Chương 179: Running Away

"Lion King!"

"Ex!"

Amid the fierce battle, Lion King and Ex tilled thousands of acres of rocky, salty land on the outskirts, all the while shouting each other's names like Naruto and Sasuke.

They swung their weapons at the speed of light. From the looks of it, it seemed like they were ready to battle from Earth to the ends of the universe, shattering the very fabric of reality.

Their hundreds of sisters fought in groups of three to five, engaging in skirmishes or duels.

It was truly a dark day, with no sun or moon, where the earth trembled, and the wind carried a mournful cry.

If it weren't for the power system of the Servant Universe and these Artorias didn't intend to destroy the planet, Earth's fate would have been just like other planets caught in the chaos of the Artoria Species—became a part of the asteroid belt.

Even so, it was dramatic enough to instill a deep sense of fear, coldness, and powerlessness in anyone witnessing it, even someone as formidable as Altrouge Brunestud, the True Ancestor Princess.

'No, this... this can't be!'

'Th-this is... impossible...'

'Even Mother can't win, can she?!'

This thought flashed through Altrouge's mind, startling her. She struggled to suppress it, but the more she tried, the stronger it became.

Despite her worship for Crimson Moon and her emotional belief that Crimson Moon was invincible, reason and the terrifying battle unfolding before her reminded her that even the all-powerful Crimson Moon would be beaten to death.

Hundreds of these Artorias piled together, could likely overwhelm Crimson Moon.

As for the leaders, the imposing knight with a holy lance in one hand and a holy sword in the other, and the seemingly delicate girl with glasses, both of them possessed 'god-level' strength!

Altrouge couldn't determine who was stronger between them and Crimson Moon; it was beyond her judgment. All she knew was that either of them was stronger than herself.

Either one had the power to kill herself like killing an ant.

'...For now, I need to retreat.'

With a feeling of dread, Altrouge finally made her decision.

Retreat. She had to run.

Her life was at stake!

These people weren't joking around. This wasn't child's play. After this short bout, over a dozen Artorias had already fallen.

"Dammit..."

"Before I die, I want to see my son..."

"Such a shame..."

The dying Artorias were muttering words like those, before disappearing into particles of light.

Altrouge didn't understand the rules of the Servant Universe, so she believed that being hit by them would make her into particles of light like those women and leave nothing behind. She was extremely tense.

Even crouching behind them wasn't entirely safe. Occasionally, a stray light beam would graze by. If she waited any longer, she might end up like those women.

'I'm not running away...'

'It's just... it's just that so many strange women suddenly appeared. It's bound to have an impact on the grand plan of us, vampires.'

'So, I have to inform my mother as quickly as possible, so she can prepare.'

'Yes, it's for my mother.'

'It's definitely not because I'm scared.'

After consoling herself in this way, Altrouge turned away without hesitation with her knight following behind.

Perhaps, because the battle was too intense. On the side of the Dark Rounds, the girl with pale gold hair and amber dragon eyes with glasses, and on the side of the Order of Avalon, the mature woman with bright golden hair and emerald green eyes, didn't notice the departure of Altrouge and Svelten.

"Phew, we made it through."

Altrouge muttered quietly and breathed a sigh of relief, her lips curling up into a happy smile as she contemplated what cursed words to use to mock those Artorias.

'Although they are strong in combat, their perception is so low that they didn't even notice me approaching. Retard! All of them are retards! One by one, they don't seem to have high wisdom. Even if they are strong, they can't achieve much—Eh?'

Having quickly adjusted her emotions, Altrouge's train of thought got cut off as she suddenly collided with an invisible bounded field.

'It's a bounded field! Damn, when did they set this up?!'

Her heart rate increased significantly.

'Damn it, they don't want their battle to be discovered by others, so they set up this bounded field to isolate themselves. In that case, won't I be trapped? What to do...'

"Princess!"

Just as Altrouge was thinking this, she heard Svelten's anxious shout and sensed that something was wrong. The sounds of battle around her had disappeared.

It was eerily silent.

As she thought like that, Altrouge abruptly turned her head, and her heart didn't just speed up, it stopped altogether.

Because, she saw that everyone around her, both the Order of Avalon and the Dark Rounds, had stopped their battles and were looking at her, who was trying to escape with various expressions.

"..."

"H-Hey, everyone, I was just passing by... um, can we pretend as if nothing happened and let me go?"

Altrouge forced a fawning smile and said to the surrounding Artorias.

Of course, that wasn't going to work.

The Artorias, regardless of how fierce the battle had just been, stopped in an instant.

The Order of Avalon's members had expressionless faces, while the members of the Dark Rounds had sinister smiles on their faces as they started approaching the two vampires.

"Stop!"

Svelten shouted loudly as he was desperate to protect his princess and released his Reality Marble—Parade.

But the next second, he was blasted to bits by the shining white beam, and his appearance became unrecognizable. He was thrown aside like disposable trash and couldn't stop the Artorias from advancing, leaving shoeprints all over him.

Seeing this scene, Altrouge became even more frightened.

"D-Don't come!" She shouted in panic, desperately pushing her legs against the unbreakable bounded field, attempting to retreat, but unable to move back.

As she watched one by one, the smiling Artorias getting closer and closer, Altrouge's mind finally broke down.

"Nooo! Don't come any closer!"

This was a little incident that happened three days ago.