Shinji Matou At Your Service - Chapter 483: Red and Black Showdown - Karna vs. Vlad III 

The battle between Red Lancer Karna and Black Berserker Vlad III remains evenly matched.

Although both wield spears as their weapons, their styles are completely different. Vlad III attacks by manipulating stakes with a single finger, while Karna shatters targets directly with his spear.

Vlad III releases stakes while maintaining distance, while Karna smashes through the stakes as he closes in on his opponent—this process repeats constantly.

Mysteries are nullified by stronger mysteries. In this regard, Karna far surpasses Vlad III. From the perspective of his strength in life, the great hero Karna is an extraordinary existence.

To bring him down to earth, even the thunder god Indra had to resort to various cunning schemes. Despite being betrayed by all his comrades, he remained the most virtuous and strongest spearman without falling.

However, even such a figure cannot bring down Vlad III.

Unlike Karna, whose existence might be uncertain, Vlad III is a hero who truly exists in the world.

He was feared by neighboring countries, and his people harbored a similar intense fear—yet he was also a revered and worshipped national hero.

Without him, our country would not exist—such a hero, etched in history, has now descended upon this land. Here, his fame is equivalent to that of a great sage.

His Noble Phantasm Kazikli Bey also possesses extraordinary power.

Indeed, they are merely ordinary stakes. But—the issue lies in the fact that these stakes can be summoned freely at Vlad III’s command.

Even though Karna faces such a powerful Noble Phantasm alone, he remains undaunted. Despite his legs, right shoulder, left side, and left elbow being struck by stakes multiple times, his movements and strength remain unchanged. These are merely minor injuries that can be repaired during the fight.

But—

“Truly impressive. You shattered a thousand stakes with your spear, burned eight hundred stakes with the flames around you, and blocked two thousand stakes with your golden armor. Red Lancer, you indeed deserve the title of a hero. With your armor, not just stakes, even a battering ram would have no effect.”

Vlad III’s words of praise were met with a solemn response from Karna:

“You flatter me, Grand Duke. I understand now—these stakes are not just for attack but also for defense, intimidation, and as symbols of terror.”

“Marking territory, defining a castle, and protecting what you cherish—in other words, you attempt to form a nation alone. Is it love for your homeland that drives you, or a sense of duty as a ruler?”

In a calm tone, Karna pierced through Vlad III’s exterior—not his physical exterior, but the exterior of his heart.

“But here, you have no subordinates to lead. A king may maintain a lofty stance, but there is no king without followers. You made a miscalculation, Impaler. I am a Heroic Spirit, unafraid to oppose even a nation.”

“Oh, interesting.”

Vlad III smiled—a fierce smile filled with anger, passion, hatred, and murderous intent.

“Unafraid to stand alone against my country. Indeed, you are a hero—against your arrogance, I have already punished you three times. Yes…in total, three times, my stakes have pierced you. Therefore, you shall die here.”

“—!?”

Feeling a chilling sensation all over his body, Karna instinctively tried to leap back—however, it was no longer a matter of speed. Because it had already happened, the attack was already over…!

“Your vigilance is impressive. Indeed, my Kazikli Bey; the stakes themselves are not the Noble Phantasm. The Noble Phantasm is the erected stakes themselves. As long as you are in this domain, no matter how much you fortify your defenses, as long as the fact of my attack exists—”

Within Karna, something began to swell violently. The hard, sharp, and chillingly cold thing was—

“A stake…?”

Karna’s golden armor could almost completely defend against stakes, blades, war hammers, and all physical and magical attacks. However, attacks from within were an exception. Moreover, these stakes manifested as if they were piercing the target.

Even a wasp, capable of flying freely in the sky with its strong mandibles and venomous stinger for catching prey, would be nothing more than helpless prey if trapped in a spider web layered ten or twenty times.

From the stakes embedded in his body, blood began to drip continuously. Suffering damage while clad in this armor was likely a first for Karna.

Seizing this opportunity, Vlad III thrust his spear to claim victory. He never expected this level of injury to be enough to kill Karna.

Thus, he did not let this moment slip by. No hero, regardless of their might, could resist while being pierced by stakes—!!

“This is the end, Red Lancer…!”

Countless stakes surged like a muddy torrent, and Vlad III charged with his spear. These things might as well have been piranhas rather than Noble Phantasms. After all, he never ran out of magical energy. As long as he could extract magical energy from homunculi, his stakes could regenerate indefinitely. The figure of twenty thousand was merely the maximum number at activation. No matter how many stakes were broken, they would continually regenerate as long as there was magical energy.

In other words, this battlefield had effectively been filled with his malicious stakes. It was an unbeatable scenario. Challenging a king who ruled the entire land and commanded an entire nation alone was impossible.

But—to the hero Karna, being surrounded by enemies on all sides was merely an extremely ordinary situation.

Facing the spear aimed at his forehead, Karna easily brushed away the attack, making it seem as if the stakes piercing his body had caused no harm at all.

“…!!”

Even Vlad III was left speechless.

At this moment, Karna exerted his extraordinary willpower.

“Flames—”

Flames suddenly enveloped Karna’s entire body. In an instant, Vlad III realized he intended to burn away the stakes with fire.

Just as Vlad III was about to sneer, he froze. The flames were absorbed into Karna’s body. Burning, burning, continuously burning—the stakes that had been ravaging Karna were all consumed without a trace.

At that moment, stakes rained down on him like a storm.

However, they aimed to pierce a being of flames, a scion of the sun even the fire spirits could not burn away.

Golden armor, a spear bestowed by the gods. The golden armor granted by his mother’s plea, and the divine lineage inherited from the sun god—these merely covered half of the information about the servant Karna.

Karna’s strongest weapon is his “will.” A strong will, and a strong heart, a great hero who bore all misfortune without resenting anyone. A man who, despite being given something more special than anyone else, did not consider himself special.

Neither arrogant nor complacent, he was a hero who lived a life worthy of his father’s great name from birth until his downfall.

Therefore, even if his organs were pierced and his arm’s nerves severed by mere stakes, even if he endured the mental oppression from countless stakes, even if he suffered unimaginable pain from circulating flames within his body to break free from the current situation—

Karna would neither fear nor yield to the enemy—!

Flames swirled around the two of them. The scene was the same as before. Flames could reduce everything to nothing. However, it was not just that.

“—Grand Duke, I will claim your head!”