Vlad III didn't spare a second glance at the uniformed young woman Adam had summoned. When she appeared, her back was turned to him. With his current speed, he was confident she couldn't react in time. This thrust would land for sure.
He could already picture the spear running straight through her and skewering Adam right behind her. As for whether a delicate-looking girl like her could possibly block it? The thought never even crossed his mind. How high could her defense be?
"Master!" Saint George shouted desperately.
But he was too far away. All he could do was yell as Vlad III's spear hurtled toward Adam.
Regret flooded Saint George. He should have stayed sharper. He should have kept a tighter watch on the Berserker. Now the lance was about to tear through the uniformed girl and into his Master. A look of despair crossed his face as he imagined the blood spraying everywhere.
The spear struck the girl's back.
Saint George squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn't bear to watch Adam and the girl get slaughtered.
Damn it—if only I had been faster!
He kept cursing himself. If not for his carelessness, none of this would have happened.
But the gruesome sound of flesh tearing and blood spraying never came.
All that echoed was Vlad III's shocked cry.
"What?!"
Saint George opened his eyes in confusion.
Vlad III stared in disbelief, first at his own spear tip, then at the uniformed girl it pressed against. The lance had clearly made contact with her back, yet no matter how hard he pushed, the point refused to sink in. The attack hadn't broken through her defense at all.
Sensing something was wrong, Vlad III quickly retreated more than ten meters. He glanced back at the spot he had struck, still in disbelief. That thrust should have drawn blood at the very least… but not only was there no blood, her clothes weren't even torn.
"She actually blocked it!" Saint George exclaimed, equally stunned.
He had crossed blades with Vlad III moments earlier and knew exactly how terrifying that spear was. Part of his own pauldron had been sliced clean off with a perfectly smooth cut—that damage came from this weapon. Even when Saint George failed to dodge in time, the spear had carved through his armor like a hot knife through butter.
Yet the same attack couldn't even pierce this girl's uniform. Just what kind of monstrous defense did she possess?
The actual damage report on the uniformed girl was simple:
– 0 HP
+ 2000 HP
"What just bit me?"
"A mosquito?"
To her, it had only felt like a light itch on her back, nothing more.
[Vlad III Emotion Value +10]
[Saint George Emotion Value +10]
[Vlad III Emotion Value +10]
...
Hearing the uniformed girl call him a mosquito, Vlad III blinked in stunned confusion before repeating the word incredulously.
"A mosquito…? You dare call me a mosquito?!"
In a sense, to her he really was no more threatening than one—both sucked human blood, after all. But the sheer contempt in the comparison sent him into a towering rage. Veins bulged on his forehead. Being called a vampire was one thing, but a mosquito? One of the lowest creatures on the food chain? He had never felt such humiliating fury in his entire life.
Crimson blood swirled around the enraged Vlad III in spiraling patterns, signaling that he was about to unleash his Noble Phantasm.
His eyes locked onto the uniformed girl beside Adam.
He refused to believe it. If a full-powered thrust couldn't break her defense, then surely his Noble Phantasm would!
If she dared call him a mosquito, she would pay the price!
Vlad III began chanting the release words for his Noble Phantasm.
"I offer up this blood-soaked life!"
As the chant rang out, the blood-red aura around him grew thicker and more intense.
Saint George, still frozen in shock at the girl's insane defense, suddenly smelled the thick stench of blood in the air and snapped back to reality. He whipped his head around just in time to see Vlad III activating his Noble Phantasm.
He lunged forward to stop him, but it was already too late. The moment Saint George's sword was about to reach him—
"Kazikli Bey!"
Several streams of thick, aggressive blood erupted from Vlad III's chest and shot straight toward the uniformed girl beside Adam.
Although the attack wasn't aimed at Saint George, he was close enough to be caught in the aftershock. The force blasted him back more than ten meters.
Feeling the overwhelming pressure of the Noble Phantasm, Saint George's heart sank. If the mere aftershock was this powerful, a direct hit would be devastating. Even with his defensive skills reinforced, he doubted he could withstand it without using his Battle Continuation.
But his Master, Adam, had no such skill!
The girl's defense had been impressive against normal attacks, but against a Noble Phantasm? There was no way she could hold out!
Saint George quickly looked toward Adam, hoping to see the girl pulling him out of the way.
But neither of them had moved. The girl still stood with her back turned to Vlad III, showing no intention of dodging or protecting her Master. They seemed completely unaware of the incoming attack.
This was bad.
"Master, get out of the way!" Saint George shouted.
It was already too late. The moment the words left his mouth, Vlad III's Noble Phantasm slammed into the uniformed girl.
Saint George couldn't bring himself to look. Filled with regret and rage, he glared at Vlad III, ready to avenge them.
In his mind, the Berserker should have been wearing a triumphant sneer.
Instead, Vlad III's face was frozen in absolute shock, eyes wide as if his entire worldview had shattered.
Seeing that expression, Saint George turned back toward Adam in confusion. Could there still be a chance?
Adam and the girl stood there completely unharmed, casually chatting as if nothing had happened. The girl who had taken the full force of the Noble Phantasm showed not a single sign of damage—not even a speck of dirt on her clothes.
Had she dodged it somehow?
No—the bloodstained attack had definitely struck her. Yet instead of tearing her apart as Vlad III imagined, there was only a soft splat.
– 0 HP
+2000 HP
The Noble Phantasm simply dissipated on impact.
It had hit, but there was zero feedback. It was like throwing an egg at a steel fortress—nothing but a tiny stain and no real damage.
"Huh?"
"Who just splashed water on me?"
To the uniformed girl, the crushing, blood-drenched assault that would have overwhelmed even Saint George's reinforced defense felt like nothing more than someone spilling a bit of water on her back.
Vlad III stood frozen in place.
Saint George's expression mirrored the Berserker's as he stared at the girl in awe.
"Looks like… this young lady is far stronger than I imagined."
[Vlad III Emotion Value +10]
[Saint George Emotion Value +10]
[Vlad III Emotion Value +10]
[Saint George Emotion Value +10]
...
The uniformed girl Adam had summoned still looked half-asleep. Her eyelids were heavy, and a thin trail of drool hung from the corner of her mouth.
Her true identity was:
The mysterious vampire hunter,
The cosmic-level holy idol,
Adam's exclusive after-school beauty instructor.
Ciel (Mysterious Executor C.I.E.L.)
In the world Adam had lived in before entering this Chaldea, he hadn't become the 48th Master right away. He had spent quite a long time there first.
Those years had been eventful. He had gotten involved in many incidents and met many people—plenty of them women.
Such as…
Touko Aozaki, Aoko Aozaki, Alice Kuonji…
Arcueid Brunestud, Ciel…
Shiki Ryougi, Fujino Asagami…
Incidentally, the first person Adam met after crossing over was Touko Aozaki.
She was also his first love.
It was rather tragic, really.
The one who left the deepest impression on him, however, was Shiki Ryougi—more specifically, the "Shiki" personality.
...
The Ciel standing before Adam wasn't simply some version from another universe. She was the one he knew well. The relationship between this cosmic Ciel and "his" Ciel was similar to that between Rin Tohsaka and Ishtar.
Strangely enough, this cosmic Ciel also acted very familiar with him. Her attitude was almost identical to that of his own Ciel.
Suddenly realizing she wasn't in bed anymore, Ciel shook her head to clear the drowsiness and turned her sleepy gaze toward Adam.
The moment she saw him, she snapped awake—but not from excitement. From annoyance.
A look of deep resentment, like an overworked employee forced into yet another all-nighter, appeared on her face as she glared at him.
"Adam, didn't we just finish farming materials a little while ago? You called me out again… Don't tell me I have to work overtime?!!"
The day before Adam was pulled into Singularity F, he had been completely exhausted. He and Ciel had spent the entire day grinding materials inside a small Singularity. When he finally returned to his room, he had collapsed into bed immediately. Ciel had been just as tired—she had been working full-time like this for far too long. She had wanted nothing more than to get a good night's sleep with him and let it soothe her weary soul, but a certain vampire princess had interfered, ruining the plan. In the end she had gone back to her own room and fallen asleep alone.
Just as she was enjoying a pleasant dream about going on a date with Adam and eating curry, she was forcibly summoned.
Seeing that rare pouty, resentful expression on the usually cool and mature Ciel, Adam felt like he had unlocked a new CG. It was adorably refreshing.
He couldn't resist teasing her a little.
"Yeah, overtime it is, Ciel. Sorry for all the hard work you've been putting in."
"I'll be making full use of you from here on out, too."
"Ugh~" Ciel let out a cute groan when she heard it was really overtime.
But the very next moment she pulled herself together and shifted into full battle-ready mode. Even though she complained, when it came to combat Ciel was always dead serious.
Adam couldn't help admiring how cool she looked when she got serious.
"Fine, overtime it is. All right, Adam, tell me where the enemy is. Since you called me out, they must be pretty strong, right?"
Right after she spoke, an angry shout came from behind them.
"Don't you dare look down on me, you bastards!"
Adam and Ciel had been so absorbed in their conversation that they had completely ignored Vlad III, who had been attacking them the whole time.
Vlad III had to admit his attacks couldn't break Ciel's defense. But being completely ignored like this was too much.
"I'm still here!"
"I'm not dead yet!"
"And you haven't won!"
Feeling his dignity trampled once again, Vlad III glared furiously at the pair. He raised his spear and charged.
This time he changed tactics. Instead of targeting Ciel directly, he circled around to attack Adam from the side.
In his mind: Ciel's defense might be ridiculously high, but usually Servants with absurd defense had correspondingly low offense. Maybe her Noble Phantasm was purely defensive. If so, her attack power probably wasn't anything special.
Since he couldn't break through her, he would go straight for the Master. Once the Master fell, the Servant would disappear on her own.
With that plan in mind, he rushed to the side and thrust his spear straight at Adam.
At that moment, Ciel slowly drew back her fist, clearly preparing to punch him.
Seeing this, a confident smirk appeared on Vlad III's face. He figured he could take the hit, trade injury for injury, and finish off Adam right beside her. Getting struck once by this high-defense, low-attack Servant in exchange for killing the Master was an excellent deal.
However—
The instant Ciel's fist connected with his chest, Vlad III felt as if he saw his late mother waving to him from across the river.
His Saint Graph instantly shattered into dust. Not only that, his flesh and blood were blown apart into a red mist by that plain, unadorned punch.
Perhaps Ciel had accidentally landed a critical hit…
Vlad III – Defeated.
"Oh, there was a Shadow Servant?"
Ciel glanced briefly at the spot where Vlad III had dissipated, then immediately lost interest.
In her eyes, his Saint Graph signature had been far too weak, so she had simply classified him as a frail Shadow Servant and paid him no further mind.
Even though the enemy was gone, Ciel remained fully alert, ready for a real fight. Eager to finish the job quickly and clock out, she urged Adam:
"Come on, Adam, stop spacing out. Hurry up and tell me where the enemy is?"
Adam: "..."
He silently watched the blood mist slowly drifting down onto the grass and said nothing.
***
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