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

If the first and second attacks were merely due to the opponent's exceptional eyesight, then the third sweeping attack definitively proved that the opponent could foresee their next move, and even... know their own timing.

After all, to maintain a perfect distance from being affected by a sweeping attack, either the opponent had already seen through your moves, or you were just a reckless gambler.

Hector was in a terrible predicament. He had just encountered an enemy who could predict time, which was even less likely than winning the lottery.

"Consider this a return gift for the sword strike you gave me before. It's a mutual exchange." The clanging of armor gradually grew louder, and the distance between Nian Zhuo and Hector gradually shortened.

“Really…whether in Troy or here, the enemies I’ve encountered are no pushovers…” Hector shook his head and shifted his gaze to the spear stuck in the deck beside him.

It still gleamed, its tip radiating a chilling light.

It remains perfectly straight, both in life and now.

"Is that so? Looks like I really need to put in some effort..." Hector closed his eyes.

Sorry, but knowing the future really does allow you to do whatever you want.

“Give up, Hector.” Nian Zhuo watched as the Heroic Spirit in front of him got up from the ground and gripped the spear stuck in the side of the ship again. Nian Zhuo found that his resentment towards the other party’s sudden sneak attack didn’t seem so strong anymore. “After all, I know that you are not a servant who will be loyal to Blackbeard.”

Only now did Nian Zhuo slowly piece together the entire Singularity plot. According to the original plot, Hector in front of him was also dissatisfied with Blackbeard's actions. Hector, who wanted to leave from the beginning, was also the only person Blackbeard failed to see through.

"Sorry—but I've never given up!" The magic on the tip of the spear gradually turned golden, and Hector made no attempt to hide the surging magic, showing that he had become completely serious.

"Tsk—I told you this is a waste of time!" The hour and minute hands above Zi-O II's head began to spin again.

Hector's movements became incredibly slow, and at the same time, something like a shattered mirror reappeared before Nianzhuo.

How Hector will act in the future is now completely in Nianzhuo's grasp.

Golden light suddenly burst forth from the mirror.

"This is...!" He wasn't mistaken; the entire mirror was filled with the light from Hector's attack from the future. Nian Zhuo's mind raced, returning to the moment before the golden light burst forth. "Did he unleash his Noble Phantasm...?"

With sheer destructive power, Nian Zhuo understood that even if he could withstand this attack, the entire ship would be affected by the aftershocks and reduced to ashes.

"So... there's only one way?" The hour and minute hands above Nian Zhuo's head gradually turned back, and the flow of the world was returning to normal.

To prevent him from using his Noble Phantasm, we must create the illusion that we made a mistake.

In other words, all the opportunities depend on his single offensive feint before throwing the javelin.

"I never expected that my first moment of tension in this Third Singularity wouldn't be about dodging enemy attacks." This time, Nian Zhuo wore a helpless smile, gripping the Time Limit Sword again. "It's about figuring out how to defend against the enemy's attacks..."

"Well then, Uncle, I'm coming!" With a sly smile, Hector, spear in hand, swiftly charged towards Nian Zhuo and swept his spear straight at his side.

If the enemy before me could truly foresee the future, he should be able to see through my feints, and then, taking advantage of the opening in his counterattack, create distance before immediately unleashing his Noble Phantasm. — That was Hector's plan.

However, a sword that shouldn't have appeared in the direction of its attack suddenly appeared.

Nian Zhuo blocked Hector's spear with his sword, acting as straightforward as a reckless man who had completely failed to see through the other's thoughts.

"How could this be...?" Hector suddenly lost his composure. "Didn't he already see through my actions...?" Filled with questions, Hector dared not be careless in the slightest. "Then let me test you again!"

The grip on the gun handle with both hands suddenly changed position.

Then, veins bulged on Hector's arm, and with his strength, the spear that should have struck Nian Zhuo's blade was forcibly deflected and attacked the other side of Nian Zhuo.

"Huh?!" Hector clearly heard a surprised voice coming from the armored heroic spirit in front of him.

"Got it!" Hector, with a victorious smile, slammed his spear into Nian Zhuo's side. He hadn't expected the opponent's precognitive ability to fail at the crucial moment.

"Thump—!" A heavy thud, the gun handle collided with Nian Zhuo's armor, making a creaking sound, and Nian Zhuo's body suddenly sank, then involuntarily fell to the other side.

“In that case, I, Uncle, am…” Without lessening the force in his hands, Hector looked at the suppressed Nian Zhuo and said, “Did I succeed…?”

“…Yeah, right, old man.” However, the unexpected voice came from under his own gun, causing Hector’s eyes to widen suddenly.

The armored hero, who should have been completely knocked to the ground, had somehow managed to steady himself, remaining unshaken despite the creaking sound of the spear butt striking his side.

"Don't underestimate me, old man." He said it lightly, but Nian Zhuo's face, hidden under his mask, still showed a painful expression. After all, Hector's attack had indeed hit his side, and he even felt that his organs might have been displaced.

Even so, the hand covered by the silver armor still gripped Hector's gun handle.

"Damn it, have we fallen for their trap! You—!" Hector thought to himself that things were going badly, and tried to pull the gun out of Nianzhuo's hand.

As long as it's pulled out, even if Nenju collapses on the ship afterward, Hector will still unleash his Noble Phantasm.

The enemy before me is more troublesome than I imagined...

With continued force, the gun handle was gradually pulled out of Nianzhuo's hand.

"No, I'm a little dizzy..." Perhaps because of the blow, the sharp pain from his side occasionally triggered his nerves, making him feel dizzy. "But... I only have one chance, so I absolutely cannot give up!"

The opportunity was fleeting, and Nianzhuo could feel the gun handle in his hand getting heavier and heavier.

That was the result of his own massive loss of stamina; presumably, it wouldn't be long before Hector took the spear from him.

But no—Nian Zhuo forced himself to focus and pulled the trigger of the Time Limit Sword in his other hand.

"Ding—" A purplish-black clock wheel covered Nian Zhuo's sword blade.

Even if I attack directly, the opponent will drop their weapon and jump away. At that point, it's hard to say whether I'll still have the strength to fight. So I have to create a desperate situation that Hector can't escape!

"Come on! Great hero of Troy!" Nian Zhuo roared, simultaneously releasing his grip on the gun handle. "This strike is my 'Trojan Horse' for you!"

"Shoot me down here! Let the wheel of time sever your past!" Nian Zhuo gripped the Time Limit Sword tightly with both hands, its purplish-black time wheel spinning continuously.

"...Oh no!" Unexpectedly, Nian Zhuo suddenly let go, and Hector could only stagger backward, dragging his spear along, due to his own inertia.

However, even a single moment was enough for Nianzhuo.

“Finish Time—!” Nian Zhuo roared, swinging his sword down.

"Overlord Slash!" At the same time, the purplish-black Time Wheel flew out along the blade of Nian Zhuo's sword.

Ripples spread through the air.

"...!" As the purplish-black wheel drew closer, Hector's vision began to blur.

It was as if I had returned to the battlefield where I was dying, and to the scene set by the man who was known as the strongest.

—【The Unfading Flower of the Hero】...or so it is.

The purple wheel and the green shooting star, they match so well...

With this thought in mind, the Wheel of Time struck Hector, who had nowhere to hide.

"Boom—" Accompanied by a violent explosion

The indestructible ultimate spear, the indomitable fighter.

What kind of war was that...?

Even today, men who have become Heroic Spirits cannot help but recall that sunset when they stood outside Troy with another green-haired youth, engaging in a one-on-one duel.

The story begins simply and purely.

His younger brother, unable to tolerate the tyrant of Achaia's mistreatment of his wife Helen, rescued her, but at the cost of his small Trojan kingdom having to bear the wrath of the Achaean army.

But the man was never intimidated, and he was never even afraid.

He couldn't bring himself to dislike his younger brother, who disregarded the bigger picture and only brought the woman back.

Because his younger brother said, "Brother, I can't be king. I can't just abandon the woman who's crying in front of me."

If Helen were returned, perhaps the cession of territory, reparations, and even Paris's head could be negotiated, but the man refused, determined to fight. And to fight to the very end.

"This war is not just. Even if there is something in it, it is nothing more than Paris's indignation at Helen's fate."

But after making that declaration, he also understood that what lay ahead was a battle that was almost hopeless.

That battle lasted for several years, with heroes from all walks of life coming to fight. For the next ten years, he fought continuously against the Greek heroes gathered in Achaea's army.

Although he was the strongest warrior and commander of the Trojan army, he was also a politician whom even the gods could not easily fathom, and he once forced the Achaean army to the brink of retreat.

But all of this began to change gradually after that young, green-haired man arrived.

He overcame the disadvantages of being outnumbered and outequipped by using a strategy of fighting while retreating or knowing when to quit while ahead.

But he was completely helpless against the man and the gun in his hand.

Finally, he was forced into a situation equivalent to a one-on-one duel, and in the end, this strongest warrior of Troy fell.

He fell victim to the young man's gun; having reached middle age, he was no match for his opponent.

Because the opponent has the protection of the gods, an invulnerable body, and the speed of a shooting star.

Even so, he fought to the very end and died content.

She even sensed the opponent's weakness, converted it into intelligence, and passed it on to Paris. Finally, with the help of Apollo's blessing, she successfully broke through the opponent's immortality.

Of course, all of this is hindsight. For a man who died in a one-on-one duel, no matter how time were reversed, he would still do the same thing.

The fruits of victory were so tempting that the young man on the other side even temporarily abandoned his immortality to fight him. Whether as a warrior or a general, no one would let this opportunity slip by.

"At least, I should die contentedly..." Pierced through the neck by the strong man, he looked at the setting sun before he died and slowly closed his eyes.

"This old man... I really hope to see the sunrise over Troy..."

The green-haired, middle-aged man is named Achilles, a hero known for his meteoric speed and a disciple of the great sage Chiron.

The aging man was called Hector, also known as Hector with his gleaming helmet, but that was all.

"Ugh—Aaaaaaaah!" Grinding against the wheel of time, Hector's eyes snapped open. "Contain my prayers, witness my power—!"

The spirit core had already been shattered by the purplish-black time wheel, so the heroic spirit in front of him should have left immediately.

But he wouldn't. He was Hector, the great hero of Troy who could find a glimmer of hope even in despair.

He was one too! The strongest warrior in Troy!

"Aaaaaah!" Hector could barely utter a complete sentence, his face contorted in a grotesque grimace as he reached out and pressed his hand against the purplish-black Time Wheel on his chest.

"Pfft—" The sound of flesh being pierced came again. The man in front of him pressed the Time Wheel into his own body, and then sent it flying out behind him.

"This—!" Nian Zhuo was stunned by the man's reckless actions, even forgetting to finish him off, and simply stared at the hero in front of him who was hanging by a thread... no, waiting for the countdown to death.

"Haa...haa..." Hector gasped for breath, his vision blurring.

In a daze, Nian Zhuo's figure actually overlapped with the green figure in his memory.

"Ha...haha...hahahahaha!" Hector laughed heartily, spitting out blood, and was so laughing that he couldn't straighten up.

He seemed to have returned to that sunset, that twilight, to that exhilarating arena of heroic duels.