"Tsk, as expected, it can't be penetrated."
Richard muttered something.
But he didn't stop.
He kept shooting arrows, not to cause harm, but to distract Origami.
And behind him.
The Bull of Heaven has adjusted its stance.
It lowered its head.
The enormous bull's head faced the Origami, golden arcs of electricity crackling around its horns.
It roared angrily at the sky.
"Moo!!!"
Immediately afterwards, with it as the center --
Hundreds of millions of bolts of lightning erupted.
Golden lightning bolts shot out from its body in all directions, like a sun rising from the ground. The entire battlefield was engulfed in golden electric light.
Lightning cannot penetrate the Atheism that protects Origami.
But they don't need a breakthrough.
These lightning bolts serve only one purpose: to obscure vision.
Blinding golden lightning flashed from all directions.
I couldn't see anything else.
Origami stood in the eye of the lightning, her view completely blocked.
Hassan of the Zealot approached silently from the shadows.
Despite the interference of lightning, Hassan of the Zealot's figure approached Origami.
The Fish Intestine Sword was in her hand; its blade was jet black and had no reflection.
Her presence had been completely concealed, merging into the light and noise of the lightning.
One strike.
The Fish Intestine Sword pierced from behind the Origami, its target the gap in the Astral Dress.
Two of the ten wings of light automatically turned and blocked the trajectory of the Fish Intestine Sword.
"Bite!"
The black sword was deflected by the light wings.
Hassan of the Zealot did not linger in the fight; having missed her first attack, she immediately retreated and disappeared in the flash of lightning.
Gan Jiang and Mo Xie.
Two Yin-Yang swords appeared in her hands.
The black and white swords slashed simultaneously at Origami's side.
Two more wings of light automatically turned and blocked the attack.
Clang! Clang!
Two collisions in quick succession.
Hassan of the Zealot retreated again.
She can't break through.
The automated defense system composed of ten light wings is too sophisticated.
No matter the angle or timing of her attack, the light wings always manage to block its trajectory before it arrives.
Those ten wings of light seemed to have their own consciousness, perfectly protecting Origami's entire body.
But that's right.
Her task was not to break through the defenses.
It drains your attention while doing Origami.
The Origami interfered with Origami's ability to concentrate on charging up her Kadour, preventing her from using her hands to deal with others.
Under the cover of lightning.
The Bull of Heaven moved.
Its body, taller than a mountain, supported itself on its remaining three legs and charged towards the direction where Origami was.
Its speed is unbelievable.
Each step left a huge crater in the ground, and the entire earth trembled.
Under normal circumstances, this blow would not have been able to damage Origami.
Although the Bull of Heaven's divine beast body is enormous, its attack method is essentially the impact of its divine beast body. Divinity attacks are completely ineffective against Origami.
Sajyou Manaka was naturally aware of this as well.
So she made preparations.
Sajyou Manaka stood in the distance, drawing a circle in the air with her right hand.
The Magecraft is activated.
A transparent protective barrier condensed and took shape on the surface of the Bull of Heaven.
This barrier has no distinguishing features other than its hardness.
It carries no Divinity, no attributes; it is simply a physical barrier constructed purely of Magecraft.
But it opened up a possibility.
The Bull of Heaven may be able to strike the Origami with pure physical impact.
Without this barrier, even if the Bull of Heaven were to directly collide with Origami, all the damage it caused would be nullified by Atheism.
Because Atheism determines the nature of the source of the attack.
The essence of the Bull of Heaven is a divine beast, possessing Divinity. Its charge, its lightning, its horn strikes—all are imbued with Divinity concepts.
But with this barrier, the situation is different.
The Bull of Heaven itself wasn't the first to collide with the Origami.
It's not the barrier itself.
The barrier was created by Sajyou Manaka using Magecraft; it contains no Divinity and is a typical man-made Magecraft artifact.
Atheism has no effect on its judgment.
The Bull of Heaven only needs to use its strength to push the barrier.
That's enough to send the Origami flying.
Origami, distracted by the lightning, couldn't clearly see the Bull of Heaven's movements.
By the time she realized it...
That behemoth was already within reach.
There was no time to dodge.
The Bull of Heaven crashed into us.
It wasn't its body that directly collided with the Origami.
It's that transparent barrier.
The moment the barrier and the Origami Astral Dress collided, a tremendous impact was generated.
Origami felt as if she had been hit head-on by a fully loaded truck.
The power propelled by the mountain-like body of the Bull of Heaven was transmitted to Origami through the barrier.
Her body was thrown out as if hit by a cannonball.
"Boom!"
Origami's body traced a silvery-white trajectory in the air, flying thousands of meters before crashing into several abandoned buildings.
The building collapsed under her impact.
Dust flew everywhere.
Sajyou Manaka sighed softly from a distance.
"She wasn't hurt."
In the ruins.
Origami rose from the broken bricks.
He patted the dust off his clothes.
I was stunned for a moment after being hit.
That's all.
The Astral Dress protected her entire body, and she didn't suffer any real harm.
"This time, the other side was indeed well-prepared."
Origami frowned slightly.
The lightning continued, and the Bull of Heaven's Thunder Domain still enveloped the entire battlefield.
Origami stood at the gap in the ruins, watching the Bull of Heaven in the distance, which was gathering its strength again.
I need to take this more seriously.
at the same time.
East of Snowfield City.
A dilapidated three-story apartment building.
This is a room that has been temporarily requisitioned as the Master's residence.
The room was full of people.
They were all students in El-Melloi Classroom.
The young Magecraft gathered around a portable monitor, the screen displaying footage of the battle on the west side of Snowfield City.
Those were real-time images transmitted back by the reconnaissance familiars they had deployed throughout the city.
"Oh my god... what is that?"
"A cow. A mountain of cows that can walk."
"What was that silvery-white light? Was it Archer?"
"It must be. That Servant blew up the city center like that yesterday."
Are we really not going to help?
"No."
The speaker was a girl with long brown hair.
She is one of the students in El-Melloi Classroom, and also one of the Master of Hippolyta's Servant.
"The teacher said that Servant are not allowed to participate in any battles targeting that silver-haired Archer. Avoid them if you can."
"But that cow—"
"That cow is not something we can touch."
The girl shook her head.
"Have you forgotten what the city center looked like yesterday? Getting involved will only hasten our demise."
Silence filled the room.
Faint explosions and the roar of thunder could be heard in the distance.
On the rooftop of another building.
Hippolyta stood by the railing, gazing at the battle lights to the west.
The golden lightning reflected on her face.
Her hands gripped the railing tightly.
She wanted to go.
Her warrior instincts told her that there was a worthy opponent over there.
But the Master ' orders were clear.
You are not allowed to participate.
"... never mind."
Hippolyta released the railing.
She turned and headed for the stairs.
North of Snowfield City.
In a dark alleyway far from the battlefield.
A figure leaned against the wall.
Alcides.
No, to be precise.
It is the product of Alcides ' soul possessing the body of Master Bazdilot.
Previously in the Underworld, he used the " Usurper of the Heavenly Wind " to steal a portion of the Underworld's sovereign power from Ereshkigal.
With this power, his soul was able to remain in the real world for a short time.
Then he found his original Master, Bazdilot Cortillio.
It possessed his body.
He is now acting in the body of Bazdilot. An ordinary person's shell, containing the soul of a Servant.
Its power was greatly limited.
But it's enough to fight.
He noticed the huge commotion on the west side of the city.
Golden lightning, explosions, and the earth tremors.
He pushed himself off the wall and walked to the west.
Each step is faster than the last.
That silver-haired Servant.
The man who killed him.
He's going to find her.
Even if it's just this incomplete body.
Even if it's only partial power.
He wanted revenge.
His figure disappeared at the end of the dark alley.
West of Snowfield City.
Origami flew out from the ruins.
The ten wings of light fully unfolded once more.
The realm of lightning continues, but Origami is no longer passively standing within it.
Her gaze pierced through the lightning and locked onto the location of the Bull of Heaven.
Then she looked at the rock where Sajyou Manaka was standing.
"Did you put that barrier up?"
Sajyou Manaka smiled slightly.
"We've been discovered."
"Quite smart."
There was no Wrath in the sound of Origami.
There was only a calm that had stirred up fighting spirit.
"Using a non- Divinity barrier to bypass the judgment of Atheism is indeed a good method."
"Thank you for the compliment."
"But I won't fall for it a second time."