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Chapter 477: Child of Light, a Hero Worthy of Standing Alongside King Arthur

It was a spear tip, as swift as lightning.

A spear thrust out to pierce the heart.

Trying to dodge would be meaningless; since it was lightning, it was impossible for the human eye to track.

Squelch—

The crimson spear tip tore through skin, muscle, bone, and organs, finally puncturing through, bringing with it a mist of blood.

The burly giant collapsed, a gaping bloody hole from chest to back visible for all to see.

This sudden scene left everyone present in awe.

What speed, what sharpness, what exquisite technique! With just a single strike, the fire giant's life was taken—even the Valkyrie couldn't stop it.

Lancer, who had nonchalantly pierced the fire giant's heart with a single attack, raised an eyebrow slightly, swept his gaze around, and—using a tone so casual it seemed like an everyday conversation—said:

 "Hm? This place is really interesting. Shishou, why are you playing the queen now? Wait, something's off. Are you even my Shishou?"

The Valkyrie's presence was certainly surprising, but what truly caught Lancer's attention was the god radiating a queenly aura. Although his Shishou in memory could be called queen-like, the aura was nowhere near as authentic.

After all, she was just an old woman.

"You seem to be looking at me quite rudely."

Skadi spoke softly: "It seems you know the true names of the components that make up who I am. Can you tell me your own true name?"

"My true name?"

Lancer raised an eyebrow and said, "So you really aren't my Shishou. As for my name, there's no need for that. We're enemies, aren't we?"

As a hero, Lancer had his own creed—even if the other party was a friend, if they stood as enemies, he would, with a wry smile, still fight to the death.

Even if his foe was his parents' enemy, as long as they were on his side, he would protect them as far as his oath allowed.

Even if the opponent looked like his Shishou, Scáthach, as long as they stood opposed, Lancer would not hold back his spear skills.

The moment Lancer called out the current situation, the atmosphere dropped to freezing.

Valkyrie Thrúd, who had been watching Lancer closely, said in a low voice:

 "Confirmed, it is a derivative of Divine Declaration, equipped with a sure-hit curse—"

The spear of light held by the Valkyrie was a Pseudo Divine Declaration—a degraded imitation of Gungnir. As Odin's daughter, she could naturally recognize the Divine Declaration's presence, even in its derivatives.

The spear in Lancer's hand was, without doubt, a Noble Phantasm modeled after Gungnir!

With that, Lancer's true identity was almost revealed.

"A cursed spear that never misses, combined with that incredible speed and beast-like character—"

Ophelia, being from Northern Europe, was briefly stunned, then said,

 "You are Cú Chulainn, the Child of Light from Ireland?"

Half-god, half-human hero of Celtic myth—the Child of Light, Cú Chulainn. As Ireland's representative hero, if the story took place in Europe, he would be as brilliant as Heracles or King Arthur.

And given how Lancer addressed Skadi, it was clear he knew Scáthach, tying Ophelia's thoughts to Cú Chulainn's later adventures.

After coming of age, Cú Chulainn joined the Red Branch Knights, protectors of Ulster.

To win a woman's heart, he traveled to the Land of Shadows, a magical realm.

He overcame many trials, reached the Land of Shadows, and was favored by its ruler, the witch Scáthach. He trained hard at her side, learning magecraft and martial arts. As a reward, upon graduation, he received the spear Gáe Bolg, crafted by Scáthach herself.

"Not bad, little girl. I like you!"

 Though his true name was seen through, Cú Chulainn was not annoyed, just laughed:

 "Then, as thanks, your heart—Shishou, is that alright?"

As Ophelia guessed, Cú Chulainn's life was tumultuous and grand.

On this lushly named land lived a talented boy named Setanta.

It's said his father was the sun god Lugh, and his mother was Deichtire, royalty of Ulster.

One day, he accidentally killed the watchdog of the blacksmith Culann.

Setanta strangled Culann's Hound, said to have the strength of ten men. To make up for the trouble, he vowed to act as Culann's guard dog for a while.

Thus, the boy became known as Cú Chulainn, the Hound of Culann.

Growing up, he became even stronger and was recruited into the famed "Red Branch Knights." His exploits were unstoppable.

At sixteen, for love, he journeyed to the Land of Shadows, caught the eye of its mistress Scáthach, and trained under her.

There, he learned powerful magic and the invincible spear Gáe Bolg.

Though Cú Chulainn had become invincible, the sunset would still come. When young, he'd heard the druid's prophecy, "Glorious achievements, but a short life," and had accepted it with a smile.

The past is but memory; Cú Chulainn's death may have seemed tragic to others, but he welcomed it, having accepted everything.

Thus, he had no particular wish to entrust to the Holy Grail.

If anything, he responded to the summoning simply for the chance to fight heroically against strong opponents.

Saving humanity could also be considered a reason.

"No need to kill Shishou—just clear out the Valkyrie and the fire giant."

Ritsuka Fujimaru said gravely, "I'll leave it to you, Cú Chulainn!"

"Oh!"

His true name already exposed, Cú Chulainn immediately took up his stance, instantly entering combat mode.

Ruthless, emotionless—if ordered, he could kill even an unarmed commoner.

Bang!

 It was a speed surpassing most Servants—perhaps only Achilles, famed as the fastest hero, could surpass it.

The crimson spear swept through the air, the wind it generated blowing back Valkyrie Thrúd's brilliant golden hair.

Fierce, decisive—the first move was a killing blow!

 Thrúd barely reacted, raising her shield to block Cú Chulainn's strike, but was still sent flying backward, unable to counterattack!

Summoned on European soil, though not his Irish homeland, Cú Chulainn still received a boost from the land!

Chapter 478: Fierce Battle!

On the deserted ice field, the submersible Shadow Border sped across the land at amazing speed—

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!!"

For some reason, Goredolf was at the wheel, displaying the surprising talent of an amateur race car driver, driving Shadow Border at full throttle toward the leyline node.

Every second counted!

"Before entering the castle, Mash sent a message."

Da Vinci-chan's projection appeared: "According to the schedule, Alaric's group should be encountering Sigurd right about now. In any case, we need to hurry!"

After traveling some distance, as they neared the marked leyline node, Da Vinci hesitated:

 "There are multiple life signals ahead—giants. We—"

Currently, Shadow Border's only combatant was Holmes; Da Vinci's body couldn't fight at all.

"Da Vinci, we'll have to gamble."

Holmes looked grave. Normally, he'd want to pick a different node—charging into danger knowingly wasn't rational.

But time was of the essence. Alaric and Ritsuka had worked hard to buy this opportunity; asking for more would be too much.

He couldn't let down those fighting; he had to do his part.

Understanding this, Da Vinci said seriously,

 "Alright then. In half a minute, we'll connect to the leyline node and deploy the barrier. Any fighting will be up to you, Mr. Holmes."

At the same time—

Rumble!!

From the mountains burst an endless aurora, like a sword of the heavens cleaving the earth, clearing the land, slaying monsters and demons.

Under this aurora, all were equal.

Be they giants or mountains, all were obliterated in the light, becoming fuel for the aurora.

The white waves were the accumulation of millennia of snow, now surging to the heavens.

The earth-shaking roar was but the music of this duel.

Two slender figures darted through it, breaking several times the sound barrier—indeed, one could say physical laws didn't apply to Servants.

After seeing the so-called Lostbelt King Skadi-Scáthach, Alaric had no more reservations.

He could tell that Skadi-Scáthach was just a shell, lacking true divine power.

So his only real threat was the strange hero Sigurd.

The wind howled—because the two moved so fast they shattered the air, even their voices lagged behind.

But an excited Alaric didn't care.

 "What exactly are you?"

Those dragon's eyes, shining like jewels, reflected all death—heaven and earth within them, even the god Skadi-Scáthach was no exception.

Though a Servant, the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception were weakened, but if Alaric wished, he could risk his own Saint Graph to look upon the death of a god!

Among those, the hero called Sigurd could not escape the gaze of the Mystic Eyes.

That's why Alaric was curious, confused.

Sigurd was Sigurd—no doubt. But Sigurd was not only Sigurd.

While the Mystic Eyes could see the lines of death, and the most skilled could see points of death, Alaric was already at this level.

Years of experience had made Alaric more certain of Sigurd's strangeness.

Sigurd, though a hero related to Siegfried, was not immortal like Achilles; the lines of death on him weren't few.

In fact, there were too many—

The hero reflected in those jewel-like eyes was covered in crack-like lines, as if he were porcelain about to shatter!

Almost as if two beings' lines of death overlapped!

This was Alaric's first time using the Mystic Eyes to study Sigurd, and he was shocked by the surprise. A stitched-together Alter Ego?

If multiple beings were combined, Alaric's first guess was the Alter Ego class, which could fuse multiple gods into one Saint Graph.

BB's Sakura Five, even Ashiya Douman, were such Servants.

But Alaric soon gave up that guess—Sigurd seemed to be a Saber-class Servant.

And unlike Ritsuka, the enemy didn't summon strange classes, but mainly used the standard seven.

"..."

Sigurd didn't answer, but held his magic sword in one hand and hurled a rune-engraved stone with the other!

Buzz—

Almost the moment he threw it, the Gate of Judgment opened and shattered it, not even giving Sigurd a chance to activate it.

"If you want to defeat me, show me your real skills!"

Unable to freely use the Gate of Judgment as before, Alaric smashed Sigurd to the ground with a punch, the force tearing the snow beneath and exposing crystal ice, layers shattering instantly!

Boom!

This battle left Alaric no chance to hold back. Even though he had sufficient mana, it wouldn't last forever.

If he could defeat Sigurd, that would be best; even if he couldn't, at least he had to buy time!

Alaric, using the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, swung his blade—but Sigurd was a Norse hero—

His dragon modification even reached EX rank.

This was the ultimate self-modification achieved by swallowing a dragon's heart, forming a magical core within, allowing near-complete independent action as a Servant.

His strength was top-class, and his body so tough it could ignore anti-army Noble Phantasms. With A-rank magic resistance, Sigurd ignored the Gate of Judgment.

Only pure mana bursts or blades could threaten him.

His sword skills, top-notch in Norse lands, and his amazing reflexes and wisdom let him deduce the truth of Alaric's Mystic Eyes in battle.

That could be called the crystallization of wisdom.

The magical item he wielded, not part of his original myth, was the crystallization of heroic wisdom.

Even if given to others, it would function, but the information overload could cause severe headaches.

In short, because of this, Alaric lost his information advantage, and Sigurd's rune magic—fit for a Caster—caused him plenty of trouble.

As the battlefield expanded, more and more matters disappeared in the aurora, even moving Skadi in her castle.

This couldn't go on.

But—

Clang, clang, clang.

Cold spear lights intertwined; in just seconds, hundreds of exchanges took place. Even Thrúd could not withstand the onslaught of Cú Chulainn.

"Come forth, my other daughters."

Skadi didn't hesitate, immediately activating the other two Valkyrie prototypes Odin had entrusted to her—

Valkyrie Hildr;

Valkyrie Ortlinde.

As the two Valkyries materialized and joined the battle, Mash also reentered the fray, smashing her round table shield straight at Hildr!