Chapter 270: Holy Nail
This strike was the strongest and fastest one Shinji had unleashed tonight.
This strikebined Shinji''s physical strength, the enhancement of the relic, the amplification from gravity, and the instantaneous boost from the mana burst.
This strike, both in terms of timing and angle, was executed perfectly.
In Shinji''s opinion, Riesbyfe could only block this attack, even though it was likely to put her at a disadvantage for the first time.
However, would reality go as smoothly as Shinji thought?
As the distance between Shinji and Riesbyfe grew closer, a vague sense of unease suddenly emerged in Shinji''s heart, as if a great crisis was approaching.
Almost simultaneously with the sense of crisis, there was a faint clicking sound, as if somekind ofswitch wasbeing flipped.
Before Shinji could even think about what could have made that sound, he saw Riesbyfe releasing the stance of holding the shield at the top. The shield,whichwasfixedon her left hand, retracted towards her waist. The pointed end of the gourd-shaped shield pointed downwards, with a circr opening at the bottom facing upward, as if she intended to strike together with her left fist.
Wait, the opening at the bottom of the shield!
Shinji''s expression suddenly changed.
No, that is--
Apanied by a loud impact, a pale greencone,with a diameter of over fivecentimeters,shot out from the opening at the bottom of the shield. It whistled as it collided with Shinji''sstrongestleft hand.
Thetip of the coneemitted an unusual glow, silently dering to Shinji that his left hand couldn''t block it.
Thiswas Riesbyfe''s conceptual armament, thetrueform of the Holy Shield Gamaliel. It was not only a shield engraved with holy words and possessing extraordinary defensive power but also a weapon with tremendous destructive power.
Beneath the peculiar gourd-shaped shield,there was a mechanism thathoused holy nails made of sacred silver.
This holy nail,like theholyshield, is blessed by God, but not with "protection" butratherwith "destruction" towards the targets it harms.Without exception, anyone injured by the holy nail willbe markedwiththe concept of"destruction."Thisis one of the trump cards prepared by the Holy Church to exterminate vampires.Since being entrusted to Riesbyfe,many dead apostles have been marked with indelible scars by the holy nand have even fallen beneath its power.
Now, this holy nailis aimedat Shinji.
Shinji knewthat therewas a mechanism hidden in the holy shield, and he knew that this thing had tremendous destructive power against dead apostles.However, after fighting Riesbyfe forsucha long time without seeing her use it, he subconsciously believedthatshe wouldn''t use it against him.After all, the two of them weren''t fighting to the death. But unexpectedly, she unleashed it at the most critical moment, catching Shinji off guard.
Just because it''s a weapon designed for vampires doesn''t mean it''s ineffective against humans. Moreover, the sensation the holy nail gave Shinji was simr to Diarmuid''s Yellow Rose and his Harpe. It was likely to possess the property of causing irreparable damage upon contact.
Thegreatestreliance of dead apostles is their self-healing ability.Ordinary external injuries can be healedin a matter of minutes, and by suppressing this ability, most dead apostles are no more formidable than slightly stronger humans, even if they possess supernatural powers. That''s why the Harpe has the alias of the "Undead yer."
If the holy nail has a simr effect, Shinji''s left hand, at best, would be difficult touse,andatworst,pletely useless. Although there are ways to treat it, none of them are easy. The best solution is to avoidbeing injuredin the first ce!
Under the pressure of the impending crisis, Shinji madea certaindecision.
He quickly loosened his tightly clenched left fist, and a radiancepletely different from Buddha''s light and holy light converged beside Shinji''s hand, rapidly solidifying into a tangible form.
This too wasa shield, emitting an aura no less than Riesbyfe''s holy shield—the Aegis, the shield of the wisdom goddess Athena!
As soon as the shield of Athena appeared, a resoundingsound,reminiscent of a greatbell,reverberated through the night.
The "holy nail" of the Holy Church versus the divine shield of the wise goddess Athena.
The air at thepoint of collisionbetween the holy nail and the divine shield was like ake disturbed by a foreign object, causing intense ripples.The outermostyer of the ripples spread to the ground, instantly tearing open a meter-deep gap, and the grass attached to the ground was shattered by the shockwave.
The confrontation between these two ancient and mysterious forces created a series of inexplicable phenomena that science couldn''t exin.
After a sh that shouldn''t have urred in the modern era, the situation remained unchanged.Riesbyfe was still on the ground while Shinji remained in the air.
The battle between the two was like a battle between heaven and earth.
Shinji,using his Noble Phantasm at the critical moment, moved his slightly numb left hand.Although he managed to avoid having his left arm pierced, he also discovered the limit of the reinforcement from his relic. It could withstand ordinary swords anddes,but not divine weapons. Although his strength surpassed the limits of a human, it couldn''t match that of a high-ranking Phantasmal Species like Bellerophon. Strength has its limits, no, even the power of the beneath his feet has its limits.
Shinji smiled casually, dispelling the Shield of Athena and switching to his feathered Shoes, hovering in the air.
"Miss Riesbyfe, that was a bit excessive just now."
If the holy nail hadtrulypierced through Shinji''s palm, it would have meant that he would lose at least thirty percent of his strength, and it could potentially be permanent. That would drive anyone who desires strength mad.
If this straightforward Shield Knight hadn''t shownevena hint of killing intent from the beginning to the end, Shinji wouldn''t havesimplybrushed it off with a single sentence.
"Excessive?"
Upon hearing Shinji''s words filled with coldness, Riesbyfe, who had just pulled herself out of the ground, looked up at the sky in confusion and then nced at herownhands.
Hmm, no problem, no injury, and the holy shield...
"Ah—holy nail! I used the holy nail! Ohno, ohno, oh no, that''s a weapon thatcan only be usedin an execution battle!Thisis bad, this is bad, Cardinal Gessebarne will be mad! I will be in confinement!"
Shinji was dumbfounded by such a bizarre response.Fortunately, through their previous interactions, he had gained some understanding of Riesbyfe''s thick-skinned nature, so he managed to maintain his bnce and didn''t fall from the sky.
To avoid further mental attacks, Shinji coughed heavily to show his presence.
"I say, let''s talk about confinementter. Don''t you care if I''m okay or not?"
"Oh, right." Riesbyfe realized btedly, "Are you okay? If you''re injured, you have to speak up. The injuries caused by the holy nail are difficult to recover from unless treated with another special conceptual armament."
Riesbyfe''s sincere attitude and genuine reaction dispelled Shinji''sst doubt. He descended from the sky and waved his left handin front ofRiesbyfe.
"Fortunately, I reacted in time and didn''t get injured. Otherwise...hehe~"
"I''m sorry, I''m sorry." Riesbyfe lowered her head apologetically, "I identally forgot that you''re not the target that needs tobe eliminated."
"Forget it, youdidn''t seem to do it on purpose. Just be more careful in the future." Shinji sighed.
Originally, this battle was Shinji''s fault. If he hadn''t hung Hideo Hayama on a cross for no reason, he wouldn''t have provoked Riesbyfe.Ifhe hadn''t been curious about Riesbyfe''s strength, they wouldn''t have fought.With the feathered Shoes, he could have easily left. How could a "short-legged" warrior catch up to him?
More importantly, the gains from this battle had exceeded his expectations. It wasn''t worth dwelling on a slight ident.