Fear

Until now, Tristan didn't quite understand what had just happened.

She and the other three Knights of the Round Table had set a trap to lure their prey, even gleefully thinking they had caught a big fish.

However, before her excitement could fade, that big fish suddenly transformed into a ferocious dragon, preying on them mercilessly, baring his bloody fangs.

In the blink of an eye, Medusa lost her most important Mystic Eyes, and Asterios, as a magical beast's descendant, was easily kicked away like rubbish, completely losing his mobility.

In the blink of an eye, only she remained standing among the trio.

As for Atalanta, her arrow only pierced the outsider's arm. After pulling out the arrow, the wound on the arm quickly healed as if nothing happened, and not even a drop of blood spilled.

It all felt like this torrential rain, filled with unreal traces everywhere, like a hazy and illusory dream.

However, reality, like this cold rain, harshly slapped Tristan's face, telling her that everything she saw earlier was reality.

In just a few minutes, they had lost two powerful people in succession. No, if she counted Cu Chulainn, they had actually lost three people. The worst part was that all of this was at the hands of the same person, with the time gap between them even shorter than her usual time spent picking shoes!

Even Lancelot would have had a hard time dealing with four of them simultaneously!

The enormous gap in strength was once again blatantly displayed in front of Tristan.

At this moment, she couldn't help but feel the same feeling as when facing the Lion King—no, even stronger than that.

The Lion King was a divine being, untainted by the mortal world, while this outsider emerged from the hellish purgatory of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, a demon!

Suddenly, Tristan couldn't help but feel a little confused and doubtful.

Did the preceptor really send them purely to deal with this demon?

*Tap!* *Tap!* *Tap!*

The sound of heavy footsteps broke the dense and monotonous sound of rain.

Tristan quickly lifted her head, her pupils reflecting a terrifying figure, devilishly stepping toward her, one step at a time.

In an instant, intense fear exploded in Tristan's mind like a bomb.

"No... NO!"

She screamed, her beautiful face contorted in terror as she instinctively stepped back, frantically waving her hands.

"Stay away! You demon, don't come near me! Get away!"

Arkhan seemed unbothered, advancing silently and calmly. His dragon-transformed body, now heavier due to the rain, left clear footprints on the soaked ground.

Each of his steps felt like stepping on Tristan's heart.

He could have ended this girl's life in an instant, but he refrained.

A simple death would be too easy for her.

With precision, he intended to tear down her mental defenses, making her experience the despair of death creeping closer, understanding the helplessness of ordinary people whose lives she once controlled.

Arkhan had encountered many kinds of people, few truly good, most neutral with a hint of evil. Yet even the most evil rarely harmed ordinary people without any reason. Only this fairy, bearing Tristan's name, acted without hesitation, even finding pleasure in it.

Tristan's actions weren't driven by external factors like Barghest; Tristan indulged her vile desires, finding joy in the screams and cries of ordinary people.

Such behavior was inherent to fairies, indulgent and self-centered. What seemed unforgivable to humans was common and harmless to fairies.

Nonetheless, Arkhan was a human in heart, not a fairy.

Naturally, he couldn't forgive her sins.

Arkhan advanced, each step precise, pushing Tristan back until she stumbled on a stone, falling into the muddy ground. Her elegant clothes and beautiful face were tarnished, like a graceful swan fallen into a mud puddle, turning into an ugly duckling.

But in Arkhan's eyes, she was never a duckling or a swan, just the filthy mud itself.

"STOP!"

Tristan's remaining sanity finally shattered under the suffocating pressure. She pressed her fingernails against her chest, her face twisted with madness.

"Take another step, and I'll take us both down!"

Upon seeing this, Arkhan hesitated briefly, but just when Tristan thought he would retreat, he stepped forward again.

"Don't you hear me?! I said stop!" Tristan's voice, once sweet, now sounded hysterical. "I warn you, if you die with me here, your Holy Roman Empire will be crushed by the Lion King and Preceptor! And those poor humans won't escape either!"

"Why don't you do it then?"

Arkhan finally spoke, his voice deepened by the Black Dragon Body, carrying solemnity and authority.

"Your Gift's ability can kill anyone from a distance, right? Besides, I'm right here, right in front of you. Killing me would rid you of a big threat, no? Or... are you unwilling to risk your life for mine?"

A hint of mockery quickly curved his lips.

"I thought someone like you would have no qualms about sacrificing anything."

Upon hearing his mock, Tristan's face twisted.

Her fear wasn't death; as a bloodsucking fairy, she could heal even if her heart shattered. What terrified her was if even 'Domination' couldn't kill this monster, then what would she do next?

'Domination' was already her last resort, but it wasn't that she didn't dare to use it, but rather she didn't dare to face the consequences if it failed.

Suddenly, Arkhan stopped in his tracks and looked up at the sky.

Above the black sky, several meteors suddenly tore through the heavy, oppressive clouds and plummeted toward the earth.

As they descended, these meteors quickly fragmented, exploding like bursts of fireworks, carrying brilliant tails of magical light pouring down toward the ground like rain.

It was none other than Atalanta's Noble Phantasm, 'Phoebus Catastrophe'.

The dreamlike rain of arrows illuminated Arkhan's face as he calmly gazed upward. His deep, black eyes seemed to swallow up all the arrows, melting into the abyss that seemed endless.

He calmly materialized the Star of Eden, and a faint blue light soon radiated from him, encompassing his body like a barrier.

Almost simultaneously, the rain of arrows reached the ground.

*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*

The magical energy enveloping the arrows instantly exploded, the thunderous blasts even overpowering the torrential rain. The colorful brilliance bloomed on the ground like flowers, exuding not only beauty but also terrifying destruction.

Whether it was Atalanta, a kilometer away, or Tristan skillfully avoiding the rain of arrows, they couldn't help but hold their breath, their gaze firmly fixed in the center of the explosion.

The rain of arrows lasted for a full minute, until all arrows were spent, and the earth-shaking tumult gradually subsided.

Phoebus Catastrophe consumed a large number of arrows, each of which needed to be personally enchanted by Atalanta. It was a Noble Phantasm of immense power but difficult to use continuously in a short time. If even this move couldn't subdue the outsider, then she truly had no solution.

Under the tense gaze of the two, the dust raised by the rain of arrows was quickly washed away by the rain, as if the earth had been wantonly trampled upon. Everywhere was filled with craters created by the explosions, emitting sparse white smoke.

At the center of the explosion, a faint blue light reflected in the eyes of Atalanta and Tristan.

Despite the intense attack from countless powerful arrows just moments ago, the seemingly fragile light barrier remained undamaged, smooth as a mirror, perfectly protecting everything within its range.

"Alas..." Atalanta sighed complexly, lowering her head and releasing the bow in her hand.

Tristan, upon seeing the light barrier, immediately flew in the opposite direction without hesitation, while urgently calling out the name of Merlin in her heart.

*Whoosh!*

But it was at this moment that a black spear shot out from the light barrier, like a blackbird, stealthily piercing through the rain and darkness.

*Pu-chi!*

In the next moment, it hit Tristan's head squarely, piercing through her hard skull, penetrating her soft brain, and flying out from the center of her forehead.

Tristan's gaze instantly turned vacant, her body falling downward like a disconnected puppet.

In the moment her consciousness faded, a calm voice faintly echoed in her ears.

"I told you, this time, you won't escape."