Crazy Britain:They’re All Raising Me

Katana in hand, a towering beast before him.

This moment, wasn't it just like that moment back then?

Hundreds of hours of hunting memories surged from the depths of his mind as Guinevere gripped his longsword tightly.

[Ding. You have obtained Hunter Weapon Specialization: Longsword (Temporary) · A]

Thump, thump, thump—

His heart pounded violently.

Boom, boom, boom—

The bloodline of the longsword shrimp had awakened.

Guinevere charged forward with giant strides, tossing aside all thoughts of teamwork, coordination, and group spirit.

Right now, he held a sword.

Right now, he was invincible.

With a single step, before the now-beastly Mario could react, Guinevere was already in front of it. Drawing his blade, he slashed upward, a clean arc of light slicing through the air and cleaving into Mario's massive eye, swiftly gouging it open.

As the beast roared, Guinevere stepped down with force, twisted his blade, and drove it straight into the eye socket. Then, in a flash, he leapt backward, narrowly evading Mario's crashing counterattack.

While retreating, he slashed again, carving another deep wound into the monster.

He then spun with deadly grace, his blade flowing with his movement. A spinning upward slash drew yet another wound across Mario's body.

But this was just the beginning. Guinevere's blade danced again and again, crimson bursts of blood painting the air like a graceful, bloody butterfly.

Such is the way of the longsword shrimp—spinning, leaping, eyes closed.

Then, with a mighty vertical slash, Guinevere struck hard. But at that moment, Mario opened its gaping maw, unleashing a foul stream of water.

Yet Guinevere had already anticipated this. With a sharp "ding," his body slipped back, dodging the filthy spray with precision and immediately preparing for his next strike. Like a phantom, he lunged forward once more, blade landing true.

This is one of the essential skills all longsword shrimp must master—Sight Slash Like the Wind, Come and Go at Will!

Guinevere whirled again, his blade tracing a deadly arc through the air, landing a crushing strike that left Mario writhing in agony.

Then, with remarkable poise, he stepped lightly to the side, brushing past Mario. As the beast turned, eyes red, trying to swat him with its tail, it saw only Guinevere calmly sheathing his blade, waiting.

In a blink, the massive longsword was sheathed, and power gathered.

In the next instant, the blade burst forth like a raging dragon from its lair, radiating pure killing intent!

A flash of red streaked through the air. Guinevere's body passed by Mario's massive frame.

With a heavy thud, Mario collapsed. Its tail, meant to strike Guinevere, had been severed mid-swing by his Iai slash.

Staring at the writhing Mario, Guinevere's eyes remained cold and unreadable. He simply leveled his sword, tip aimed directly at the beast like a drawn bowstring.

And then—the string released, the arrow loosed!

With a sharp whoosh, Guinevere pounced like a leopard, blade driving deep into Mario.

But this was only the beginning—

Channeling the momentum of the charge, Guinevere pressed down on the blade, kicked off with a powerful stomp, and soared upward like a high jumper. Twisting mid-air, he spun a full 360 degrees, body and blade as one.

With the centrifugal force gathered from the spin, Guinevere scanned the battlefield below, locking onto the precise spot for his descending strike.

—Heavenly Dragon Slash: Severing in One Blow!

But just as he descended, Mario suddenly opened its mouth again. A fierce water jet burst forth, propelling it sideways just in time to dodge the incoming blade.

Guinevere's strike hit nothing but air.

"Wait, bro, seriously—"

Before he could finish cursing, Mario tilted its head, and the jet that had pushed it aside moments ago engulfed Guinevere completely. Its powerful corrosive properties reduced him to a pile of bones in seconds.

[You attempted to solo kill Mario using the longsword given by Gareth without any assistance. You were defeated, your body melted by Mario's highly corrosive water cannon.]

[Skill "Undying One's Endless Trial" has been activated.]

"...That must've been a fluke."

Back at the moment he first picked up the longsword, Guinevere shook his head.

"Let me try again."

[You challenge Mario once more.]

[With your rich combat experience, especially in hunting monsters, even though this is your first fight against Mario, you quickly grasp its patterns and intentions. Relying on sight slash and precise timing, you repeatedly land heavy Iai slashes.]

[But just as you attempt to finish the battle with a Heavenly Dragon Slash, Mario fires a scorching beam that blasts you out of the air.]

[You crash to the ground, unable to call for help in time. Mario promptly crushes you into pulp.]

"Dude, seriously, this thing just... forget it."

Guinevere stared at the longsword in his hand. After a long moment of internal struggle, he finally bowed his head to reality.

He turned to Gareth and Oberon.

"Guys... maybe this thing isn't something I can handle alone. How about we work together?"

[After activating Endless Trial yet again, during your third challenge, you decide to fight alongside your teammates.]

[This time, combining your stellar memory and vast combat experience with your allies' support, you quickly suppress Mario.]

[Near the end, with Mario unable to interrupt you or escape, you confidently leap high to deliver the final Heavenly Dragon Slash.]

[But Gareth's Dragon Cannon launches you sky-high into the swamp, where you get stuck.]

[While trying to climb out, Mario finishes you with a splash of acid.]

"Son of a—"

Returning once more to the beginning, Guinevere was numb.

What was up with this dragon? It just refused to let him pull off a Dragon Slash.

This was infuriating. Back before he transmigrated, he Dragon Slashed every day with his longsword. Now, after transmigrating, he still couldn't land one even while swinging it himself? After three miserable failures, Guinevere finally learned his lesson.

[You give up on using the longsword.]

[You pick up your original weapon—the flying shield—and return to your usual combat style.]

[This time, you lead with a powerful flying shield bash combined with the Hunter Rune: Powder Barrel, blinding several of Mario's eyes.]

[Using the cover of the explosion's smoke, you close in and unleash Supreme Art: My Style, delivering rapid windmill strikes.]

[Though Mario's laser eyes and acid sprays posed some trouble, the windmill style's attack frequency and pressure allowed you to overpower it.]

[Having defeated an opponent stronger than you, your total victories now reach 91.]

Guinevere stood silently for a long time.

At last, he reaffirmed a conclusion he'd drawn many times before:

"Don't touch the longsword—it brings nothing but misfortune."

Cherish life. Stay away from shrimp-head weapons.

[As the remaining guards tried to flee, you quickly unleashed a flurry of Pal Balls. Numerous beasts emerged, surrounding the weakened jailers.]

[Without much effort, and before any formal interrogation began, they eagerly revealed the location of Glasgow.]

[You turned your attention to the fairy Gareth, hoping to learn about her vendetta with the jailers and the fall of the Clan of Mirrors.]

"Actually... it might not be all that complicated," Gareth said, her face somber.

"All members of the Clan of Mirrors have some degree of future sight. I—or rather, my predecessor, Ainsel—being the clan leader, saw more of the future than most."

"In those glimpses of the future, aside from the prophecy of the Child of Prophecy, she also foresaw the clan's destruction."

"She tried to stop it... but unlike her, the other fairies of the clan were strangely accepting of their fate. I couldn't understand it. We were gentle and kind, never picking fights. Why did we deserve such cruelty?"

"Then, one day over a decade ago, powerful fairies appeared at our gathering grounds. They attacked us relentlessly and hunted down our reborn kin over and over until we could no longer reproduce."

"I only survived because someone posed as me and tossed my reborn form into the lake before I had fully awakened. I drifted for ages until I reached another part of Britain and became the nameless fairy Gareth."

"Unfortunately, I didn't remember any of this until I was on the brink of death once. Only then did I recall who I truly was—and the horror of that day."

"And now\..."

Gareth looked down at Mario's corpse.

"Only today did I finally learn that the ones who attacked us back then... were actually the jailers from Glasgow."

"But to be honest, Mario wasn't the only one. If I recall correctly, there should be three more fairies like him who joined the raid that destroyed the Clan of Mirrors."