That protagonist is trash; I could do better!

In the world of Fater/Zero, Lancelot is the only Servant who could potentially ambush and kill Gilgamesh in a first encounter.

The only drawback is probably the mana consumption; even a top-tier magician might not be able to withstand the mana drain Lancelot experiences during battle.

Lancelot is known as one of the four kings who roamed the Type-Moon universe because of his Noble Phantasm, "Knights Never Die Bare-Handed": it can imbue the weapon in his hand with Noble Phantasm attributes and allow him to wield it. The limit for Lancelot to use Noble Phantasms is that he can recognize and identify them as weapons, and the weapon must be equivalent to a D-rank Noble Phantasm.

Simply put, if it were the sum of all the ley line magic in the world, or the magic power gained from burning one's humanity, Lancelot could potentially grab the Earth upside down and turn it into his Noble Phantasm.

Click~

On the quiet street, the black knight looked up at Hall, who stood on the rooftop. Red light flashed in the V-shaped slit under his helmet, and a hostile aura mixed with a violent energy soared into the sky.

boom!

The bricks beneath the knight's feet shattered with a deafening roar. Like a bolt of black lightning, he grabbed a street sign and leaped into the air, arriving in front of Hall in the blink of an eye. He then raised the street sign, covered in dense red patterns, and brought it down with the force of a mountain crashing down.

Hall's magic eye glowed slightly, and the red and yellow elemental crystals behind him simultaneously lit up, revealing a human form. The earth elemental spirit crossed its arms in front of it, while the fire elemental spirit raised its hands to create a fireball the size of a basketball.

Clang!

Lancelot's magic-corroded road sign slammed into the arms of the Earth Tree Spirit, causing the elemental spirit's body to suddenly darken and nearly shatter.

Hall's magical energy surged, and while taking the blow head-on, he controlled his fire elemental spirit to raise a fireball and throw it at Lancelot's head.

The black knight suddenly exerted force with both hands, turned his head to dodge the fireball, suppressed the earth elemental spirit with the road sign and used it to evade, nimbly landing behind Hall.

Without giving Hall a chance to catch his breath, the berserk knight, wielding the road sign as a weapon, charged at Hall and delivered a devastating blow to his head.

"Earth Spirit, Fix!"

Hall chanted a spell, and the earth elemental spirits shimmered with light, their magic repairing his damaged body and imbuing it with a heavy, defensive magical concept that firmly protected Hall's body.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

The ferocious attack was like a storm, with thunderous roars. Hall was like a small boat on a raging sea, about to be capsized at any moment. There was no way to dodge, no chance to catch his breath, and no room to retaliate.

The magical power within Hall surged into the Magic Eye like a burst dam, splitting his mind into multiple parts: one part controlled earth elemental spirits for defense, another controlled fire elemental spirits for counterattack, one part cast spells to assist, and the third part considered countermeasures.

"Tsk, as expected of the strongest Knight of the Round Table!"

Hall was astonished. He had never imagined that a Servant could fight so well in melee combat, using a road sign as a sword, with a speed, urgency, and stability!

It looks ridiculous, but every move it makes is deadly.

Without the help of the Magic Eye, Hall doubted whether he could even withstand Lancelot's attacks for a minute. Lancelot was faster than Assassin and overwhelmed the elemental spirits with his power. Despite his incredibly ferocious attacks, he was almost impossible to find any flaws in his moves.

This is all thanks to Lancelot's inherent skills.

【Endless Martial Arts Training】A+: Refining martial arts skills to the point of being unparalleled in a certain era, achieving complete unity of mind, technique, and body, and being able to unleash powerful combat abilities without being affected by any mental influence.

Lancelot's strength is indeed very powerful; weaker Servants can only be crushed.

Hall, however, was not afraid. Compared to strength, Hall valued compatibility more.

Class, Noble Phantasm, personality, melee combat strength, etc., Lancelot has no ability to counter Hall, nor does he have a Noble Phantasm that is difficult for Assassin Li Shuwen to deal with. As long as Lancelot cannot defeat Hall in the short term, it is Hall's victory.

Hall could withstand Lancelot's attack, but his Master might not be able to withstand the massive backlash of magic.

Chapter 156 I'll Grab the Earth Upside Down!

In the midst of the fierce battle, Hall withdrew quickly, leading the black knight to a wide plaza. He then manipulated the elemental spirits to fight them, flew into the sky, and chanted a spell at high speed: "Five elements, reappear."

"Conversion".

"polymerization."

"Reconstruction".

One after another, frosty white orbs of true ether energy appeared beside Hall. As the elemental spirits were scattered by the black road sign, the magic eye locked onto his figure, and the ether orbs materialized at the same time, releasing destructive rays.

"Roar roar roar~!"

Sensing danger, the black knight roared to the sky, and the whip-like ornaments on his armor suddenly extended and pierced into the bricks. The dark aura poured into the ground and spread along the crimson lines. The ground of the square suddenly exploded, and a cloud of rubble and dirt blocked the destructive light.

Rumble!

Before the violent explosion had subsided, Hall's expression turned serious. He raised his hand to shield himself, instantly creating a blue defensive barrier.

Countless black stones shot out from the thick smoke like bullets fired from a Gatling gun, shattering upon impact with the defensive barrier. In a short while, the barrier's thickness decreased dramatically, becoming faintly visible.

Each black stone is equivalent to a D-rank Noble Phantasm attack. Due to the inherent characteristics of the stones, they shatter upon impact with the barrier, unleashing power no less than that of a C-rank Noble Phantasm.

"Berserker can attack from a distance, fine, but he can also use Red Archer's [Fantasy Collapse]!?"

"Long-range attrition tactics are no longer viable."

Seeing that the defensive barrier was about to collapse and that more than half of his magic power had been consumed, Hall no longer hesitated. His azure-silver magic eyes shone as he chanted the true name of his Noble Phantasm: "This is the foundation of the world, from which all things are born and which govern all phenomena. All records begin here and end here."

“Etz haChayim! (Tree of Life, Primordial Principle)”

Boom!

A magnificent stone gate appeared behind Hall, slowly opening to reveal a gigantic eye inside, indifferent and calm, from which countless black tentacles extended to cover Hall's body.

The defensive barrier shattered like glass under the continuous bombardment equivalent to a C-rank Noble Phantasm. Hundreds of black stones, corrupted by the raging aura, struck Hall, who was enveloped by a black shadow arm.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Brilliant fireworks burst in the sky above Hall, the purplish-black flames illuminating half the city, thick smoke billowing, and sand and gravel raining down from the sky.

The black knight's eyes were fixed on the sky, and he did not retract the whip that was stuck in the ground. Several more black stones, corrupted by the violent aura, flew up and shot into the smoke.

However, the stone did not hit its target and did not cause a violent explosion.

As the smoke cleared, Hall stood unharmed in the void, the D-rank Noble Phantasm brick fragments resting in front of him. He smiled and gazed at the black knight below, then snapped his fingers with his right hand.

boom!

Intense flames erupted around the Black Knight, engulfing his body. His E-level magic resistance was insufficient to protect him from the Grand Magic. He roared to the sky, releasing an even denser black aura to suppress the flames.

The earth trembled, and hundreds of bricks and stones were corroded by the black aura, cracking open with red fissures. They trembled and floated into the air, aiming at Hall in the sky, and fired in unison.

"If you want to go toe-to-toe with Caster, you'll at least have to pull out your [Unregretful Lake Light]."

Hall raised his right hand, and without chanting, the five elements converged, recreating the true ether of the Age of Gods and materializing it. The instant it was crushed, it transformed into a torrent of light that destroyed everything and swept towards Lancelot.

Click~ Click click click

The stones, equivalent to D-rank Noble Phantasms, were swept away by the light of destruction and vanished, none of them able to hit Hall's body.

A silvery-white light shone in the sky, and a destructive beam of light descended from the heavens, engulfing the dark knight. In an instant, time seemed to stand still. Soil and rocks could not withstand the impact of the destructive light and turned into dust. The earth trembled and exploded with a deafening roar.

Boom!

After the blinding light and deafening explosion, a mushroom cloud rose slowly from the square of Tulipas.

"Humph."

Hall grinned and saw that the plaza below had been blasted into a huge crater with a radius of more than ten meters, burning with flames, and some of the soil had been melted into magma by the high temperature of the destructive light.

呲味味~

The dark knight lay on the lava, his armor half-shattered, revealing his body. He struggled to his feet, roaring irrationally.

Hall snorted: "High attack and high health, it's true that without a Noble Phantasm, it can't be taken down in one go."

Just as they were about to attack, the black knight, still struggling in the flames, turned into a wisp of black smoke and disappeared.

"Master's Command Seals, I can't take this!"

Hall's Noble Phantasm has been activated and is in effect.

Noble Phantasm: Etz haChayim! (Tree of Life, Primordial Principle)

As long as there is enough magic power, theoretically even the great feat of the Demon King Goetia burning human reason can be reproduced. Hall used his Noble Phantasm to copy Lancelot's Noble Phantasm Knight of Owner [A Knight Does Not Die Barehanded].

Anything that comes into contact with both hands and is perceived by Hall as a weapon will become a Noble Phantasm.

Hall is not a knight, but a magician, and a very good one at that. A magician's weapons are spells, elements, and magic.

The ability of "Knights Never Die Bare" combined with Hall's knowledge and Mystic Eyes created an immeasurable chemical reaction. After Hall copied the ability of "Knights Never Die Bare," he could control all elemental forces without complicated rituals and incantations, and could freely perform alchemy without transmutation circles. He also possessed an effect similar to Caster Medea's Noble Phantasm Rule Breaker.

The enhancement to Hall's abilities is a qualitative leap, and he will retain the ability of "Knights will not die unarmed" until Hall activates his Noble Phantasm again.

Hall floated down to the ground, crouched down, and stretched out his hands to touch the earth, hypnotizing himself that the planet was a weapon.

Many magic tricks require the magician to hypnotize himself, and Hall was already very familiar with similar rituals. Hall wanted to test one of the biggest challenges of Faster/Zero.

In other words, given that Lancelot considers the Earth a weapon, is it possible for him to grab the Earth upside down and turn it into his Noble Phantasm?

After a moment, Hall withdrew his hands and concluded, clicking his tongue in amazement: "It really is possible."

Hall's own magic was enough to turn Tulifas into a city of treasures, but it was of little use.

"Speaking of which... could I try touching the Greater Grail System?" Hall suddenly realized.

As Hall pondered this, his eyes shone even brighter: "If Caster really is Cú Chulainn, we could catch him and have some fun with the [Spinning Thrust Blue Lancer] (from Carnival Phantasm)."

Boomelancer [The Blue Lancer Who Spins and Thrusts]

Grade: B+

Type: Anti-Personnel Noble Phantasm

Range: 1~∞

Maximum capture: ∞ people

This Noble Phantasm uses a spearman as a throwing weapon. It is an unconventional Noble Phantasm created by Berserker, who originally only possessed one Noble Phantasm. It has a fatal effect on archers, emits a blue beam of light, and spins at high speed, which will hit all targets on the trajectory. Although it has the same effect as the Piercing Thorn Spear, it will not return to the thrower's hand like a boomerang.

In a dark, deserted alley in Tulifas, the blue-haired Caster suddenly shivered and muttered, "A bad feeling. I'd better hurry back and report."

Chapter 157 The Holy Sword and the Demonic Sword

In the spacious hall of Yggdrasil Castle, Black Faction Servants and Masters gathered, their eyes fixed on the projected images fed back by their familiars.

It's not quite accurate to say they all gathered. The throne is empty of heroes, Lancer Ereshkigal is unable to leave the Underworld, and Hall and Saber occupy the Black Faction's Servant slots. Therefore, there are only three Black Faction Servants present.

Berserker Frankenstein.

Rider Astolfo.

Assassin Li Shuwen.

There are five Masters: Darnic, the Master of Archer Gilgamesh; a long-haired magician with deep, unfathomable eyes.