants could be perfectly summoned during simulated battles, then the Masters could receive more thorough training and accumulate a great deal more experience, right?"
Not only that.
If true Servants could really be summoned, Chaldea would also possess more abundant, more powerful, and greater numbers of combat forces.
When that time came, the restoration of the Human Order would proceed more smoothly as well.
In other words...
"Chaldea still has many shortcomings." Leff narrowed his eyes and spoke to Olga Marie with a meaningful tone. "If we don't work harder, Chaldea may end up holding back this exceptionally talented Master instead, you know?"
"Tsk..." Olga Marie bit her fingernail again, as if he had struck a sore spot.
Luo Zhen's outstanding qualities were enough to inspire such thoughts.
That was precisely why Olga Marie felt even more irritated.
"With such outstanding qualities, why can't he take things seriously?"
This was what irritated Olga Marie. She felt as if she were exasperated by someone who failed to live up to their potential.
And then...
(Could it be that you actually...)
As if she had recalled something, Olga Marie's face turned slightly pale.
At that moment, Leff suddenly raised his eyebrows.
"Looks like Luo Zhen has finally run into a bit of trouble."
Leff's words brought Olga Marie back to her senses. She hurriedly looked toward the screen.
Sure enough, the Lizardmen surrounding the tree where Luo Zhen was located had finally arrived.
"Even so, isn't there simply too many of them?"
Leff understood.
Archer's arrows were limited, after all. If he sniped them one by one, it was only natural that some fish would slip through the net and charge into the area around the sniping position.
With the large number of enemies added to the equation, the encirclement had naturally taken shape.
"Luring out too many enemies isn't necessarily a good thing, either."
Leff offered this assessment.
Olga Marie, on the other hand, had calmed down.
"It's fine. With his abilities, this level of trouble shouldn't be a problem."
Olga Marie expressed her certainty.
Before you continue