CA [206] Ambush in the Forest

"Kazikli Bey!"

Vlad clenched his fist, unleashing his Noble Phantasm. Deep purple stakes erupted from the ground, aimed at Achilles' chest. Achilles stood unfazed, letting them strike, uselessly. Not even his clothes were torn.

"That's it?" Achilles scoffed, sweeping his spear to shatter the stakes before charging Vlad.

Vlad dismounted, forced to fight on foot. Riding looked impressive, but a horse's speed couldn't match a Servant's agility, unless it was a Heroic Spirit itself, which Vlad's wasn't. On the ground, bolstered by his homeland's fame, Vlad's enhanced stats let him trade blows with Achilles in close combat. Yet, his lance strikes did nothing to Achilles, infuriating him.

"Your Noble Phantasm? Some kind of enduring hero, huh?" Vlad growled.

"Exactly! I'm Achilles, the invincible hero! Want to hurt me? You'll need divinity or a god-slaying Noble Phantasm!" Achilles laughed, boldly revealing his true name. Unlike most Holy Grail Wars, where Servants hid their identities, this one saw them flaunting them freely.

"Let's see how long that defense holds." Vlad said, undeterred. The Black Faction had a divine Servant, Chiron, the Archer, providing ultra-long-range support from the Millennia Fortress.

"Darnic." Vlad called.

"Yes, Archer, strike!" Darnic replied.

From the fortress, Chiron loosed an arrow, a streak of light slicing through the forest canopy. It struck Achilles' shoulder before he could react.

"What?!" Achilles stared at the arrow, stunned. He was wounded, meaning his foe had divinity!

Vlad smirked at Achilles' shock. "Kazikli Bey!"

Stakes surged again. They didn't need to wound Achilles, just slow him down for Chiron to finish the job.

"Don't celebrate yet! You've got an Archer? So do we!" Atalanta countered, firing an arrow wreathed in emerald wind, aimed at Vlad's forehead for a kill shot.

Snap!

Another arrow from behind shattered hers mid-flight.

"What?!" Achilles and Atalanta gaped at the broken arrow on the ground.

"Her shot was read?" Achilles muttered.

Emboldened, Vlad grew confident. "Round two begins! Kazikli Bey!"

Achilles' high defense and endurance meant this 2-on-2 duel would drag on.

Elsewhere, Mordred and Siegfried clashed fiercely. Siegfried's dragon-blood armor negated attacks below B-rank, but Mordred's Mana Burst and Clarent's quality let her chip away, though the damage was reduced. Siegfried's swordsmanship matched hers, both Sabers trading blows and beam attacks in a deadlock.

Altair's fight, however, was different. Facing Frankenstein's Monster and Astolfo, he found them manageable. For now, he didn't want the Black Faction to lose numbers, that would tip the scales too far in the Red Faction's favor.

Besides, how could he bring himself to harm someone as adorable as Astolfo?

Thud!

Thinking this, Altair's fist connected with Astolfo's cheek, swelling it instantly. Poor thing looked pitiful.

"Rua!" Frankenstein charged, wedding dress fluttering, mace swinging, cute in her own way.

Thud!

Another fist to her cheek sent her reeling. Both Berserker and Rider, cheeks swollen, were floored by Altair's punches.

"Ow!" Astolfo whimpered, rubbing his face and glancing at Frankenstein. "Berserker, you okay?"

"Rua!" She seemed fine.

"Who is this guy? Why's he so strong?!" Astolfo glared at Altair, who stood smiling with his cleaver.

"My identity? My apologies, I forgot to introduce myself." Altair said, planting his cleaver in the ground, entering exposition mode.

"Leader of the Knight of the Round Tables, King Arthur Pendragon. A pleasure."

"King Arthur?!" Astolfo squealed.

"We're doomed! No way we can win!" Astolfo wailed, eyeing Altair's cleaver. Wasn't Excalibur a golden holy sword? This silver blade looked nothing like the legend.

"Exactly. You're finished. I can take you both alone, unless my team calls a retreat, you're done for!" Altair declared, raising his cleaver to strike Astolfo.

A beam of light struck the blade mid-swing.

"What?!" Altair feigned shock, staggering back to a tree.

"Black Faction's Archer? They're supporting from this far? Our commander's fight must be rough." He mused.

As Altair noted, Achilles and Atalanta were being overwhelmed by Chiron alone. He predicted and shot down Atalanta's arrows, then pelted Achilles, whose knees had taken three hits. Chiron was schooling them on what a true Archer could do.

Vlad just kept chanting, "Kazikli Bey! Kazikli Bey! Kazikli Bey!"

Outnumbered without Karna, and with Caster useless and Assassin too cautious, Achilles and Atalanta retreated. Even with Altair summoning Mordred, they were still short-handed.

Observing from afar, Amakusa deemed it enough and ordered a withdrawal.

Achilles summoned his chariot, activating his Noble Phantasm to flee. Atalanta vanished into the forest.

"Mordred, retreat!" Altair called, spotting a green flash in the sky.

"It's only day two. Plenty of time ahead."

"Yes, Father!" Mordred shoved Siegfried back, unleashing a Mana Burst shockwave to propel herself into the forest, vanishing to find Kairi Sisigou.

Altair had his own task. "That's all for today, you two. Until next time." He said, smiling at Astolfo and Frankenstein before melting into the forest's shadows. His grin sent a shiver through Astolfo.

"Scary! Is King Arthur supposed to be that terrifying?"

Whatever misconceptions Astolfo harbored, Altair darted through the shadows, speeding up after ten seconds. Lowering his presence, he infused curse power into his eyes, turning them into golden slits. Scanning the forest, he locked onto his first target.

Atalanta, bounding forward with ninja-like agility.

Stowing his cleaver in his spatial pocket, Altair drew a lightsaber. Curse power surged into his legs, dragonifying them for explosive speed. He closed the gap in five seconds, Atalanta now just meters ahead, clearly visible without enhanced vision.

Sorry, Atalanta. You were once my go-to support for Vlad, but after Skadi's release, you fell off. Still stuck at level 80.

Time to exit this Holy Grail War.

Landing on a branch, Altair's eyes narrowed. He stomped the trunk, accelerating to cover the five-meter gap.

The trembling branch behind her made Atalanta's ears twitch. She glanced back, puzzled. As a Servant, her senses were sharp, always alert for pursuers during a retreat. No one should be tailing her.

Seeing nothing, she assumed it was a false alarm and faced forward. But as she did, her vision tumbled.

Huh?

In her spinning view, she glimpsed a green-clad body plummeting.

At the edge of her sight, Altair stood on the branch, his dragonified legs reverting. Watching Atalanta's severed body fall, he bid a silent farewell: Goodbye, Atalanta. May the Throne of Heroes have no King Arthur.

---

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[Tensura: The Multiverse Planeswalker]

Reincarnating into a fantasy world is truly extraordinary, especially one set in a universe of Heroes and Demon Lords; a perfect recipe for an exhilarating and incredible adventure.

That's what Damien is experiencing right now, reincarnating into the Tensuraverse.

But the first thing that crossed his mind after reincarnating wasn't whether he was part of the grand battle between Hero and Demon Lord, but whether he had reincarnated as one of the weakest creatures in the entire world… a Slime?

Fortunately, he didn't suffer such an unfortunate fate. But as the saying goes, if you're too lucky for no reason, misfortune will be the price you pay. Although he didn't reincarnate as a slime, he reincarnated as a Hybrid Majin-Human instead.

To make matters worse, he was reincarnated in a region that follows the anti-monster doctrine of a certain Demon Lord's church, a perfect setup for discrimination and ostracism against him.

But luckily, it seems the Voice of the World took pity on him for enduring such a fate and granted him [Planeswalker].

A Unique Skill that allows him to freely explore other worlds.

Incredible, right?

But that's not all. In addition to this skill, he was given a skill that makes him stronger with every powerful familiar he possesses.

No doubt about it, with these two skills, his future is bright…

Servants, Pokémon, Majin, Beasts, and all the powerful fictional characters he once admired… it seems that building his own kingdom composed entirely of his familiars is the surefire path to becoming the strongest!

[Tensura] [Pokémon] [Nasuverse] [Konosuba] [Highschool DxD] [Kumo desu ga Nani ka?] [Soul Land] [Dungeon Fighter Online] [No Game No Life] [Mondaiji-tachi]... and others.