Under the moonlight, the Darius mansion was in a state of chaotic disarray.
The reason for this was that Shirou, as Assassin, had attacked Darius several times in a row.
Although he didn't manage to kill Darius, he did inflict a severe injury to Darius's lower body, which could be said to be more painful than killing him.
Shirou originally wanted to press his advantage and completely kill Darius, the head of the evil gang, but he never expected that someone beyond his imagination would appear before him.
"Water God Reida..."
Shirou had heard the great name of this current Water God countless times from both Ghislaine and the Water God Style dojo.
As the peak of one of the three major schools of swordsmanship, her strength could be said to be the strongest among humans, or rather, second only to the Sword God.
Isolte, as the successor of Water God Style, was only a half-step Water Saint, and the difference between her and Water God Reida was like night and day.
Like the fish and shrimp in a river compared to a giant whale in the vast ocean.
Such was the difference.
The techniques used by Water God Reida were naturally incomparable to Isolte's.
Even just now, when Water God Reida simply used an ordinary sword move, its power was already close to the limit that Shirou could unleash with all his strength!
In his Servant form, Shirou was confident in challenging King-level or even Emperor-level opponents, but when facing a God-level powerhouse, he truly felt overwhelming pressure, even instinctively wanting to flee the battlefield.
But Shirou knew very well that he couldn't just run away.
Because from Water God's movements just now, both her speed and power far exceeded his imagination.
The defensive-oriented nature of Water God Style and its lack of offensive power had been completely resolved by this old woman in her fifties, leaving no flaws whatsoever.
At the same time, Water God had completely locked onto him. If he gave up confronting her and chose to retreat, it would be no different from seeking death.
Water God's sword would instantly appear on his neck, causing his head to fall!
Such was the frightening power of a God-level expert!
"So, you're the one who came to assassinate Darius?"
Water God Reida looked at Shirou's unfamiliar appearance, her brows furrowing slightly. "Are you an Assassin sent by another country?"
"..."
Shirou was slightly surprised that Water God hadn't attacked him directly, but had instead chosen to talk.
He had assumed that Water God would step forward directly and completely eliminate him for assassinating a noble!
After all, Water God Style was a school rooted in the Kingdom of Asura, and its position and existence were entirely dependent on the Kingdom of Asura's power structure.
If someone wanted to kill Darius, who was at the pinnacle of the Kingdom of Asura's power structure, it would be only natural for Water God Reida to try to eliminate him.
However, Shirou also felt that something was different.
The Water God Style dojo was quite far from Darius's mansion.
There was no reason for Water God to appear here so quickly.
If it were Sword God Style, that would be one thing, but Water God Style wasn't exactly known for its speed...
Thinking of this, Shirou became suspicious of Water God's motives, but he didn't ask any questions. Instead, he answered Water God's question: "I wasn't sent by another country. I came here to punish evildoers."
"Punish evildoers?"
Water God showed a hint of appreciation for Shirou's frank attitude.
As for Water God's reaction, Shirou instantly realized that Water God probably knew what kind of dirty deeds Darius had been doing.
Yet she still allowed Darius's actions to continue, he didn't know if it was out of fear of Darius's power, or some other reason.
Water God said quietly: "Your actions are correct. Punishing evildoers is indeed a righteous deed. However, the person you hurt is the one with the highest power in this country. No matter how correct your reasons are, I won't easily allow you to leave today. You need to pay a price!"
"So Water God, you believe that power is above justice?"
"No, I do not believe that."
Water God flatly denied Shirou's guess. "I'm not helping that man because of power, or status, or wealth. I also disapprove of his actions. But I can't interfere, nor can I interfere. Therefore, I recognize your actions."
"In that case..."
"However, I also have my principles. I need to protect Darius Silva Ganius. On this one point, I will not back down no matter what."
"This..."
Shirou sensed a clear contradiction in Water God's words.
Water God was neither doing it for profit nor status, and she didn't approve of Darius's evil deeds either, yet she still chose to help Darius.
This behavior could be said to be full of contradictions.
But Water God still did it, which meant that there was some deeper reason supporting Water God's actions to protect Darius.
"..."
While Shirou analyzed Water God's motives, Water God was also analyzing Shirou's.
She judged Shirou's appearance and felt that he didn't look like a native of the Kingdom of Asura. But even if he wasn't from the Kingdom of Asura, there were very few people in the rest of the world who had a style like Shirou's.
Was he deliberately disguising himself in this way to hide his identity?
And was this so-called justice truly justice, or was it just an excuse to assassinate Darius?
Water God Reida didn't know much about Darius's actions, because she was worried that if she knew too much, she wouldn't be able to control her emotions and would do something that would damage the relationship with Darius.
That was unacceptable to Water God.
Water God Reida would rather deliberately avoid knowing about Darius's evil deeds and still protect Darius. This was very important to her.
Therefore, although she acknowledged Shirou's actions to attack and kill Darius for justice, she also had her own bottom line. She had to make anyone who attacked Darius pay the price!
"You injured Darius's manhood, which I imagine is an injury that even healing magic can't heal. Therefore, as the price, I'll only cut off one of your arms."
Water God Reida spoke slowly with an almost merciful attitude, not even thinking about taking Shirou's life.
Shirou was undoubtedly unacceptable to this.
He certainly knew that he was facing the Water God, one of the strongest of the three major schools, but he wouldn't just let her have her way so easily!
"——!!!"
The situation at the scene suddenly became extremely tense.
Shirou stared intently at Water God Reida's every move, his hands making the motion of projection—
"Snap!"
Suddenly, even though he didn't see any movement on Water God's body, Shirou's mind's eye sensed a near-destructive storm, rushing towards him at an unimaginable speed!
"Crack!"
A sword that seemed to tear through space exploded out of nowhere.
Shirou projected Kanshou and Bakuya with both hands, fully preparing for defense, and barely managed to withstand the attack from Water God.
"Not bad swordsmanship. Are you from North God Style?"
Water God Reida mistakenly thought that the swordsmanship Shirou used came from North God Style. In fact, only North God Style generally chose to use dual swords in this world.
Shirou didn't intend to clear up the misunderstanding.
As soon as he finished projecting them, he threw the twin swords in his hands out.
Because after that brief collision just now, the Kanshou and Bakuya in his hands had directly shattered.
As the strongest of Water God Style, Water God's every move was full of the mysteries of Water God Style. Isolte's Stone Stance was naturally mastered by her, and she could even easily turn it on and off with a breath.
With the Rock Stance aura, Water God's sword was nearly a ton in weight, and the fragile weapons projected by Shirou couldn't withstand it at all.
Fortunately, Shirou wasn't just relying on a pair of weapons.
After discarding Kanshou and Bakuya, he projected new twin blades again.
And this time, he tried his best to create distance.
Just now, he thought the distance was far enough, but he still underestimated Water God's strength. Even if her speed wasn't as good as Sword God Style, it was still only inferior to the Sword God. It was feared that even the King-level and Emperor-level of Sword God Style couldn't compare to Water God's sword speed!
"Trying to escape?"
When Water God saw Shirou's actions, she was first surprised by Shirou's behavior of projecting weapons, seeing that it seemed to be some kind of magic.
But she didn't care, and dealt with Shirou's actions calmly, like a cat playing with a mouse.
"Crack!"
Just when Shirou was about to create distance, at least he himself thought the distance was far enough!
Suddenly, a slash that almost shattered the entire space suddenly erupted from the shadows.
Shirou didn't even notice the movement, or rather, he felt like he was actively crashing into the sword that came from the shadows. He didn't have time to react at all, and could only rely on his mind's eye to dodge as much as possible!
"Snap!"
A clear wound appeared on his shoulder.
Just now, if Shirou's mind's eye hadn't been strong enough, I'm afraid that Water God would have cut off Shirou's arm with just this one strike, just as she said!
Was this Water God's strength?
Although he couldn't completely convert it, Shirou even felt a sense of oppression that far exceeded that of ordinary Servants. Even a Saber-class Servant would find it difficult to clash with Water God in terms of swordsmanship.
Because Water God's movements could be said to be perfect to an indescribable extent.
Her grasp of swordsmanship far exceeded her strength, reaching a natural and unwavering realm.
If Servant Emiya's sword was the swordsmanship of mortals, a sword that mortals had reached the pinnacle of through step-by-step efforts and absolute hard work, then Water God's sword was already at the top of the mountain from the beginning.
What she wanted to pursue, what she wanted to reach, was a realm that human power couldn't reach, a realm that was to reach the sky, to reach the divine realm above all ages.
In this way, it was simply impossible for Shirou to defeat Water God with his own swordsmanship.
"Hoo..."
For a moment, Shirou slowly took a deep breath.
He knew that the swordsmanship of a genius could only be broken by the swordsmanship of a genius.
The sword of mortals could no longer be used in this kind of duel.
Therefore, Shirou began his new projection, the Noble Phantasm that was recorded in Servant Emiya's memory——Secret Sword: Tsubame Gaeshi!
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