Lin Qi crashed into a tree, halting his backward flight.
My back…
Like a slime hitting a wall, Lin Qi slid down the tree trunk to the ground. Having taken yet another heavy blow, he couldn't help but clutch his back.
"Cough, cough…"
Having been kicked hard in the stomach, Lin Qi's intestines weren't feeling great either. A cold sweat covered his forehead.
He drew a rune with a backhanded motion to heal his body.
Knowing he couldn't afford to delay, Lin Qi was just about to return to the battlefield when he noticed a massive figure also flying backwards into the woods.
"Asterios?"
In an instant, Lin Qi recognized this highly distinctive figure.
Without time to think, Lin Qi accelerated and ran behind Asterios, using all his strength to brace against the Berserker's body, which was still sliding back due to the impact.
Because he was using all his strength, the wound on Lin Qi's left shoulder, which had just been partially healed by the runes after being slashed by Hector, tore open again. Blood gushed from it.
Stimulated by the pain, Lin Qi couldn't suppress a grunt, and one of his eyes squeezed tightly shut.
"Hraah!"
But Lin Qi did not lessen his strength. Instead, gritting his teeth, he applied even more force, while simultaneously channeling the magical energy within his body to activate his Noble Phantasm once more, causing a golden light to envelop both himself and Asterios.
They slid back over ten meters before Asterios's body was finally stabilized.
A large, viscous droplet of liquid fell onto his head. Lin Qi was stunned for a moment. Before he could even process what was on his head, he saw the liquid drip from his hair onto the ground.
'Blood…'
Realizing what it was, Lin Qi hurriedly looked up. He saw that the Berserker, who had originally stood firm like a small mountain and had fought side-by-side with him ever since joining the team, now had his limbs hanging powerlessly. Drops of blood dripped from his bull-like horns. The only reason he was still standing was entirely due to Lin Qi's support.
Seeing this, Lin Qi carefully laid Asterios down on the ground. At the same time, with a hand already stained with Asterios's blood, he drew a healing rune for him.
Only after the rune's light covered Asterios did Lin Qi finally have the presence of mind to examine his injuries.
There were numerous wounds torn by an axe blade on all four limbs… No, to be accurate, aside from his head and neck, there wasn't a single patch of unharmed flesh on Asterios's body. This was especially true for the nine horrific wounds on his chest and abdomen, which had almost torn Asterios's body apart. Shattered bones lay scattered randomly over the still unconsciously twitching flesh, like broken glass.
From Lin Qi's angle, he could even see Asterios's heart, exposed to the air, still beating, but slowed to an unknown degree.
Looking at Asterios, who had been dyed red with blood, Lin Qi's breath hitched. His heart felt as if it were being wrung, and his nose felt blocked by something.
"Ugh… Ha…"
Asterios's painful groans reached Lin Qi's ears. As his consciousness returned, the flow of blood quickened slightly. One could see tiny spurts of blood rushing out from blood vessels, passing through the hollow wounds, and splattering onto Asterios's own body.
"It's alright, Asterios. Just lie down for a bit longer and you'll be fine…"
Lin Qi hurriedly crouched down, instinctively speaking in a soft, comforting tone.
His voice carried a tremor he himself hadn't noticed.
This was a lie.
In just this short amount of time, the blood Asterios had lost had even soaked the soil beneath Lin Qi's feet. How could an injury of this severity, with this amount of blood loss, be something Lin Qi's rune magecraft could cure?
The area around Lin Qi's eyes reddened. He wanted to reach out and touch Asterios's body, trying to alleviate his pain, but found there was no place to put his hand without touching a wound.
For some reason, Lin Qi could feel the agonizing pain coming from all over Asterios's body, a pain worse than death, and—the powerlessness of teetering on the brink of the abyss of death.
"Little Lin…"
Asterios's voice was as faint as a thread. Lin Qi hurriedly looked at Asterios's face.
"Save… Euri…"
"Ah, I know."
Looking into Asterios's eyes, Lin Qi nodded without the slightest hesitation.
Hearing Lin Qi's words, Asterios forced a grin, just as simple and honest as before.
Asterios continued "speaking."
[You guys are different from those people. You all call me by my name. I like you! I like Euryale, who was the first to call me by my name!]
[But… I'm so weak… I couldn't protect anything, I'm not strong at all… And he (Heracles) is a hero, I'm a monster, I can't beat him…]
[—But Little Lin, you are very strong, stronger than me! And you're also very smart, you can protect everything!]
Asterios slowly raised a thumb.
…He actually remembered until now something I just mentioned casually back then?
"You really are very strong. I wasn't lying to you…"
Lin Qi sniffled and said with a smile.
He still believed Asterios was very strong. That had never changed.
[But we both can't defeat them. I don't know where I'm strong… So if I give my power to Little Lin to use, can Little Lin defeat them?]
[…Even though my power is weak…]
"Of course. With Asterios's power, victory is inevitable."
Lin Qi's tone was filled with unquestionable certainty.
[Mmm! I leave it to you, Little Lin!]
Asterios's eyes narrowed into crescents, his smile incomparably brilliant.
Golden points of light scattered. Asterios's Saint Graph had already appeared within Lin Qi.
He was unwilling.
Lin Qi could feel the resentment hidden beneath Asterios's smile.
Why must monsters always be killed by heroes?
Why can heroes kill monsters without any hesitation?
Why could I (Asterios) not defeat him no matter what?
Why…
—I (Asterios) also wanted to become a hero who could protect others!
—
"Your wish, I have received it."
"So watch, Asterios…"
Lin Qi rolled up his bloodstained and torn sleeve. His cold pupils seemed to have sparks flashing within them. Behind him stood the phantom of Asterios, his eyes lacking their spirit.
"—I will use your power to end everything here!"
At this moment, Lin Qi finally understood the key to breaking the deadlock.
It was Asterios!
Indeed, he didn't have powerful inherent skills, no praiseworthy martial arts, only his raw parameters were barely usable… No matter how you looked at it, he didn't seem like the key to deciding the outcome of this battle.
But this was enough. His power was sufficient to turn this battle from defeat to victory!
Therefore…
"Command Spell! Lend me your strength!"
The final Command Spell disappeared from the back of Lin Qi's hand, refilling his nearly depleted magical energy.
Lin Qi placed his left hand on his right forearm. A pale blue magical light bloomed upon it, accompanied by arcs of electricity of the same color.
"Noble Phantasm—[Chaos Labyrinthos]!"
The next moment, Lin Qi, having activated the acceleration ability of his skill, charged towards the battlefield!
…
'Dodge.'
A message came through the almost never-used Master-Servant link, directed at Euryale.
Euryale was stunned for a moment, keenly hearing the rumbling sound coming from the woods behind her. Without hesitation, she immediately shouted in a high voice:
"Everyone! Quickly, dodge to the sides!"
Although puzzled, everyone heeded Euryale's words. Except for Drake, who was farther away and currently occupying Hector, and David, who was at the forefront holding back Heracles, the rest immediately ran to the sides without hesitation.
Artemis even scooped up the slower-moving Euryale, leaping onto the trees and bouncing a few times to get to one side.
Almost the second after they moved, the forest behind them seemed to have some colossal creature moving within it. Large swathes of trees were pushed over and crushed. In the blink of an eye, the commotion reached right before them.
A blue light was the first thing their eyes caught. Before they could figure out what was happening, a "wall" crushed the trees in front of it and entered the battlefield.
The "wall" shot out of the forest in an instant. The part scraping the ground pushed the uneven soil to both sides, like a real bulldozer.
Seeing the full appearance of the "wall," everyone suddenly realized—this was no mere wall! It was clearly a massive, rectangular building!
But how did it appear so openly before everyone?
"Hraah—!" ×2.
Lin Qi's face was ferocious. The phantom of Asterios behind him moved and expressed in sync with Lin Qi. Together, they were behind the labyrinth, shoulders against the wall, pushing with all their might.
The entire labyrinth was actually being pushed over purely by Lin Qi's raw strength!
Euryale stared blankly at all this, her delicate little hands unconsciously clenching into fists.
'Go! Master! Asterios!'
Euryale offered a silent yet fervent cheer.
Lin Qi and the phantom behind him moved their feet with astonishing speed. Augmented by terrifying strength, the entire labyrinth advanced at a startling pace. The wind pressure created by its movement was palpable, its speed even barely reaching that of a standard Servant's A-Rank Agility!
"Tch!"
Witnessing this, David sucked in a cold breath.
"See ya! I'm outta here!"
Without another word, David, dragging his exhausted body, fled with all his might before the labyrinth could crash into him.
Only Heracles remained standing in the path of the labyrinth's charge.
Heracles roared and charged forward fearlessly, his steel-like body crashing directly into the labyrinth.
He wanted to shatter this oncoming labyrinth head-on!
But was it possible?
Heracles smashed through one wall, only to be met face-first with another. Caught off guard, his entire body slammed against it and was pushed back along with the labyrinth by Lin Qi.
And directly behind Heracles was the [Ark of the Covenant]!
The [Ark of the Covenant], which had been placed there after the Medea-controlled skeleton soldiers carrying it were interrupted by Artemis and Euryale during transport!
"Hey, hey, hey… Heracles, get out of that damned building quickly! The Ark is behind you! With your abilities, you can easily jump away from it, right?"
Jason, realizing Lin Qi's intention, felt a surge of panic and hurriedly shouted at Heracles.
Heracles moved, shook his head, and continued attacking the wall in front of him, seemingly wanting to punch straight through the entire labyrinth, completely ignoring Jason's command.
"Heracles?! What are you doing!?"
Watching Heracles disobey his order and the gradually approaching [Ark of the Covenant], Jason was greatly alarmed.
"Don't waste your energy. That's not an ordinary structure. Heracles isn't ignoring your command; he's being suppressed by that building and can't distinguish direction."
Medea stared gravely at the structure Lin Qi was pushing. Finally discerning its true nature, she let out a helpless sigh.
Heracles could no longer escape.
Medea passed a death sentence upon Heracles.
[Chaos Labyrinthos] was fundamentally a Noble Phantasm meant to trap enemies who entered it, making them lose their sense of direction.
But for some reason, this labyrinth before them had conceptualized that effect and applied it to the walls themselves, suppressing Heracles's ability to leap upwards and making him unable to discern which direction to escape, forcing him to run in circles.
"Hraaaah—!!!"
Lin Qi's face turned deep red, the veins on his forehead bulging. His roar overlapped with Asterios's, echoing across the entire battlefield.
At the labyrinth's forefront, Heracles was still swinging his axe-sword, destroying the labyrinth's walls with all his might.
But compared to the speed at which it was pushing him towards the [Ark of the Covenant], his efforts were like a drop in the bucket.
Finally, under Jason's despairing gaze, Heracles, pushed by the labyrinth, collided with the golden Ark.
Heracles's movements abruptly froze. All the magical energy in his body was instantly drained by the Ark, including the energy constituting his Saint Graph.
Just like that, the god-like being who had brought the greatest trouble to Lin Qi and the others disappeared, without even leaving behind golden spiritrons.
The labyrinth dissolved into points of blue light and slowly vanished. Lin Qi didn't even pause to catch his breath, immediately turning to find David and Atalante.
"Mr. David! Atalante! Form a contract!"
Knowing the two were running low on magical energy, Lin Qi reached out his hand to them.
"Finally!" Atalante, who had been slacking off for a long time, grinned and reached out her hand just like Lin Qi.
David, though utterly exhausted, didn't hesitate and also reached out his hand at this critical moment.
Under the cover of the fading labyrinth and the clouds of dust, two contracts were formed.
"You two, please handle those two for now. We'll be back soon—"
"As for the rest, all of you, follow me to attack Hector!"
After quickly issuing orders, Lin Qi picked up the Labrys of the Abyss that Asterios had dropped on the ground. Then, taking the lead, he dragged the great axe and charged towards the location where Hector and Drake were.
"Ah, that's more like it. I finally have magical energy again. Slacking off for so long, I was feeling so miserable I almost wanted to die!"
Atalante's eyes shone brightly as she looked towards where Jason and Medea were.
"So why is it that I, the one who most wants to slack off, have been fighting non-stop?"
David couldn't help but let out a mournful cry.
On the other side.
Hector watched as Lin Qi, the cold-faced Euryale behind him, and the smiling Artemis approached.
And in front of him was Drake, who, though somewhat injured, was already grinning widely.
"Uh, can we talk about a truce?" Hector said cautiously.
The situation had changed too fast. Being the farthest from the main battlefield, he hadn't even fully realized what had happened before Heracles vanished.
"Do you think I'll give you a chance to use your Noble Phantasm?" Lin Qi asked in reply, holding the axe in one hand and his banner in the other, paying no mind to Hector's words.
"P-probably… yes?"
"No! I absolutely will not give you the opportunity!"
"Everyone, attack together! Let's fucking take down this 'Great Hero'!"
Before he even finished speaking, Lin Qi charged forward, engaging Hector in close combat.
…