Medusa's spear flashed in the dark of night. As she swung, a life will be harvested.
However, their number didn't decrease at all. In contrast, their number increased.
She didn't panic. She knew who she was fighting.
Hassan of hundred faces. Their Noble Phantasm was mainly split into many different individuals.
Their number is increasing but their strength is not. Since their strength may be the same as the original or even weaker, there is no reason for Medusa to fear them.
"Come and face your cold death" Medusa's eyes filled with killing intention.
Looking at the fellows who became particular of light and disappeared, Assassins looked at them with cold gaze.
For Assassins, those sacrifices were necessary and it was worth it.
Medusa was very strong. Stronger than them many times.
However.
The gap of strength didn't make them feel difficult. Since they couldn't take down a servant then they should target a prey that could be killed. In this case, their main target will be her Master.
After all, they are Heroic Spirits specializing in attacking masters.
In order to have a smooth assassination, they needed to separate Medusa and they were trying their best to lure Medusa away. When she went far enough, an ambush team lurking in the shadow would attack her Master.
However, she wasn't that easy to be lured away. Medusa kept her distance close enough so that she could provide help at any time.
Nonetheless, they still went as they had planned. But their plan just had a little adjustment.
They transmitted messages through their special telepathy channel. Receiving the message, Assassins waiting in the shadow nodded at each other and sprang into action.
They dashed with poisonous daggers hiding in their clothes.
Seeing some faint shadow running in the forest, Caster raised his staff towards it. He immediately cast spells to attack an unknown attacker.
Many roots sprouted from the ground to attack them.
However, Caster's spells weren't effective. They dodged easily and separated into 2 teams.
One targeted the Master group and the other supported in hindering Medusa.
One by one, they jumped out of the forest. Caster looked at newcomers with vigilance.
Five of them also stared at him with crimson eyes and skull masks.
"I am honored to greet you guys but I have no mood to sit together and reminisce the past. Can you kindly let us go and no one will die here?" Caster raised the staff and was ready to defend against any attack.
"Let you go away?" Assassin 1 sneered, gripping their dagger tightly. "Not a chance. Orders are orders, and you're not leaving here alive."
"We have been observing and waiting in the dark. Just only for this moment." Assassin 2 stared at them with crimson eyes.
"To end all the Master's life." another Assassin added.
"Okay, Master. Ready yourself. This is a battle that we can't avoid," Caster raised the staff and observed every single movement of them. As long as they did something funny, he wouldn't mind blowing them into pieces.
"Caster. Who are they?" Noah's Ark asked Caster through a telepathy link.
"They are Assassin, Hassan of hundred faces," Caster answered.
"How strong they are in your opinion?"
"If I rate them then their strength is so so. Not so impressive. But it's still dangerous for you to face them"
"Enough with talking. Let's surround and kill them quickly." Assassin shouted at them interrupting their conversation.
All of the Assassins charged at Caster with killing intention.
Caster lightly tapped his staff into the ground. At the place where he tapped appeared a small crack. A small seedling sprouted. Suddenly, the crack enlarged and many root trees grew from it.
It grew strong and fast under the control of Caster.
It raised highly its root and whipped at the group of Assassin with precision.
With quick reaction, assassins dodged the attack and scattered in all directions.
Not only that, but they also knew to cooperate with each other to nullify the attack.
Taking the chaos of the battle, they sometimes threw the dagger at Caster's master which shifted the focus of Caster.
One of them slowly retreated into the shadow for a sneak attack.
Seeing their force dividing into many smaller groups, he was worried of his master and master's friends safety. One is too weak and the other is defenseless.
"Look like I have to be serious in this fight," To be pushed to this degree by this weak servant was a shame for him. However, his master's safety is always his priority. What made him hesitate was the NP's need for using Noble Phantasm.
'Caster. Just use your Noble Phantasm. I can hold them for a while.' Noah's Ark words sounded in his head.
'But Master, Noble Phantasm will require time and huge NP to cast it. If we use it recklessly, other Servants will attack us or we will attract them. Especially that Berserker.'
'There is a tunnel below this mountain. I want you to open the path to it. Also. If you use NP earlier, you will have more time to resupply it. Don't save it for the final battle.'
'You are right, Master.'
Caster inhaled a deep breath to activate his Noble Phantasm.
Secretly, Caster carved a rune under his sleeves.
Luckily for him, the opponent this time was Assassin. He didn't need to focus on defending against them too much.
Judging from the Assassin's behavior and actions, he thought those Assassins coming here for another purpose.
He thought the master of Assassin just wanted to toy with them. Not killing them.
However, he didn't bet his entire life on that groundless assumption.
From the shadow, an Assassin leaped out and slashed the dagger toward him. With a quick reaction, he raised the wooden staff to block.
"Very close one. You are so close to taking my head."
A fireball condensed on his staff and blasted at Assassin.
The Assassin immediately used his clothes to block the fire. After being blasted away by a fireball for a few meters, Assassin slowly stood up and dragged his injured body into the shadow.
Caster summoned tree roots to protect himself.
He cast a glance at his master's side. Seeing him handle the attack well, he shifted his focus on completing the runes chant.
Noah's Ark's level wasn't too high but his existence was already a cheat in this virtual world.
As an Artifact intelligence, he can interfere with this world by changing its data.
Assassin saw a wide open from Noah's Ark so he launched an attack from behind him.
Typing the terminal, that Assassin immediately disappeared.
"Where did he go?" Conan asked.
"I don't know but it should not be near here."
Sensing one part of them lost contact, the rest of the Assassins raised vigilance against Noah's Ark's teleport.
They used Presence Concealment to hide their presence and slowly approach the target. On the terminal, Noah's Ark was unable to detect their presence anymore.
This made him surprised. No matter how he tried to change the settings, their presence couldn't be detected.
"This data. It can't be." Noah's Ark was shocked. Checking their data, he found their existence strange and out of his understanding. He was spaced out by this discovery.
"Noah's Ark. Your back" Conan's warning woke him back to reality.
A poisonous dagger was hurled towards him. He tumbled forward to dodge it.
Seeing their failed sneak attack, the rest of the Assassin gradually lost patience.
However, they were still aware of the danger of teleport.
Hiding in the dark and only showing the skull masks.
They were waiting for the opportunity to strike a critical hit.
Looking at Assassin standing behind the row of trees, Conan and Noah's Ark both received a debuff.
"We receive paranoid debuff and our sight is losing," Conan said as soon as his eyes couldn't see anything beyond 5 meters.
A dagger was thrown toward the unconscious Kirito lying on the ground. Noah's Ark saw it and he immediately changed the direction of the dagger and sent it back to the sender.
The dagger's blade turned 180 degrees and headed back to the place where it was thrown.
The Assassin standing there turned into spiritual form and the dagger went through where he was and stabbed the tree behind him.
"Noah's Ark. Why don't you try to teleport us away from this danger? I see you can teleport that guy at the beginning" Conan asked a question that should have been asked long ago.
"That's a very good question, Conan" Noah's Ark replied.
"Because if I do that, it will be a game over for us."
To make Conan understand why he didn't do it from the beginning, he explained quickly.
"This is a mini world created by BB so I don't know its hidden danger. I tried to teleport the Assassin who attacked me before to test the water. I don't know where he was although I only try to teleport him 10 meters from this place."
"I see." Conan nodded his head.
"That's tough for you. Even you admit it like this. I don't know what to do to defeat BB anymore."
"I am overrated by you. BB is better than me in all aspects. Comparing me and her is like comparing a bow and a gun. But I take it as my pleasure."
Many daggers were thrown interrupting the conversation.
With flexible fingers, Noah's Ark redirected the pattern of attack and sent it back.
While Noah's Ark focused on the dagger attack, Assassin manifested beside Conan and slashed toward Noah's Ark's neck.
Conan immediately pulled Noah's Ark's head down to avoid the attack. The attack missed Noah's Ark but hit Conan's wrist instead.
Noah's Ark saw this and immediately teleported that Assassin away.
"Are you okay, Conan?"
"I'm fine. It's just I lost my hand and got poisonous." Conan looked at his hand on the ground. There was no blood leaking from it.
"I understand." Typing the terminal, Conan's hand appeared again, and his status reset.
"Just be careful, next time."
Having said that, Noah's Ark focused on defending against Assassin's massive attack.
However, Noah's Ark's expression at the moment wasn't good. He looked like a dying person.
Catching this moment, the Assassins changed their strategy and charged toward them.
Noah's Ark had to spawn trees to halt Assassin's step.
One or two were killed by the random tree spawn.
"My time won't be long. Youuuu…" Noah's Ark exhaled heavily like a dying person. His image was turned from 3D to pixel and turned back in the blink of an eye.
The red warning appeared in the sky.
"It seems like the game system detected my cheating. But I can continue for a few minutes."
"Noah's Ark. You become more and more transparent. You should stop now" Conan said with concern and worry.
"Don't worry about that. It's just the system trying to delete me but I'm stubborn like a cockroach so I won't disappear easily"
"I am too powerless in this world." Conan could only bite his lips in frustration.
"You are not, Conan. Believe me, Conan. You are not useless like you think " Noah's Ark laid his hand on Conan's shoulder but it went through like a ghost.
"You must make a contract with one servant. So. If I am disappeared by the game system, you must make a contract with Caster. He will guide you and protect you."
"This ending. I won't accept it. No matter how hard the situation is, there is always a solution for this." Conan gritted his teeth in frustration.
"Conan. That's what you must do after I am deleted by the system. Do you remember the black mud that I showed you before?"
"Yes, I do remember it. It looks very malicious and disgusting."
"Indeed, even I, who don't know fear, have to learn to fear it." Noah's Ark said with a serious tone.
"I don't know what it is. However, I believe it is an existence that is beyond our current understanding. No. Beyond this world's understanding."
"And the malice of those mud is tearing the boundary between reality and virtual reality. And it won't be long before that mud makes its way towards the real world."
"I don't understand. Can you please …" Just as Conan wanted to ask, a voice rang out interrupting him.
"Thank you for buying precious time, Master. And now, it's payback time."
---- Extra ----
[ Ban room ]
"So. You say there is no way to leave this place" Assassin 2 asked.
"Yes. We definitely get stuck here until." Assassin 1 pointed at the clock floating on their head.
"This time run out."
"Are you serious? You mean we have to wait 10 years to leave this place." Assassin 2 said to reconfirm the information.
"Correct. BB said so." Assassin 1 went to the corner and laid down.
"Bullshit. I don't believe this." Immediately, Assassin 2 tried to tear the wall by force.
A crack opened and he was eager to widen it.
However, what greeted him was the data. He looked closer and saw some kind of mud creature swimming around data.
As soon as he saw it, he could see the end of his life in front of him. He quickly closed the gap with all his strength.
"Seriously. Why is that guy here."
"Don't know. Just don't do that again."