Type-Moon: Root Seiko

This caused the black-robed assassin, who hadn't noticed him before, to widen his eyes in surprise: "That speed? You're a Heroic Spirit too...?"

Unable to dodge in time, the assassin raised his arm to defend against Luo Zhen's attack, relying on his honed muscle memory.

And the instant he threw a punch, she activated her Noble Phantasm: "[Zabaniya]".

The Noble Phantasm, forged through training and fantasies, strengthens the assassin's skin to an incredible hardness comparable to the indestructible body of a dragon slayer, with a recoil force powerful enough to shatter the attacker's own fist.

Luo Zhen, who rushed into the church and threw a punch, did indeed narrow his eyes slightly, sensing a small resistance.

But that's all; it's not much harder than smashing a cardboard box with a punch.

"?!"

The assassin also noticed that his Noble Phantasm had no effect whatsoever!

The impact and dull pain from the man's punch were completely transmitted to him!

This caused her petite body to fly up immediately with Luo Zhen's attack, and then she wrapped her whole body around Luo Zhen's arm.

Her pupils flashed with killing intent once more: "【Delusional Poison Body (Zabaniya)】!"

Imitating the Noble Phantasm of the truly poisonous Serenity Hassan, the assassin gripped Ryougi's wrist, bringing his skin into direct contact with him.

Although he couldn't achieve the tranquility of Hassan himself, his sweat, mixed with the air, was enough to poison hundreds of people.

But even without a wound, the toxins from this direct contact, delivered through the skin's pores, are enough to cause instant death.

"What are you?!"

The assassin met Luo Zhen's bright eyes and immediately realized that the other party was unaffected in the slightest.

Even more so, Luo Zhen's astonishing strength directly pulled the assassin, who grabbed her face and pressed her against the wall, the force so great that the wall cracked.

The assassin felt more humiliation than pain.

She let out a low growl and used her bone-shrinking technique to slip away from Luo Zhen's palm, leaving only the hood that had been covering her face.

The woman who revealed her true face looked remarkably young.

She looked to be a girl of about sixteen years old, with long, shiny black hair and brown skin. Her tight-fitting clothes, which were practically just strips of cloth, made her look rather pitiful.

Her pink eyes burned with incomprehensible anger, and she gripped the dagger tightly in a flick of her wrist.

"Are you a Heroic Spirit?! Why do you have no Spirit Origin?! And why is there no magical energy reaction?!"

"Maybe you just can't feel it." Luo Zhen directly bent his knee and bumped into him.

The blade sliced ​​through Luo Zhen's trouser leg; the power of a Heroic Spirit should have been able to cut through iron like mud.

But Luo Zhen wasn't even scratched by the assassin's blade, let alone his bones.

Instead, amidst the shock of the assassin's hand going numb, his own dagger shattered and was smashed to pieces!

"monster!"

The female assassin roared in frustration, unleashing her fourth Noble Phantasm so far in the battle:

"【Zabaniya】!"

Her long, glossy black hair, now free of its hood, seemed to come alive, transforming into sharp blades that stretched and twisted freely, launching an attack on Luo Zhen from all directions!

This caused Luo Zhen to take a step back for the first time.

He repelled the attacks with astonishing reflexes, holding Karen in his arms with one hand and using his fists and kicks to knock off the weaponized hair.

These hairs, which had been used as weapons, would lose their power and return to a soft, even smooth, state each time they came into contact with his skin.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the assassin created distance and attempted to escape through the front gate while Luo Zhen was restrained by his hair.

But Luo Zhen reacted faster, seizing the opportunity to grab a strand of hair that was about to cut his throat and pulling it forcefully.

This caused the assassin girl to instinctively scream: "You savage pervert! Let me go!!"

"I don't think you can blame the man who pulled your hair for being rude, since you killed someone with your hair."

Before the assassin could cut off the lock of hair she was holding, Luo Zhen chased after her and grabbed her wrist during the strangulation.

All of the assassin's attacks could at most cut through Luo Zhen's clothes, but would lose all power when they touched his skin.

Soft hair is just hair.

Wrapped around a man's body, it only makes him feel comfortable. ...At least Luo Zhen felt very comfortable.

After pulling the assassin closer, Luo Zhen looked at her resentful face and said, "You are not one of the nineteen Hassans, nor are you wearing a skull mask that symbolizes status."

"You're not the leader of the Assassin Order, yet you possess so many skills that only Hassan has... So you're a copycat? A fanatical follower who worships the Order's leader? There shouldn't be an Assassin in the Grail system, so who summoned you?"

Chapter 29 The Saintess's Relics

"€€€€【Zabaniya (Imaginary Computer)】!!!"

Unable to bear Luo Zhen's insulting question, the assassin used a different Noble Phantasm.

The assassin's hand slapped Luo Zhen's face, conjuring up non-existent explosives that were then placed on various parts of Luo Zhen's body where they were in contact.

"What kind of assassin queen is this? Luo Zhen immediately released the assassin."

He immediately lowered his body and hugged the girl tightly in his arms.

Boom! ...

Amidst the violent explosion, the gunpowder blew off his clothes, but it still couldn't harm his body.

"...To protect the girl?" the assassin muttered as he took the opportunity to create some distance.

Luo Zhen stopped attacking to protect Karen in his arms, a fact that the assassins could obviously see.

She had originally intended to launch a further attack and use her next Noble Phantasm, [Dream Fluid (Zabaniya)].

That's an assassination technique that uses singing that transcends human perception frequencies and the resonance of cerebrospinal fluid to cause combustion, enough to burn the target's brain into charcoal.

This is the only Noble Phantasm that could possibly harm that inexplicably indestructible man... but it will certainly also affect the girl in his arms.

If they are enemies of one's own god or heretics, then that's another matter.

But such a young girl is really...

The next moment, before the assassin could even react...

Her figure vanished into thin air.

They weren't even moved; they were simply teleported away through space.

Luo Zhen saw all of this.

Amidst the thick smoke of the black powder explosion, Luo Zhen was speechless:

"It didn't even run away on its own, but was summoned back by the Master using a Command Spell?... That's too cautious. Who on earth summoned such an extraordinary assassin?"

And more importantly, what kind of person would summon a Heroic Spirit at this point in time?

Luo Zhen was well aware that the Greater Grail in Fuyuki City was still in the process of gathering magical energy and had not yet been truly prepared as the base for summoning spirits.

The female assassin from earlier—who was probably an Assassin—was clearly a Heroic Spirit, and she used several of the signature techniques of past leaders of the Old Man of the Mountain Order.

Who could independently sustain a Servant at this point in time, without the aid of the Greater Grail's mana supply? And who could use their Noble Phantasm so recklessly?

"...The Einzbern family summoned an Assassin this time? Isn't that a bit too petty and disgraceful?"

When it comes to "cheating in the Holy Grail War," the Einzbern family immediately comes to mind, but this is definitely not a stereotype about Rōzō!

Luo Zhen muttered to himself, gently patting Karen in his arms, indicating that she could lift her head.

"it's over?"

The well-behaved girl was not frightened at all by the battle at the level of a Heroic Spirit. Her large golden eyes remained calm and serene, as if they could reflect the hearts of those in front of her.

Luo Zhen bumped foreheads with hers and walked back towards the church...

"...Ah. I'm sorry, Karen, your father is dead."

When Luo Zhen saw the large pool of blood spilling at the church entrance, he remembered that Kirei Kotomine had just died in front of him.

He was struck squarely by the female assassin's Noble Phantasm, his heart completely shattered.

He was now a lifeless corpse, lying face down in his own pool of blood.

Unless it's some kind of time-reversal or loan magic, there's no way to save him now.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it then," Karen nodded calmly. "He's dead."

"Are you satisfied now? Seeing your own father die right in front of you?" Luo Zhen asked again.

This made Karen blink and start thinking seriously, something she rarely did.

She tilted her head, her long, snow-white hair swaying as she did so: "It's alright, just average."

"It would have been better if he had suffered more. But seeing his confused expression, dying in bewilderment, is also a good thing."

“That’s true, let’s leave it at that.” Luo Zhen affectionately nuzzled his flawless little angel again.

To avoid soiling his shoes, Luo Zhen deliberately walked around Kirei Kotomine's corpse, entering the church from a spot untouched by blood.

Affected by the female assassin's wild hair-flipping, the spacious church benches were basically cut into pieces, and even the floor and pillars had countless sharp scratches, like a knife cutting through tofu.

Behind the pulpit where the priest usually preached, Luo Zhen saw the robust old man leaning against the wall.