At the sports field near the bell tower, the assassin and the shield knight stood facing each other, preparing for an intense battle.
"The Captain of the Vestel Shield Knights, Riesbyfe Stridberg, wielding the sacred shield in my hand—"
"The nameless foot soldier hiding their identity, humbly requests—"
"—to crusade against heresy!"
"—to grant me enlightenment!"
Before the words had even settled, both of them surged forward simultaneously.
In the blink of an eye, the ten-meter distance between them closed, and Riesbyfe's right fist collided directly with Shinji's right fist without any hesitation.
With a dull thud, Shinji's body was sent flying backward as if hit by a speeding car.
This wasn't a strategy or an illusion; it was a real and tangible occurrence.
Shinji and Riesbyfe had each thrown a punch, but it was Shinji who was sent flying.
In contrast, Riesbyfe only paused for a moment, as if she had urgently stepped on the brakes, and then stomped on the accelerator to charge towards Shinji.
This meant that Riesbyfe's strength far surpassed Shinji's. Without such overwhelming power, she wouldn't have been able to achieve this crushing effect. Fortunately, her movement speed wasn't fast enough to immediately catch up to the stunned Shinji, giving him some time to react.
Shinji, whose punch was easily overwhelmed, wasn't particularly panicked. Even before their fists collided, he had anticipated this possible outcome. The most memorable aspect of Riesbyfe to him wasn't her title or combat record, nor her personality, but her arm strength.
Shinji vividly remembered that in his previous life, when "playing" with the character Riesbyfe, she had claimed to be able to throw punches with an average force of 2 tons. Although Shinji excelled in physical techniques and could temporarily surpass the limits of the human body through enhanced magic, he couldn't possibly throw punches of that magnitude.
You see, the weight of most Japanese family sedans generally falls between 1.2 to 1.8 tons, so Shinji's previous sarcastic remark about the humanoid Gundam wasn't an exaggeration at all.
"Even if that punch didn't reach 2 tons, it was at least 1.5 tons. Luckily, I was prepared and managed to redirect most of the impact, or else I would have been done for."
Quietly assessing Riesbyfe's punching power, Shinji formulated his next tactic.
The ankles covered by his cloak, spiritual particles converged, manifesting a pair of feathered shoes. Pure white wings spread open, and the resulting lift allowed Shinji to execute a somersault, transitioning from facing the sky to facing the ground.
During the somersault, Shinji raised his left hand and threw two runestones towards Riesbyfe, who was in pursuit. Although Shinji had been avoiding using his left hand since the recent embedding of the Śarīra, he couldn't afford to be picky at this point. (Śarīra-Buddhist relics from Souren Araya.)
Faced with the runestones emitting distinct magical fluctuations, Riesbyfe raised her shield, seemingly relying on it to withstand Shinji's magic.
The runestones shattered, flames erupted, and lightning ran rampant. However, these attacks, capable of instantly killing, failed to break through the shield's defense. They couldn't even disrupt the slow footsteps of the shield knight.
Riesbyfe's shield, known as the True Apocrypha "Gamaliel," was a treasure-level conceptual armament inherited by the Church. The shield's surface was engraved with two segments of the Gospel blessed by God, providing astonishing defense against both physical and mystical attacks. Not only would two runestones fail to penetrate this sacred shield's defense, but even meticulously prepared grand magecraft would be unable to do so.
It's worth mentioning that the defense of the sacred shield wasn't limited to the shield itself. One of the runestones, "Thursaz," which carried the lightning of the Thunder God's Hammer, extended partially beyond the shield but was still repelled.
By this time, Riesbyfe, who had been racing forward, had caught up to Shinji. She maintained her shield at the forefront and crashed into him, shield and all.
In the crucial moment, Shinji increased the magical supply to his feathered shoes, successfully evading Riesbyfe's shielded charge under the effect of upward lift.
Having evaded the charge, Riesbyfe showed no signs of discouragement. Her knees bent, and propelled by a bouncing force even stronger than her punching strength, she transformed into a projectile and aimed for Shinji suspended in mid-air.
As the human projectile launched, the ground beneath her feet, serving as the support for the cannon, naturally caved and cracked under Riesbyfe's step.
Shinji, who had been closely observing Riesbyfe's movements, was well-prepared and once again maneuvered in mid-air to avoid the impact of the human cannonball.
In the fleeting moment as they passed each other, Shinji once again tossed two runestones. This time, it wasn't a direct attack like fire or lightning but an indirect attack. As someone who also possessed a divine shield, Shinji didn't believe that the defense of the sacred shield was truly impregnable.
The fact proved that Shinji's conjecture was correct.
Two runestones were used, one corroding the human body with negative energy, causing temporary weakness without breaking through the conceptual defense of the holy shield. The other applied pressure to the air within a certain range, making it heavy and slowing down the enemy's movements, and this runestone proved effective.
"So that's how it works." Observing Riesbyfe's affected movements, Shinji made a preliminary judgment about the defense mechanism of the holy shield.
The holy shield was just a shield, and both visible and invisible defenses relied on it. Although it could withstand attacks, it couldn't ignore all interference like "Avalon" and was still subject to various laws and environmental influences. For example, if a steamroller were to roll over Riesbyfe, the shield wouldn't shatter, but she would be crushed.
However, understanding something didn't mean it could be deciphered, especially because Riesbyfe's body was incredibly powerful. With an average punch of 2 tons, even without using skilled techniques, this data panel could easily qualify as a Saber in the Holy Grail War, a true humanoid tyrannosaurus.
With such a powerful body coupled with a semi-invulnerable holy shield, Riesbyfe had become a complete tank. It didn't require complex techniques or flexible tactics; simply charging with the shield and overpowering the enemy with strength was enough to defeat the majority of opponents.
Riesbyfe's subsequent actions confirmed Shinji's speculation. She had only a few moves in her repertoire.
Charge, shield strike;
Charge, punch;
Charge, kick.
Yet, with these simple moves, Shinji found himself running around the field, completely defenseless.
Of course, there were still opportunities for counterattacks, but Riesbyfe relied on her powerful body to withstand all range-controlling magecraft, showing no weaknesses and making Shinji extremely frustrated.
"This is simply an impenetrable iron turtle! It's so troublesome, even more so than Araya. I hate this kind of opponent the most. Should I try to use my Noble Phantasm for a strong attack? But if I do that, my identity as 'Death' will be exposed, and my true identity as Shinji Matou might be revealed. Wait, Araya?"
Thinking about the person he had recently manipulated, Shinji couldn't help but turn his gaze to his left hand.
There, another significant religious artifact resided.
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