That protagonist is trash; I could do better!

Cú Chulainn, summoned as a Caster, is a Celtic druid. He summons wickermen who have lost their offerings, but the giant statue that appears as his Noble Phantasm does not accept the offerings and will go mad in pursuit of the offerings that should have been given to the gods.

At this point, Hall became a sacrifice for the Willow People.

Cú Chulainn stared at the Wicker Man engulfed in flames and snorted, "I've won. You'll be burned to ashes right here, a sacrifice to the gods. A fittingly boring end for a hero."

He turned to leave, but suddenly heard Hall's voice: "Unfortunately, I am an atheist. I would say that so-called gods are just powerful beings in my eyes."

"what!"

Cú Chulainn leaped dozens of meters away, his ferocious expression mixed with astonishment, watching as the wicker man's fingers broke off one by one, revealing the unharmed Hall inside. Flames roamed Hall's body but could not cause him any damage.

Hall jumped off the wickerman's hand, looking at Cú Chulainn in the distance with a half-smile: "Anyone who is my enemy, even a god, I will kill."

Ultimately, Wicker Man [Burning Cage] is also a magical concept, originally a B-rank Noble Phantasm. However, it was directly controlled by a higher-level mystery, [Knights Never Die Barehanded], even though Cú Chulainn did not activate it at full power.

“The struggle is not over yet, Caster of the Black faction,” Cú Chulainn said in a deep voice. As soon as he finished speaking, another change occurred.

Rumble!

The willow people behind Hall, having lost their sacrifice once again, were filled with rage. Flames spread, and from the flames emerged a colossal willow statue, roaring like a monster. The flames were controlled by it and wrapped around its body. Upon seeing Hall, it raised its hands high, and the vines on its hands intertwined to form a giant hammer, which crashed down with the force of a mountain.

The terrifying aura carried an intense heat that even under the protection of magic, Hall could feel the scorching heat surging into his body, as if it would burn away all his muscles, bones, and blood.

"Mere toys of the gods."

Hall sneered, raising the True Tai Rapier horizontally to unleash the magical concept contained within it, materializing it to generate a destructive light that swept away everything.

呲味味~

The rapier shone with a dazzling light, and as Hall swung it, its size suddenly expanded to more than ten meters. It transformed from a solidified object into a stream of light, and as the Willow Man's giant hammers were swung horizontally, it easily passed through the Willow Man's body as if a sharp weapon were cutting through tofu.

Swish!

The greatsword of light in Hall's hand shattered and disappeared.

In an instant, the willow-twig man stopped moving, and the flames burning on his body quickly extinguished, faded, and disappeared.

The destructive light generated by the materialization of true ether severed all the magical properties of the Willow Man as a Noble Phantasm.

Hall turned and smiled at Cú Chulainn: "Now it's over."

"Not yet!" Cú Chulainn raised his staff and pointed it at Hall, a huge rune appearing at the tip of the staff. He laughed loudly, "Watch closely, this time it's a powerful move!"

One gigantic rune after another was fixed in space, surrounded by magical circles that connected with each other, and the power of the runes sealed off all space.

Hall felt a sense of unease. His magic eye scanned the runes and recognized them as the original eighteen runes. He chuckled without being nervous, "It is indeed a powerful move, but unfortunately, the target is me."

Ochd Deug Odin [Master's Imprint]

It is an A-rank anti-city Noble Phantasm that simultaneously unleashes eighteen primordial runes, releasing power comparable to that of the Norse god Odin.

If Cú Chulainn were to unleash the power of the eighteen primordial runes, the ability of "Knights Never Die Bare" would be unable to withstand it, forcing Hoare to use his Noble Phantasm and thus losing the copied "Knights Never Die Bare" Noble Phantasm.

"Although it will expose a lot of information, there's no other way; we can't afford to lose [Knights Don't Die Barehanded] right now."

Hall reached out and touched forward, and a row of primordial runes lit up, corresponding to the primordial runes drawn by Cú Chulainn. With the help of the Mystic Eyes, he invaded the magic base and easily dismantled the power of the primordial runes from the inside, directly preventing Ochd Deug Odin [Great God's Mark] from activating.

"It's also a primordial rune!?" Cú Chulainn gripped his staff, staring at Hall and questioning, "Heroes who can use primordial runes are few and far between. You... could you be Sigurd, the 'King of Warriors' from Norse mythology?"

Sigurd, a great hero in Norse mythology, is known as the "King of Warriors." He fell in love with Brunhilde, the Valkyrie and daughter of Odin, and inherited the primordial knowledge of runes from her.

“No.” Hall shook his head decisively.

Cú Chulainn was unconvinced and retorted sarcastically, "The great hero of the Norse kingdom doesn't even dare to reveal his real name?"

Hall is skilled in combat and can use runes, and only Sigurd, the great Norse hero, fits the bill.

"The abilities I've demonstrated are indeed only matched by Sigurd, but Cú Chulainn, you've been wrong about one thing from the very beginning. I'm not a complete Servant, but a magician with a Servant Spirit Origin."

"Have you been trying to make me laugh since just now? Putting aside whether a magician can unleash the power of a Servant, the original runes are knowledge that has long been lost. Where did you get the original runes from?"

"The original runes have indeed disappeared, but those who can use the original runes still live in this world."

"What a joke! The gods have long since left this world."

With the disappearance of the Age of Gods, the gods who were Gaia's tentacles have gone to another world, a place similar to the Throne of Heroes, the other side of the world, where they no longer interfere with or can interfere with the humans of this world.

Hall smiled and pointed out: "The person who taught me the primordial runes and the kingdom she ruled were indeed located on the outer edge of the world. Countless killings have also made her an existence no different from a god."

"Wait...wait, you mean..."

At this point, Cú Chulainn realized something, and the image of the woman he missed flashed through his mind. Incredulous, he exclaimed, "No, she couldn't have left the Demon Realm!"

Hall shrugged: "That's probably what she thought, but I destroyed the Land of Shadows, so she lost her immortality, and I lost my power. After that, I'll treat her as my apprentice and train her as the last person who might kill her."

"You make it sound so easy. My teacher has a second-stage Spirit Origin. How could a mere Servant possibly destroy her kingdom? Someone who could destroy the Land of Shadows wouldn't be trained as a disciple."

Hall shrugged, saying indifferently, "Believe it or not is your business. Even with the power of the Holy Grail, we couldn't stop her annihilating strike back then."

“Annihilation Thrust…” Cú Chulainn uttered the name of the technique in disbelief. He had only heard of it before. As Scáthach’s secret technique, the answer obtained by slaughtering countless lives, its power was enough to pierce through a world. It was a forbidden technique that was only used when Scáthach was driven to the brink of despair.

Back then, even when he and all his fellow disciples joined forces, they only managed to force Scáthach to reach her second-stage Spirit Origin, and then they were brutally defeated. They weren't even qualified to witness this attack.

Anyone who can name the Annihilation Strike is either a direct disciple of Scáthach or an opponent who has actually witnessed this move and is acknowledged by Scáthach.

There is no need to lie to him, regardless of the reason.

After a long silence, Cú Chulainn straightened his stance, staff in hand, his fighting spirit growing ever stronger: "The Holy Grail War is truly fascinating. To encounter my teacher's opponent, and even to fight him as his disciple! You've told me so much, and you have no intention of letting me go. Let me verify the truth of what you've said!"

Elements gathered around Hall, and several magic circles unfolded. He chuckled and said, "You are a disciple that Scáthach often mentions, especially when she was learning runes. I have heard her praise you more than once, and I have always wanted to meet you."

"Then, I'll kill you."

Chapter 175 The Celtic Druids

Understand, decompose, and reconstruct.

These are the three most important steps in alchemy.

The world of Fullmetal Alchemist is the world where Howl stayed the longest and had the greatest impact on him, to the point that the principles that alchemists adhere to are ingrained in his very being.

These same principles apply to both interpersonal relationships and combat.

Initially, adopt a conservative defensive strategy when fighting Caster Cú Chulainn. Understand the magic Cú Chulainn uses, then launch further probing attacks, understand his Noble Phantasm, until you construct a complete strategy model.

This is the process of "understanding" in alchemy.

Then comes the "decomposition," which involves finding ways to break through based on the constructed intelligence model.

[Reconstruction] serves as a conclusion, verifying the correctness of the alchemical formula.

The activation of Ochd Deug Odin's [Great God's Mark] completed the last missing piece of the intelligence model, and the intelligence model for the Servant named Cú Chulainn was fully constructed.

The final step is to eliminate all possible unforeseen factors, such as the influence of the Master, or Command Seals that could change the course of the battle.

In the dimly lit wilderness, Hall and Cú Chulainn stood ready for battle.

Cú Chulainn can take what Hall says at face value for now; there are no logical errors in his words. He knows his teacher's character very well: when he encounters an opponent, he either kills them or defeats them and then takes them on as a disciple to train them carefully, hoping that one day he can train an opponent who will kill him.

Cú Chulainn himself went through a similar process.

Cú Chulainn, summoned as a Caster, had some understanding of the Holy Grail; if a sufficiently powerful magician obtained the Holy Grail, it could indeed destroy the Land of Shadows.

“Kill me… Haha, well said! That’s how a disciple of a master should behave. What, aren’t you going to attack?” Cú Chulainn asked excitedly, his wooden staff burning fiercely.

Hall looked around at the desolate wilderness and thought to himself, "With more than half of my magic power consumed by Lancelot and the one I just used, I have less than a third left. That should be enough."

His outstretched hand immediately alerted Cú Chulainn.

The magic was not aimed at Cú Chulainn. Runes appeared, and a magic circle behind him unfolded, surrounding an area with a radius of fifty meters.

"That way, no one will bother us."

The light patterns covering Hall's body dimmed slightly, and the deployment of such a large magical barrier consumed most of the little magic power remaining in Hall's body.

But it's all worth it. The barrier seals off the space and has the function of interfering with the communication between the Servant and the Master. Even if the Master uses Command Seals to issue commands, they cannot be transmitted into the barrier.

With Caster Cú Chulainn's power, it would take him at least ten seconds to break this magical barrier, during which time he would be unable to do anything.

In other words, this barrier is essentially an arena with no way out.

"Wow~ How thoughtful! Although it's a bit cramped as our battleground, I really like it." Cú Chulainn glanced at the barrier and chuckled, his tone playful yet appreciative.

He was a warrior by nature, with no interest in the Holy Grail. Instead, he was passionate about battle. He was not surprised but delighted to see through the barrier's function. Rather than being controlled by his Master, he would rather experience a thrilling deathmatch.

"Let's begin."

Cú Chulainn gripped his staff and slammed it into the ground, activating the power of the runes as he murmured, "Fire spirits, burn to ashes!"

A raging inferno erupted from Cú Chulainn's body, engulfing the fixed space like a landslide or tsunami. Soil, sand, air, and even conceptual magic were infused with the magical properties of combustion, and the entire space boiled over.

Cú Chulainn is a fire-wielding druid whose rune amplifies his power, so even someone as skilled in runes as Hall cannot interfere with his spellcasting.

The burning flames had no effect on Cú Chulainn, nor could they affect Hall for the time being, but the flames changed the nature of the land, making it the most suitable place for druids to exert their power.

Hall calmly reached out towards the direction where Cú Chulainn was standing, and suddenly grasped the air. Without any ritual or transmutation circle, the alchemy was completed in an instant, invading the earth and altering its structure.

what?

Cú Chulainn felt a slight tremor beneath his feet. He didn't know what kind of magic Hall was using, so he instinctively used runes to increase his speed and jump away.

boom!

In less than half a second, he turned around and saw countless sharp stone spikes piercing out from the spot where he had just been standing. If he had reacted any slower, he would have been turned into a hedgehog.

“It’s not runes, nor magic. This foundation is alchemy!” Cú Chulainn saw through the alchemy that Hall was performing at a glance. He landed on the ground and ran quickly, using the power of fire to sense the forces moving beneath the earth.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Behind Cú Chulainn, the earth cracked open, and flying sand and gravel shot towards his body with a force no less than that of cannonballs. Before they could fly more than a few meters, they were eroded by the magical concept of flames and burned into lava.

He wanted to retaliate. Having just escaped the influence of alchemy, the next second, with his keen sense of combat, he slammed his hands on the ground. Druid power generated countless burning vines that covered his body, forming a shield with no blind spots.

Rumble!

The fire tornado engulfed the vine shield, exploding with a deafening roar and melting the soil within a radius of several meters.

While performing alchemy, Hall manipulated the flow of elements; when wind met fire, its momentum became stronger and its power greater.

"interesting."

Hall chuckled as he watched Cú Chulainn summon vines to evade the wind elemental's attack. A fireball the size of a ping-pong ball appeared in his palm, suddenly expanding and generating a huge suction force, like a black hole, sucking in all the burning flames and molten lava in this space.

The fireball expanded to the size of a basketball, and its color changed from bright to dark red.

With palm down, a dark red fireball fell and burned through the mud.