Thanks for the invitation. I'm in Type-Moon, inheriting the legacy of Zi-O.

Perhaps only the attacks from Nenju and Mash, the Servants, could cause any damage to Blackbeard's ships.

but……

The scorching bullets were fired from the opposite ship, deflecting some of the purple energy that Nian Zhuo was attacking. However, the majority of the energy bullets still hit Blackbeard's ship.

As for why Nian Zhuo clicked his tongue in anger...

"All the effective attacks failed...!" Realizing this, he gritted his teeth, and some of the bullets he fired were aimed at the enemy's cannons, ammunition depots, or even the ship's rudder.

But without exception, they were all shot down by bullets fired by unknown gunmen, which made Nianzhuo very frustrated.

"Damn it... the distance between the two ships is still too far...!" Nian Zhuo wanted to jump onto the other ship for close combat, but he didn't dare to be careless at all, as the other ship might have some trump cards or something.

"Ugh...!" The golden bow in her hand was drawn back, and heart-shaped arrows shot towards the enemy ship. Euryale gritted her teeth with difficulty, "My strength is E...! Damn it, so tiring...!" For some reason, all the arrows avoided Blackbeard, who was standing in the center. For Euryale, her attacks hitting Blackbeard would probably give him a pleasant feeling.

"Ugh...! The enemy's artillery fire is so heavy!" Mash braced herself against her shield, blocking most of the artillery fire from Blackbeard's ship. However, the explosions coming from her shield still made Mash's face gradually turn pale.

The ships of both sides drew closer and closer amidst the constant exchange of gunfire.

"It's not over yet!" Euryale bit her lip tightly, and her bow and arrow shot down another pirate who was loading cannonballs.

“...Kill...the...!" Asterius swung his double axes and stood in front of Euryale, blocking all the incoming cannon fire and bullets.

"Asterius! Your body is so heavy, don't rush too far ahead!" Euryale grabbed the berserker who was about to jump over, the immense pull from his arm making Euryale's face even paler. "And you're injured!"

“…Ugh…” Feeling the slight pull on his arm, Asterius’s eyes finally cleared up a bit. He nodded at Euryale and slowed down the swinging of his double axes.

"Fire! Fire! Fire!!!" Standing on the ship's mast, Drake gritted his teeth and pulled the trigger at Blackbeard in frustration. However, as a Servant, Blackbeard's agility was still faster than Drake's bullets, so Drake had no choice but to attack the soldiers on the enemy ship instead.

While urging his underlings to load the cannonballs, Drake gritted his teeth as he watched the two ships getting closer and closer.

"Gentlemen, the ship is about to be towed!" Blackbeard drew his musket and sword, looked at his men who were already fully prepared, and raised his blade. "Blackbeard's crew, fight!!! Oh—!"

"Fight, oh—!" The pirates raised their weapons and, like cowboys, swung their grappling hooks, throwing them onto Drake's mast.

The distance was close enough, the two ships were already joined together, and the close-quarters battle was about to begin!

Using the grappling hooks locked to Drake's ship, the pirates from Blackbeard's ship flew over one by one, using the grappling hooks.

"Quick! Men! The two ships are already joined together!" Drake shouted at the top of his lungs, raising his gun to shoot down the pirates who were about to board the ship, and kicking another pirate who was about to board to the ground.

"Oh! I understand, boss!" Drawing their swords from their waists, the pirates engaged in combat with the pirates rapidly approaching from Blackbeard's ship.

On the other side, on Blackbeard's ship, watching his pirate crewmates arrive at the opposite vessel using grappling hooks, Blackbeard remained in place.

"Oh—! (peeking)" While raising his sword to cheer on the pirates on the opposite ship, Blackbeard's eyes secretly glanced at the silver-haired and blonde girl beside him.

"Oh—!" Thinking their captain was cheering them on, the pirates turned around and shouted at Blackbeard, only to be knocked to the ground by Nian Zhuo, who suddenly appeared from behind.

"...[Peeking]." Watching his pirates being defeated once again, Blackbeard glanced at the two girls while gritting his teeth.

"...Does he mean he wants us to join in too?" Mary pointed to Blackbeard, who was peeking at her, and asked her companion.

“Haha. How could that be?” Anne slung her long flintlock pistol over her shoulder and waved it as if she couldn’t see it. “Rather than making me do that, it would be much quicker to use a Command Spell to order us to commit suicide.” Then her gaze suddenly shifted to Blackbeard, and the girl’s tone became slightly serious. “…Ah, perhaps that’s not so bad? Teach, could you order me to commit suicide?”

"You guys really don't want to be my subordinates?!" Blackbeard blew on his wounded face.

"Yes." Mary and Anne nodded in unison without hesitation.

"Don't say that, please help us..." Blackbeard's voice was filled with pleading, his expression one of utter despair. "Those Servants on the other side are about to destroy all our people..."

"Hmm... but it seems like we don't need to intervene~" Annie rested her chin on her hand, her ample bosom swaying with her movements. "As long as the captain uses his Noble Phantasm, he should be able to hold on, right?"

However, the shelling from the Golden Deer continued.

But only at close range could the pirates see the fate of their cannonballs.

"No, damn it! All our cannonballs have bounced off...!" A pirate who was loading cannonballs gritted his teeth, when suddenly a Blackbeard pirate appeared behind him, brandishing a blade. "Ugh, die—!"

"Damn it—!" He tried to draw his sword, but it was too late. The pirate could only watch helplessly as his opponent slashed down at him.

"Yo—!" Then, a figure wearing bright silver armor suddenly appeared in front of him, his fist wrapped in purple light. "Uppercut—!" Then, he slammed it into the enemy's chin.

Watching the other person fly into the air and then land heavily, Nian Zhuo breathed a sigh of relief.

"Phew~ I've been feeling so frustrated, now I can finally have some fun!" Then, seeing the stunned pirates behind him, Nianzhuo scratched his head. "What's wrong? And what happened?" He looked at the cannonballs scattered on the ground.

"The difference in the ship's armor is too great." The pirate nodded anxiously after realizing what had happened. "And...oh no...! Behind you! They're charging!"

The grappling hooks behind him were now filled with the figures of pirates, who jumped back onto the ship and attacked Nian Zhuo.

"Tsk... There are more and more troublesome things." Somewhat annoyed, Nian Zhuo's purple eye armor flashed, and he finally gave up on using other knight armors to fight.

"You think you can take me down in one go?" With this thought in mind, Nian Zhuo once again charged towards the pirates.

However, the difference in armor and firepower between the two ships was too great. Drake's Golden Deer could only add some scorch marks to Blackbeard's ship, and the shells that hit the side armor were simply deflected.

The projectiles fired from Black's ship always managed to create a sizable crater when they hit Drake's ship, and it was only thanks to the interception of Mash and Nencho that it was barely saved from being sunk.

"Tch, really!" Drake stomped on the deck in frustration, then slapped the pirate who was trying to ambush him to the ground. "So, we have no choice but to retreat...!" Looking at his underlings around him, all of whom were injured to varying degrees, Drake gritted his teeth.

"In this chaotic battle! Is it even possible to retreat?!" Mash, after knocking down a pirate with her shield, raised it to block several cannonballs fired, and asked Drake with a strained expression.

"We have no choice but to give it a try!" Drake said, running to the cannon while giving instructions to his men. "Reload! Use smoke grenades to create a smoke screen!"

"Alright! Boss!" The pirates immediately obeyed and loaded the smoke bombs into the cannons.

With a series of loud thuds, the space between the two ships was instantly enveloped in thick smoke, turning everything into a smokescreen.

"Ah...!" Surrounded by numerous pirates, Nian Zhuo looked at the dispersing smoke and understood Drake and the others' desire to retreat.

"But... can we really get rid of it?!" Then, Nianzhuo suddenly heard a heavy thud coming from the deck in front of him.

"...Damn it." This was the only thought that remained in Nian Zhuo's mind before he could see through the enemy in the shadows.

The responsibility of the knight

A thick smoke screen, created by the smoke bombs from the Golden Deer, obscured everyone's view between the two ships.

"Hey—! Stop pretending, BBA~!" Blackbeard was still yelling at the top of his lungs, "If you hand over the Holy Grail obediently, I might spare your lives~!"

"The Holy Grail—!?" Drake's eyes widened. He had thought the other party was just one of the ordinary [Invincible People] he had dealt with before, but he never expected that this guy's goal was the Holy Grail within his body!

"He knows about the Holy Grail...!?" Mash was equally shocked by the other's words, and her hand waving the shield slowed down for a beat.

"Hey? Isn't the Holy Grail ready yet?" Blackbeard urged impatiently, seeing Mash's somewhat sluggish movements.

"Shut up, you noisy person!" Drake then pointed his flintlock pistol at Blackbeard and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh...!" Hot bullets flew past Blackbeard's body, but thanks to his comical movements, Blackbeard still managed to dodge Drake's shots, even exaggeratedly patting his chest, "Yahoo whoosh whoosh, how scary, how scary wwwww."

However, on the deck behind him, a figure that Nianzhuo and the others would recognize was crouching there, carrying a huge, bright red axe on his back.

"Gurgle—gag gag gag gag! Kill!" Then, as if he could no longer suppress his inner desires, the berserker stood up from the deck. "Kill! This time, we must kill them all!"

Those hidden outside the mist spotted Blood Axe King Eric, but Nian Zhuo, who was still fighting inside the mist, didn't notice.

"...Eric Blood Axe King!?" Mash, who thought she had defeated him, stared in astonishment at the roaring figure on the opposite deck. "Why...!?"

"Wait a minute?!" Mary, on the communication device, was also puzzled. She tapped the screen, and the Servant reaction of Blood Axe King Eric was indeed displayed on it. "This...wasn't this guy defeated by you and Nian Zhuo?! I've also confirmed that he disappeared—."

"No, he hasn't disappeared yet!" Ritsuka gave the order while dodging cannonballs fired from the enemy ship. "At least, something strange might have happened to them...!"

“Strange…strange…! Right, right!” Mary suddenly tapped her head as if she remembered something. “I remember that the magical power that formed the Servant was indeed very chaotic at that time. Could it be that he…transferred back then!? In other words, he was originally the Servant summoned by Blackbeard!?” Instantly, even Mary realized that things were starting to get complicated.

"A Servant summoning a Servant... No way!?" Realizing a certain conclusion, Mash felt extremely troubled. "Could it be that Blackbeard!? Possesses the Holy Grail, or something related to the Holy Grail—something!?"

However, they had no time to think. Eric on the opposite deck had already leaped over and entered the fog that Drake had created.

"Holy crap...!" This was the true form of the tall, unidentified body with bright red eyes that appeared before Nian Zhuo.

Then, the blood-red axe sliced ​​through the smoke and struck Nianzhuo in the side.

"...!" The familiar feeling, the familiar biting sensation, and that familiar shape allowed Nian Zhuo to instantly identify the attacker. "Blood Axe King Eric!?...So you're still alive!" He then swung the Time Gun Sword to deflect the axe that was slashing at his side.

Nian Zhuo quickly retreated, and soon his bright silver figure pierced through the mist, appearing before everyone.

“Mr. Nianzhuo…!” As if she had been given a reassurance, Ritsuka immediately moved towards Nianzhuo.

"Don't come any closer!" Nencho stretched out his hand to stop Ritsuka from getting closer, his eyes fixed on the gradually dissipating mist in front of him. "It's coming out, that guy!"

Sure enough, the next moment, the blood-red axe once again pierced through the mist.

"Hmph, I expected this!" Nian Zhuo then hurriedly dispersed to one side, and the tall figure in the mist rushed out as well.

"Kill them all!" Blood Axe King roared, raising his axe high above his head as he looked at the many enemies before him.

"Ugh...!" Despite taking the attack head-on, Mashu couldn't help but groan.

"Thump—!" The axe and shield made a heavy thud, and at the same time, the berserker's immense strength caused the ship to shake.

Concentrating on providing support, Euryale's golden bow had just been drawn when Blood Axe King's sudden attack nearly knocked her off balance.

"Huh...?!" Then, she saw the tall, blood-red figure that had suddenly rushed onto her ship.

"Go... to die...!" Then, Asterius, upon seeing the figure of Blood Axe King Eric, picked up his double axes and joined the battle.

"Bastard!!" Asterius then engaged in battle with Blood Axe King Eric.

Both were berserkers, and both wielded axes, so all the onlookers could see were three axes clashing in the air, sparks flying, accompanied by the roars of the two berserkers.

However, Asterius's wounds became his biggest burden at this time.

Blood seeped from his wounds again, but Asterius still shielded everyone behind him.

Even though he instinctively dodged the attack, upon seeing Mash and Euryale behind him, Asterius had no choice but to bravely withstand it in order to prevent them from being affected by the shockwave.

So, after several exchanges, it was Blood Axe King Eric who gradually gained the upper hand. Asterius's wounds not only failed to heal but also multiplied and became more severe.

"What are you doing, Asterius!" Euryale shouted anxiously, her golden bowstring already fully drawn. "No...! Get out of the way...!" However, the berserker's body remained blocking their way, unmoving.

"Asterius, step back!" Mash urged him, shield in hand. "Let me deliver the final blow this time!"

"Get back! Asterius! You can't hold on any longer!" The berserker swayed as Ritsuka urged him anxiously to move aside.

"Tch...!" Nian Zhuo looked at the berserker's figure, who was desperately holding on, and finally took out a watch face from his pocket. "Asterius! Get out of my way! You're blocking my way!"

Nianzhuo's right hand grasped the green and purple watch face.

"Philip! Shotaro! Please...!" With one hand twisting, he pressed the button, then placed it on his driver and started running towards Asterius.

“W—!” “Asterius, get out of the way!” Then, Nianzhuo flipped the driver over.

Only upon hearing Nianzhuo's voice did Asterius abruptly stop and quickly retreat to the side.

Perhaps in his mind, only Nianzhuo, who was stronger than him, could continue to protect the three girls behind him.