"Pfft! You old hag, you really struck hard."
Standing in a forest of spears made of red long spears, Artoria gritted her teeth and pulled out the red spears stuck in her body. Bizarrely, no blood flowed out, but the pain was real. Artoria's face contorted in pain. The mental pain indirectly affected her body on the hospital bed. In the distressed eyes of Hope and the others, Artoria's body twitched and then became still again. The girls frantically called for the Doctor and Nurse to come over quickly, which kept them busy! But Artoria just wouldn't wake up.
"This place and my current physical state are so strange."
Watching golden particles flow bizarrely from the 'wounds' and quickly repair them until they vanished, Artoria curiously touched the spot where the 'wound' had just been. There was no pain at all; it was still the same delicate and smooth skin. Now Artoria felt her state was very unusual, like a spiritual entity.
"I'm still dreaming, right?"
"I'll be fine after a nap."
"Pfft!"
Thinking she might still be dreaming, Artoria lay on the ground again, preparing to sleep and return to her original body. But a sound of breaking air arrived, and her intuition screamed a warning, but she didn't dodge it. A red long spear pierced through her chest again. Artoria's face turned blue with pain. Her defense wasn't low! Logically, it could already rival the defense of a sub-dragon's scales, but it still couldn't withstand the power of a Noble Phantasm. Enduring the pain, Artoria pulled the long spear out of her chest; again, there were those golden particles.
"Fine! It seems if I don't flip over today, you don't intend to let me go."
Standing up from the ground, Artoria patted the dust off her back. Now Artoria completely understood the old purple hag's intention. She wanted her to complete the rules she had set and then bravely walk before her.
"Eight Inner Gates, Gate of Opening, Open!"
For the first time, Artoria opened the first gate of the Eight Inner Gates she had obtained. The first gate removes the brain's limitations to achieve the goal of exerting 100% of the body's physical potential, consuming body energy at an overload to increase attack and speed. The effect of an ordinary person opening it was already obvious, but for Artoria, who possessed Dragon Factors, the effect was even more significant. The Dragon Eyes that originally needed to be activated now appeared on their own. Artoria's circular pupils turned directly into vertical slits, and her blood flow began to accelerate.
"Artoria Stark, challenging again."
Putting on a confident smile again, Artoria poured strength into her legs. Her body was like an arrow on a taut string. In an instant, Artoria leaped from the ground to challenge the dozens-of-meters-high hurdle again.
"Interesting, truly interesting. That thing you never dared to use, you finally used it. Not a bad technique."
Artoria's change made Scáthach, sitting on her throne, smile with excitement. She felt that the technique Artoria used was quite good; she just didn't quite understand why Artoria had never dared to use it. She watched with great interest as Artoria flipped over the top of the hurdle she had set.
"It's time to greet this brat."
"I'm a bit unprepared. Should I tidy up? It's my first time meeting Master, what should I do?"
Compared to Scáthach's indifference, Kiyohime was somewhat flustered. She hurriedly took out a mirror, looking at herself and feeling like she needed to tidy up. In fact, she was the type who would lose her nerve at critical moments, especially when facing someone she loved. She could usually suppress it, but she easily lost control of her emotions; this was probably the drawback of the 'Berserker' Class! It was easy to enter a state of madness and lose control.
"I've finally made it. Old hag, I'm here to settle the score with you."
Continuing to keep the first gate of the Eight Inner Gates open, Artoria quickly passed over that dilapidated bridge and soon entered the city. But she quickly stopped again because she had no idea where Scáthach was or where in the city she was located. After stopping to think for a few seconds, she found she didn't need to look for the other party at all, because that woman was coming.
"Finally meeting, brat!"
Taking light and enchanting queenly steps, Scáthach slowly walked out from the shadows. A dangerous smile curled at the corner of her mouth. Although she didn't know why, she felt that Artoria didn't respect her much. Resisting the urge to throw another spear, Scáthach greeted Artoria.
"Queen of the Land of Shadows, Scáthach-Skadi."
No matter how much she badmouthed this woman in her heart, when facing her, Artoria still spoke Scáthach's full name with caution. When this woman was just a card, she didn't feel much, but standing vividly in front of her, Artoria's intuition was constantly issuing dangerous warnings. That is to say, the woman before her had the ability to kill her in an instant.
"Now! Let's fight, shall we?"
Seeing Artoria remain silent after speaking, Scáthach had no habit of waiting for others. The weak have no right to refuse the strong; this was exactly the Celtic style. "If you win against me, you can have me do anything you want~! Of course, that's on the premise that you must win against me." She, Scáthach, had never been defeated to this day.
"Ha~!"
Compared to Scáthach's excitement, Artoria was more bewildered. She had never met someone who wanted to fight as soon as they met. Of course, races like the Chitauri didn't count, but Scáthach clearly didn't intend to give her any chance to explain. With a flash of red light in her hands, two red spears, one long and one short, appeared in Scáthach's hands. The crimson spear shafts were as light as feathers, spinning into a beautiful and cool spear flourish in Scáthach's hands.
"Wait..."
"No waiting. The battle has begun, brat. I'll tell you after you defeat me."
"You..."
"Clang!"
Fortunately, Artoria had been keeping the first gate open, her physical limits unlocked. Artoria could now perfectly exert thirty percent of her body's combat power. Because she didn't train regularly, she couldn't develop her body to one hundred percent like Rock Lee and Guy, but this also allowed her to hastily dodge Scáthach's first strike. However, a strand of her golden hair was sliced off, and the next strike followed immediately. Artoria used her Gauntlets to deflect the spearhead, hitting the shaft, but the massive force still made Artoria stagger back several steps before she could dissipate the power on the spear.
"What's wrong, brat? Is this all the strength you have? It's really disappointing."
On her right index finger, the long spear spun rapidly like a fan blade, with no sign of flying off. Scáthach didn't even look at the somewhat disheveled Artoria; she spoke indifferently, but this light tone seemed to have a mocking power, making Artoria's anger flare up.
"It seems a peaceful resolution is impossible. Then, my apologies! I need to get back quickly; I don't want to delay my time to go home here. Excuse me!"
Taking a deep breath, Artoria suppressed her angry emotions. She understood that if she lost her reason due to anger at this time, it would undoubtedly be seeking Death before such an opponent. Summoning her Holy Lance Rhongomyniad, she had a belly full of anger to vent since arriving here. So now was a good time. "Old purple hag, let me truly experience your strength."
"You have some fighting spirit now. That's more like it."
Although she felt a slight, inexplicable unpleasantness in her heart, seeing Artoria reignite her fighting spirit, Scáthach's interest rose again. She stopped the playing motions in her hands and entered her combat state once more. The atmosphere between the two began to heat up.
"Miss Scáthach is starting again. Truly terrifying!"
Recalling when she first met this woman and was severely trained, Kiyohime couldn't help but shudder and silently prayed for Artoria. Because the smile currently appearing on this woman's face was exactly the same as when they first met. As a result, she was quickly suppressed. Poor her, with her average E-rank stats, she actually encountered such a monster. Kiyohime is so pitiful.
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