"Bang!"
The moment Dragon King's sword was unsheathed, the pressure from Alexander skyrocketed to an extreme level.
Every move he made radiated a pressure no less than that of a top demon lord. Combined with gravity magic and North God-level swordsmanship, his ranking as the seventh of the seven great powers was well-deserved.
"North God Style Standard Form, Twenty Slashes!"
Alexander attacked first, using the most classic Twenty Slashes.
But this was undoubtedly the most terrifying Twenty Slashes that Shirou had ever seen.
With the boost from Dragon King's sword, Alexander's slash had reached an unbelievable level of power and speed, creating a feeling like a storm was coming.
"Whoa whoa whoa!"
When using Dragon King's sword, Alexander became more reckless than before. His movements became more disorganized, as if he was just swinging with brute force. But the might unleashed by this pure brute force couldn't be ignored.
"!!!"
Facing Alexander's attack, Shirou had no time to think. He immediately drew the Dragon Sword of Beauty and Grace from his waist, ready to clash head-on.
He didn't think he had any way to dodge this attack.
While using Dragon King's sword to boost himself, Alexander also activated the gravity magic in the magic sword, adding a gravity field around Shirou to make it hard for him to move.
If Shirou chose to dodge, he would surely be caught up by Alexander and easily defeated with a single slash.
On the other hand, if he chose to face it head-on, while still difficult, there was at least a chance of blocking it!
So, everyone saw this scene:
Alexander, wielding a greatsword, used Twenty Slashes and charged at Shirou like thunder. Shirou also decisively drew the Dragon Sword of Beauty and Grace, used Longsword of Light, and confronted Alexander head-on.
"Bang!"
After a nearly destructive gust of wind, the two fighters in the battlefield were forced apart.
Alexander easily jumped back, resolving all the pressure from the collision.
In contrast, Shirou was sent flying far away by the impact. Cracks even appeared on the Dragon Sword of Beauty and Grace during the clash.
This one exchange showed the difference in strength.
After drawing Dragon King's sword, Alexander could cancel out Shirou's full-power Longsword of Light with just the simplest Twenty Slashes. The difference in their weapons was obvious.
They weren't even on the same level!
Moreover, after using Dragon King's sword, Alexander seemed to have lost his mind, becoming completely wild and full of fighting spirit.
The second after knocking Shirou back, he suddenly jumped up again, using the acceleration from the gravity magic to reach Shirou at almost the same speed as Longsword of Light!
"Bang!"
"Bang!" "Bang!"
Alexander's attacks came like a flood.
Not to mention Shirou himself.
Just witnessing the fight caused the others to feel pain in their eyes and uncontrollable tremors throughout their bodies.
"Thump!"
In the rolling dust, Alexander spun in the air and swung his sword with all his might at the ground, where he couldn't see clearly.
The violent storm swept away all the dust, revealing Shirou's figure.
Alexander pursued further, charging straight at Shirou.
In the blink of an eye, they clashed again in an amazing collision.
Shirou was blown away by Alexander, who was wielding Dragon King's sword. The Dragon Sword of Beauty and Grace finally couldn't withstand Dragon King's terrible destructive power and was completely shattered!
"Crack!"
The invincible dragon sword, once thought to be unbreakable, finally lost out in the clash with Dragon King's sword.
Without a weapon, Shirou couldn't block Alexander's next attack.
Because they were too close, he didn't even have time to use Projection magic. Shirou had to roll away, dodging Alexander's direct hit with a clumsy maneuver.
Then he quickly took out a bow and projected arrows, firing several shots rapidly.
But against Alexander, who was giving it his all without any reservations, these arrows didn't even cause a ripple.
He didn't even bother to block, just using the gravity shield released by Dragon King's sword to make all the arrows fall to the ground as soon as they got close.
"..."
Seeing this, Shirou realized that no clever tricks could win this fight.
At this point, it was impossible to gain an advantage through ordinary skills. The fight was no longer about skill, but about a clash of absolute power. If Shirou wanted to win, he had to create a power greater than Dragon King's sword!
Faced with this situation, Shirou strangely recalled his fight with Angelica.
Back then, when facing Angelica who used Gilgamesh's cards, Shirou was able to gain an advantage at first, using Unlimited Blade Works and his own skills to stall. But once Angelica used her strongest technique, the Ea sword that created the heavens and earth, he had absolutely no way to resist.
Shirou learned from that lesson, realizing that he lacked a single, effective means with absolute destructive power. So, after coming to this world, he had been searching for it. But even now, he wasn't sure if he had found it.
But at least, he had no other choice now!
After all, he couldn't even use Unlimited Blade Works right now. If he didn't use all his cards, he definitely couldn't win!
"Projection, begin!"
Faced with his own weaponlessness and Alexander's ever-increasing momentum, Shirou had no time to think. He decisively started a projection!
He was going to project the strongest sword he could project right now.
If Dragon King's sword was the strongest sword in this world, then Shirou was projecting the strongest sword he knew from another world!
He had imagined the sword's shape and appearance countless times in his dreams, focusing his imagination to try and understand its essence.
Now, even though he might still not be able to perfectly recreate its original form, Shirou had no choice but to give it a try!
Shirou raised his right hand. Golden light formed in his hand, unleashing amazing magic power.
At the same time, a light slowly shined on Shirou's chest. It was an item shaped like a sword sheath, a treasure that Shirou had created in this world with the help of Nanahoshi and the entire magic university, an item that was very close to the real thing—Distant Utopia.
Now, what Shirou was going to project was the content that should exist in the Distant Utopia sword sheath, the Holy Sword from the elves that appeared at the same time as the sheath.
Its name was—
"Excalibur!"
Shirou focused all his strength and mental power in his hand. This was even more exhausting than he had imagined, and even his magic power was gradually being drained.
Compared to the Forever Faraway Golden Sword that Shirou had once projected in the Holy Land of Swords, projecting Excalibur now was countless times more difficult.
This was normal. After all, even if the Forever Faraway Golden Sword was very close to the real thing, it was still just a copy.
It could never catch up to the real King Arthur's Holy Sword—Excalibur.
This sword was not only a genuine divine weapon, but also the strongest Holy Sword in the true sense of the word. It was the only one inscribed in Servant history and even the history of the planet.
Originally, no matter what price Shirou paid or what self-sacrifice he made, it would have been impossible to create a projection of Excalibur.
This was beyond the limits of projection.
But because Shirou had created Forever Faraway Golden Sword, a copy of the Holy Sword that was very close to Excalibur, he fully understood the essence of the Holy Sword through forging. He also used Distant Utopia, the sheath of the Holy Sword, to boost himself with Avalon and the attributes that Avalon itself provided, which were closely related to the Holy Sword. So Shirou had a chance to create the actual Holy Sword!
"Aaaaaah!"
At this moment, Shirou felt his body cracking and being destroyed, even just from the projection process. A mortal's body could never be able to project the strongest Holy Sword. Even Shirou's own potential was collapsing bit by bit.
But because Distant Utopia was working at the same time, it was repairing Shirou's body at almost the same speed, maintaining the integrity of Shirou's soul, allowing him to maintain his pure self-awareness and continue creating Excalibur.
As all this was happening, the intense magic power had almost completely drained Shirou dry, and even the magic power in this space was starting to dry up.
"!!!"
Everyone around was showing confused expressions.
Even Alexander couldn't help but frown, feeling unable to understand everything that was happening before him. He also felt very wary.
As a North God, he couldn't possibly watch an enemy make such obvious and threatening moves in front of him. He almost immediately took action, trying to stop Shirou.
"We won't let you!"
In the distance, Rudeus and Roxy seemed to have expected this.
They were mages, different from Paul and the others. They could interfere in the fight from a distance.
But Shirou and Alexander's fight had been too intense. The two had no chance to intervene without making things worse, so they'd been watching.
Now that they saw Shirou in danger, they naturally wouldn't stand by and watch. After all, the one-on-one duel was just a verbal promise between Shirou and Alexander. Rudeus and the others hadn't agreed to it.
How could they be willing to let Shirou give everything to protect them, while they did nothing?
Now that they had finally found a great opportunity, Rudeus and Roxy decisively joined forces, working together to use the strongest King-tier magic—Thunderbolt!
Roxy had learned this magic while traveling over the years.
After successfully rescuing Roxy in the maze city of Lapan, Rudeus was curious about Roxy's King-tier magic and asked her to teach him.
Roxy agreed. To her surprise, Rudeus learned the secrets of King-tier magic as soon as he started, making Roxy feel frustrated.
After all, it had taken her so long to become a King-tier mage, while Shirou and Rudeus had both reached the King-tier level at a young age. It was natural for her to feel unbalanced.
Of course, this feeling only affected Roxy for a moment. She quickly got rid of her negative emotions and felt proud of the growth of her disciple Rudeus.
In fact, her teaching Rudeus King-tier magic had indeed had an effect.
In the current situation, it would have taken her too long to cast King-tier magic by herself.
Rudeus and she worked together, using magic at the crucial moment. The magic, completed without almost any delay thanks to their cooperation, rapidly gathered and crashed down on Alexander from the sky!
"Majestic water spirits, prince of thunder who ascends to the sky! Fulfill my wish, bring violent grace, let the tiny beings see your power! Strike the anvil with the hammer of God, show your awesomeness, let the flood overwhelm the whole earth! Ah, rain! Wash away everything, drive away all things!"
"Majestic light spirits, Thunder Emperor who controls the sky! Do you see the one who stands tall! That is the enemy of the proud Thunder Emperor! I wish to hold the Holy Sword and turn into the one who defeats the enemy with one blow! I will show the majesty of the Thunder Emperor with the power of shining light!"
Because the King-tier magic Thunderbolt needed both water and thunder sacred-tier magic as a prerequisite, it would be very slow for one person to use it.
But Rudeus used water sacred-tier magic, and the other used advanced thunder magic, quickly completing the release of the magic!
"Thunderbolt! Destroy everything!"
"Boom!"
Amazing lightning fell from the sky, the power of thunder passing through Alexander's body and knocking him directly out of the air.
"Ahhhhhhhh!"
However, Alexander's movements didn't stop. Even after being hit by King-tier magic, he still insisted on getting up from the ground, holding his greatsword and walking towards Shirou.
At this moment, Paul and Elinalise had already reacted, and they stood in front of Alexander, using their bodies to block his way.
"Get out of the way!"
Alexander was bursting with power, he was about to use his sword to knock Paul and the others down.
The gap between Paul and the others and Alexander was obvious. The power of Dragon King's sword would almost tear them to pieces instantly.
At the critical moment—
"Bang!"
A brilliant light appeared from the dark labyrinth.
Shirou had appeared in front of them at some point, swinging the Holy Sword in his hand, which was only half-formed, and clashing with Alexander.
"Boom!"
An intense storm burst out instantly.
It was the Wind King Barrier that was wrapped around the surface of the Holy Sword!
The power it released was enough to blow away an army.
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