Equipment Printing School Mage

The longsword that Emilia forged for him was almost identical to the sword he usually used, which shocked him greatly.

Compared to ordinary swords, he preferred swords with lighter hilts. Such swords had a forward center of gravity. This made them more difficult to wield, but with his strength, this slight awkwardness was no problem.

At the same time, the sword body is thicker than an ordinary long sword, so it is not easily damaged even if it is swung at the enemy with exaggerated force.

The long hilt could easily accommodate both hands, allowing him to easily mobilize the strength of his whole body.

He stepped to the right, and the sharp blade whizzed toward the front and side under the swing of his palms. The sword edge almost left a blurred afterimage at the extremely fast speed, and the cut air made a sharp hissing beside the sword edge.

The shapeshifter's fist rapidly enlarged in front of him, and the trajectory of his sword was almost perpendicular to the direction of the fist's movement.

A crisp upward sweep was made, and a subtle touch came from the sword tip, followed by an extremely clear cutting sound.

“…Snap.”

What he cut through seemed to be a whole set of flexible leather armor.

And that is indeed the result.

The shapeshifter's right fist was cut off cleanly by a sharp blow. Even though the shapeshifter realized the danger and tried to dodge, its entire upper arm was almost severed, and scarlet blood gushed out of the wound.

What a sharp sword.

Mars was not surprised by this result, but he still couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

A magic sword can indeed achieve the same effect, but this is also what makes the man named Emiya so terrifying.

This sword is not enchanted, but it is still sharp and tough - so what happens after it is enchanted?

No, there is something more crucial.

Emiya forged this sword with only a bunch of ordinary, possibly even inferior iron materials - what if he had precious materials like fine gold? And most importantly: wizards are the main producers of magical items.

Mars was convinced that an unprecedented miracle was being born.

As he thought this, he turned his hand and lowered the blade of his sword diagonally to the right, blocking another heavy punch.

This time, he didn't even need to exert any strength. Just relying on the power of the shapeshifter, he successfully cut the enemy's fist into two pieces.

The bright red blood sprayed onto the paladin's breastplate, flowing over it and leaving a large, shocking red mark.

In just one encounter, two shapeshifters were seriously injured, and they hadn't even touched the paladin's armor.

This extremely tragic scene successfully deterred the shapeshifter's offensive. The gray-white shapeshifter paladins formed a battle circle around it from a distance, but none of them dared to step forward.

The only whispers circulating in this space were filled with fear and confusion: "Hasn't all his equipment been stripped away?! Where did he get his armor?! Where did he get his sword?"

"There's no such equipment in the armory!"

Mars ignored their whispers and placed his sword at his side, pointing it diagonally backwards at the ground. "—Then, everyone, in the name of my Lord Mystra, I offer you a win-win proposal."

"Surrender, and you will avoid meaningless deaths, and my strength will be used to help the wounded instead of increasing the casualties."

"You only invaded the Arm of Friendship as spies. The most you will receive is a prison sentence."

"But if you continue to resist, the light of dawn will not shine upon you."

The shapeshifters were still hesitant, but after hearing these words, they became excited.

No matter how you look at it, it is too bizarre for dozens of people to surrender to just two people. Their dignity and pride do not allow them to accept this suggestion immediately.

Angry curses rang out immediately, and the shout of a shapeshifter was particularly clear:

"Mystra, the goddess of magic, has been dead for almost a hundred years! You're actually trying to persuade us to surrender in Mystra's name?!"

"Squeak."

Upon hearing these words, the paladin's gauntlets and sword hilt immediately made a slight friction sound under the heavy pressure.

He lowered his head and silently replied: "-It doesn't matter if you disagree."

"As you fall one by one, you will agree sooner or later."

Then, the paladins began to move forward, and the shapeshifters lost any room to retreat. They howled together, forming a gray wave and rushing forward.

Mars sneered as he looked at the line of shapeshifters. Instead of moving forward, he took a few steps back and watched the shapeshifters get closer and closer to him, squeezing his space for movement.

**********************

Emiya listened to the paladin's declaration and sighed in distress.

Paladins generally adhere to a strict code and take pride in their ascetic life.

However, more specific lifestyles often vary depending on personal character.

Mars was obviously not the kind of moralistic paladin. On the contrary, this guy was obviously not willing to say any sweet words - it was more of a threat than a persuasion.

At least, Mars obviously doesn't mind the blood.

Although Emilia himself is not a eloquent person, he is willing to strive for some solutions that can reduce casualties for everyone.

Let's put aside the casualties of the shapeshifters for now - ending the battle earlier will always allow us to rescue other prisoners faster and prepare for the second wave of attacks sooner.

The shapeshifter was merely an infiltrator of this attack, perhaps not even a vanguard.

Friendly Arms may be nothing more than a lonely island, destined to be swallowed up by the approaching storm.

If that's the case, at least you can run faster.

Emiya patted the blond young man's shoulder: "Leon, come with me."

Leon was stunned for a moment: "...I don't have weapons or armor...?"

The red-haired young man nodded: "Indeed, so you don't need to fight, just help persuade them to surrender."

"...? Um, I don't quite understand." Leon's breathing suddenly became rapid, and he stammered, "How can I help persuade them to surrender?"

Emiya said calmly, "Of course you can help."

"Aren't you a shapeshifter?"

Sixteen Counterattacks (Part 4)

The sounds of fighting outside had not stopped yet, and the roars of the shapeshifters were constantly pouring into this not-so-spacious light shield.

The battle between the shapeshifter and the paladin had reached a fever pitch. The paladin was using agility that didn't match his size to dodge and maneuver around the shapeshifter's encirclement.

The silver blade became less obvious in the night, but the warmth of blood was added again and again in the heavy night rain.

Leon's voice was filled with embarrassment: "...Mr. Emiya, are you kidding me? How could I be a shapeshifter?"

"What did I do wrong along the way that caused you to misunderstand me?"

There was no fluctuation in Emiya's voice: "You're mistaken about one thing - I don't need to prove who the shapeshifter is."

"What I need to prove is who isn't a shapeshifter."

Shapeshifters can change into anyone's appearance and body shape, regardless of height, weight, gender, age or status.

In this case, one thing is very clear - no matter who he sees, he must first assume that he is a shapeshifter.

"Mars's identity is the easiest to prove."

"That paladin is simply a hill giant of human height. A shapeshifter can only imitate appearance and fighting style, but you can't imitate his inhuman strength. So he can't be a shapeshifter."

At the same time, precisely because shapeshifters cannot imitate the strength of the strong, they can only imitate those who lack training. Once a fight breaks out, the shapeshifters' imitations will immediately be full of mistakes.

"But you, it's hard to say."

Emiya's sword was already pointed at Leon's chest, and he didn't stop talking: "Your scars are no proof, but scars can be imitated."

At the same time, Leon and he had only met once, and their circumstances had changed greatly, so their usual words and deeds could not be used as evidence.

Shapeshifters can read other people's thoughts, but they can only read other people's superficial psychology at the time. At the same time, this is an ability that needs to be activated, and there is no way to know other people's inner thoughts.

——Then, the most appropriate observation evidence is naturally the process of fighting against the shapeshifter.

Those lone shapeshifters would be the perfect targets - Mars's strength was so exaggerated that even if the shapeshifters around him turned against him immediately, the two of them could still handle it.

The shapeshifter's true form might be hideous and ugly, but in this world, there were no monsters in the traditional sense—in other words, no monsters that existed solely to be enemies.

Every monster may be bloodthirsty and cruel, but they also have their own ecology and are part of the world.

Shapeshifters, on the other hand, have a relatively tight organization. Shapeshifters that act together are unlikely to be casual acquaintances; it's more likely they know each other.

"You revealed a flaw in the attack on the weapons depot. I'm not familiar with the Hell Knights, but I do know that almost every warrior who was able to take action was skilled in archery and horsemanship, and proficient in all kinds of weapons."

"And you hesitated in your actions, and that ambush almost went wrong."

"So, Mars, who really knew Leon, immediately noticed something was wrong. With his impatience and irritability, how could he hesitate? He was lucky not to rush into anything."

Being able to travel with a paladin shows that the average morality of the Hell Knights is quite high - as a result, when Emilia and Leon met for the first time, they almost got into a fight.

Would such a man of such vigor and blood be afraid of the enemy? Obviously not.

At this moment, the sound of fighting outside stopped for a while.

Emiya said calmly, "With the Shapeshifters' combat power, it's not impossible to defeat a second-ring paladin, but it would require a massive death toll. There's absolutely no need for you to fight to this extent."

"Given your habit of bullying the weak and fearing the strong, you'll definitely start thinking of devious means next, for example..."

***************

"...Go and drag the hostages over here. We can't go on like this." Lorian lowered her head and couldn't help but take a breath.

The shapeshifter's blood had sunk into the puddles on the ground, staining his boots red.

As the space around the holy knight became smaller and smaller, the blockade became more and more flawed due to the lack of coordination between the two parties.

In contrast, the paladin swung his sword more and more skillfully, and the whistling weapon swung out circles of death in the air, cutting into pieces any shapeshifter that dared to approach.

And this kind of swinging was the basic movement of practicing the long sword. Perhaps he could swing it for at least a few dozen minutes longer.

Now, the battle line has reached a complete stalemate - the shapeshifters no longer dare to move any closer, but have formed a battle circle.

The paladin can bring down three or four shapeshifters at once, but the enemies around him are eight times that number.

He would be safe if he stood still, but he would be exposed if he tried to move forward.

Lorian said to the shapeshifter beside her, "...Go to the castle and tie up a few of the prisoners there—the owner of the Friendly Arms, and, oh, that hostess named Cosette. Go!"

The shapeshifting guards around him immediately understood.

To deal with a paladin, they should, of course, use hostages as human shields. Even if they can't make him surrender, they must at least tie his hands and feet, so that they have a chance of victory.

However, before leaving, the guard gestured towards the interior of the armory.

That's where the paladin appeared, and that's where a destructive line of fire once appeared.

Lorien replied in a low voice: "...That is our most important trump card, and we should use it last."

"I understand." As he said that, the guard lowered his body and quickly ran through the circle of people.

Seventeen One Strike Wins (Four Thousand)

The plan was set, and Lorian suddenly opened her mouth and shouted.

The shapeshifters had previously been speaking the common language of humanity - a language that could be understood by almost every intelligent life on the continent.

But at this moment, the shapeshifter's voice changed -

Or perhaps the language he used changed his voice.

This language is sharp and fast. If you are not familiar with it, the large number of swallowed sounds make it sound like an indistinct whimper.

However, the harshness and unquestionable nature behind the language are enough to clarify this misunderstanding.

The other shapeshifters were clearly able to understand this language, and the originally stalemated battle situation instantly began to change.

Lorian's guards also left their original position, bypassed the battle circle, and ran towards the castle.

The paladin is quite tall, and even if he cannot stand upright in a fighting stance, he can easily observe the situation on the surrounding battlefield.

Not to mention, the situation of the shapeshifter leader Lorian has always been his focus.

Therefore, when several shapeshifters suddenly disappeared among the moving heads and Lorian's surroundings were suddenly empty, the paladin immediately became alert.

So, the paladin took action.

He seemed to be aware of the shapeshifter's intention. After just a moment's hesitation, he raised the long sword at his side in front of him, crossed his hands around the hilt, and rushed in the same direction.

Along with it, there was a roar like thunder: "If you want to see tomorrow's sun, get out of my way!"

Then, the greaves stomped heavily into the soft mud on the ground, stirring up a dark wave of anger, and the blood on the sword's edge turned into a dim glow during the charge.