Chapter 130: One-Hit Kills for Everyone

PD gritted his teeth in anxiety and hurriedly placed another five-star Vanguard, Enkidu, whom he had just gathered enough Cost for, on the tile behind Scathach, barely managing to hold off the remaining pack of hounds.

However, under the suppression of "Our HP halved" and "Enemy ATK increased," the health bars of both max-level Vanguards had dropped to a dangerously low red line after finishing off this wave of hounds!

Before he could even catch his breath, the second wave of monsters followed in quick succession!

This time, there were not only swarms of [Berserk Hounds] but also [Magic Sphinx] cubs mixed in at the back, capable of ranged breath attacks.

Dense purple orbs of light flew directly over the front line and slammed fiercely into the low-health Scathach!

"It's over! Tamamo-no-Mae, save me... Damn it, I'm still three points short on Cost!" Watching the slowly crawling Cost bar and seeing Scathach about to be focused down and killed by ranged attacks, in the nick of time, PD gritted his teeth and used his Master's survival skill!

A golden invincibility shield appeared in a millisecond, blocking the lethal ranged orbs and forcibly buying PD the last few seconds of natural Cost regeneration.

When the Cost finally reached the threshold, he frantically deployed the five-star Healer Servant onto the elevated platform.

With a massive heal from the fox shrine maiden, the health lines of the two Vanguards in the front row were forcibly pulled back up, and the second wave of attacks was held off.

"Phew... survived the first-encounter kill. Scathach, Enkidu, retreat!" Seeing the situation stabilize, PD took a deep breath and began to show the basic proficiency of a veteran player who had cleared Chapter 7.

Vanguards are just squishy units used for early-game Cost generation; facing the sea of elite monsters that could appear at any moment, he had to swap in sturdier Sabers or Defenders to hold the line!

As the Cost gradually became abundant with the two Vanguards on the field, PD decisively retreated them one by one.

He then deployed the early limited five-star Saber [Okita Souji], who possessed extremely high single-target burst damage, at the very front of the main road, serving as the core melee unit to hold the line and deal damage; behind her, he filled in with an AoE Mage and an Archer.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Accompanied by gorgeous Noble Phantasm special effects filling the screen, the subsequent high-pressure waves of mixed monsters were cleared away without any real danger by his Golden Squad.

"Hahaha! I told you! As long as I survive the early and mid-game and get my entire Golden Squad out there, these small fries are nothing!"

Looking at his luxurious, impregnable defensive line, PD wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and regained his arrogant, whale-player attitude.

However, the system had no intention of giving him a real chance to catch his breath.

As a dull, oppressive sound of footsteps echoed from the depths of the ruins, even the ground of the tactical sandbox began to tremble slightly.

From the shadows, an elite monster wielding a greatsword and clad in dark red heavy armor—the [Crimson-Armored Justice Knight]—slowly walked onto the battlefield as the finale!

"Tch, just one elite monster for the finale?"

Having just cleared a massive wave of monsters, PD was full of confidence. Looking at Okita Souji standing at the very front, he waved his hand heroically:

"I've got top-tier single-target burst with max Noble Phantasm level! With the five-star Tamamo-no-Mae protecting her from behind, no matter how much HP you have, this elite monster, I can easily solo you!"

Okita Souji drew her katana and activated her signature [Shukuchi] skill. Sharp sword light, accompanied by a string of vivid green critical hit numbers, instantly shaved off half of the heavy-armored monster's health bar.

Just as PD thought he could easily take down this elite monster, a sudden change occurred!

"Hum——"

The eyes beneath the Crimson-Armored Knight's helmet suddenly erupted with scarlet blood-light, and the heavy greatsword in its hand instantly ignited with tangible, blood-colored flames!

"What the hell? It can power up too?!" PD was stunned.

The next second, the greatsword burning with blood-colored flames, carrying a shriek that tore through the air, struck the front-line Okita Souji with an extremely violent, lightning-fast blow!

"- 8500!"

A red number, huge enough to make one's heart stop, floated up.

Under the dual multiplier of the enemy's increased attack and the half-health berserk state, this earth-shattering slash instantly emptied Okita Souji's full-health bar, turning her into particles of light as she exited the field!

"Holy crap! My full-health unit was one-shot?! What the hell is this post-berserk damage!"

A gap had been torn in the defensive line, but fortunately, PD still had a bunch of luxurious substitutes in his hand!

"I'm not afraid! I still have plenty of Cost! Block it for me!" PD frantically slammed his backup melee Servants, like Sabers and Riders, onto the path of the Justice Knight, one after another, like dropping dumplings into a pot.

But he dropped one [Quetzalcoatl].

"Swish!"

The Justice Knight struck with its blade, and the big sister turned into particles of light.

He dropped another [Iskandar].

"Swish!"

Another five-star instantly evaporated.

No matter how gorgeous the card art was, no matter how luxurious the stats were, no matter how hard the Healer on the elevated platform waved her staff.

In front of that greatsword burning with blood-colored flames, all are equal; everyone only needed one hit!

That Crimson-Armored Knight, carrying the blood-colored longsword and in a berserk state, was like an invincible, ruthless god of war!

He just stepped over the particles of dissipated five-star Servants and, amidst the dead silence, walked unhurriedly into PD's base.

The defensive line had completely collapsed!

[MISSION FAILED]

Dead silence.

PD sat there, dumbfounded, and his viewers collectively fell into a suffocating silence.

"It... it's over just like that?"

"Full Cost, full hand of maxed-out five-stars, and they die one by one as soon as they go down?!"

"With these hellish modifiers stacked together, the attack power of that slash after he goes berserk is simply not within the range of values that humans can withstand!"

"This isn't even a problem of Cost or leaking monsters anymore! In the face of absolute numerical one-shots, it doesn't matter how thick your defense is!"

"Despair... it's so damn despairing. You watch him walk over, and even though you have cards in your hand, you know you can't stop him for even a second!"

PD stared fixedly at the results screen and let out a wail from the depths of his soul.

"Old Thief Kirito, you lunatic! You set the damage cap for this monster higher than the game's own ceiling! For a monster that one-hits everyone like this, there isn't a single card on this planet that can take two hits from him!"

Just as broken as PD were the other FGO players who had charged into the high-difficulty stage full of confidence, wanting to get the plated etching. By now, the major forums were completely submerged in wailing and despair:

"Refund! The Defender I spent tens of thousands to pull is just paper in this mode!"

"Red Sword Brother teaches you a lesson! Everyone is equal after he goes berserk; even max-level units get one-shot. How are you supposed to fight this?!"

"F2P players are struggling to even clear level 8; this level 18 Red Sword Brother is basically a god descended to earth!"

"Old Thief Kirito, you win. I surrender. I'm going to go clear level 0 to get the basic reward stones and then leave. Whoever wants this etching can have it!"

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