I Am a Heroic Spirit

"Really? Then try 137."

Vlad III showed a crazy smile on his face and threw himself into the battle, exerting the strongest strength he could. St. George was not to be outdone and exerted all his strength.

The battle intensified. If it had been a tentative encounter at the beginning, it was now a life-or-death struggle. However, even this initial test was a legendary battle in the eyes of humans.

The fight between the two men stirred up an extremely fierce storm. The ground began to sink, and the soil was lifted up from the ground in the boiling air flow. Large pieces of rubble shot out in the storm, smashing large holes in the distant walls and the ground, forcing the people around to retreat nearly a hundred meters again.

"It's truly powerful! Even though I have the combat experience of a Heroic Spirit when I transformed, I still can't compare to a Heroic Spirit with its own consciousness."

Zhang Luo also took advantage of this chaotic scene to quickly leave the spot, choosing a more remote corner where it was difficult to be targeted, and stood there, lamenting the gap between the Servant and himself.

When he transformed, he had clearly received the Servant's memories and combat experience, but when it comes to actual combat, he is far behind the two Servants in front of him who have a certain degree of independent consciousness. This is not because of the distraction summon.

Chapter 74 Vlad III's Defeat

The intense battle opened everyone's eyes, but it was just an eye-opener because most of the audience were ordinary people and could not even see the movements of the two people clearly, so they could not tell who had the upper hand.

However, others may not be able to see it, but the parties involved are very clear that in the seemingly evenly matched battle, Vlad III is actually at a disadvantage. Because of his identity, Vlad III as a vampire is inevitably restrained by St. George as a saint. Even his attributes are stronger than St. George's, but he cannot make up for this disadvantage.

After another round of fighting, Vlad III realized he could not drag it out any longer and had to fight quickly. He suddenly jumped back and, upon landing, he placed his lance upright on the ground, opened his arms, and shouted, "I offer my life, stained with blood, here. Blood-stained King Ghost (Kazikli Bey)!"

Without any warning, Vlad III released his treasure. Large amounts of blood emanated from his body and transformed into blood-colored wooden stakes, shooting towards St. George. The gravel along the way transformed along with the advancing wooden stakes. Suddenly, countless blood-colored wooden stakes completely filled everyone's sight.

"Bayard!"

St. George's face changed drastically and he shouted hurriedly.

In an instant, a white horse appeared under St. George and carried him on its back.

After a round of bombardment by the blood-red wooden stakes, the ground within a radius of fifty meters centered on St. George sank by nearly half a meter. The bumpy ground and the rubble embedded in the nearby walls were heart-wrenching.

The dust on the ground dispersed, and the figure of St. George appeared in everyone's sight. The horse summoned by St. George had been stuck into a basket by wooden stakes, and St. George himself had many injuries on his body, but they were not fatal.

After all, although the Phantom Warhorse is invincible, it can only block one fatal attack, but Vlad III's Noble Phantasm is a large-scale multi-stage attack, which is impossible to block all of it.

Vlad III missed his attack and turned around and retreated without hesitation.

"You are the dragon."

How could St. George just watch Vlad III retreat? He waved the cloak behind him, and the red cross on the cloak shone with powerful magical light. The shadow of a red dragon rushed out from the red cross and quickly rushed towards the retreating Vlad III.

Faced with the red dragon that was obviously faster than himself, Vlad III made a quick decision and was about to transform into countless bats and disperse. However, he was still a step too late. When Vlad III's body was about to split apart, the red dragon rushed into his body, and violent magic power suddenly appeared, disrupting the operation of the magic in Vlad III's body and interrupting Vlad III's transformation.

St. George held up Li Jue's blessed sword high in the air, and a dazzling white light emanated from the sword. The power of protection was instantly reversed. With the appearance of platinum holy light and the sound of a few hymns, Li Jue's blessed sword turned into a spear of light.

"This is Ascalon's true face! You are a dragon, guilty! The blessed sword of power (Ascalon)!"

Saint George shouted out his true name and threw the spear of light in his hand towards Vlad III. As soon as the spear of light transformed from the sword of Li Jue's blessing left Saint George's hand, it turned into a swift aurora, like God's scepter issuing punishment to mankind, and shot towards Vlad III at the extreme speed of light.

Faced with such an attack, Vlad III's face changed drastically. He completely restrained his own power of holy light and could undoubtedly purify himself into ashes. The power of the holy light suppressed Vlad III's magic power and his body became stiff.

Finally, just as the spear of light transformed from Li Jue's blessed sword was about to strike Vlad III, Vlad III broke free from the immense radiance's suppression, his body exploding in a bloody mist that engulfed the entire street. Li Jue's blessed sword pierced through the mist, its holy light power continuously purifying it. However, the mist's range was too large, and Li Jue's blessed sword, now in the form of a penetrating spear, concentrated its power in a single point, ultimately missing a tenth of the mist. The remaining mist, spared from purification, quickly transformed into a swarm of bats, then transformed into a humanoid form.

"Humph, this battle is the most frustrating one I've ever fought."

Vlad III, who had transformed into his original form, looked even paler and said coldly to St. George.

"Because my attributes have too much restraint on you. If I come as a king or a warrior, I will definitely not be your opponent. That's what you think, right?" St. George stated the reason for Vlad III's failure.

Vlad III simply looked up at the sky and said, "It seems my Lord does not want me to come to the world in such a blasphemous form, so he allowed you to come before me."

"No, it's just luck."

Zhang Luo stood aside and complained silently. After he drew Vlad III, he immediately drew St. George, who was considered Vlad III's natural enemy. Wasn't this due to Vlad III's E-level luck?

"Then let's say goodbye, Rider. Don't die so easily. When the next time comes, I will wash away this shame."

As he finished speaking, Vlad III turned into a point of light and disappeared from everyone's sight.

When Vlad III completely disappeared, everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and St. George staggered out of the pit created by Vlad III's treasure.

Just then, the accident happened again.

With a "bang", a gunshot sounded that was particularly eye-catching in such a night. A bullet was shot from a distance at an extremely fast speed, and the target was St. George!

St. George, who had just fought a fierce battle and released his treasures three times, was in a state that was more than half lower than when the battle began. Facing the flying bullets, he had no ability to block or dodge. Just when the bullet was about to hit St. George's forehead, Zhang Luo drove Luger's light wheel in front of St. George with the greatest force. The distance was so close that St. George felt the pain of burning, but he also blocked the sniper bullet.

After blocking the bullet, Ruger's Light Wheel flew in the direction of the bullet without stopping for a moment. The speed was accelerated to the extreme by the rotation, drawing a long line of fire, and the obstacles along the way were penetrated like thin paper.

"Come on, can you keep up with me? Pluck the Kronos Rose when you can."

Magical words came from afar. Behind the wall that was demolished by Ruger's light wheel, a white-haired man walked around Ruger's light wheel as if taking a walk, and then walked towards this side. His speed seemed slow, but he crossed a distance of 100 meters in just a breath.

"Your magic outfit is quite nice, but compared to the Heroic Spirit, it seems too weak."

As soon as he finished speaking, the white-haired man appeared in front of Zhang Luo, with a small knife in his hand, pointing it at Zhang Luo's neck, as if he could take Zhang Luo's life at any time.

This was an absolutely critical moment. Zhang Luo could not escape from Assassin with his own strength, and other heroic spirits were unable to come to the rescue. At the last moment, Zhang Luo could only use his divine consciousness buried deep in Assassin's consciousness to replace the virtual consciousness on the surface of Assassin's mind.

Assassin was obviously stunned, his eyes became dazed, and only after three seconds did they become brighter, but that look was obviously not in line with Assassin's identity. After another two seconds, Assassin's eyes changed to a look of murderous intent.

Zhang Luo would not waste this little time. Although he had replaced Assassin's consciousness with distraction, it would seem fake if he did not make any action. Although it might not arouse suspicion, acting required professionalism.

Zhang Luo's steps moved briskly on the bumpy ground, but he retreated ten meters away in an instant. That was the assassination step of the samurai Okada Izo.

"The Eight Stone Soldiers Formation, this is your Assassin's nemesis, so stay inside it."

Following Zhang Luo's summons, the Eight Stone Soldiers Formation originally stationed in the distance appeared here, trapping Assassin inside.

This tense and exciting change of situation made the viewers' hearts rise to the peak first, and then drop heavily. Some guys with poor psychological quality had already crawled in front of the computer desk, gasping for breath.

It seems that even if the power they exert is not as strong as the power exerted by the Servant itself, these distracted Servants cannot be allowed to retain their self-awareness, otherwise they will be killed one day.

Zhang Luo touched his neck. Although he was not hit, the sharp edge of the knife had already caused a shallow crack in the skin on his neck. Looking at the blood on his hand, Zhang Luo said inwardly with lingering fear.

After thinking it over, Zhang Luo immediately took action, using his own clones to replace the surface virtual consciousnesses of James Moriarty, Okada Izo, The Phantom of the Opera, and some of the more dangerous male Servants in Valhalla. As for Andersen, Zhang Luo did not take action because it did not matter at all. Andersen was not a position that could be taken advantage of by these people and killed with a single blow. He was just a third-rate Servant with no offensive ability and was not worth guarding against at all.

"Mr. Qin, are you okay?"

The female reporter came over and asked worriedly. It was not because she cared about Zhang Luo that much, but because Zhang Luo was the only intact fighting force here. If something happened to Zhang Luo, they would have no way to escape from here.

"fine."

Zhang Luo waved his hand and spoke while using healing spells to heal himself.

Because it was just a small cut, it returned to its original state in the blink of an eye after being cast with magic.

After recovering, Zhang Luo walked towards St. George and greeted him, "Hello, Your Majesty St. George."

"Have you recognized me? It seems you are a great magician." St. George smiled and said.

"Of course, this is not a difficult problem. The person holding the magic sword named Ascalon, riding the magic white horse Bayard that can invalidate the opponent's attack only once, and wearing the symbol of the red right cross, can't be anyone other than St. George, the patron saint of England." Zhang Luo said.

"Oh! Praise the Lord, you are His Majesty Saint George?"

Hearing Zhang Luo's words, everyone exclaimed in surprise. They might not have heard of others, but even though they were Japanese, they had heard of the story of Saint George, the dragon-slaying saint.

"Yes, I am Giorgios, also known as Saint George and Saint Georgi. I obey the will of the Lord and come to the world to protect this world." Saint George gently responded to the female reporter who asked the question.

Although St. George had never revealed his name before, many people had deduced his identity from the characteristics he showed, but they did not dare to confirm it casually. It was not until St. George said his name in person that the world confirmed St. George's identity.

For a time, the Ying people became fanatical, Christians became fanatical, and the Japanese government went crazy.

"Oh! Damn St. George!"

"Praise the Lord for allowing His Majesty Saint George to come to the world."

Contrary words were heard in the six-nation meeting, with the two prime ministers

Chapter 75 Innocent Monster

The frenzy outside has no impact on the interior of Tokyo's 11th District.

The enthusiasm aroused by the identity of St. George among the crowd quickly faded. After all, there were few Christians in Japan, and St. George was just a heroic figure in foreign history to them. Although they admired him, the current situation in District 11 did not allow them to continue to show any admiration.

"The vampire just now should be Vlad III." After revealing St. George's identity, Zhang Luo asked St. George in an affirmative tone.

"Indeed, it's him." St. George nodded.

The people around were a little puzzled. If they mentioned Dracula, they would definitely know him, but they had never heard of the name Vlad III. Only Arima Takashi had some impression of him, but he only knew that he was the prototype of the artwork Dracula, and he didn't know anything else.

"Vlad III? Is there such a character in the legend of vampires?" Tsuchimiya Yale asked this question, but he made a decision in his heart that after returning, he must brush up on the history and mythology of various countries. He couldn't be like this time, knowing nothing.

Shizuji Deba and Naraku Isayama also made the same decision. As the strongest psychics that the Japanese government can command, even if they are not the opponents of powerful Heroic Spirits, they can still contain them. In the future, they will inevitably be sent out to fight with Heroic Spirits frequently. If they do not understand the identities of the Heroic Spirits, it will definitely make their actions more difficult.

"You may not have heard of the name Vlad III, but he has another name that you must know. It means a devout believer of our Lord, someone who should not have any connection with dark creatures like vampires." St. George said with a sigh.

"It's the vampire Count Dracula." Arima Takashi asked.

"Yes, he is the prototype of the vampire Count Dracula, Grand Duke Vlad III of Wallachia. He is also a devout believer in the Lord and is known as the Shield of Christendom."

St. George nodded, with sadness in his eyes. The sadness for Vlad III infected everyone else and made them a little depressed.

"If you don't know him, you can think of him as the Heracles of Greece or King Arthur of England. In Wallachia, his fame is comparable to theirs."

Everyone was shocked. Although they didn't know Vlad III, they were very familiar with the names of King Arthur and Hercules. They didn't expect that this vampire was such a powerful person.

St. George's words excited the Romanians and shocked people all over the world. They didn't expect that the words spoken by a Christian saint could be false. No one expected that there was such a great man in ancient Romania who was called the Shield of the Christian World. A large number of Christians felt ashamed. They didn't even know that there was such a great man in Christianity. It was really unqualified.

"He is such a big shot! Then why did he become a vampire?" the female reporter asked in amazement.

"I do know about this. It's all due to a book, Dracula, by the English author Bram Stoker," Zhang Luo replied. "From the memories I received from Zhuge Kongming, I learned that while the Heroic Spirit's true form remains unchanged, their avatars are affected by the legends of the present world, and even more so, they acquire abilities like the Innocent Monster."

"Innocent monster?"

The female reporter asked thoughtfully, feeling as if she had guessed something.

Zhang Luo nodded, having already formulated the words for the Whitewashed Heroic Spirit. "Right, an innocent monster. It means something that wasn't originally what the legend said, but was transformed by distorted legends. Vlad III was like that. Oh, and then there's Andersen. I noticed some mermaid scales, match burns, and cold damage on his skin. He also spoke unnaturally, as if there was something wrong with his throat. It's probably because of this skill. His once-healthy body has deteriorated due to human perception."

[It's actually like this, no wonder Andersen hated humans so much.]

[Indeed, if I were hurt by someone else's influence, I would also hate that person. I originally turned against Andersen because of his choice, so his behavior seems to be normal.]

[By the way, I think I've grasped the Heroic Spirit's weakness.]

[Are you suggesting that simply creating more artwork to influence people's perception of heroes will change the attributes of heroic spirits?]

[Brother, we really think alike.]

[Great minds think alike. Your idea is completely meaningless.]

[Indeed, this idea has many flaws. Human cognition can only affect the Heroic Spirit's avatar, not the Heroic Spirit itself. If they don't descend into the human world, what meaning does human cognition hold for the Heroic Spirit?]

[And secondly, let me say this: even if human cognition could influence Heroic Spirits, it would take a long time. By the time all of humanity's cognition of Heroic Spirits changes, we'll all be dead, so what's the point of any change in Heroic Spirits?]

[Let me make my third point. Our understanding of Hans Christian Andersen stems from his fairy tales, and our understanding of Dracula stems from Bram Stoker's novels. Their works have influenced the perceptions of most of humanity. Almost everyone knows Dracula as Count Dracula and Andersen as the author of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales. The question is, how many people can write works that can rival theirs and change people's perceptions?]

[Fourthly, even if our cognition does affect them, it cannot affect their thinking. Just like Vlad III, he clearly expressed his disgust for his vampire body, and Andersen also clearly expressed his dissatisfaction with humans. They are still good. What if they encounter someone with a bad temper and directly take action to punish the author's entire family?]

[Come to think of it, Vlad III and Hans Christian Andersen are really good people.]

[Of course! If it were me, I would start a massacre the moment I descended, forcing humans to rewrite the relevant works.]

[So, someone like you can't become a Heroic Spirit.]

……

"But why would Dracula affect Vlad III? Even if everyone knows Dracula, not many people know Vlad III except Romanians." The female reporter asked people's questions. Even if the prototype of Dracula is Vlad III, no one would associate Dracula with Vlad III. Will this have an impact?

"If Count Dracula wasn't Dracula, then that would be the case. The problem is, Dracula means Son of the Dragon. Dragons are generally considered demons in the West, so they can be considered the son of the devil. And Vlad III's nickname is Son of the Dragon."

Zhang Luo explained, "To begin, we must begin with Vlad III's identity. Vlad III was born in 1431 in ancient Wallachia, present-day Romania. His father, Vlad Tagul, was a member of the Dragon Knights. At the time, the Dragon Knights had a sacred status. Founded by the Holy Roman Emperor in what is now the country of D, their purpose was to pledge loyalty to the Church and protect Catholics from Turkish persecution. Vlad III earned the nickname "Son of the Dragon" because of his father's bravery and military prowess."

"Is it because of this? The Son of the Dragon means Dracula, so Vlad III was influenced? But why is Bram Stoker's work named after Dracula?" the female reporter asked puzzledly.

"Because Vlad III's reputation wasn't very good, just like Joan of Arc was insulted as a witch and a whore, Vlad III acted radically to defend the Christian world from Islamic forces, and was therefore slandered as a devil." Zhang Luo deliberately used Joan of Arc as an example, a sneer on his face. "It sounds like a coincidence, isn't it? Both were devout Christians, one a famous saint, the other a shield of Christendom, yet both suffered the same fate, smeared by writers from Ying country."

St. George lowered his head in shame. After all, he was the patron saint of England. His two colleagues were slandered by people from his own country, and he had an unavoidable responsibility. Although it was a bit hard to justify, that was just the kind of person St. George was.

The Prime Minister of England's face turned pale and blue. If possible, he really wanted to go back to the past and kill Shakespeare and Bram Stoker. Two great Christian figures have been smeared by you. Can you go a little further to deceive England? Because of them, England will definitely suffer the dissatisfaction and hostility of Christians...

Not daring to be negligent in the slightest, the British Prime Minister cursed Shakespeare and Bram Stoker in his heart, then immediately made a phone call and issued an order to all departments to get things underway, making sure to protect Britain's reputation among Christians in this matter to the best of their ability.

"The main reason Vlad III is considered the prototype for Dracula is a remark made by Mehmed II. In 1462, during the Turkish invasion of Wallachia, Vlad III, with only 1 troops, deployed scorched-earth and guerrilla warfare against a Turkish army of 15. The populace fled to the Carpathian Mountains, leaving the capital empty to face the Turkish army. Around Budapest, the impaled remains of over 2 Turkish soldiers lay scattered. Countless piles of impaled bodies lay around the Budapest citadel. The strange smell and stench of these bodies completely demoralized the brave Turkish soldiers. Even Mehmed II, known as the 'Conqueror,' declared, 'I fear no man, but the devil is another matter,' and withdrew his troops."

Zhang Luo said with some sigh, he used to think that guerrilla warfare was invented by MZT and applied to the highest level. Who would have thought that Vlad III would apply guerrilla warfare to such an extent hundreds of years ago, with 10,000 against 150,000, and he could kill 20,000 of them. What a shocking record.

The faces of the audience turned pale. More than 20,000 soldiers who were pierced could still scare away Mehmed II. What a terrible scene it was. For a time, the general public's impression of Vlad III plummeted, while the military circles of various countries had a sincere admiration for Vlad III.

Zhang Luo saw the ordinary investigators' thoughts and understood that most people were thinking the same thing, so he spoke up. "Don't think this is cruel. Impalement wasn't a rare punishment in the northern Mediterranean region, including the Balkans. On the contrary, it was extremely common. The main reason Vlad III was vilified as a demon and nicknamed the Impaler was due to the smear campaigns of the nobles. Impalement had always been inflicted on commoners. At the time, Vlad III was enraged by the corruption and depravity of the nobles. He believed that the cause of the country's decline lay with them, so he resolutely implemented an unprecedented overhaul. The key point of this overhaul was the impalement of the nobility. It was also because of this overhaul that Vlad III was betrayed by his country and died. The smear campaigns of the Wallachian nobles and the lamentations of Mehmed II also created the necessary conditions for the emergence of Dracula."

"In this way, Vlad III was not only an outstanding general, but also a wise monarch. It's just that the country's top leaders would never like such a monarch." Shizuka Deiba's words were full of sarcasm, not only a mockery of the nobles at that time, but also a mockery of the current government officials.

Chapter 76: Not in good condition, I will make up for it next time

Although discussions about Vlad III's situation were still ongoing online, everyone in District 11 had already consciously ended the topic.

If it were discussed in private, it would be fine, but the problem was that it was being broadcast live, and discussing such a political topic would definitely be disliked by the official government. Although the three Deba Jingji were not from official departments like the investigators, their families had close ties with the government. Although they themselves were not afraid of what the government might do, they had to consider the entire family.