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

"What's going on here, that unscrupulous merchant!" Mary's voice came through the communication device, but it was filled with resentment. "Seriously, her magic workshop can forget about expanding any further!"

“Ah—you’re angry. (Yes, you’re angry.)” Ritsuka and Nencho exchanged a glance, both reading the same thought from each other’s eyes.

"But what's going on then~" Ritsuka puffed up her cheeks in annoyance. "Da Vinci is just too capricious."

“Hmm…that’s true…” Mashu nodded, unable to find a reason to refute it either.

"Alright, alright, stop fooling around." Looking at the street ahead where the smoke was getting thicker, Mordred put down the sword she had been carrying on her shoulder. "We're almost at SoHo. Don't let your guard down, because the enemy is almost here. Although the corner of the city where Jekyll's apartment is located is relatively peaceful, this area is not so simple. This is their territory."

“Those guys…?” Nian Zhuo raised an eyebrow, but the Time Driver still ended up in his hands. “Do you mean those mechanical soldiers, or those slimy life forms…?”

However, there was no time for him to ask questions; Mary's voice came hurriedly from the headset.

“She’s right.” Mary looked at the several red dots that appeared in front of them on the screen. “There are multiple moving objects reacting ahead of you. A battle is about to begin! Be alert!”

Amidst the thick smoke ahead, a massive black shadow gradually came into view.

“Kintaros, let’s have Urataros this time.” Ryotaro pushed up his glasses and fastened his belt. “I think he’s probably itching to get back to work.”

"Is that so? I understand." Kintaros nodded, and his figure gradually transformed into a golden stream of data and disappeared.

Immediately afterward, Mordred, who was ready for battle, saw a blue monster suddenly appear in front of her.

"Hello, Miss Unknown~" Having just stepped out of the Time Train, Urtaros approached Mordred, whom he had never met before. "Would you like to have a drink with me?"

"Whoa!" Startled, Mordred instinctively swung her sword down, but the other person dodged it. "Who are you?!"

“Ah… he’s kind of our companion, I guess…” Nian Zhuo quickly stepped between Urtaros and Mordred, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Alright, alright, Urataros, stop fooling around," Ryotaro urged, while pulling out his train ticket.

"Yare yare~" Urataros shook his head helplessly, his figure gradually becoming illusory and attaching itself to Ryotaro's body.

Ryotaro pressed the blue button on his waist and swiped the ticket.

"Rod Form!"

The Rebellious Knight: The Reason for Battle

The track encircled Ryotaro's waist, and the blue armor jingled as it clung to his body.

The blue head armor split in two, converging on the head to form the shape of two horns.

The shoulders were covered by thick armor resembling a tortoise shell.

"Heh heh~ It's finally my turn." With a gleam in his red eyes, Urtaros gripped Kintaros's axe. "Hmm~ This kind of heavy weapon doesn't suit my style at all."

Clang—The weapon in her hand changed, gradually becoming longer and more slender.

"Hmm~ That's more like it—" Swinging the weapon in his hand, Urtaros turned around and pointed the weapon straight ahead.

"Would you like to try and take my bait?"

His response was a splattering sound as sticky, artificial life form debris fell in front of him...

"Eh—" Urtaros froze on the spot, staring at the white, viscous substance that was constantly wriggling on the ground.

"Heave-ho—!" A flash of crimson lightning streaked across the sky as Mordred raised her sword to obliterate the remaining debris, glancing at the stunned Urtaros before her. "Oh...? You're done? Then hurry up and join the battle!"

Crimson lightning reappeared on the blade, and Mordred leaped up again, crashing into the enemy ranks.

Right now, Urtaros really wants to shout: This script is different!

"Sigh..." Nian Zhuo, who quickly transformed into the Zi-O basic armor, shook his head helplessly, his sword blade skillfully slicing through the body of an artificial life form. "Another poor soul who thought time stopped when he transformed..."

As he spoke, he twirled the sword in his hand, transforming it into a short spear.

Nian Zhuo aimed at the monster behind Mashu's shield and pulled the trigger.

The purple energy blast instantly obliterated the monster's head, and the remaining tissue writhed on the ground like mud.

Just as Urtaros was transforming, the enemy rushed out of the fog, so Nencho and the others immediately entered the battle, leaving Urtaros alone to stand there and show off...

It should have been him who stole the show, but Putaros felt like crying inside.

However, inside the Time Train, Momotaros and Rontaros were rolling around on the floor laughing, and even Kintaros, who had just returned, was shrugging his shoulders, looking like he was enduring something very... hard.

"Unbelievable." Nian Zhuo watched Mordred skillfully move among the monsters. "She's wearing heavy armor, yet her movements are unexpectedly light..." A blade popped out from the muzzle of his gun, and Nian Zhuo charged towards Mordred.

"Don't come any closer!" Unexpectedly, Mordred refused Nian Zhuo's help without hesitation. Looking at the few remaining monsters surrounding her, Mordred smiled gleefully. "Watch closely—!"

Surrounded by monsters, Mordred gripped her sword with both hands and leaped into the sky.

At the same time, the remaining monster also looked up at Mordred in mid-air, its white arms wriggling and transforming into long tentacles that stabbed straight at her.

"Hmph—!" Mordred laughed gleefully as she watched the tentacles piercing towards her face from below, her emerald green eyes widening in surprise.

Crimson lightning began to appear in large quantities on the bright silver blades held in both hands.

"Die—!" Mordred descended from mid-air, her sword, crackling with crimson lightning, instantly shredding the oncoming tentacles.

Immediately afterwards, Nianzhuo and the others saw a crimson lightning bolt rapidly falling through the mist.

"Boom—" The crash to the ground raised several layers of dust, and the crimson lightning roared, instantly blasting the artificial lifeforms surrounding Mordred into dust, leaving a large crater in its wake.

Battle over. Mordred: 7.

Mashu: 3.

Nianzhuo: 5.

Urataros (Ryotaro): Only cares about transforming and slacking off.

"Hoo—" Mordred knelt in the center of the pit, shouldered the still-bright sword blade, nodded at the destruction he had caused, and looked quite satisfied.

"...As expected of you." Nian Zhuo clapped his hands and sheathed the Time Gun Sword. "Very beautiful moves, just a bit wild..."

"Oh? Thank you." Mordred happily scratched his head, but then his gaze sharpened. "However, I do have a question—Nian Zhuo, where did you learn your swordsmanship?"

Even during the battle, Mordred kept an eye on Nianzhuo and Mashu to prevent them from getting into danger.

But no danger was seen. Mordred had a sense of familiarity with the swordsmanship of this heroic spirit named Nian Zhuo, which even contained elements of ancient British swordsmanship.

"My swordsmanship..." Only then did Nianzhuo suddenly remember that the girl in front of him and his master Galahad were both Knights of the Round Table... He mentally added a note to his mistake, "Well, it was a British Heroic Spirit who taught me—"

"Is that so? What is that Heroic Spirit's true name...?" Mordred clearly wanted to press for more information, but Mash's communication device rang again.

"Be careful!" Mary bit her lip as she watched the hostile reaction reappear on the screen. "Several moving objects reacting again!"

"...Really." Gripping the sword tightly with both hands, Mordred looked at the huge figure that appeared in the smoke. "The enemy is here again. I really want to unleash my Noble Phantasm at will."

“This is a city street.” Even in the midst of battle, Mashu could see the blurry shadows appearing in the dim light of the surrounding houses. “Excuse me, but please restrain yourself and don’t be so impulsive.”

"I know, you shield-wielding idiot." Mordred clicked his tongue in annoyance, but crimson lightning still flashed on the blade in his hand. "Ugh, now that you mention it, it feels a little weird."

"Wait a minute!" Mash looked at the shield in her hand, then at Mordred who was preparing for battle. "'The shield wielder' refers to me...???"

"Huh? Aren't you just a shield user?" Mordred said matter-of-factly. "You use your shield to defend, or to smash people. Or do you want to be called a shield girl? Well, I don't care which way it is."

"...No, please just call me Shield Master..." Mash weighed the options for a moment and finally chose the title Shield Master, feeling somewhat mentally exhausted.

“It seems the enemy is planning to attack from both sides.” Nian Zhuo looked at the shadowy figures of the monsters that appeared on both sides at the same time, and the Time Spear Sword returned to his hand. “Then, can I leave the right side to you? Saber Mordred and Ryotaro.” He looked at Den-O (Urataros), who was squatting in place drawing circles in disappointment.

"Leave it to me." Mordred patted his chest armor, making a crisp sound, and walked directly to the right with his sword on his shoulder. "I used to handle them all by myself, and I don't need any help now."

"Huh? Another battle?!" Urtaros, his earlier disappointment vanished, grabbed his weapon and ran excitedly to the right. "Leave it to us!"

"So, are you ready, Ritsuka?" Transforming into gun form, Nencho pulled the trigger on the first monster to emerge from the mist.

"Okay! Leave the backup to Mash and me!" Ritsuka and Mash exchanged a glance, their bodies glowing with magical energy. "We'll take care of the enemies on the left!"

"Reliable." Nian Zhuo nodded happily, then fired another shot, obliterating the head of yet another monster that had emerged from the mist.

"Hey~ Miss unknown, you'd better watch my performance!" Pultaros said to Mordred beside him, fiddling with the weapon in his hand.

However, the girl in the silver armor had already charged into the enemy ranks with her sword drawn.

"Ah..." Putaros awkwardly withdrew his hand and shook his head. "She's quite a rude girl, but I'm also very interested..." As he spoke, his weapon skillfully hooked a wriggling life form that suddenly appeared behind Mordred.

"Huh?" Mordred felt the attack from behind, kicked the life form in front of him again, and then reversed the blade in his hand, smashing the wriggling life form that had been hooked by Putaros behind him into pieces.

"Thanks!" Mordred thanked Pultaros and charged back into the enemy ranks.

On the other hand, Nian Zhuo and his group found their battle to become easier.

With each pull of the trigger, Nianzhuo singled out the monsters that burst out of the mist. As for the monsters that couldn't be reached, Mashu would raise her shield to block them and then use the back of her shield to knock them away.

“It seems… the shield-wielding guy wasn’t wrong after all…” Nian Zhuo watched as Mashu used superhuman strength that was completely disproportionate to her body to push away several monsters, and then turned the gun in his hand.

Fighting and moving at the same time, the group constantly traversed the demonic mist. Various artificial life forms kept emerging from the mist, only to be smashed to pieces by purple energy or crimson lightning.

After repelling what seemed like the umpteenth enemy attack, the group followed Mordred into a small alley.

"Excuse me..." Mashu's breathing became a little rapid. "Can I talk to you about something?" Feeling her disordered breathing, Mashu blushed and took a few deep breaths to calm down.

“…Phew…” Even so, Mashu was still a little embarrassed and seemed to be thinking about whether she should say it or not.

"What is it? Hurry up." Mordred kicked away the body of the life form that had just fallen at his feet and waved his hand. "If you have something to say, just say it."

"...Hmm." Looking at Mordred's expression, Mash finally nodded as if she had made up her mind. "I have a question for you. Why are you fighting here?"

Of course, the question wasn't why they had run into this alley; Nian Zhuo and the others had no doubt that Mordred was leading them closer to Victor Frankenstein's mansion.

What I want to ask... is the reason for the fight.

“Mr. Jekyll did it to protect his hometown city.” Mash looked around at the buildings, then her gaze returned to Mordred’s face. “And what about you—?”

"Oh, is that all you wanted to ask?" Mordred's golden ponytail twitched as she held up her sword. "I've already told you, haven't I? I've come to save the British city of Rentinion, which my father loves dearly, from its peril."

“Um… that…” Unexpectedly, Mashu became even more hesitant to speak. She nodded. “That… yes. You did say that when we first met, but… I hope you’re not angry!” Suddenly, Mashu bowed to Mordred.

"I don't know why, but I always feel... this shouldn't be... the real reason..." Mashu lowered her head, but still expressed her thoughts.

"..." Mordred's expression shifted for a moment, her smile gradually fading. She scratched her hair in frustration. "...Seriously. I know, I know." Giving up, she waved her hand dismissively, looking at everyone in front of her.

"I didn't even tell Jekyll about this." Mordred planted the blade on the ground, her tone serious. "Me—"

“Yes, that’s right.” Suddenly, she smiled. “I will never allow anyone other than myself to defile this land of Britain. Only I can defile the land of Britain that my father loves so dearly, and this is the only thing I will never compromise on.”

"Whoa..." Ritsuka shook her head in surprise, looking at Mordred with a smile in front of her and whispering, "She's a twisted father complex..."

"Huh? What did you just say?" Mordred's sharp gaze instantly fell upon him.

"No, I didn't say anything." Ritsuka shook her head violently, covering her mouth as she did so.

"Well, if you have something to say, just say it." Mordred slung the sword back over her shoulder, reverting to her previous carefree demeanor. "But anyway... don't worry, the Holy Grail we find can be yours. I won't say I want it too when that time comes, and there's no point in saying that anyway."