Chapter 263 A miracle has arrived! Mash's new look!
The start and end of the battle happened almost simultaneously.
Facing the tidal wave of Elemental Golems, Arthur stood calmly in place, gripping his Holy Sword with one hand and swinging it forward.
In an instant, thousands of intensely condensed azure wind blades formed.
Centered on him, they transformed into a destructive circular storm, sweeping in all directions!
The wind blades were as dense as woven fabric, yet their trajectories were as precise as a surgeon's scalpel, carving deadly arcs within the crowded stone temple.
Earth Golems, hard as iron, were easily sliced into countless fragments, collapsing with a rumble.
Wind Golems, with their ethereal forms, had their cores instantly pierced by the wind blades, wailing as they vanished into nothingness.
Water Golems, formed from foul, murky water, were utterly dispersed by the divine power contained within the wind blades the moment they made contact.
The most violent Fire Golems seemed to have met their natural enemy; their flames were torn to shreds by the fierce wind, eventually turning into mere sparks, their mournful cries extinguishing.
On Arthur's other side, King Hassan's fighting style was entirely different.
He stood unmoving like a mountain against the roaring Golems, simply wielding his great decapitation sword with an extremely minimalist rhythm.
No superfluous movements, just a chop, a slash.
Each time his blade fell, an Elemental Golem was inevitably split open.
The eerie blue fire of the evening bell spread along the gap, utterly erasing its 'existence' from this world.
His sword did not merely sever forms; it declared the concept of 'death'.
As long as his blade touched them, regardless of the enemy's composition or characteristics, their concept of 'life' would be forcibly terminated.
Before King Hassan, these puppets, temporarily constructed by the unknown entity, were no different from lambs to the slaughter.
One person's attack was an extreme, area-of-effect purge.
The other's attack was an absolute, single-target termination.
The two were like the most efficient and ruthless killing machines, devouring the entire army of Golems pouring out of the rift.
The unknown entity on the other side of the rift, anticipating invasion, seemed to realize something was amiss at this moment.
These two targets of infiltration were far stronger than imagined!
While it enjoyed destruction and world-devouring, it was not entirely without intelligence.
When its instincts perceived that the deployed forces and casualties were completely disproportionate, fear overcame greed, and retreat became the only option.
The torrent of Golems pouring out abruptly ceased, and the ink-like viscous substance began to roll back into the rift, attempting to escape this desperate situation.
"Trying to leave?"
Arthur's eyes narrowed, and a cold smile played on his lips.
"Hereby declared, exercise the power of the Miracle."
Brilliant starlight burst from his palm, transforming into countless golden chains emblazoned with sacred runes.
They instantly pierced through the retracting viscous substance, firmly pinning the dimensional rift in the void!
"Be on your way."
Arthur uttered three cold words, and the starlight chains closing the dimensional rift tightened sharply.
After erupting with light comparable to a supernova explosion, a pure golden sun descended into this dim stone temple!
$&%&#@——!
A foul shriek, tearing at the soul and indescribable in any language, resounded.
The viscous substance forming the Elemental Golems was directly vaporized, evaporated, and utterly reduced to nothingness!
The unknown entity forces stationed near the rift suffered heavy losses within these few short seconds!
The remaining unknown entities writhed frantically on the outer side of the dimensional wall, a painful wail from an extraterrestrial being after being outmaneuvered.
On the stone wall, rippling with wave-like patterns, the last dark fissure slowly closed, vaguely revealing the unknown entities that had been lingering there now fleeing in panic.
Having completed all this, Arthur looked down at his hand, which was still imbued with faint starlight, one of the starlight imprints appearing slightly dim.
"Temporarily resolved."
Arthur withdrew his hand and looked at King Hassan, who stood silently beside him, leaning on his sword.
"But they will always find an opportunity to return."
"No matter."
The eerie blue soul fire beneath King Hassan's skull mask was calm and unperturbed, "I shall guard this place until destiny's end."
Arthur nodded, not doubting him in the slightest.
"Thank you for your hard work. I still have matters to attend to outside. We shall meet again another day."
"Go, Child of the Stars. The valley here will always be open to you."
Arthur turned and quickly left the stone temple. The setting sun outside the mountains was blood-red, causing him to squint his eyes.
He looked down at the dilapidated village below, where wisps of smoke curled from chimneys as residents set up stoves and started fires.
In the center of the scattered village, Ritsuka and her group sat around Arash, listening to him recount his experiences with the mountain folk.
Mordred idly kicked at a stone by her feet. Upon seeing Arthur emerge, her eyes lit up, and she immediately went to greet him.
"Yo, Master, are you done with your business?"
Arthur nodded casually, "Mm, what are you all doing?"
Mordred pouted, "Nothing much, same as usual."
Hearing their conversation, Ritsuka and the others waved in greeting.
"Captain, come eat something."
Arthur shook his head and walked over to Mash, speaking to the confused girl.
"Mash, come with me. It's time to resolve the issue with you."
"The issue with me?"
Mash was slightly stunned, not understanding what Arthur meant, but she obediently followed him to the hill outside the mountain village.
"Give me your hand."
"Ah? Yes!"
Mash quickly put down Fou, who she had been holding, and extended her right hand towards Arthur.
"The ritual of cycles, the order of life and death, pure grace, descend here."
Words of power flowed from Arthur's lips, and divine spring nectar condensed out of thin air, dripping into Mash's hand and instantly merging with her skin.
At that moment, Mash clearly felt her heart suddenly quicken its beat, her body temperature rise, as if even her soul was burning.
In a daze, Mash saw a silver-white figure emerge from within her, bowing to Arthur.
It was a young Knight with silver-white hair, clad in light purple armor, holding a heavy shield with a sharp cross.
"Brother? What is this?"
Mash firmly believed Arthur would not harm her, but the increasingly surging heartbeat within her body made her cover her chest, at a loss.
"The root of all Heroic Spirits who can pity existences such as you and I is one and the same."
Starlight swirled in Arthur's left palm, gently showering the dazed Mash as he patiently explained.
"This is Galahad, the purest and most selfless Holy Grail Knight among the Knights of the Round Table."
"Galahad?"
Mash's breathing grew more rapid, and with a painful whimper, she collapsed onto the ground.
True Name Release; the Spirit Origin of Galahad, hidden within her, was fully activated.
A human body could not possibly withstand the full power of a Heroic Spirit. If this continued, her internal power would surge, and Galahad's will would gradually erode her mind.
Galahad, standing to the side, watched Mash and Arthur quietly, as if waiting for something.
"Thank you for your help, guiding her all the way to this point."
Galahad's lips curved slightly, and his figure, along with the starlight sprinkled from Arthur's palm, shattered into billions of silver-white particles, all surging into Mash's body.
The surging magic within Mash's body suddenly paused, and a plume of azure divine fire rose from her back, then engulfed her entire body!
"Ugh..."
The magic within Mash's body unleashed layers of shockwaves, causing the ground to tremble violently, cracking into spiderweb-like fissures that spread wildly in all directions!
Without her even realizing it, Mash's attire began to change.
Her original black and purple light armor shed its Variegated under the divine fire's tempering, reforging into azure-silver holy armor, with more solemn skirt-armor plates appearing one by one amid crisp metallic resonance.
A heavy cross shield spontaneously appeared in her hand, arcane runes climbed onto its four-cornered blades, and its steel luster grew brighter after receiving the baptism.
After an unknown amount of time, Arthur slowly lowered his arm, the starlight imprint on his palm, no longer scattering particles, faintly visible.
"Ha..."
Mash, completely reborn and enveloped in a halo of light, gasped continuously, her face filled with surprise and confusion.
The Holy Knight attire on her had not disappeared; instead, it had been solidified by the Miracle, and—
"From today onwards, you will live as a truly 'human' being."
Arthur stepped forward to help Mash up, his eyes full of smiles.