Hey, Are You Really Human? / Are the Red Faction's Masters... All Monsters?

With an indifferent tone, Saber began to scan the battlefield, quickly locking onto a certain direction, her eyes lighting up:

"That's it!"

The next second, the entire car began to shake violently.

Creak--

The screeching of brakes and the acrid smell of burning tires accompanied a dilapidated sports car as it crashed into the battlefield.

"Huh, Saber."

Lily saw Saber emerge from the parked car and wave to her.

"Hey, Caster!"

Saber's eyes lit up when she saw Lily as well. She had only sensed the presence of Servant here, but she hadn't expected to encounter Lily herself.

"Caster, where is your Master?"

When Shishigou, who also emerged from the car, saw Lily all alone, he frowned and asked her a question.

"There--"

Shishigou looked in the direction Lily was pointing, and when Wang Xiaoming came into his view, he subconsciously reached out to adjust his sunglasses to prevent them from slipping off due to his surprised expression.

"Hey, are you kidding me?"

--That guy Kadoya is actually fighting a pretty good battle with one of the [Black] faction's Servant, and it seems like he's even getting the upper hand?

[Number of updates due: 1]

[Blade Progress: 170/200]

Thank you again to all the generous donors for your generous donations and accusations. Wishing all my readers a happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

(Although it's a bit late lol)

Chapter 228. Hey, are you really human?

"Your opponent is me, Rider."

"Wait... wait a minute!"

Seeing Caster's Master walking towards him, Astolfo, completely bewildered by the turn of events, hurriedly reached out to stop him.

After Wang Xiaoming stopped, Rider began to reorganize his thoughts.

Pointing in Lily's direction, Rider asked Wang Xiaoming.

"She is Caster, and you are her Master, right?"

"That's right."

After receiving an affirmative answer, Rider pointed to himself again:

"I am Rider, a Servant [Black] faction."

"I know."

Seeing that the man opposite him still had a "I'm serious" expression, Rider couldn't help but scratch his head and then said loudly:

"But you're human, right? It's so strange for a human to fight Servant!"

"It's not surprising at all; you're making a big fuss over nothing."

Upon hearing Astolfo's words, Wang Xiaoming forced a "serious" expression, but the smile deep in his eyes was impossible to hide.

"Huh?"

"You were able to remain unharmed under our Assassin's magical cannon before, you must have some means of defending against Magecraft, right?"

Of course!

After hearing the other Master's compliment, Rider puffed out her chest smugly. "My [Magecraft] can grant me Rank A Magic Resistance!"

"So that's the name..."

"Wait, you're trying to trick me again!"

Rider, realizing what was happening, glared at Wang Xiaoming. However, Wang Xiaoming ignored him, waving his hand and saying:

"Now is not the time to talk about this. Since you have that 'True Magic strategy guide'..."

Ignoring Rider's disgruntled grumbling, "It's a Magecraft encyclopedia!", Wang Xiaoming looked up and stared into his eyes, asking:

"Isn't it unfair to have Caster as your opponent?"

"Huh?"

Seeing Wang Xiaoming's serious expression, Rider hesitated slightly before nodding, but then shook his head vigorously as if denying his own decision.

"Even so, fighting against humans is just too strange!"

"For us, I'm a better match for you than Caster, whom you completely counter."

"Waaah..."

"If you keep agonizing over this, your Master might come after you. In my experience, Magecraft aren't exactly patient people."

Wang Xiaoming was right. Rider could already hear his Master's impatient urging. Considering the woman's terrible personality, Rider could only sigh helplessly and raise his spear, pointing it at the man opposite him.

"Although I'm known for being honest, it's Servant's duty to give my all in battle. So don't think I'll go easy on you just because you're human, Caster's Master."

"Please rest assured about that, Rider."

Upon hearing Rider's reply, Wang Xiaoming smiled and took a few steps forward to a pit.

--That area was created by the Noble Phantasm that [Black] Archer used to snipe Achilles.

The culprit behind all this, the spear, remains stuck in its original spot, and for some reason, it hasn't disappeared.

Pull the spear out of the ground:

"I do have a little bit of experience in combat."

"Then, [Black] side's Rider, Knight— Astolfo— is going up!"

Wang Xiaoming casually weighed the spear in his hand, then turned his gaze back to Rider, who was holding the spear and assuming a fighting stance.

"Then, Tsukasa Kadoya, Master of the [Red] Caster, shall face the challenge."

Guns clashed, sparks flying everywhere.

Having barely managed to fend off the opponent's attack, Astolfo staggered back a few steps. Once he regained his balance, Rider's face was filled with disbelief:

"It's... it's a lie, right?!"

How could he, one of Twelve Paladins of Charlemagne, be defeated by this man before him?

--This is terrifying!

"What are you thinking about, Rider!"

In the instant Rider was stunned, Wang Xiaoming's mocking voice echoed in his ears, and Rider subconsciously raised his gun to shield himself.

The next second, the immense force from the gun sent Rider flying backward.

"It hurts--"

The instant he fell to the ground, Rider, with no time to complain, immediately twisted his head to the left, barely dodging the fatal blow that was coming after him. Then, in an extremely ungraceful manner, he rolled several times to create distance between himself and Wang Xiaoming.

Once he stood up again, the first thing Rider did wasn't to pick up a weapon and fight back, but rather to loudly question Wang Xiaoming in a very dissatisfied tone:

"Hey, are you really human?!"

This is a question not only Rider wants to ask, but also Shishigou outside the battlefield has the same doubts.

Having stood by and watched the battle for some time, Shishigou, as an observer, had a much clearer view of the situation on both sides than Rider.

--From the very beginning of the battle, Kadoya completely overwhelmed the [Black] Rider in terms of strength, speed, and even gunmanship.

Shishigou's gaze instinctively shifted to his Servant: "Saber, if you were to face Kadoya, what would the outcome be?"

"I'm sure I'll win!"

Upon hearing the question from Shishigou, Saber immediately retorted with dissatisfaction, but then lowered her voice slightly and continued, "It's just... perhaps it will be a bit tricky."

As a former Knights of the Round Table, Saber has seen far more than her Master has.

As the one being suppressed, Astolfo's proficiency with his lance far surpasses that of any ordinary knight Saber had ever seen.

Furthermore, Saber sensed something ominous emanating from the spear in Rider's hand.

"It must be Noble Phantasm," Saber thought.

Since it is Noble Phantasm, we must always be cautious no matter how weak its power may be.

However, Caster's Master is different. No matter how Rider swings his spear, his attacks are always dodged or blocked by the slightest margin.

Moreover, judging from his slightly languid expression, it seemed as if... he still had energy left.

Seeing Saber's solemn expression, and remembering how they had been chatting and laughing together just moments before, Shishigou couldn't help but gasp.

"What kind of monster is this guy?!"

At that moment, a sound coming from nearby caught the attention of Shishigou and Saber--

"It's Reinforcement Magecraft."

By the way, I'd like to recommend a friend's book, a tokusatsu (special effects) work.

<My name is GARO!>

Synopsis: In this unknown world, on this unknown continent, countless races live together.

Now, relentless darkness is about to engulf this land, and the gods are about to reign over this world once more.

Legend has it that at this time, Golden Sword, shining with divine light, will be wielded by a new golden swordsman, who will tear through the darkness and annihilate the gods for what he seeks to protect!

Its name is: Golden Knight - GARO!

PS: This is a niche tokusatsu (?) + pseudo-D&D isekai genre story. It's about a protagonist who is reborn and transmigrates twice to become a Lord of the Rings knight. There will still be many 'familiar faces'. That's probably the freedom of D&D.

Chapter 229. Are all the Master of the Red Faction monsters?

"It's Reinforcement Magecraft."

Shishigou and Saber looked in the direction of the sound and found that Lily had arrived beside them. Perhaps because they were both preoccupied with the battle between Wang Xiaoming and Rider, neither of them noticed Lily's arrival.

However, these are not the problems right now.

"Caster, you're saying that the reason Kadoya was able to fight Rider from the [Black] faction is because of his Reinforcement Magecraft?"

"That's right."

"That's impossible!"

Seeing Lily nod, Shishigou instinctively wanted to deny her statement, but after thinking of Caster's real name, his tone became hesitant:

"Even the Magecraft of the Age of Gods..."

"Hey, Master, what are you saying?!"

Saber, who knew nothing about Magecraft, both in her past and present life, asked somewhat impatiently after hearing her Master's mutterings.

"Reinforcement Magecraft, as the name suggests, involves applying Magecraft power to objects to enhance their material properties, strengthen vulnerable parts, and so on. Higher levels of enhancement will elevate one's social class."

"But this is clearly more than just an enhancement, isn't it?"

"That's right. No matter how high the enhancement level is, it's definitely not possible for a Magecraft to fight against Servant and even suppress the Servant."