Shinji Matou at Your Service

On the top floor of the Temple building, black fog churned and condensed, dyeing the body of the Night of Wallachia completely black. A voice, long since driven mad, emanated from the twisted black fog, ancient and insane, resembling some mysterious incantation.

"The flower of the soul, brilliant yet withered. The honey in the vessel, extolling its rotten maturity. Without exception, all are allocated."

"Alas! This is a priceless omen. The barbarian brain is transformed, the masses agree, this has been so for a thousand years."

"Learn, eat, live, kill, praise this matter for another thousand years."

"Beautiful, is it? The poison has finally invaded the limbs, causing you all to evolve into beasts! Self-deception evolving!"

"Cut, cut, cut, cut, cut... cut, cut... sever! Sever, sever, sever, sever!"

"Again!!!"

"With the blood of the Crimson Moon, I shall reach the sixth!"

"Hehehehe——!"

Amidst the maniacal declaration, Zepia swung his claws towards his chosen prey, also his last hope—the princess of the True Ancestors.

Among the three major departments of the Mage's Association, the individual combat ability of the alchemists of the Atlas Institute is the weakest. This was well reflected in Zepia; neither his charging movements nor his claw-swinging techniques had any semblance of form.

Of course, the lack of form did not mean the threat was low. Zepia was no longer the pure alchemist he once was, but a direct Dead Apostle of the Eclipse Princess of Black Blood Altrouge, sister to Arcueid. The greatest characteristic of Dead Apostles is their bodies far surpassing that of humans in strength. Without mystery, even a martial artist with years of training would find it difficult to withstand his claw.

Fortunately, his opponent was no ordinary person.

A streak of light intercepted from the front, and a youth bathed in Buddha's light blocked the vampire's path, punching him back.

"Who allowed your filthy existence to touch her? Your opponent is me!"

"Nuisance!!!"

Zepia patted the struck area, his eyes, completely consumed by red, one fixed on Arcueid, the other on Shinji.

"The princess of the True Ancestors, a being who has slaughtered countless vampires, would you fear a Dead Apostle like me? Or have you spent so much power maintaining the Crimson Moon that you are not willing to fight me?"

"So what if it is? So what if it isn't?"

Arcueid, unmoved, stood amidst the ruins, "To touch me, you must first get past my knight!"

"Is that so? Is that so? Is that so? Is that so? Is that so? Whether I win or lose, you won't make it easy for me?"

Both red eyes fixed on Shinji, and so did the hideously twisted face.

"A human with a body age of only fourteen is crowned with the title of knight? If the princess knew, she would laugh."

The princess, a term of endearment for Altrouge. This black princess also has two knights, the sixth ancestor Black Knight Strout, and the eighth ancestor White Knight Blood, both high-ranking among the Twenty-Seven Ancestors. How could a thirteen-year-old boy compare to them?

To Zepia's doubts, Shinji replied calmly:

"Whether I have the qualifications to be crowned knight will be proven by your rotten body and moldy blood."

"Very well, before the main act, let's have a rehearsal. I hope this rehearsal isn't too boring—the rehearsal is called slaughter!"

With that, Zepia extended his right hand and clenched it forcefully.

The space around Shinji was instantly divided into countless sections by invisible threads, a technique identical to the one Sion used against the killer demon.

"So this is the famous EtherLight."

Surrounded, Shinji was not flustered, observing closely through soul vision.

"So, how will it attack me?"

"Simple, like this!"

Zepia snapped his fingers, and several new threads silently sliced through the air, attacking Shinji's blind spot.

Shinji shifted his body, dodging the threads. While visual perception has blind spots, soul vision does not, so he naturally wouldn't be caught off guard.

"It doesn't seem that impressive. No matter how powerful the attack, if it doesn't hit, it's meaningless."

"As you said, if it doesn't hit, it's meaningless. But do you think I can't hit you?"

"Huh?"

Just as Shinji sidestepped, the entire web formed by the EtherLight Weave began to change.

The first wave of sneak attacks was dodged but then came the second, followed by the third, the fourth. No matter how Shinji evaded, the thread clung to him like a bone-sucking parasite, not letting go.

In an instant, Shinji had already dodged more than ten waves of sneak attacks.

"Did he see through my movements?"

"For a non-mainstream magus like you, it's probably hard to understand."

As if to return Shinji's earlier insults, Zepia did not rush to attack but started to explain.

"For alchemists, analytical calculation ability is fundamental. Every alchemist at Atlas can think at speeds tens or hundreds of times faster than ordinary people. An excellent alchemist can even divide their thoughts and independently handle various matters. Predicting an enemy's movements with superior thinking speed and analyzing the probability of changes—that's how Atlas alchemists fight."

"Isn't that just a human computer? You don't have to make it sound so complicated," Shinji retorted while dodging.

"You can understand it that way. But even among computers, there's a difference in capabilities. My incompetent descendant struggles even against a killer demon, whereas I can predict all possible actions you might take and respond accordingly—this is Multiple Future Prediction. By launching multiple attacks from blind spots and then striking at the gaps in the enemy's movements, there is bound to be a hit in one of the multiple future lines! And that's now!"

Zepia extended his left hand, spreading his five fingers evenly. From the tip of each finger, a light weave shot out, and the trajectory of the light weave coincided perfectly with Shinji's movement path.

Even though Shinji corrected himself at the fastest possible speed, he was still a step too slow and was hit in the thigh by one of the light weaves.

The light weave itself did not cause any damage, but—

"Now you can't move."

Zepia raised the corresponding middle finger of the light weave, shaking it back and forth in front of Shinji.

"This is the end, unknown knight. It's unfortunate, but you don't have the qualifications to be the princess's knight. As for why you became a knight, I'll find out for myself."