147 Marble Phantasm

On the rooftop, staring at Roa, who was gleefully darting about, Arcueid was starting to grow impatient.

She didn't have the luxury of wasting time on him... this needed to end quickly.

Suddenly, she recalled Roy's earlier advice about her combat style. A glimmer of realization flashed in her eyes. With a sweeping motion of her hands, she gathered her magical energy and materialized numerous bizarrely shaped blades around her, hurling them toward Roa in an unrelenting torrent.

"You're overflowing with magical energy. Focusing purely on brute force is a waste of your unique abilities."

These words were Roy's critique.

"Try to understand your unique potential... perceive its essence and transformation." 

"Analyze. Reconstruct. Manifest. Go on, create something entirely new."

The echoes of his guidance replayed in her mind. Roy attempted to push her toward realizing her full potential.

When Roy first witnessed Arcueid's absurdly straightforward combat style, he was practically driven mad with frustration. Even though he knew her intellect wasn't her strong suit, he hadn't expected her to squander such extraordinary talent so carelessly.

After all, Arcueid's ability, Marble Phantasm, was one of the most absurd and powerful in existence, even within the context of the moonlit world.

It was no less formidable than Roy's Heaven's Feel or Zelretch's Kaleidoscope.

But in her hands, this miraculous ability was almost entirely neglected, used passively at best.

Marble Phantasm, as the name suggests, is a unique power inherent to her as a nature-aligned spirit. It connects her will to the world itself, allowing her to alter reality in accordance with her imagination.

In simpler terms, it enables her to manifest objects she visualizes in her mind, creating something out of nothing.

For comparison, Emiya Shirou's projection magic relies on replicating weapons based on their legendary origins, producing imitations. This is why Gilgamesh disdainfully refers to them as fakes. However, anything manifested through Arcueid's Marble Phantasm would be so authentic that even Gilgamesh couldn't label it a forgery.

This power is utterly broken, on par with the most revered True Magic. Armed with sufficient knowledge of legendary armaments, she could conjure divine constructs tailored to counter any opponent, no matter the situation.

Yet such an incredible ability was almost forgotten by this golden-haired simpleton, wasted as she recklessly relied on brute strength alone.

After defeating Nrvnqsr Chaos, Roy had taken it upon himself to tutor her in how to properly utilize her overpowered skill.

Using Gilgamesh's combat style as a teaching template, he guided Arcueid toward emulating the King of Heroes' tactics.

If a quick melee kill with her claw strike worked, that was ideal.

But if faced with a persistent and troublesome foe, she should fully exploit her Marble Phantasm to summon weapons that counter her opponent's strengths. From there, she could overwhelm them with a constant barrage of weaponized destruction.

The strategy revolved around targeted weapon deployment, long-range attrition, and exploiting openings to deliver a decisive blow.

And so, faced with a rain of Black Keys and specialized anti-demon weapons made from enchanted mithril, Roa found himself utterly stunned.

"What in the world?!"

After countless cycles of reincarnation and evasion, Roa had grown familiar with Arcueid's straightforward tactics. But now, this sudden shift left him reeling.

"Arcueid, you're breaking the rules!"

What kind of absurd battle strategy was this?!

As the relentless Black Key storm raged around him, Roa couldn't help but question his existence.

In their prior confrontations, Arcueid had stuck to her claws and fists, tearing him apart with primal savagery. So why was she suddenly raining firepower down on him like an artillery brigade?

Roa had even invested heavily in close-combat techniques to counter her melee attacks, only to find his preparation utterly useless.

This time, Arcueid wasn't the same berserker brute he had faced before. She had transformed into a devastating long-range mage capable of unleashing a firestorm of weapons. The stark contrast rendered all of Roa's careful planning meaningless.

Even worse, she wasn't just summoning random weapons... Arcueid dared to manifest the Church's anti-demon arsenal, weapons specifically designed to annihilate Dead Apostles like himself.

"Have you forgotten your identity, you damned fool?!" Roa shouted in rage as he fled, weaving through the relentless assault.

"You're the White Princess of the True Ancestors! Where is your pride?!"

Watching the Black Keys rain down like divine judgment, Roa cursed under his breath.

However, he also knew there was little he could do against Arcueid's unorthodox tactics.

The weapons she summoned, modeled on anti-demon tools Roy had acquired from the Church, were near-perfect replicas. Thanks to the unreasonable power of Marble Phantasm, these weapons were functionally identical to their originals and equally effective against Dead Apostles.

Even Arcueid felt a slight aversion to these tools. Their mere presence made her uncomfortable, but she endured the sensation for the sake of efficiency.

But seeing Roa below scrambling for his life under the onslaught of her Black Key barrage, Arcueid couldn't help but feel elated.

Despite having executed Roa countless times before, she had never seen him this panicked. Nor had she ever felt such satisfaction.

It was as though she had discovered a new continent. With a flick of her hands, Arcueid expanded the scale of her Marble Phantasm, conjuring even more weapons and mercilessly flinging them toward Roa.

Shing! Shing! Shing! Shing!

The endless whoosh of metal tearing through the air engulfed Roa like a torrential downpour.

The clash of enchanted metal echoed as weapons collided mid-flight, producing a grating, knife-on-grindstone screech that only added to the chaos.

This terrifying scene made Roa, already fleeing for his life, even more desperate. He pushed his speed to its absolute limit.

The more she experimented, the more Arcueid found herself enjoying this new combat style. It was undeniably more effective than relying solely on brute force.

"Roy was right."

The man who taught her about this technique... based on the strategies of Gilgamesh... must have been a genius. Why had she never thought of using her abilities this way before?

But it was time to end this quickly.

Conjuring a pair of massive wings on her back, Arcueid soared into the sky, pursuing the fleeing Roa from above.

No sooner had her first volley of Black Keys finished than she conjured another sixty or so pristine blades, sending them hurtling downward.

A storm of blades and feathers filled the air. The saturating firepower rained from above, leaving Roa no room to maneuver.

Roa, who had been planning to hurl a barrage of insults while engaging in melee combat to stall for time, now found himself utterly overwhelmed. Forced to scurry like a rat, he could only avoid the weapons designed to annihilate Dead Apostles.

If he slowed even a fraction, he'd be skewered by these Church-forged anti-demon tools, leaving his body riddled with holes.

Although Roa had long resigned himself to dying at the hands of the White Princess, he couldn't afford to perish so unceremoniously. The timing was far from right.

Thus, his grand plan... to buy time with taunts and banter while fending her off in melee combat... was completely derailed by the unrelenting storm of Black Keys. His only option was to flee in disgrace, unable to fight back at all.

Meanwhile, Merem, who had sensed the Princess's surge of magical energy from across the city, rushed to her side. But when he arrived and witnessed the spectacle of Arcueid chasing Roa with a relentless barrage of Black Keys, he froze in shock.

The scene before him was baffling.

The Black Keys, with their potent anti-demon properties, were just as dangerous to him as they were to Roa. He dared not approach too closely and could only watch the bizarre game of cat-and-mouse unfold from a safe distance.

"What in the world is going on?"

Initially, he had worried that Arcueid might struggle against Roa. But seeing this, all his concerns evaporated.

There was no doubt about it... Roa was the one at a disadvantage.

The so-called battle was anything but a fair exchange of blows. It was an utterly one-sided slaughter. In truth, it was more accurate to describe it as Arcueid tormenting Roa without mercy.

One had to admit, the Princess's newfound combat style was astoundingly effective. Although, it did seem just a tad… excessive.

But Merem felt no pity for Roa. The man had long earned his punishment. No matter how brutally he was torn apart, he deserved every ounce of it.

Having confirmed the situation, Merem decided it was time to act. Since Roa was here, he might as well take the opportunity to reconnect with an old "colleague" in the only way appropriate.

With that, Merem Solomon leaped into action, sprinting toward Roa at full speed.

"Roa, I'm here to kill you too."

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