Nobody knows how to be a villain better than me.

"Hey, isn't this a bit too extravagant, Miss?"

Samael dusted himself off, stepped out of the crater, and looked up to his left.

Under the cold moonlight, a female warrior dressed in dark red armor, with two horns on her head and white hair flowing down her shoulders, stood on the roof, her crimson eyes revealing a sinister look.

"Those who cross the line will be killed without mercy!"

With a chilling announcement, the female warrior leaned back, decisively drew her bow and nocked an arrow. The gathered firelight transformed into a blazing arrow, whistling through the air as it hurtled towards her.

With lightning speed, Samael raised his hand and grabbed the crimson arrow that was aimed at his face. His violent magic extinguished the flames wrapped around it and broke the arrow shaft.

"Again?!"

The ancient snake narrowed its eyes, a chilling aura emanating from its dark pupils.

The figure on the roof, seeing that the long-range attack was ineffective, decisively abandoned the bow and arrows and expressionlessly drew the naginata from behind.

"As the general commands, we shall vanquish evil and eliminate filth!"

Upon hearing those familiar words that sounded like mechanical commands, the coldness in Samael's eyes subsided slightly, and he couldn't help but raise his hand to his forehead.

"Well, it seems that not only the Black Warriors, but even you Shogunate Servants are abnormal. You don't know how to listen to people properly at all!"

The ancient snake looked at the silver-haired female warrior who was leaping down from the roof, or rather, one of the Seven Riders of the Shogunate—Archer Tomoe Gozen, and immediately felt a headache coming on.

Well, at least the one in charge of the hunt is a pretty girl who's easy on the eyes.

Samael tried to find humor in his predicament, while simultaneously adopting a defensive stance.

Chapter Forty: Working is Impossible

Tomoe Gozen, birth and death dates unknown. She was a female general in the late Heian and early Kamakura periods, who once held the position of Shogun and possessed arm strength capable of twisting off a human head with her bare hands.

Legend has it that the enemy general Oden Hachiro Morishige, who was known for his immense strength, was the unlucky guy whose head she easily twisted off.

Furthermore, according to the description of "The Death of Kiso" in Volume 9 of Kakuichi's "The Tale of the Heike", he was described as having "fair skin and long hair, outstanding appearance, and was skilled in using a strong bow. Whether on horseback or on foot, he was always able to hit the target every time, and even gods and ghosts were afraid of him. He could be considered a hero who could take on a thousand men."

These distinctive features and that familiar face allowed Samael to recognize the origin of the heroic spirit before him at a single glance.

However, contrary to the records, Tomoe Gozen should have been a quiet type who disliked fighting and preferred the gentle breeze and bright moon. But now, her every move is full of tyranny and killing intent, like a demonic spirit wrapped in flames.

"kill!"

At the same time, Tomoe Gozen leaped down from the roof and swung her naginata down swiftly towards her target, the air filled with the heat of burning flames.

A fierce wind blew in his face, but instead of retreating, Samael advanced, sliding forward sideways, the naginata beside him narrowly missing the hem of his clothes.

However, before she could fully exert her strength, Tomoe Gozen's crimson eyes flashed with a red light, and with a twist of her wrist, the naginata suddenly changed from a downward slash to a horizontal slash, cutting towards the target's waist and abdomen.

Faced with this unexpected change of tactics, Samael's eyes flashed, and he lowered his left elbow and raised his knee. His hard knee and elbow instantly clamped the blade of the naginata, making it difficult for the blade, which was mixed with flames, to advance any further.

"what!"

Tomoe Gozen's chest trembled, and a thunderous explosion rang out from his throat. With the coordination of his breathing, the strength of his arms increased dramatically, and he thrust forward with both hands gripping the naginata.

However, the blade remained completely still.

Instantly, the female warrior, known for her arm strength, had her pupils contract sharply.

In the contest of strength, she actually lost.

At this moment, as the distance between the two sides closed, the opponent also made a move.

The right fist, accompanied by a whistling wind, struck straight at Tomoe Gozen's face.

"boom!"

A dull bang resounded between the two, turning the dozens of bluestone paving stones into dust. A slender figure was sent flying through the dust, crashing heavily into a corner of a flower bed.

The figure that crashed into the flower bed left two deep furrows in its wake. It stopped abruptly in the gravel, its scarlet eyes fixed on the deeply dented hilt of the knife in its hand, its gaze momentarily frozen.

So strong!

But soon, the seriousness in Tomoe Gozen's eyes was overwhelmed by an even more frenzied and vicious look. The demon blood in her body turned into burning flames, boiling violently, and an eerie blood light surrounded and condensed around her.

Sure enough, it doesn’t work.

Upon seeing this, Samael frowned slightly, and his expression grew even colder.

Then let's follow the procedure and beat him half to death first!

Immediately, having made up his mind, Samael strode forward toward the dilapidated garden, closing the distance with Tomoe Gozen with lightning speed, preparing to exploit her weaknesses.

I don't think about it!

Tomoe Gozen clearly anticipated her opponent's intentions and decisively swung her arm to throw the bent naginata in her hand to buy herself time. At the same time, she bent her knees and leaped back to widen the distance again.

The brief exchange and contest of strength in the previous encounter had made this female warrior realize that she seemed to be more at a disadvantage in close combat.

Samael swung his right hand horizontally, cleaving the flying naginata in two. With almost no pause, he charged towards Tomoe Gozen, who was a few meters away.

At this moment, the female general from the Heian period had no time to retreat. She made a decisive move, raised her hand and drew the crimson longsword from her waist. Her scarlet eyes almost bled, and her moving lips uttered a silent chant.

Flames, burning!

My blood is boiling!

In an instant, the flames surging from Tomoe Gozen's body frantically coiled and converged towards the crimson blade, and the scorching heat flowed forward like waves as the blade was swung.

However, the enemy before them seemed even more formidable.

His knowledge was incredibly diverse, and the skills he displayed in every gesture encompassed a wide range of schools of thought. Everything seemed to be boundless and imaginative, yet they all blended together seamlessly.

What is thrown is a jab, what is retracted is a tiger claw, what is raised is a whip kick, what falls is a chop;

At times, it displays the violence of the ancient Greek martial art of Pankrasin; at other times, it reveals the wildness of the Aztec war dance; and at still other times, it exhibits the swift and domineering power of the Chinese Bajiquan martial art, where the spear is transformed into the fist...

Furthermore, Tomoe Gozen even saw in it the key principles of karate's "defense, destruction, and separation," the delicate joint locks of jujutsu, and the tricky techniques of aikido to cut into the opponent's blind spots and disrupt their balance...

And various techniques for countering and resisting weapons derived from knives, guns, swords, bows, and so on...

It was as if every combat skill could find its corresponding trace in him; no weapon or class could completely counter him.

"The Origins and Development of a Hundred Arts"!

"Master of all martial arts!"

This is the class skill that a certain snake was given when it was summoned in the Fuyuki Holy Grail War.

As the oldest imposter, he has played countless identities, learned hundreds of fighting techniques, and used all kinds of weapons and divine weapons.

In a particular field, he may not be the "strongest" to have reached the pinnacle.

However, he excels in every subject across a wide range of fields, with virtually no obvious weaknesses.

In terms of brute strength, he surpasses Odin;

In terms of endurance, he surpasses Zeus;

In terms of scheming, he surpasses Old Ma;

In terms of runes, he surpasses Kukulkan...

In short, no matter how strong the opponent is, as long as you take them to an area they are familiar with and the opponent is unfamiliar with, you can basically win by using your strengths to attack their weaknesses.

Moreover, the benchmark for this comparison is a group of gods.

If you were to compete with an ordinary person, it would truly be bullying them.

Therefore, in just a short while, under Samael's rapid and fierce unarmed attacks, Tomoe Gozen's sword light, which was wrapped in flames, was actually annihilated.

Even though this fierce female general had fully unleashed the power of her demon bloodline, she was still unable to resist and was forced to retreat in defeat.

"Crack!"

Under the relentless onslaught, the crimson longsword, unable to withstand the pressure, suddenly shattered, with broken blades flying everywhere. Several even pierced Tomoe Gozen's arm and abdomen, leaving trails of scarlet blood.

Almost simultaneously, a glint flashed in Samael's eyes. He raised his leg and stomped his foot, his power rising from the ground. His body leaned forward like a mountain, crashing into the wide-open chest of Tomoe Gozen. At the same time, he raised his elbow, using it as a spear, and thrust it towards his opponent's heart.

Eight Extremes Iron Mountain Lean!

"boom!"

In an instant, the female warrior, struck hard, was like someone who had crashed into a speeding train. Accompanied by a series of teeth-grinding cracking sounds, she flew straight back for a hundred meters, crashing through walls, flower beds, and trees along the way before falling heavily to the ground.

"puff!"

After struggling several times to no avail and still unable to get up, Tomoe Gozen vomited a large pool of reddish-purple blood, her face became pale and her breath rapidly weakened.

Can you understand me?

Samael glanced at the female general in front of him, who was unable to rise again, sighed helplessly, withdrew from his stance to show that he was harmless, and stepped forward to tentatively ask her questions.

"So, can we talk now?"

However, as the man approached, several meters of crimson flames suddenly erupted from Tomoe Gozen's body.

The magic is burning.

Flesh and blood are burning.

The soul is burning!

Everything about her seemed to be turning into fuel for a blast furnace, collectively giving rise to terrifying hellfire from within her body.

Bathed in the crimson flames, Tomoe Gozen's shattered bones automatically reset, her wounds healed in an instant, and wisps of scorching heat emanated from every orifice of her body, making her appear like a demon from hell.

"—Noble Phantasm, fragments unfold!"

In a suppressed and frenzied murmur, the demons and gods, enveloped in the flames of hell, rose from the ground once more, their hands outstretched, using flames as bows and light as arrows, their blood-red eyes staring menacingly at the figure ahead.

"O flame, grant me the glory of the rising sun! Burn, devour, and consume all..."

Samael's eye twitched, and he forced a dry smile.

Then, it turned around and dashed hundreds of meters away with lightning speed.

Immediately afterward, with a few leaps, the slippery figure, along with its breath, disappeared into the thick darkness of the night.

They...they ran away?

Just as Tomoe Gozen was preparing for a desperate battle, she came to her senses and, looking at the empty street before her, her flames involuntarily extinguished. She opened her mouth, her eyes filled with bewilderment.

Meanwhile, in a dark alley of a secluded street, Samael leaned against the wall and breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that Ba Gozen was not chasing after him.

After calming down, the snake, recalling what had just happened, bared its teeth in anger.

Just now, Tomoe Gozen's posture clearly indicated that he wanted to burn his life and take him down with him!

Damn it, what grudge do we have? It's just a question, why do we have to die together?

Samael was inwardly disgusted by this and rolled his eyes.

Of course, the other side is probably overthinking things and expecting to die together. They're already being generous by the fact that a few pieces of their snakeskin might fall off.

Even though he wasn't afraid of Tomoe Gozen's desperate counterattack, which was burning with his life force, he also had other factors to consider.

From the outward appearances, the Shogunate is at least still the armed force maintaining humanity's survival.

Given the unclear situation, forcing Tomoe Gozen, one of the Seven Riders, to self-destruct would clearly not be a wise move.

Since there's no direct conflict of interest between the two sides, there's really no need for them to fight to the death on the spot.

Since that Archer has already lost all his sanity, there's no way he can communicate normally.

Seeing that Tomoe was about to die with him at the slightest disagreement, Samael had no choice but to retreat for the time being, and make a decision later after gathering enough intelligence to determine friend from foe.

Intelligence, intelligence...

Samael raised his hand to tap his brow, muttering to himself as his dark eyes scanned the surrounding buildings, his gaze flickering with a sinister light.

It's in the style of the Tang Dynasty, made almost entirely of wood, with no trace of steel or cement...

Furthermore, from a high vantage point, the city's houses are built on the hillside of the basin, with streets rising and falling. The Takano River and the Kamo River converge in the city to form the Kamo River, which flows south into the Katsura River, and finally merges with the Yodo River, which flows into Osaka Bay...

This is indeed Heian-kyo.

As the female exorcist Eriyo said, the city is completely different during the day and at night.

The city showed no signs of being pieced together; what was before them was not an illusion...

Although the surrounding scenery is different, the general orientation of the street remains the same, and the location of the Golden Deer Bar can be clearly located based on the route taken.

This doesn't seem like a complete transformation; it's more like—

Some kind of information copying?