Shinji Matou At Your Service

Despite his rage, Vlad III retained a degree of rationality.

The stakes targeting Chiron did not attack directly but formed a conical cage around him, trapping him inside.

However, the stakes aimed at Astolfo were not so gentle; like before, they targeted his vital points with lethal intent.

Chiron's expression changed. He wanted to help but was blocked by the cage of stakes. By the time he smashed the cage with his fists, Astolfo had already disappeared.

Disappeared?

Yes, he had disappeared.

While Chiron couldn't rescue him in time, someone else could. This person also knew "Mana Burst." Just before Astolfo was impaled, a palm strike sent him flying to the other side of the throne room with a gust of magical energy.

That person was none other than the final member of the trio who helped Sieg escape—Black Assassin Matou Shinji. His reaction mirrored Chiron's. After saving Astolfo, he stepped forward and bowed respectfully.

"Grand Duke, please calm your anger."

"Archer! Assassin! Do you intend to oppose me? Do you also wish to defy me?"

Vlad III's furious voice echoed through the throne room, and black mist began to swirl in his blood-red eyes.

"Extreme punishment—"

"No!" Darnic tensed up, ready to intervene, but the Romanian tyrant acted first.

"—Kazikli Bey!"

This time, the stakes were more numerous and denser, targeting not two but three people—and without any mercy, all stakes aimed for their vital points.

This action demonstrated Vlad III's will—the traitors must die. If anyone protected the traitors, they would share the same fate!

However, this time, the three were prepared.

Chiron displayed a unique centaurian gait, effortlessly weaving through the gaps between the stakes. He even had the leisure to manifest a bow and shoot a smooth, radiant arrow at Astolfo.

Shinji didn't move as gracefully as Chiron but appeared even more composed. He took a step back, his body enveloped in golden light. He grasped the foremost stake with his left hand, unbothered by its sharp tip.

Astonishingly, the stake, which could impale a person, was halted by Shinji's hand. Unable to pierce him, the stake was no different from an ordinary pole, lifting Shinji into the air.

Simultaneously, a golden and azure staff appeared in Shinji's right hand. With a wave, the T-shaped head of the staff shot a milky white aura toward Astolfo.

Astolfo was in the most precarious position. Initially, he had closed his eyes, expecting death. Now, knowing someone was saving him, he wasn't willing to die. He rolled on the ground, straining to break his bindings.

With his hands and feet tied, Astolfo couldn't move faster than the stakes. Fortunately, Chiron's arrow arrived first, landing beside Astolfo and causing a small explosion that shattered the floor tiles and sent Astolfo flying. This was a high-level application of "Mana Burst," where the mana was stored in the arrow rather than released during the draw, only unleashing upon impact—a divine skill achievable only by an archer like Chiron, whose archery had reached a godly domain.

Before Astolfo hit the ground, the milky white aura reached him, forming an egg-shaped protective shield. It cushioned his fall and provided a layer of protection against any potential follow-up attacks from Vlad III.

At this moment, Astolfo broke free of his bindings and stood up. The green wind swirled around him, seemingly summoning a Noble Phantasm, but he stopped reluctantly due to a signal from Chiron.

"Grand Duke—" Darnic finally seized the moment to step in, blocking Vlad III's path.

"Do You Also Intend to Stop Me, Darnic?"

Vlad III cast a cold glance at his Master. At this moment, his blood-red eyes were already half-invaded by black mist.

"I dare not," Darnic bowed deeply. "I only wish to ask the Grand Duke to give Archer and Assassin a chance to explain. They are not Rider; they would not act so rashly without reason."

Vlad III's expression remained grim as he stared at his Master. Darnic kept his head lowered, his face showing no change, though the veins on his wrist, hidden by his sleeve, twitched, causing the Command Spells on it to tremble as well.

Silence. No one spoke or moved even slightly. The entire throne room seemed to freeze—until the lord seated on the throne exhaled a breath of black mist and slowly lowered his raised right hand, allowing the air in the room to flow once more.

"Very well, in your name, for the past merits of Archer and Assassin, and because you have evaded the 'Impaling' three times, I will give you a chance to explain."

"Thank you, Grand Duke," Darnic bowed and stepped aside.

"Thank you for your mercy, Grand Duke," Chiron bowed a second time.

Shinji flipped off the stake and also bowed.

Only Astolfo, holding his head, looked around nervously. Shinji couldn't tolerate it and took a few steps over, tapping Astolfo on the head with the staff of the goddess, scolding, "You, too, bow!"

"Oh," Astolfo rubbed his head and reluctantly bowed.

You idiot, if you keep messing around, you might die here. This is not the same Grand Duke from before.

Shinji sighed helplessly. The staff of the Egyptian goddess switched its power from protection to healing, spreading from his right hand to his left.

Everyone thought he had blocked Vlad III's impalement, but only he knew he hadn't completely. Though it was just a bit, the tip of the stake had indeed pierced Shinji's palm, drawing a drop of blood-stained gold from the Buddha's light. One stake was like this; what about ten, a hundred? It's known that the Grand Duke's total number of stakes is twenty thousand! After all, he wasn't a Buddha with a vajra body, only possessing a left arm achieved through external means.

Moreover, Vlad III's class was troublesome. In the original timeline, Vlad III was a Lancer, with his heroic side maximized by the local boost, making him even wiser and braver than in life. Even when Astolfo let Sieg escape and caused the loss of one of the faction's biggest aces, Siegfried, he merely ordered Astolfo's imprisonment and immediately entered spirit form to suppress his rage.

But now, he wasn't the wise and brave Lancer, but the madman class with the Berserker skill. Although Berserker EX had an extreme reflex effect, allowing him to view things calmly, a calm madman was still a madman. He was now closer to the tyrant he was in life. Perhaps Astolfo's crime didn't deserve death, but would a tyrant care, especially in wartime?

Not to mention, this tyrant was in an unprecedentedly powerful state. If things went wrong, the entire Millennia Fortress could be affected.