Chapter 511: Chapter 511: Shinji Appears
Like Shinji, Atalanta never considered herself a hero. She was merely a hunter, a hunter who used the most effective methods to hunt her prey.
For the black Berserker before her, the most effective hunting method was to kill his Master. Once the Master was dead, the vampire would lose his anchor and source of magical power, making him much easier to kill.
An arrow, almost merging with the dim corridor, left the bowstring. Although not particularly fast, it was silent, a shooting technique she had developed specifically for hunting extremely alert prey.
The arrow smoothly cut through the air, like a venomous snake aiming for Darnic's eyes. By the time he realized the danger and tried to evade it, it was already too late.
The arrow carried enough destructive power to rival an anti-materiel sniper rifle. If it hit, Darnic's head would explode. With the loss of his source of magical power and without the reinforcement of command spells, the vampire wouldn't be far from disappearing.
Atalanta had calculated everything before making her move; this was her way of hunting.
Unfortunately, her hunt did not succeed this time.
She hadn't underestimated Darnic's strength, nor had the vampire broken through the siege of two Servants to rescue his Master. The true reason for her hunting failure was the intervention of a third party.
A crescent-like flash of light sliced through the black arrow in front of Darnic.
It was a scythe, with a smooth, mirror-like metal blade attached to a black wooden handle. Both the blade and handle were clean and unadorned, looking very simple.
The weapon's owner was dressed just as plainly, with a dark cloak covering his entire body and a hood hiding his face, exuding no presence, like a ghost.
Such characteristics belonged to only one class. Atalanta's cat-like pupils shrank suddenly.
"You are the black Assassin!!!"
"Get down. Don't just stand there as a target, unless you plan to face a Servant head-on."
The cloaked man didn't pull back his hood. He spoke to Darnic in a voice that was calm and unquestionable. Though the voice was familiar, its coldness and authority made it seem strange to everyone.
"Assassin, how did you—"
"If you still want the Holy Grail, follow me."
"Wait, wait, the Holy Grail?"
Not giving Darnic a chance to finish, Shinji, seeming like a completely different person, leaped off the pillar with his scythe in hand and walked forward. Darnic, not daring to stay behind and face Atalanta's arrows alone, quickly followed.
The holy banner waved, and the saint tasked with adjudication blocked their path.
"Black Assassin, what are you planning?"
"Fulfilling the duties of a Servant and the black faction, defeating the red faction, and reclaiming the Holy Grail."
Shinji kept walking, not stopping.
"And you don't care about the black Berserker?"
Jeanne's face showed a hint of anger. She could tolerate the choices of other Servants, but not the black Assassin, her ally, someone also chosen by the Holy Grail. His actions mattered to her.
"No need to care."
"Why? Aren't you worried about the irreparable consequences he might cause?"
The more Jeanne spoke, the more anxious she became, but Shinji remained unmoved, passing her by.
"Black Assassin!"
In a moment of desperation, Jeanne forcefully grabbed Shinji's wrist.
"Tell me what you're thinking. I want to know."
Perhaps it was the saint's persistence that made refusal impossible, or maybe it was Jeanne's wavering expression that made Shinji relent. He finally stopped and his tone softened a bit.
"Sorry, time is tight. There's no time to explain."
"At least give me an answer."
Jeanne lifted her head, her sky-blue eyes meeting another pair of blue eyes through the cloak.
"Fine. Without evidence, there can be no conviction. Without an action, there is no crime. The black Berserker hasn't violated any rules."
While true, this wasn't Shinji's real intention.
Whether he was guilty or not, whether he broke the rules or not, he didn't care. Right now, he only wanted to use every available force to swiftly penetrate the deepest part of the Hanging Gardens and reclaim his family.
To achieve this goal, he didn't mind using any power, even that of a vampire or a demon.
"But if he breaks the rules, it will be too late. This is Romania out there."
"Don't worry. Although he has turned into a vampire, his mind remains that of Vlad III, the Grand Duke of Romania. He won't harm his country's people without reason. If he dares to, I will kill him—I've forgotten to mention, when it comes to dealing with vampires, I'm a true expert. I've killed dozens if not a hundred."—Though most were weaklings.
When it came to understanding Vlad III, even Darnic was no match for Shinji. He knew the three different states of Vlad III's dual classes, he knew Vlad's character in each state, and he knew his convictions. Even if Vlad went mad, as a Berserker, he wasn't a devil without limits—as long as Darnic didn't imprint his existence into Vlad III's soul like in "Fate/Apocrypha," turning him into a creature of pure obsession and instinct.
Even if the settings and reality diverged, Shinji didn't care. Dracula was a monster derived from the Dead Apostles, and their weaknesses were his weaknesses. As the Captain of the Dead Apostle hunting squad, Shinji had extensive experience hunting vampires. Dracula was indeed stronger than Vlad III in terms of power. But due to their different natures, Shinji found Dracula easier to deal with than Vlad III. Even if Dracula left the Hanging Gardens and took control of them, Shinji was confident he could kill him.
And if he couldn't, so what? The Twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors couldn't overturn the world, and neither could the Crimson Moon, the source of all vampires. A mere Dracula? Did he think the modern era, with its declining mysteries, was easy to conquer?
Even if Dracula was invincible and unstoppable, it wouldn't matter. After all, it wasn't Shinji's world. If it was destroyed, it was destroyed. He would feel guilty, sad, and remorseful for his incompetence, but all of this paled in comparison to Justeaze.
Yes, Shinji was that selfish. He wasn't a hero.
He wasn't one in the past, isn't one now, and has no plans to be one in the future.
"Saber, Archer, Caster—I'll handle Berserker. If you trust me, come with me. If not, please don't obstruct me. I don't want to be your enemy."
As Shinji spoke, he gently pried Jeanne's hand off and resumed walking.
Jeanne wanted to say something but remained silent in the end.
Chiron watched his new pupil pass by, sighing and shaking his head.
Siegfried and Avicebron, maintaining their usual silence, one sheathing his sword and the other with arms crossed, quietly stepped back.
These heroes couldn't bring themselves to stand alongside a blood-sucking monster, choosing instead to observe from the sidelines.
Finally, he arrived at the side of the vampire Dracula, his gaze fixed on the two renowned heroes blocking his path.
"Move aside!"
"What a joke! If you want to keep going, you'll have to get past me first!"
Achilles signaled to Karna to keep the vampire occupied while he turned his spear to launch an attack on this old rival.
"If you don't want to die, then don't block my way." Shinji's voice returned to its earlier icy tone.
"Who dies is yet to be seen—"
"Not good."
"This is!!!"
Achilles' sentence abruptly caught in his throat, and both Chiron and Atalanta's expressions changed drastically.
In Shinji's hand appeared a black shield, its center adorned with the lifelike visage of a beautiful face.
To the Heroic Spirits of ancient Greece, the fame of this shield was overwhelming, even surpassing Achilles' Shield and Great Ajax's "Rho Aias."
Its name was "Aegis, the Shield of Athena!"
But its true terror lay not in the shield's defense, but in the head of the Gorgon embedded in its center. More precisely, in the piercing eyes of the Gorgon.
And now, those eyes were open.
The Gaze of the Medusa!
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