Crazy Britain:They’re All Raising Me

Oberon's shout brought Guinevere back to his senses.

Indeed—compared to this wide open area where Fairy Lancelot could fully capitalize on all her strengths, the complex terrain inside the cave would be far more effective in limiting her abilities.

Guinevere still hadn't figured out a way to beat this dual threat of broken stats and mechanics, but even weakening her a little was better than nothing.

With that in mind, he suddenly raised the barrel on his left arm and fired at the ground in front of him. The blast sent his fallen shield flying. It ricocheted off a tree ahead, bounced back, and was snatched from the air by Guinevere's outstretched hand.

"Fall back! Into the cave!"

He shouted to Artoria and Bavanzi, and then darted off toward the cave with Oberon right behind him.

"Don't—ah-CHOO—think you can escape!"

Fairy Lancelot wasn't about to let them go that easily. Ignoring the pollen irritating her nose, she summoned a surge of magical energy from her back and launched herself like a streak of light after them.

But the moment she entered the cave, the lighting dimmed—and in that split-second transition, a hard-to-spot object smashed into her.

It was Guinevere's shield, thrown at just the right moment.

"You think that little trick will work on me? —SEYA!"

With a low shout, Lancelot's dual blades slashed in a cross. A flash of golden light engulfed her body—her invincibility phase. The shield passed harmlessly through her body and clattered into the cave behind her.

But the instant the golden shimmer faded, before she could even return to an attack stance, a beam of energy came screaming toward her.

It was perfectly timed—right after the delay of her "seya slash" invincibility.

What she couldn't see was that the shield, which had flown past her, had bounced off a jutting rock, ricocheted again off a sidewall, and now zipped back toward her from behind.

Lancelot tried to halt herself in midair using her innate power to ignore physical inertia and dodged to the side—only to land right in the shield's path.

Just as it was about to strike her back, she seemed to sense something. She slashed at the air.

"SEYA!"

Gold light flashed once more—the shield again missed by inches and returned to Guinevere's hand.

"You think I'd fall for the same trick twice?"

Lancelot's voice was cold. Without hesitation, she charged forward, crossing her blades in quick, repeating arcs while chanting:

"Ha! Seya! Seya! Ha! Seya! Seya—!"

She no longer gave Guinevere the chance to exploit the post-animation delay of her "seya slash." She now used magical energy to forcibly lift her arms again after each swing, drastically reducing her cooldown.

With her relentless loop of offense and defense, the ambushes that Artoria, Bavanzi, and Oberon had prepared all fell flat.

"This is bullshit!"

Guinevere gave up on trying to counterattack. He turned and bolted deeper into the cave.

He'd only taken a few steps when a beast's roar echoed from within. A massive black shadow lunged forward—it was a Soul-Eater Beast.

Drawn in by the shield's aggro effect, it charged Guinevere. Though he wasn't knocked down, the path forward was blocked. In the next instant, Lancelot caught up. With two clean "seya" slashes, she chopped Guinevere into four pieces.

The Undying Trial activated. Time rewound, pulling him back to just before the Soul-Eater had appeared.

This time, when the beast lunged, Guinevere slid beneath it with a perfect baseball-style slide. The Soul-Eater's missed pounce instead slammed into Lancelot.

Guinevere looked back hopefully—perhaps the beast would delay her.

But then he heard a few more "seya"s.

The Soul-Eater was diced into four neat pieces. Lancelot emerged through the bloody mist without a drop on her.

"This is unplayable."

Guinevere ran faster.

But how could he outrun Lancelot? She caught up almost instantly and, after a few more rounds, Guinevere was once again carved apart.

Time rewound again.

This time, he chose to rewind further—back to the moment they had just entered the cave.

[In this rewind, you abandon the ambush strategy at the cave entrance and immediately opt for full retreat, successfully dodging the Soul-Eater's ambush.]

[Though you manage to go farther than before, a Serpent Woman blocks your way deeper in the cave. Lancelot catches up from behind. You are slain on the spot.]

Guinevere was starting to feel sick.

What the hell is wrong with all you "seya" people? You just kill people with one move?! I get it—it's strong, but must you spam it non-stop?! Don't your throats get sore?!

On yet another run, just before being cut down again, Guinevere couldn't help but complain.

"You're right," Lancelot said calmly as she dismembered him again. "It's kind of scummy to rely on just one move. Not very becoming of a true warrior."

"Then—"

"But you started it first." She glanced at his fading gaze. "That regeneration of yours? That's pretty scummy too."

"And anyway... shouting 'seya' over and over... kind of therapeutic."

"...Fair enough."

He couldn't beat her. Not even a little.

And it wasn't just the simulation version of him. Even the real Guinevere, after repeated failed runs, was wearing the mask of utter defeat.

"You've got to be kidding me…"

Guinevere muttered bitterly.

He recognized the skill Lancelot had drawn. After all, before transmigrating here, he used to play Granblue Fantasy Relink.

Back when he used to team up for raids, he always found that dual-wielding Lancelot dude to be annoying—constantly shouting "seya seya" and stealing the spotlight.

For the record, Guinevere had been a Siegfried main.

He never imagined this Fairy Lancelot would pull that Lancelot's move.

What is this, a crossover episode? Are all Lancelots linked through a shared skill pool now?

Wait a second—that lightning blade she used earlier... wasn't that the Thunderblade of the Elder Dragon Lance-Sanx from Monster Hunter?

So now it's just "anyone named Lancelot can borrow moves from other Lancelots"? What next, she yells "Form the head!" and transforms into Mecha Lancelot?

...Actually, considering that Code Geass's Lancelot Albion was a mecha piloted by Suzaku, maybe that's not so far-fetched...

Getting distracted again.

Guinevere shook his head to clear it.

He had just upgraded with the "Relentless Assault" buff, and it hurt to give up on a proper fight. But clearly, brute force wasn't going to cut it.

[After realizing direct confrontation was hopeless, you decide on a new strategy.]

After entering the cave, Guinevere shouted:

"Everyone! Attack the cave ceiling! Bring the rocks down!"

Artoria and Bavanzi obeyed instantly. Oberon hesitated but joined in.

They caused a partial cave-in—but they hadn't gone far in yet, so the rocks blocking the entrance were too few. Lancelot blasted them apart with a lightning blade and sliced Guinevere down in a flash of "seya"s.

[Though the attempt failed, the idea was sound.]

Guinevere's mind spun.

If they could collapse more of the cave, further in, Lancelot might not be able to brute force her way through.

He recalled that Artoria had recently crafted a wide-area dud shell.

If he combined it with his explosive rune, he might be able to trigger a full-scale cave-in.

[In this rewind, you obtained Artoria's dud shell and attempted to detonate it using the Barrel Bomb rune.]

[You succeeded.]

[But you hadn't gone deep enough into the cave, so the collapse wasn't sufficient. Lancelot destroyed the blockage with her Noble Phantasm and killed you again.]

Guinevere's eyes lit up.

So it was possible.

The only remaining challenge—how to go deep enough before she caught him.

After a moment's thought, he had an idea.

[You initiate another rewind.]

[This time, you obtain Artoria's dud shell immediately upon entering the cave.]

[You and your team head deeper.]

[When you encounter the Soul-Eater Beast, your shield's aggro effect draws its attack again.]

[You evade, then strike it from behind. When Lancelot arrives and kills it, you drink its blood and instruct Bavanzi to collect the rest as a mobile healing resource.]

[Using that bloodpack, you endure Lancelot's unrelenting strikes as you proceed deeper into the cave.]

[You encounter Serpent Women and repeat the tactic, turning them into new bloodpacks.]

[Once you reach sufficient depth, you throw the dud shell and detonate it with the explosive rune.]

[The resulting blast launches both you and Lancelot in opposite directions and triggers a massive cave-in. The falling rocks separate you.]

[The explosion nearly buries you, but thanks to your regenerative blood reserve and blade-formed limbs, you break free and escape just in time.]

[From behind, you feel the force of Lancelot's unleashed Noble Phantasm—but just as predicted, it only causes more cave-ins.]

[You have successfully escaped the encounter with Fairy Knight Lancelot.]